Rianman

So I saw my first Olympic distance tri this morning. Note, I said saw, NOT did.  My friend Rian, aka Rianman, was doing it as a prep race for the Ironman 70.3 Kansas in a few weeks.  I gotta say, it was amazing to watch and part of me wanted to be out there with them.

It was a gorgeous day and a gorgeous course in and around Longview Lake.  The first thing that I saw this morning was the swim course and frankly it scared the crap out of me.  “0.93 miles – holy crap, that’s flipping long!” I said to myself as I looked at the buoys way out in the lake.  Rian, forever the optimist, responded, “Hey you can do that – heck the half ironman swim distance is only 1.2 miles.”  Sure enough, when Rian came out of the water 31 minutes later, he looked really good – just a tad worse for wear, but looking strong.  It’s going to be a bitch, but I know that I can do this. 

Seeing Rian and the rest of the competitors out on the bike and run portions of the course made me want to be out there even more.  I’m a much stronger cyclist and runner than a swimmer, so seeing all of the guys and girls whiz by was an incredibly cool experience.  I was out photographing Rian, and was able to see him zoom by twice on the bike and twice on the run.  The four times that I saw him, he looked really good and seemed to be having fun – the way I’d love to feel when I do my Olympic this August.

Rian – congrats on having a great race.  I’m looking forward to seeing you kick some serious butt in Lawrence!

Kalifornia

I just got back from visiting my family out in California, so kept the training to a minimum this weekend.  I wish that I could have brought my bike or did a little swimming in the ocean, but it just didn’t happen. I know that it sounds romantic, but the Pacific in Central California not conducive to swimming unless you’re a shark or lunch for a shark.  Biking?  Well, would have been great, but hauling La Machina out there would have been a tad expensive.  So I resorted to doing a little running.

My first (and last) opportunity to run came when I was down at my mother’s house in Los Osos – a little beach community midway between SF and LA.   On Monday morning I headed out for a nice comfortable 6 miler.  It was absolutely gorgeous weather (as defined by a guy who grew up in the fog) – about 55, no wind, a tad bit foggy – great for staying hydrated and cool.   About two blocks from the house, I ran past a homeless guy carrying a 2x4.  Being the good Midwesterner I am, I cheerily say, “Good Morning!”  No response aside from a grunt.  Nice.  I keep going.  At about mile two, I start seeing more people.  I pass another jogger.  “Morning!” No reply - just a stare at the ground. I see a cyclist on the trail; I smile at him – no acknowledgement.  Ok, so Californians just aren’t as friendly as Midwesterners – ah yes, I remember that!  So I keep running and eventually finish my 6 mile loop refreshed and feeling satisfied that I burned off that massive breakfast I had the day before.  Not quite the dream run I expected, but still a really nice departure from running through subdivisions in OP and Leawood.

As many of you know, I’m a former San Franciscan.  I grew up there; I used to love it there.  Now every time I go back, I’m absolutely disgusted and I can’t wait to pass through the door into the fuselage of my homeward bound flying bus.  Yup, SF and the Bay Area is a great place to visit (I guess), but I could never live there (again).  Too many weird people, too filthy (Naples is just about cleaner), too expensive ($53 nightly hotel parking, $24 GLASSES of wine, and $750,000 teardowns just aren’t fashionable - at least for a guy like me).  Sure the scenery is gorgeous; the weather is perpetually nice; yes the food rocks; and damn I love wine…but I’ll take the Midwest over my former home any day!

Ah…its (Foto)Friday!

TGIF everyone!  Time to shut down the PC at work, head home and do exactly what you want to do for a few nice relaxing days!  To that end, I’m keeping it brief today…very brief.

Yup…all you’ll get out of me is a killer photo that I took while I was in Italy a few years back.  This is a shot of a park in the city of Padua taken at dawn.  And yes, the sky was that color…no Photoshop on this one.  Enjoy!  And have a great 3 day (or more) weekend

An Ass Kicking....

...is by any other name, still an ass kicking.

So this morning was CIC Swim.   A nice little Wednesday morning ritual that involves getting my ass kicked in a pool.  How does one get his/her ass kicked in a pool?  You pay good money to have a 7 time Ironman make you do a grueling pool workout.

On today’s menu:  300 eter warmup, followed by something sadistic called a ladder.  A ladder involves swimming 400 meters, then 300, then 200, then 100, with a measly 30 second rest between each set.  As if a ladder wasn’t enough, it was followed by a few more 100 m drills to work on arm stroke, some work with a kickboard, followed up by 150 m of cool down.  When I was talking to Jene’ after the workout was done, I felt sweat beading off my forehead.  Who would have thunk you could sweat under water? 

Fast forward 12 hours.  I hop on my bike after work and do a quick spin.  A spin being defined as a somewhat hilly 20 miler.  Normally not a bad ride, but today my shoulders and arms are sore from the pool workout and because they’re sore, my lower back is sore because I’m not holding my form correctly.  Go figure.

Tired…yup.  Feeling good…yup.  Some well deserved couch time tonight…yup.  Running tomorrow morning…yup.

Heritage Park Duathlon – I Did a Du

For those of you out there that don’t know what a duathon is, it’s a triathlon where the swim portion is substituted by another run portion.  Yes, I could have done it as a tri, but if you were me would you have swam in a 56 degree lake that’s known in the tri community as “Goose Poop Lake”.  I think not.

As I walked my bike into a foggy Heritage Park this past Sunday, I was a wee bit nervous.  I was a fish out of water – I was among a bunch of studs and studettes. As I racked my bike and prepared my transition area, I spied a few Mdot tattoos and saw bikes that probably cost more than my truck.  Holy crap…what had I gotten myself into?  Then among the fog, I saw a few people just like me:  no $1200 disc wheels on their bikes, no fancy tri suits, just ordinary Joe’s and Jane’s getting themselves ready for a race.  I felt better.

At about 6:30, Christy, Rian and Natalie showed up with lattes in their hands.  I asked Rian to take a look at my transition area. He smiled and said “Yup, you got it…looks good”.  Those words meant a lot to me.  Rian is not only a good friend of mine, but also my mentor…he’s not only done a bunch of sprint and Olympic distance tris before, he’s done the big daddy…an Ironman.  I guess he noticed that I was nervous, because the next words were great.  “Feeling good?  You’ll do fine. Just have fun”

At about 7, I said bye to them and headed of to the run start at the dam.  I waited for a few mins, looking down at the first wave of swimmers getting ready in the water and before I knew it, I heard the starting gun go off.  I started running.  I very deliberately kept my pace well below my 5k race pace and enjoyed the moment.  I was having fun! Before I knew it, two miles were up and I entered the transition area to hop on the bike. 

My transition took a lot longer than I expected as I almost took off without my cleats on.  Um…if that wasn’t a rookie move!  As I headed out of T1, I was feeling great – I was in my element. I love the bike. As I biked up the first few hills outside of the park, I was hauling and having a great time.  As I entered the park again, I took a sip of water and looked down at my bike computer…my heart rate was 163…I was barely pushing myself.  I was warned over and over again not to push myself on the bike for fear of killing my final run. Before I knew it, the bike was done and I was into T2.

T2 went really well and I was off on the run. My legs felt a tad wobbly, but I soon settled into my pace. The 5k course was deceptively hilly, but nothing like the hills that Eladio makes us run up.  Before I knew it, I was heading across the dam and to the finish.  When I crossed the finish line I saw my wife Christy, Rian and Natalie. Rianman shook my hand, congratulated me and said “Feeling good?  Did you enjoy it?”  Yup…I had a blast.  I’m hooked!  Next up: Shawnee Mission.

I'm Baaaack!

First off my apologies - It’s been way too long since I've updated this blog – work and life have kept me away from my PC.  So today’s entry will be a combo of FotoFriday and a quick update on my tri training.

FotoFriday:  This pic is one of my favorite places in the world to visit:  Switzerland.  Specifically it’s a pic of some of the mountains in northeast Switzerland in a area called Appenzell.  Yup, the sky really is that clear, the grass really is that green, and yes, if the pic had audio you’d hear cowbells ringing. Enjoy!

The meat and potatoes:  I have my first official Tri this weekend – Heritage Park.  Ok, so it’s really a Du (run, bike, run) but hey, its outside and there will be a lot of people wearing spandex coming out of a really grungy lake and hopping on bikes.  So why a du rather than a tri?  The lake..  The lake where the swim portion of the tri takes place is known jokingly as Goose Poop Lake.  Jene', my tri coach, puked there last year because the water was so nasty – she’s one tough chick, so if she’s puking, you know it’s horrible.  As a compromise, I'm doing the du – 2 mile run, 11.5 mile bike, and 3 mile run.  I'm really looking forward to this one.  I've ridden the course and it looks really nice – some hills, but very doable.  The run course looks fairly flat on the map (but maps can be deceptive).  I’ve also got quite a cheering section:  Christy, April, Cooper and Stacie will all be in attendance.  Say your prayers and keep your fingers crossed for me! I’ll post the details next week.

Foto Friday

OK, so I have to admit it - I stole this idea from another blog that I read. I know, its not real cool to plagiarize, but this is the web and hey- isn't imitation the sincerest form of flattery?

So here's the deal:  I'm a Renaissance man.  I run, I bike, I swim (well kind of), I rebuild houses, I SCUBA, I cook, I know wine...get the idea?  Well, I also love photography and travel, so to that end, I'm going to post a photo every Friday.  They'll probably mostly be travel photographs, but hey, I get to change my mind whenever I want to. And yes, I know, this blog is about my quest to be a triathlete, but its my blog and I make up the rules...so enjoy the pictures!

BTW:  The pic is of Dunbrody Abbey in County Wexford on the south coast of Ireland.  I took it during our trip last Fall.  Enjoy!