Fun With Cameras on Bikes

These are 2 clips from the Saturday ride.. Don't blink or you'll miss the rain.

Clip 1:



Clip 2:



I did these with the time lapse feature on my camera. I have to re-work the mount as it goes sideways quite alot.. Most of those indicate bumpy roads. One image is a corner.

Off to the pool.

Quick Weekend Recap

New longest ride for the year, the 41 miler on Saturday in a pretty good rain. (I know 41 miles isn't terribly far for a new longest ride, in May).

New longest run for the year, 7.5 miles on Sunday. I wore my arm warmers and gloves in spite of the temperate weather.. Once it's 85 out I want to be ready for the heat.

On top of that I worked, Sat 9-11pm, Sun 12:15 - 5:30am, 8:00-8:30 am and 11:12-11:13am. See if you can figure out my sleep pattern there.

Mad props to all those who hammered out at Iola!

I'm not gonna lie. This morning's ride was a bit tight and in the wind. I might need a nap.

Momentum Part II

Same thing today.. I was a bit shy about running. I'm really digging the bike as of late. But I figured the fix would be quicker if I ran. And I do have to get that mileage up there somehow.

Nothing to write home about, but I got 10km plus a bit more done and in the books. It was a slow, solid 10km. There is a long way to go, but I'm counting this week as a good and reasonable start. In the battle toward consistency, I'm 14-2 in the last 16 days.

Week in review:

2 short swims, totaling 1350 yards. Hardly notable, except I got in the pool
3 bike rides, about 100km for the week.
3 runs, 13 + miles.. again, I just want to get out there.. we can ramp the miles up as I go.

I was hoping to mountain bike today, but it doesn't appear in the cards. Hopefully we can revisit this next week.

Momentum

With a workout marked down the last 12 of 14 days, I had to get out.. The winds had me second guessing. Once I was out there it was a great day. My momentum is coming around.

Reminding myself, "consistence is key". And the key to consistency is doing repeatable, recoverable workouts. I'll leave the earth shattering workouts for June through September (hopefully).

I Can't Stop Looking at This BIke

So, I decided to put it on my blog. Photo credits go to TmonT. I wish MK the best on it this season. That is one sweet looking ride. (Do the kids talk like that these days? Likely not.)

Wow! What a Weekend!

I got out for my first single speed mountain bike ride yesterday.. Wow, did we cheat the weatherman in my zip code? Yes!

As for the details on single speed. I have 2x1 gear ratio on the thing. It's easy on pavement. It's quite manageable on flat dirt and/or gravel. Once I try to do anything remotely uphill or technical.. Let's just say that needs tons of work. To be fair, my trail riding skills need mucho work. I'm anxious to do that this year!

Saturday was a two hour road ride. I was convinced I was going to get drenched. Alas, no! Beautiful, if not on the slightly cool side, weather.

I managed to get the kids squeaky clean. I may yet toss in a short run tonight.. Then the neighborhood folks are road riding at o'dark 500. At that rate, I could be back in time for a swim before work! It's either a great week, or I'm going a bit crazy... Could be both.

See you out there.

Update: went with the neighborhood guys for a good 20 miles or so.. 1 hr. Woo, better clean up for the pool. Beautiful morning.

PSA: Patch Your Computer

This is your friendly neighborhood reminder to patch your PC regularly. Unless you're really picky about what goes on your PC, you should probably just have auto update on. If you don't think this to be true, check out some recent thoughts at SANS.org.

Long story short, when a patch comes out, it takes the bad guys less time to reverse engineer it to make a hack than it does for you to fix your PC (or it's at least close).

While your at it, when is the last time you backed it all up?

Good luck, it's a tough world out there.

Spring Cleaning

Ah, the laundry is piling up with sweaty workout clothes. There are water bottles everywhere. The winds are out there kicking up. And the swing of things is soon to be back. I had a nice 25-30 mile ride today. It's time to shower up and think about putting the finishing touches on my mountain bike (like an intact front tire tube). Spring is in the air.

Anyone ride Hoyt or Harley between 6-8 AM on weekdays? I need a good (easy) before work trail to ride.

Where did they go?

I'm sure I was running well back in January/early February.. Where did those good runs go?

I will remain steadfast. I know if I keep at it. If I remain slow and steady, they will come back. Patience is easy in January. It's not so easy when the weather turns nice. Once the temps go upwards of 50's. Once the shorts go on.

It's nice to be back out there.

Check. Check. 1... 2... 3... Check

Just testing.. Is this thing on? Anyone want to run up and down the lake front today? (real slow)

Please bare with me while I flip switches in the blog template over the next few [insert time unit here]s.

Upper 30's, windy and high chance of precipitation.

Getting Back at It

Yesterday, I got out with bro-in-law for his first road ride. We did an easy 25 miles in say 1:45. It was my first ride back since pulling some unknown muscle. So far so good.

Today, I decided to chance it and run. Near six miles, I dragged bro-in-law past the beach to see if we could find him a girl. No such luck. But I got my run in.

As if this wasn't enough of a test "getting back at it", when bro-in-law took off the family and I walked the dogs another good 4.5 miles. Great test of the ol' pulled muscles..

See you all at the pool bright and early.

Learning Curve: Fun with Espresso

Left to my own devices, I had a little fun with my espresso tasting this morning. The past couple weeks I've been beside myself as to how to review some coffee. Daily practice with the new espresso maker has left me with the assurance any review would be about my coffee related skills, and not the coffee it's self.

In the spirit of this blog. I know what I like. And I like the new 53x11 coffee. The chain breaker has been heavily tested in my kitchen. I have been doing my best to compare it to my local favorite coffee. I've got some work to get the whole grind fine tuning and such down.. But it's been fun.

Laziness Wins

I had all but decided to go get some Ben and Jerry's tonight.. Yet, I spent just enough quality time talking to my wife before she went running. Whoa, look at how late it's getting. Too late to go get ice cream now.

Take what you can get. I won't claim it's the high road, but it gets me to the next day. Time for Insomnia.

Firefox Update

Firefox 2.0.0.13 is available now.

I just thought I'd mention, because as many as 60% of you may not know..

I'm in Trouble

It looks like the Fat Tire folks cashed my check. I hope that's not bad news for too many of the rest of you. I guess I (have to|get to) put that 40 mile mountain bike extravaganza on the calendar. I'm excited, but at the same time I had secretly been hoping I might not make the cut. Now, that I know it's game on... I'm grinning.

If they did a "send in your form and we'll tell you in a month or so" entry for Ironman, tri-heads everywhere would be climbing the walls.

Hope to see you there!

Whoa!!

Winter Weather advisory 8"-15"... More snow if it's thundering. (what?) As long as it's gone by the time the antibiotics actually work, we'll call it even.

The scale showed a new low number last night. It's could be broken. It could be I am vindicated. I decided last night (for the second time) I will stick to one ice cream night per week. At this point, I'm calling the number rounding error. It is a good sign though. We party at the first 1xx number.

Oatmeal and espresso for breakfast, day 6 begins.

Telling it Like it Is.

I'm not going to lie. I'm some four days into this "eating less sugar" plan. Today, I was already having conversations with myself about "maybe 2x per week is OK for ice cream". I'm happy to say, I'm still convinced 1x is the way to go.. If I make it to Saturday, then I'll have executed 1x properly for the week.

Doc hooked me up with some antibiotics today.. Hopefully that is what I need to go full speed again.

There are 3 other people on my block signed up for LFM. Yikes. As "the Ironman", I need to represent. Or, just participating is cool too.

With any luck, the antibiotics will do there thing, I'll get done with on-call, and spring just might arrive all at once.... Don't call Vegas on that one just yet though.

Here We Are Again

If I don't keep trying, I won't get there.

Thanks to:

1. a pile of free pizza at work.
2. A conversation with a coworker who's been through the diet change.
3. On my way home listening to this podcast. (Zen and the Art of Triathlon - "Sugar!")
4. Others who report success and happiness.
   
5. Late season start on Racine, and the desire to do well.
6. The belief that maybe my sinus/cold dealio won't go away until I slow down on the pile of sugar I ingest per day.
7. In spite of the fact that I "don't look fat", I want to keep my heart healthy and see my kids grow up.

Oatmeal for breakfast held me well until lunch.. Good homemade vegetable style soup (with chicken) for dinner.. Portion sizes all the way.. This brings me to the tough part. 8:00pm to bed time. I think I'll do some core then read myself to sleep.

Thank you for your support.

Back on Two Wheels

I got the fixed gear back together. The road tires are on it. And I headed out this afternoon in upper 30 degree weather for an hour ride. I'm a bit under the weather, so it was just about getting out there..

I did see a whole pile of Alterra team folks zooming the other way a couple times.

It felt good to go.

First blog schwag?

Maybe not.. But I got these in the mail along with a sticker.. I've either gone completely batty, or I didn't order these. Maybe we bump up the sesame street alert level one notch.

I make no agreement to postivily review free stuff sent to me..

On the other hand, I looked these up before. 53x11 seems like a good match for a guy that drinks coffee daily and happens to bike ride, even "race" on occasion. Look for an upcoming review..

If you are reading this and responsible for sending it.. Thanks.

Spiritual Enlightenment Part II

This morning it was 40 F. when I walked the dog. The sidewalks had melted. Many were covered with water. Almost none had ice anymore. Did I learn my lesson?

Certainly to think writing about the walks caused the changes would be near ridiculous. Yet, I did write and they did change. Correlation does not imply causation. At the same time, when I look back or re-read these posts there exists a possibility they will effect my memory of these days. I don't dare put more thought into my posts.. Yet, maybe I should let "the editor" in me decide if they all need to go to print.

Man, someone needs a bike ride.

Science or Spiritual Lesson

The science of it all revolves around 32 degrees F., or zero C. The temperature at which water freezes. As it turns out, water and ice can both exist at 32 degrees. There is more there, like how many calories it takes to change from ice to water and vice versa, but that's not important for today's lesson.


"Let the righteous be righteous still. Listen to the words long written down."
- J. Cash

Complaint: 1/3 of the sidewalks I ran on yesterday were icy due to not being shoveled for weeks. After my blog entry noting such complaint the following ensued.

Mother nature came to my rescue. The outdoor temps rose over 32F. Much of the snow melted and turned to water. Most, if not all of the sidewalks with big problems lost their ice. Much of it turning to water.

Mother nature has a sense of humor. I run late pretty often.. By 9:00 P.M. the temps dropped to right around 32F. It was just cold enough to freeze a thin layer of that water on nearly 75% of the sidewalks I ran on. Further still I note, 32F is warm enough that not all the water melted. What was not ice was a nice deep, kaplooshing, freezing puddle.

That'll teach me. I dig the snow. I'm not so keen on the ice, but it comes with the territory. It's mid-March. I humbly request spring to start. (Yes, I already realize this probably means torrential rains and 42F).

Please Shovel Your Walk

I like the benefit of running on ice. It has allowed me to focus more on picking me legs up and less on actual speed. All around, I expect this to help.

Be that as it may, many of you still don't seem to realize everyone else has shoveled their walk. It's just you and the neighbors on your block that forgot. Look around the rest of the neighborhood. You will be flabbergasted at the clean dry walks all over. Then you might think how nice it would be for the postal worker who delivers for your house not to have to drudge over the ice and through the near frozen puddles to get you your mail. But JWM, you say, "the postal crew lives for foul weather." OK then, think of the runners. I know you hate them anyway. But really, is hatred any reason to negligently provide them a way to fall and hurt themselves? Hurt badly enough, one might need a wheel chair. Then one certainly won't be able to pass your front walk.

Luckily though, I welcome the challenge and feel my run is better for it.

Special thanks to those of you that live in live on corners and can afford yearly security system fees, but not someone to shovel.

And no, I didn't fall on my run today.

7 Things

I've been tagged by TriTeacher.

1. I'm a computer, GPS, palm pilot, DSLR camera, tech geek kinda guy. Yet, I still own a broadcast only, non-HD, 20" tube TV as my main, living room "entertainment center".
2. I have few vices. High zoot espresso drinks from Alterra top the list. A skim bullfrog is my favorite. It's basically a mocha with some mint in it. Last week I bought a new espresso brewer. This is in effort to curtail my $4 coffee habit. I will still get the beans from them.
   
3. I played violin for 7-8 years growing up. I hated rock music. One day, I heard my brother listening to "Eruption" from VanHalen. A weekend shortly after that, I spent the entire weekend in his room, using his guitar. I played until my finger were raw. I learned a good deal of the notes. From there it was guitar city.. I have long since forgotten to play both with any proficiency. I still hold "write, play, record an album" on my "to do before" list.
   
4. I'm a slow swim, bike, runner. It's wonderful stress relief either way.
5. I am constantly suprised at how much of myself I see in my kids. I count myself beyond lucky for many reasons, my family easily at the top.
   
6. Nearly everything I write is closer to stream of conscious, than plan.... Tomorrow this list would be different.
7. I like computer security. It's interesting. I don't forward joke emails, Bill Gates will give you $1 emails, or any of the like. If you are one of these people, try Snopes first. If you say, "but JWM that ain't computer security." Then try something like this.
   

In that spirit, if you want to be tagged, you are.

In The Shadow of Ironman

Or is it "Confession Time Part II" ?

I'm sending my entry off to Fat Tire 40 tomorrow.

I signed up for Lakefront Marathon today.

I'm 1/2 contemplating which WORS race I have the best chance of surviving. Though if it came down to it, I really dug the very relaxed atmosphere of WEMS.

Not to forget, Trek100, maybe another tri or two for fun, and some promise to the in-law side of the crim last Christmas.

This may turn out to be a pretty busy year yet.

Confession Time

Lately, I've been clicking on bookmarks for:

• WORS
• WEMS
• Fat Tire 40

I'm reminded of the line from Raising Arizona, "I found myself driving past convenience stores... that weren't on the way home."

I know full well, I just have to go ride in the dirt and not worry much of racin' talk.

What Happens When I Stay Up Past My Bedtime...

Strange things happen..

If I'm not careful, I will have to ride that mountain bike one day soon.

I knew I shouldn't have tested out the new espresso maker so late at night.

Fighting My Way Back to the Grind

Quick update here.. Mostly running and strength training lately. I'm banking the combo has the greatest fitness effect. I gots me some new shoes, now I run like someone else!

I tried biking on the trainer the other day, and it was horrid. I felt like I had never biked in my life. The proposed (hopefully quick) remedy is to get one of those 2 wheelers outdoors.

On that note, I made it a few more percent toward single speed project completion on the mountain bike. I think I just have to hook up the chain. Maybe one or two other things..

In the pool I'm bobbing back and forth once in a blue moon..

Running is slow, steady and feels right. I have much hope for this season.

Why Do You Bike?

To do what can't be done? To put one more person on a bike than they guys down the street? To use the back guy as a brake? To go faster or farther?


Or was it to impress the girls?

Jet lag

I have an incredible urge to rent Karate Kid II and Lost in Translation. It was all very surreal. We just got back into the country. It was an odd feeling showing up in Chicago, and most people speak English.

Just yesterday, we rode the subway into Tokyo. At which time I found out it was the day of the Tokyo marathon. Tough luck I wasn't signed up for it. I didn't see it, but I imagine we were a mere few blocks from it at some point. On the way back to the hotel, I did see a guy on the subway that appeared to have run in the marathon.

The gig is up.. all those cryptic posts and here I am back from a week and a half in Okinawa followed by a few days in Tokyo. Here is the short, jet lagged version of a report.

Day 1: 13 hrs of flying, followed by 4 hrs of not flying, followed by 3.5 hours of flying, followed by an esoteric ride in my brother's van on the other side of the world (in Okinawa). Visiting then sleep.

Day 2: My bro and I did guy stuff ( looking at guitars and such ), whilst the women and children hit up the Orchid festival. We missed out on being under dressed and getting flu the first day of a two week vacation on the other side of the world.

Here I will stop breaking down by the day for a bit and just toss out some notes:

• We hit up some wild shops where they sell TONS of used "cool" stuff.. All probably too cool for me.
• I was able to manage chop sticks enough to be on a weight loss plan until I figured them out better.
• Yep, that container at the grocery store might be cascade, ivory soap, or sweet potato candy.
• Even after 2 weeks, they were all still driving on the "wrong" side of the road.. I didn't get used to that.
• Great plan for drinking and driving.. they have a VERY cheap service that is like a cab, but they drive your car home too.
• No cell phones while driving. They aren't kidding.
  
• Own-a-guy-shimas... A humble wish (please).. Say it after everything. Then say it some more.
  
• In Germany you can look up the word for "EXIT". In Tokyo, the subway near the airport has English and Kanji. The subway downtown might not have English. You may want to keep an handy note of the Kanji for the subway station you want to go back to.
• Any self respecting Hello Kitty fan must make a pilgrimage to Japan. (see also, pokemon and about 10,000 other characters I have never heard of)
  
• Vegetarians might have trouble ordering things without pork. Non-vegetarians may have trouble ordering something that they know what all the ingredients are. That said, the food is amazing.
  
• You need not go without beverage. Even down the smallest 1/2 lane road in Okinawa, there is a hot/cold drink machine every 3 blocks or so.
  
• Yes, they have 5 dollar coins. That pile of change might pay for three fancy lunches.
  
• You've heard it before. The mass transport is on time. So on time it's silly.
• One final tip, I can't say I needed my Garmin Forerunner 305 for every run in Okinawa. Certainly it was a nice safety net. One could get lost going to the corner Coke machine.
  

OK then, the cat's out of the bag. I fizzled out on my report though. To sum up, if you have the means, I highly recommend it.

Sheldon Brown

I just found out about Sheldon Brown passing away. I can't say for sure how much of my bike fix knowledge is from that guy, but it's a ton.

In honor of Sheldon, we should all go home and clean our chains.

Thank you Sheldon Brown.

Rain and After

I ran yesterday. It was the first time I ran next to a 7 foot ditch on a half car wide road. Thanks to my GPS, I made it back.

It rained. Then 3/4th of the family got some germ. Here's to day 3 and the road to recovery.

Sunrise

A new beginning.

Reset Button

Blip.

Deep breath.

Something new.

More in a few weeks.

Cleaver

A a heavy cleaver just fell on my foot from about six feet up. The blunt side was down. Talk about a close one.

Back at It

Weekend update.

Saturday, 2 hrs on the trainer watching Empire Strikes Back.

Sunday, sledding with the kids. I saw a pedal moraine jersey southbound from Alterra did an internal "Oh yeah, go get 'em!"

Evening run, 32F -> 30F. One hour. Tri shorts, long sleeve run shirt, gloves, balaklava, even shoes and socks.

Yeah, I slacked a bit after a couple of weeks oncall. No excuses. I did it to myself. Now I'm pissed! Go time again. Weights in the morning.

Nothing to Report

Day 19 of 2008.

1/2 sick. 1/2 on call. Not much in the way of working out. Work is hard, but I'm getting things done. Pack is still in it. Temperatures are in the single digits.

I'm about 90% of the way through book 5/7 in The Dark Tower series.

Life is good. More to come.

Chip Off the Old Block

Need some inspiration?

The temps were in the 20's today. My 5 year old daughter rode her bike to school. I picked her up afterwards and her bike was alone in the rack. Keep it up!

Where is your bike?

Testing 1... 2... 3...

Is this thing on?

After two weeks of weight training. After putting in some seriously heavy-legged, just get them in, slogging runs. I loosened up the ole legs with 2 hours of spinning on Saturday. Then we took the kids to a pool birthday party that night. Sunday morning I was raring for a good run. And I wanted some kind of test. How are these things working after some weights?

It's not much to brag about, but I ran my first sub-1 hour 10k yesterday (58:51). This in the face of getting slower the entire year of Ironman. Chalk one up for balance. What is aerobic endurance with out at least a smidgen of muscle?

It's only January, and yes. This thing is on.

A New First

I don't know if it was what I did or didn't do but I"m sure it was my fault.

It's getting warmer. As a result, yesterday I decided to bike outside. A demon or daemon possessed me. So, before taking off, I ripped the large and small chain rings off the Giant ATX780. I put some short stack bolts in there. I yanked some cables. I removed a front der-thingy. None of this, of course, will make any significant difference in weight with that 'keep the nose on the ground" MAG 21 on the front. Yet still I did it. I left the back as is.. I wanted to figure out what back gear I want for single speeding.

Those of you that know me, might immediately wonder why JWM "absolutely needs" a geared cross bike, but somehow takes a perfectly good geared mountain bike and starts ripping parts off it.. It was something to do. What else can I say? It doesn't mean I won't still be in the market for a fine geared CX bike one day..

Left with a middle chain ring, some warmer yet oddly foul in a melting kinda way weather, I pushed outdoors and headed down the street. The middle chain ring ain't street gears. The tires were soft and ready to bump up and down some snowy trails. But there were not snowy trails to ride on.. There were melting, not frozen enough, not soft enough, trails. It was just the right consistency that you could go 5" then sink in again. Maybe the pros would have made light work of it, but I was unable to use the trails.

There I was stuck riding the local multi use path, with tires aired up for mud, shox ready to go, and a middle chain ring. Relegated to such, I decided it's a spin outdoors day. I took off for a typcial 15 miler. I'd say I made about 11 before my chain broke.. After that it was 4 miles of, lower the seat and run. It weren't pretty.

So, either I was working on it and broke the chain, or I had neglected to notice that the thing was so dang old that it was time to replace it. My bad.

Either way, it's all but fate saying I should replace it with a much shorter chain and no rear der-thingy.

Now, when do those trails dry up?

Happy New Year!

'08 - day 1.

Soreness kicked in from yesterday's strength workout. I plan on going back tomorrow.. Hopefully after a few weeks I can upgrade from fly paper to Lego blocks as weights.

45 minutes on the trainer loosened me up a bit.

I slightly lament missing out on watching the Polar Bears ring in the new year today.. I'm not crazy enough to do it in 20 degree weather, but it might be fun to watch!

Wish me luck on day 2 of strength training tomorrow. It is the right move for me.

Resolutions? Nah, not this year. I have ideas, but not resolutions. Though I do need a new mantra.

Year End Review.. The Numbers

If I'm to believe TrainingPeaks, here is what I covered this year.. Mind you, there is likely a good deal of grease between this and reality (not in my favor). Yet, if these aren't the real ones, better ones don't exist.

Planned Time	337:10
Actual Time	269:48
Swim	87,086 yd
Bike	2,294.39 mi
Run	377.25 mi
Day Off	83 mi
Walk	5.5 mi

Looking it over, how does one cover 83 miles on a day off? And, it's for certain my walk number is likely off by a factor of 10^2.

What is the big gaping hole in these numbers? Strength. I went to the gym today for the first time and pushed weighted plates around with machines. Those numbers were shockingly low. A stark answer as to what my lie into better health in the coming year.

If you're still reading, here's to your new year. May your days be long and meet you well.

Genius??

If you're still reading, you're either on the pointy end of the I.Q. scale or in way over your head!

Thanks to Winz for the idea.

Full Disclosure

Someone shuffled the cards on me. I take the blame. It was my mission to run anyway. I didn't.

I started again today, and a simple 23 minute run has lifted that funk.

Sushi

Not to be out done by other bloggin', bikin', belchin' folks.. I headed out for some sushi the other day. I was in Minneapolis with not much else to do. I hit Sakura with the boss (the work one, not the home one). Good food and good time had all around.

After a few (OK many few) years of my brother trying unsuccessfully to get me to like sushi, I was in a new mindset this day. I piled up the ginger slices, and plenty of the beloved yet attention getting wasabi.. Turned out to be pretty good! Sure I had some soup, salad, tempura and all to keep it real.. Oishi!

Between this and some learn Japanese podcasts, I'm set for a vacation.

Life's too Short

Life's too short not to do cool stuff.

So just so y'all know I haven't completely lost my edge. I'm not completely eaten up by work. (or more to the point, so I know). I hit today's hard snow, sleet, and wind with a bike ride.

Cheers!

Week One..

OK, 6 days in and I have 26 or so miles of running done. I'm going to take a break and cross train tomorrow.

Today on my run I had oh so many questions... How long before I see results from this "run everyday" plan? What exactly will these results be? How did I make it this far (7 years and an Ironman) in triathlon without trying some fairly regular run specific blocks?

Yep, I'm well aware I just need to be patient and see what happens.

Anyone want to take bets on which day/week I crack and try to go mountain biking?

Weekend Update: Days 4 & 5

It's the weekend. I ran a bit farther. I did a new route and an old route I hadn't been on in a while.

Saturday, I hit the river trails for some slower cruising around. It was nice to mix it up. In the back of my head I was trying to determine how much trouble I'd have on a mountain bike. 5-6 miles total.

Today, I ran down to the lake. I went by the beach. I thought this might be a gutsy (or gusty) move with the cooler temperatures. Turned out not too bad. Since running in 20F Friday, mid-30's seemed great. 6-7 miles total.

This brought my weekly total to nearly 22 miles. If we consider I didn't start until Wednesday, this is a good start to the new run frequently plan. I won't say my shins aren't tight. While it's too soon for weight numbers, I feel lighter. And like most times I run more, I'm more encouraged to eat somewhat more appropriately. Win, win, win. I'll take it.

Day Three

Quick update here.

It was harder to get out in 20 degress. Big picture, 20 is not so bad. But, just getting out in a brand new 20 for the year is more difficult. Check off day 3 though. I ran.

Day Two

Day two of the "run everyday" plan.

Three miles yesterday. Four today. Easy, repeatable runs.

Happy Turkey Day all.

Hate to Say It

I got punk'd. Some bug / virus had me sleeping on the floor of the bathroom for 12 - 16 hours.

Then when I felt better, work started falling out of the sky.

Now I'm not 100% (see work falling out of sky at 1am,4am,6am,etc).

Food-wise I need to be mindful of my opportunity to hit the reset button.

And the right thing to do (gasp) might be to (gasp) run for a while. Run daily. Run short, run medium, run lots slow, run fast a bit, run run run. I'll report back what happens.

I'm not totally out on Hell's Corner's CX race, but that weekend is piling up quite mightily.

What's the worst that could happen? My run might improve?

Thank You Run.

This morning I got up for a "Thank You" run. I was pleasantly surprised at the temperature. After letting the dog out and feeding her (the other dog sleeps in), I got set to go.

The Thank You run was down to the War Memorial (how ever far that is**) and back. I stopped to pay my respects. And on the way back, I had time to think about how lucky I am.

Thank you.

** For the numbers geeks, it was about 8 miles.

172+

What is it about guys and numbers?

I rode my tri bike on the trainer last night. I decided it needed some redeeming quality other than "much easier than rollers". So I popped the ol' cadence-o-meter on there. I spent some time just riding. Then I spent some time seeing what various cadences felt like. It's been some time since I used cadence, and I think I've improved my range over the year. Yay!

Who knows why, perhaps because it was my first day with it back on.. I had to find a max. It doesn't count of course, because I was shacking the bike all over and could barely read it. But it was in the 170's. Maybe next time I work on something like "max effective cadence".

Maybe it's better that I don't have a power meter.

Good luck Iceman entrants !! Go get 'em!!

As Good as it Gets

Setup: Estabrook Cyclocross Race.

I was looking forward to this one after the crash and burn last week in Washington Park. I thought I had a better chance on that one geared bike in Estabrook.

Pre-race variables:

Spent a good 12+ hours yesterday putting up a swing/play set for the wee ones. They better like it!! Climbing wall, swings, rope ladder, house... all kinds of fun! Then this morning I woke up a new kind of sore.. I couldn't put it together. Then 20-30 minutes after I woke up, I looked out and saw that set. AHHHH!! I guess that's what happens when you wait for coffee. I'm still terribly sore, hours later. Quick breakfast, plenty to drink and I head off for the race 1 mile or 2 from my house.

Onsite:

It's thinking about raining and finally decides to rain. Just enough to wet down the leaves and allow for a bit of mud on the well worn paths. I rode a couple easy warm up laps then signed up for cat4.

Maybe because it's the east side, but I got more comments on the Milwaukee than normal. I dig the bike, but I'm a bit shy on the legs it takes to race it. No worries, we're here to have fun!

Goals : Not last. And continue to improve my mount/dismount. Next year I can work on cornering...

How it went:

Well, I'm not entirely certain. But I think I accomplished "not last". I certainly passed some folks, though joked with others that they clearly had chucked their bikes and walked home in disgust after seeing me pass.. I must be the reaper (woo good costume idea for next Halloween CX).

I'll take the fact that I was "darn close" (or much closer) to not getting lapped at all as a win in my self competition world.

They added a few million (or 20) turns to the race, making it much more interesting in the rain. See also my need to work on cornering.. Apparently, one can have faster times if one brakes less often.. Go figure. (see also, why I think I have to get much better before I don't think I need a geared bike)..

Ran into the regular crew, Rick, Liz, Toolman, TCrosser, J, and a few others. It's the people that make this fun.

One last note: For those of you I suggested to go watch, I didn't see you. I hope you went after I headed for the b-day party. It's fun to watch!

The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Well, it was a tough day at the Washington Park cross races. When I have a good day, I stay with the back.. When I don't.. Here's an example of what unfolds.

The Good

Most of my mounts were much smoother than two weeks ago (which left TONS of room for improvement). All the costumage was wild. And the CX atmosphere was nice as usual. $1 brats topped it off as great. I ran into a good crew of bloggers and non-bloggers that didn't turn and run at the notion of sayin' "Hey" to JWM at the races.. Even if I am one of those "get lapped as a cat 4" guys. Skidmark gave me tips on getting the kids into bike racing. Rick listened to me engineer up several possible cheap ways to get a CX geared bike.. Several others too. That sums up the good.

The Bad

This could get kinda long.. So, I'll sum it up. I stuck with the other racers all the way up to the first hill (20-30 seconds into the race). Wherein I learned I should have ran it as my legs weren't ready to climb it on my gear choice. I spent the rest of the lap in visual sight of 2nd to last.. I was even catching him once in a while.. I was red-lined and trying to keep up. At the point of "maintain this and breakfast comes up", I decided to fall back a bit. It was over from there.. It's a nice long course, and it was a good while before I got lapped.. Still a tough day to swallow.

The Ugly

Well, I didn't toss breakfast.. so not much there. Some of the costumes were pretty wild. In comparison, last night I happened to be coming out of the Oriental Theater just before midnight Halloween weekend (think Rocky Horror Picture Show line).. WOW, nutz! And my without my camera. Minus 10,000 cool points for me. Plus, I now know I'm getting old. As I am so far from being in that line...


Ah.. and I stuck around long enough to see the cat 1-2 riders.. Wow! If you have the means, I highly recommend it.

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Last night I hopped on the rollers the second time "this season". In my head, rollers is one of my key off season things this go around. Last season I used them, I managed. I never felt near good. I could squeak by. I could do it with extreme concentration. I could do it without falling of (except that once). Do not watch Olympic luge while riding rollers your first season.

One hour and ten minutes on rollers. Time is my only quantitative assessment.

The feel. Somehow, I can already say I have a leg up on them. I'm better. Keeping in mind that one can't forget or get complacent with rollers. They will remind you (or at least me). I still have them next to a treadmill for a grip if I need it. I'm nowhere near setting them mid room and hopping on while watching The Matrix.

For those of you who are roller-less.. I'll make an impromptu list of why punks like us can/should do it:

• Riding in a straight line is free speed.
• There has to be some intangible we're getting by keeping the bike straight.
• When the front wheel spins... When you can ride off the side... It's infinitely more exciting than locking the rear wheel onto a dyno-meter, and falling asleep to SNL while pedlin'. I've been there too.
• I'm sure the biggest baddest 500 dollar rollers on the block are sweet. 60 bux to a coworker that no longer uses his old Minoura's works pretty well too. My personal experience is medium sized Aluminum rollers are fine. I've never used the really cheap poly ones.
  
• People think you're some new kind of crazy. (as if they don't already)
• Smooth, fast circles. Oh the beauty. (x - x')^2 + (y - y')^2 = r^2 (where (x',y') are the center and r is the radius.
  
• Because you don't do them now. Adding them will probably help.
• One day you might be that person. No need for something to balance on mid-room. Watching The Matrix. And just dead center on the rollers.

Enough promo.. you could always check out some drills.

So, pick up a pair. Find a hallway or door way. And have at it.

The Mud, The Blood, and the Beer (Cyclocross racin')

The MUD

The Place: Badger Prairie Park (Verona, Wisconsin).. My last race went through Verona too. So, I had to do this one.

The numbers: 20 bux + 10 for 1 day pass. 30 minutes of racin' (or LT testing).

Weather.. 50F 50% chance of rain.. It was at least raining 50% of the time. Woot! Real live CX weather!

Goals: Not lose site of someone. Anyone.. Go home in once piece.

Lined up w/ 60 or so other riders in cat 4. R. Tool man was afraid I'd do too well as one of them "triathletes". So he let the air outta my tires. Right there with me on the bike at the start line. He said something about mud, and I didn't have time to air them back up before the race. They say go! I'm going easy for the first lap to figure out how to ride mud, and because I didn't pre-ride the course.

This was a good single speed course, minus the mud. It woulda been fast if it was dry.

I HAVE TO work on the mounts. I more or less know how to mount. And I'm thankful to Velonews video to explain you are not to jump up in the air and have your feet race your important parts to the bike. I can get off the bike easy.. getting back on.. well I might as well be waiting for someone to give me a push.

Lap 2, I settled into a groove. Three or four of us trade for last place a few times. I was doing pretty well (relative), in front of that gang on lap 3. Near the end of the lap, out of nowhere I was in the mud, sliding on the ground. Second from last yelled, "GET UP!". I did so, but quick. Run, remount.

Having been lapped and near (or over) 30 minutes, I was done at 3 laps.. I was expecting to go around again one more, so I was holding back coming up to the line a bit. Next time.

Special thanks to the announcer who noticed me right about the time I was "practicing" my mount technique on every lap. It was nice to be recognized.

Goal met. I stuck w/ those 3-4 riders and wasn't totally alone at the end. Right now, lapped is just part of the gig, at least until I put together mounting technique.

I will continue to lust for a sweet geared CX bike. I need to pay some dues first.

Tri-heads who aren't with the program. This could be some killa off season training. I'm sure after a few weeks of this, my LT must improve.

The BLOOD

Post race: I grabbed a bagel. I stuck the knife in my hand when I cut it up. No big deal. Just a scrape.. But, I like the title.

The BEER

I fully intend on cracking one of my favorite Lakefront Pumpkin Lager's open tonight post dinner.


The Prizes

Well, 30 bux and 30 minutes of riding hard... and I won a free Giro E2 helmet to show for it. Raffle style. Perfect!

How To Convince Yourself to Do a Cyclocross Race.

Excuse: you don't have the legs to pull off "newbie Singlespeed Cross race"
Fix: Get a smaller gear than you had. Had 42x17, now 38x18. I may not keep up, but it won't be for the same reasons.

Excuse: You just did a 140.6 mile race. And you're supposed to recover.
Fix: It's been a month. Go to a race, get spit out the back. Maintain, "still recovering" as an excuse.
Long shot on this one: Race into shape. Be so so by the time home course (Estabrook) advantage rolls in.

Excuse: Dismounting, mounting speed and/or success rate.
Fix: Practice. I did today at Estabrook Park. Dismounting got better. Mounting most certainly did not.

Excuse: General fear of crashing.
Fix: Keep riding.

Here's to hanging on this year.

Spectating Shevegas Part 3

The is one sweet bike being pushed up that hill! Bring it tool guy.

And here would be the way to get the bike up so you can really run. This is sheer focus within 8 seconds of her rival. Nice work MK!

Side note: Pics never do these extreme hills / dirt walls justice.. but you can tell by the look of those going up, it was not a joke.

Spectating Shevegas Part 2

How it's done.

The setup for how NOT to do it. (passing on the right)

Turns out the snap noise was indeed the helmet breaking in 3 places. Score one for helmets.

Be safe.

Spectating Shevegas Part 1

Well, I decided to get out and get some fresh air. I gave my better half the day off. I took the kids over to the final WORS race of the season. I figured I'd haul my new camera along too, while I'm at it. Well, I made a TON of rookie mistakes on the so called photo shoot. But, I got to say "Hi" to some peeps who seldom see proof this blog is written by much other than a computer and a random text generator.

Lesson 1:

I have a TON of photos that look like this. Yes, these bikers are fast. But, dang if I couldn't have looked at some results in between taking 100 bad pics.

This one turned out better than the rest on accident. Next time, crank up the ISO and follow the biker with the lens. Blurry background will look much better than a non-existent rider.

Thanks TmonT and son for pointing out said sweet location. The kids had a blast following you guys around, even though all they could do was talk about how strong and fast they are. When they get the training wheels off, you will have to tell them to put up!

More lessons to come.

All This Time

Complete consternation over cyclocross gear choice. And I could have just hit up Sheldon Brown for advice.

"Choose a good gear. This obviously is the key. You want to chose a gear that lets you not get dropped too badly on the flats and allows you to ride as much as possible on the hills. If you have to get off your bike you better be able to run well (see above). I find a 2:1 is best for me. Although I could see going a bit higher as I get faster. Travis Brown runs a much higher than 2:1, but he is a machine and a half. Being a mere machine, 34:17 works well for me, although I am going to try some races in the 34 16 soon. i think if you are running anything less than 2:1 you need to be able to spin like a mad bastard, consistently through the whole race."

Given that and someone told me "Yeah, I rode 42x17 just fine." I take responsibility for listening. But it's time to switch up from 2.5:1 to closer to 2:1.

And, if I don't get sick from this 0 hours of sleep last night for work, I'm recklessly eyeballing the CX races on the 13Th or 14Th.

Please excuse any mistakes made in this post as I have more or less been on a spirit quest since getting off work.

What the heck is cyclocross?

A question from a loyal reader deserves an answer. Unfortunately, I have only limited knowledge on this subject. Here is what I do know:

• If you wear your HRM, you will learn what your 1 hour threshold is.
• You must be able to run.
• You really must be able to bike.
• Think road bike with knobby tires.
• Think mud.
• Think about a 1-2 mile loop with 3-6 opportunities to practice your bike/run/bike transitions on each loop.
• You're probably racing against good mountain bikers or roadies that had a bad season and want to take it out on the race course. If you don't think this is true, look at their faces.
  
• If they didn't have bad seasons.. Well, they are there too.
• It's all in good clean (usually muddy) fun.

And, since I can't be much help. Here are other resources.

Well that video link didn't work too well on format.. So please go check out Velonews TV and click on "How To" for the CX "How to's".

Then once you learn the technique.. It might look more like this on race day...



At least go watch one!

For the CXers listening.. What's the smallest single speed gear I have a chance at keeping up with anyone in cat4? More gears isn't likely in the budget this year.

Shake it OUT!

Sometimes you just have to shake it out. Learn from the dog.

(Plus sometimes you can't help playing with the new camera)

PSA: Avoiding Bike Thieves

The real public service announcement here is if you haven't seen Strongbad, you need to.

If you are into not getting your bike stolen, then start with this recent episode. I'm not sure if it will help you keep your bike. But the pink SS mountain bike looks kinda keen.

Other favorites: Dragon, Video Game

Split Personality

It's post Ironman. I'm only 10 days out.

Cyclocross season starts sooner than I will be ready. It just might be long enough that I try to get a race in.

My Ironman goal is in the bag. My weight goal is not. Running works on fat. It would be easy to get up every day and just toss on shoes to run.

I still need some recovery. I'm on-call at work again, just in time. So a few good swims next week would probably be a great way to eek back into working out.

Part of me just wants to pick one and work it. I've been doing sport balance all year. It's time to just break down and ride, or run. It's tough to give up two (for a few months) of them after so long.

Last night, I did some organizing. The rollers are setup in the basement. All I have to do is wake up, and hop on. Perfect! Just what I need.

Top 10 Reasons the Cyclists that read this blog should try Ironman

You certainly don't have to. There are easily a top 10 of why not to do it. But, I'd be remiss not to mention these.

1. You are probably from Wisconsin too. This is one local race not to be missed.
2. Ever seen the TdF? Picture going up the hill on the way into Verona with crowds lined on either side, a foot or two away, cheering you on! Where else does this happen? Pardon me if you have actually raced in the TdF.
3. You could probably do the bike section in less than 8 hours drinking and standing on your head.
4. Buy a wetsuit, the swim isn't that bad. Just don't forget to lubricate. If you're really slow, start out front and just grab ankles all the way!
   
5. If you decide it's not worth it for the medal.. You can bow out for the marathon. The bike was all you wanted anyway.
6. If you didn't bow out, you get to run through Camp Randall. Maybe even up Observatory hill (or walk). Camp Randall on the field is something else.
7. There is a remote chance you will get weather as good as I did.
8. If you are semi-single, there is a shot there will be an Iron person in distress. Then you're buds can stop sending your super-mate pictures on their blogs.
   
9. Remember the scene I described going up the hill in Verona? The finish line is even more packed with crowds, in less space. There are stands full of cheering Iron-maniacs. It's a rush!
10. See 2 and 9, that's worth 3/10.

Peace. Hoping to recover for CX season.

Ironman Wiscosin Race Report

This is it. The long and the short. One year in the making. Some might say I've had my eye on this since the first Ironman Wisconsin back in 2002.

Here is the very short version:

swim 1:48:13 / 391 age group / 2149 over all,
bike 7:54:22 / 382 age group / 2057 over all,
run 6:14:31 / 368 age group / 1981 over all,
Total 16:15:10 // 377/399 age group // 2039/2209 over all


Pre-race:

I set three alarms to 3:30 A.M. It didn't take me long to go to sleep. I worried that meant I was tired, but I just had the low power usage thing down. The body knew something was coming..

Race morning..

I woke up to some kid noise at 1:30 am.. I took this as a good opportunity to drink my fabulous liquid Ensure breakfast. Eating early helps. I would not be trying to get rid of a 4:30 breakfast at 6:15. And once the wetsuit is on, it gets tougher.

I took the shuttle to the terrace, and was at the transition area at 5am sharp! Good. I took my sweet time doing almost everything. It was great how at Ironman you are forced to bag and tag it everything. There isn't much to think about race morning. It's all done. I loaded up the bike with a bottle of Hammer Gel (26oz straight up, yea!), one 22oz Gatorade bottle, one 22oz water bottle. I borrowed a tire pump from a fellow Crucible guy three bikes down. Then I was good to go. Now, I had almost too much time (greatly preferred to the alternative). I ran into James (Joe's buddy from MN). He looked calm and set. I started down the ramp. No, not yet. I don't want to sit by or in the water too long. I went back to look at the bike one more time for sanity sake. Back at the bike everything was fine. OK, time to get back out of transition area. Hey, there's Joe. We chatted it up a bit. We realized our bikes were next to each other. Good luck Joe.! A few deep breaths and I'm heading back down the ramp.

I went down and laid on a little hill in the grass for a bit. Finally I decided to get my wetsuit half on. Very few folks were getting in the water at this point. It's a small ramp to get out there, so it does take 2200 folks a while to do so once they decide to go. I get the idea it's time to go, and so do the other 2199 entrants. It took much longer than I thought to get out into the water. I saw Ali and said " good luck" or something I hope she took as well wishing. The national anthem played while we got in the water. It was very emotional. It was a beautiful day. By this time, I had adrenaline gushing through my veins. I think I hid it well and stayed relatively calm considering. I knew I needed to save my energy.

Once in the water, I just laid back and waited. I did not line up in the very back. There was a pretty good bunch up at the front. Behind the front, mostly a folks scattered all over behind that wall of go getters. I think I ended up pretty close to the dead middle. For non-Ironman folks reading this, the middle is told to be about the worst spot to line up. It really didn't seem like many were around.

THE SWIM



POP! The canon goes off! OK, this is it. Deep breath, count to two. I hit my stopwatch and go! It occurs to me that all Timex Ironman watches should have a built in timer from 7am to midnight. Oh well.

I start swimming, next to (it seems like) no one. Oh wait, there they all are. Now I'm finding out what the washing machine is all about. I think I could learn to open water swim pretty well if I could just do an Ironman swim every couple weeks or so! I had switched up to my sleeveless wetsuit, as it was 74 or something silly warm (compared to Racine). My arms thanked me for it. My armpits were really PO'd that I forgot the body glide (wetsuit to skin lube). Pain incurred on the swim doesn't necessarily go away the rest of the day. This is especially true if you forget the Body Glide.

The best intel I had says I hung in with the ( or a ) pack there for a while on the swim. It was a bit daunting. I would site, get going good for a bit, then WHAM! Some "clown dressed in a seal costume" would stop in front of me. They got their penance for stopping. I had to start up again from zero. Also, my sighting was "OK" when it was more crowded (on the 1st lap).. I thought I was doing well, but had NO clue on time.. I looked at my watch at lap 1 turn which said close to 50 min (right around my 1/2 Ironman swim time). I figured (hoped) I'd swim about the same on the second, as I wasn't killing myself or anything. Though I had never really swam farther than say 2500 yards. The second loop did thin out, though I"m not sure how. Maybe some of the folks I swam with had cut and run on loop one. I was probably on pace for 1:40-1:45 until turn three, where I went way wide. For whatever reason, I spent a long time trying to get back in near the buoys. I kept leaning to the outside. Eventually, I got back in. Turning that last corner and seeing the swim finish was something else. I hadn't looked at my watch, but I somehow knew I was going to make it. At the same time, that must have been the longest few hundred yards I've ever swam.

Crazy first Ironman note on the swim. I didn't wear the tinted goggles. I don't know why. On the trip back, the sun was making spots in my eyes. The crazy part, the spots looked like M-dots. Yeah, I know what it sounds like. I laughed under water.

Oh yeah... 1:48:13 could have been much worse. But, I didn't get any free cushion on the bike or run for finishing the swim early!

T-1



I will take running up the helix at Ironman over the sand run at Racine. It wasn't too bad, maybe because I was so dang happy.

In spite of scoping out the transition area, and having Joe go over the details. I knew I wasn't really going to get it until the spectacular volunteers just pointed me true. They, of course, did so. It did look like the biggest transition area I'd ever seen. It was. It flew by quickly. I made no mad rush to get in and out. I just made deliberate and purposeful forward movement. Shoes, gloves, arm warmers (planning for the run mostly), extra sunscreen, Porto-let to get rid of excess fluid. 9:59.. talk about going sub 10!!

THE BIKE



WOW! Is this a beautiful course on a beautiful day? Yes! One couldn't have ordered better anything that day. Up until Racine, I thought I was rocking on the bike. After Racine, I hit a wall and thought I was going to have trouble getting the course done on time. I had a little light shed on me those last few weeks of training. All in all I knew I needed a good day, and still didn't know quite what would happen. I did as coach said and just sat on it. Biked at zone 1 effort, "easy". Get to mile 18 of the run was my mantra. None of the problems I had were bike related. It was all comfort. My neck was better than it had been in Racine, but it still crept in on that second lap. My back was getting the best of me too. My feet hurt. The last 30 miles they really, really hurt. I stood up on some of the later hills just to give my back a break. I wasn't mashing, it is possible to stand and not overdo it (thanks to fixed gear riding). In the name of "racing my race" I didn't flinch when Frank passed me on the bike. That guy is absolutely amazing. Just keep moving, I will get there.

I freaked out a bit when I started doing Ironman math. I read a mileage sign wrong on the bike and thought I was going to have to high tail it. The next sign (5 miles later) just indicated I couldn't read. Five miles is a long time to worry about missing the bike cutoff. The lesson here, "Don't do math during a triathlon."

Also note.. I can (or did) descend (almost) with the pros. I got lapped by my share of pros on the bike (easy to do when your swim is near 2 hrs and they start 10 min early). I was taking the downhills and not totally losing them. This means they must have me by a mile or 43 on the power/weight ratio, climbing, and cornering ability. I was getting frustrated with a few folks that would pass me on uphills and stay left for the downhill with their rusty hubs, lightweight bodies and/or outright fear of sliding down the hill in only their tri-suit. Least they could do is move right while I use my weight to power ratio on them. Not to mentioned a well lubed steel bike, and sweet aerodynamic wheels. On the other hand, it wasn't worth killing myself to try to pass over the line at 40-50mph. (I had no targeting computers turned on. My speed is all a guess).

That last 15-20 miles I can honestly say I never wanted to run a marathon so bad in my life. It hurt. I had hoped to go faster on the bike, but I will take a finish and the ability to run over anything I consider a respectable bike time hands down.

Time : 7:54:22



T2



Similar to T1.. I put my shoes on twice, as I decided to change socks after I tied my shoes the first time. I sent the help for a scissors to cut the reflective tape. I knew I was gonna make it, so I didn't quibble over a minute or 2. Pics were taken by the family. Stopped at the can again, because it was there.

Time: 8:05. If I was doing this race again, the transition times could go way down.

Note at this point, my feet off the bike felt like they had been broken. They hurt that bad. As in "I can't walk" type hurt. Fortunately, I had felt this pain before at Racine (once or twice). I knew that run shoes and some running can make it go away (and new pain in place of it). So, I carried on.

THE RUN



Here is where the rubber hits the road. A mile or two of real running and my feet did feel better. Phew!! I hit my lap button once in a while at the mile markers. The first one indicated "10:xx" WHOA!! Dude Slow *** Down!!!! Maybe 10:xx pace sounds slow to some of y'all, but you haven't been on JWM's training runs this year. I should been running easy 11:30s at the start of the marathon. I did slow down for mile two (or the marker was more right). I kept running. On the uphills I was fine with walking. It was part of keeping my effort down. I was chided by someone that "knows Strauss and will tell him I'm walking", but I carried on. At this point, I was happy with my run/walk ratio, it was respectable for my training. Many spectators thought I looked strong (most even thought I was on loop 2, ugh!). I saw Strauss (on State st.) at mile 6 or 7 (when you head back up the other side of the capitol). He ran up and said, "Looking good. Now just count the backs of the people you pass. Focus on the backs." Great, I'm in. I bought it.

... .. ... .. ... .. ...

Now for years I have heard that the chicken soup is magical or something. Well it did some magic on me. Nothing horrid. But, It put me on the "slow down, you need to do some digestion and think" track. For me slow down means walk. I decided I had too much fluid. I was slightly "off". I could feel it. I was proud/lucky to identify it. I skipped fluids at a few aid stations. I walked more than ran for a bit. I regained my composure. I ended up waffling in and out of "too much water" a few times, as I didn't know a better way to get calories than coke and oranges. The occasional Gatorade would put me teetering on the edge again. I will dare say, hadn't it been for these new developments I was on plan to laser focus this run thing down and "run" much of the marathon. But it wasn't in the cards. 2 hours and roughly 50 minutes at the 1/2 (not bad when my 1/2 run PR is 2:27 or so). I found some mental spots I hadn't ever been in. I locked my eyes forward and went. If I had to walk, I often needed a downhill to start running again, then I just made it so stopping wasn't an option. Momentum was responsible for most of my motion on the run.

At this point I'd like to interject here.. I'd love to be one of the fast guys. Most have been working at swimming, biking and/or running all their lives. That's why they are the fast guys at this distance. To truly fast, I'm certain you have to do the mental lock and load. It did occur to me that some "faster" folks at least have the option of entertaining slowing down and still finishing. For me I was racing the clock all friggin' day and there was pressure to NOT STOP moving, OR else. I consider this part of why my race was a success. Listened to TTN and many others that said, just keep moving, "stopping is not an option". If I would have done so, I wouldn't have made it.. Yes it was hard to have a 78 year old guy pass me on the bike, my supposed favorite discipline. At the same time, finishing and covering the distance was bliss.

Run Time: 6:14:31

Also note that my run place was better than my bike place. This was a first for me in any triathlon, I'm sure. I don't think that happens to a ton of first time Ironman participants. The run is where everyone dies or wins.

THE FINISH



Also, thank you all!! You were all out there with me. I can't even remember when / where you all were, but you were there. I distinctly recall my late father out there on much of the bike, my entire family, TTN, Dre', Steve's son Derek, Homer Simpson "I can't believe I'm running a marathon! OOOOH I'm hitting the wall.", DZ and J from 14k up on a rock, Tri-teacher, MC, V-girl, rtt, Ali, Cimit, Steve (got2run), Doug, Jim, Rich Strauss, those of you actually there cheering and rooting, my neighbors, that guy that rode his bike the same rainy day I did, those who did Ironman before me and helped, those who looked to me and said "you first", and many, many, many, many others. I'm writing this off the cuff, so I'm sorry I can't pull where you were on the course out from memory, but rest assured if you're reading this, you were out there with me. A BIG Thank you to you all!

And my biggest supporters were out there everywhere.



I give. I gotta get sleep. Apparently, work found out I can endure tough stuff for 16 hours straight.

IMWI Collage made with Animoto

Wow! What a perfect site for triathlon type photo collages... Animoto

This is a 1st try with just a few pictures from Ironman Wisconsin..

Fat Tire

Good luck all you Fat Tire riders. Go get 'em! I'll be holed up here sorting out pictures for my forth coming race report.

Best advice I can steal and give you. "Maintain a sense of purpose."

The Setup..

I made it to Madison. Ready for Ironman Wisconsin. All the work is done. What a great venue. Friday and Saturday were filled with a surprising number of signs that Ironman was looming. On my way to the hotel Friday night, I knew it was about 2.4 miles (swim distance) to the hotel from where I was.. I looked down at the "last gas fill up" odometer in the car to gauge when I should look for Rimrock road. The odometer read 140.6 when I looked down. Wooooooo. (cue eerie music).

Also on Friday, I ran into this...


My limited bug experience says it's a praying mantis. Seemed appropriate.

The bike was still at the hotel.. But the racks were up and waiting.


Enough looking around. I checked in and got all my loot. Only to have to go back to the hotel and figure out where stickers go.. Don't put them in the wrong spot, or you might not get your Hammer Gel on race day.



OK, here are the secrets of a first time Ironman athlete.. I tried to keep it simple. What is the minimum I need. No kitchen sinks. Suit, shoes, helmet, shoes, race #'s, and socks. No, I'm not hardcore enough to try Ironman without socks.



I'm not an M-dot tattoo kinda guy. But, I did put this temporary one on so my peeps could find me. Alas, I think it worked once before race day, but no one on race day said anything.



All branded up, and pumped to go. My family showed up. We hit dinner. Then it was back for an early 9:30pm bedtime. I set every alarm I had for 3:30 AM. Unexpectedly I went to sleep quickly. I woke up once at 1:30 AM for breakfast (1 bottle of Ensure). Creamy chocolate is NOT the same as chocolate. In truth, neither are wildly delicious.

Give me time, I'll come up with some description of race day. Safe to say, I was feeling good. I was excited. And I was doing a pretty decent job of staying calm at that point.

One last look around..

I'm heading out to Madison bright and early. I think I have 99% of my stuff. If I don't, I really hope I'm not missing something important or expensive.

I'm excited. Quietly cautious. Optimistic. Expecting to get hit in the face with some reality. I did what I did, and if what I am now is not trained enough, then so be it. Time to smile, grab on, put the toes in the sand and wait for the gun to go off.

Just keep moving.