My New Coach

Well, I've pretty much taken the Ironman training as far as I can on my own. I joined Mark Allen Online last week and started their program yesterday. So far, so good.

Pre-Race Non-Cents

Fellers - T minus 80 some odd days. Incredible. Is it right that I actually remember their being a 200-something on the timer...? Anyway, just went for a long run around Nice, then to the IM expo, and it reminded me of some of my strongest memories from Canada. For what it is worth I thought I would share as people start planning.

Maybe it will be a little different bc Madison is much bigger - but I distinctly remember the pre-race environment. We drove into Penticton on (I think) Tues or Weds. I remember hitting the town edge and seeing tons of tricked out bikes, all sorts of shaved legs, and more spandex than you can shake a stick at. All week just walking around, going to lunch, etc was an experience. We'd get up - do something - nap - do something - nap - do something....

I have a commitment in Germany the last week of August, first week of Sept - and T will be teaching - but I am going to try to get to Madtown as soon as possible to soak in the experience.

12 Miler

Fellers - took my hybrid mountain bike (Raleigh) for a spin last night, and had some self control issues. I was just going to go around the block, and maybe up the greenway a bit but ended up biking into Uptown (12 miles round trip). It was such a beautiful night, I couldn't resist. Paying for it today. Ankle is pretty sore, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. It was sweet. Forgot about the bugs though. Gotta get me some clear glasses I think if I'm going to be biking at dusk through lakes and or streams.

Liberty Race Report

Sorry for the length, please skip if you have anything brewin'..especially since most of you have heard some or all of these stories.

Pre-race:
My morning routine went well, got out of the house on time and only forgot one thing, a gel flask and velcro holster that attaches to my bike. A bummer but nothing major. I got real nervous on the way to the race but settled down after being on site. First mistake happened when Cronz offered me some sunscreen. I happened to be pulling on my wetsuit at the time so I declined. And then for some reason I took off my wetsuit after the swim?! What was I thinking? Everybody wears their wetsuit on the bike/run, duh. Well, this unconventional race strategy caused some serious cooking of the shoulders. Well played.

Swim:
Started out in a spastic panic and tried desperately gasping for air in lieu of bilateral breathing. After calming down I got into somewhat of a groove and there was less contact than I expected. One time I got clocked in the head pretty good, and I did swim directly (as in forehead first) into a bouy. Did you know they use those ab exercise balls as bouys? Me neither. A couple times on the way back I tried to look behind me and I never saw anyone, so I was pretty positive I was literally going to be last out of the water. But, I finished in 45:51 and was happy with that time.

Bike:
The first ten miles were the most fun I've ever had on a bike. I tried to save my legs on the downhills and coasted much more than I expected. Since I forgot my gel flask I was only taking liquids (perpetuem and water) and I was holding up a lot better than I expected. My legs felt strong all throughout and my HR stayed low. After 40 miles or so people stopped passing me and I started to wonder if I was the last person on the bike course. Towards the end of the ride my stomach started to rumble and I was having some belly cramps by the time I got off.

Run:
My stomach was pretty much knotted up by the time I came out of T2 so I decided to hold off on the liquid and take a gel, which went down alright. Tried a little pertpetuem about 20 minutes later and it didn't go down very well so I figured I would hold off again until the stomach settled. I made it to the turn around feeling really good and decided since there was less than hour I could push a little. I was feelin' good and passing people and then the wheels came off. Stomach completely cramped up and I felt like I was going to puke. I tried to back off the pace but it wasn't helping and I decided to walk for a stretch. That was at mile 9 and I never recovered. The final four miles were a combination of walk, shuffle, trot, jog, repeat.

I was really discouraged after the race because I had to walk so much. I was happy with my overall time (6:19:16) but I wish I could've run it out. Now that I'm a few days removed I'm feeling better about the race. I realize that drinking one bottle of perpetuem and eating one gel isn't really a "nutrition plan."

So, lessons learned. Remember your gel flask, wear your wetsuit for the whole race (or use sunscreen) and bringing nutrition is not a nutrition plan.

Word to the herd.

Liberty

Awesome showing today fellas at Liberty.  Very enjoyable to see you guys rock it out this morning.  Wish I could have stayed longer.  Click on the title to link to the pictures I took today.  Wish there were more because some of them turned out pretty cool looking.  In case anyone has any trouble with that, let me know and I can send you a link 

Same as I posted on my own blog

Some of you are not going to understand. "OK, the Moderator of Meet the Press died, who really cares?" Well, I do. There are very few people from the media or pop culture who have a deep meaning to me, and to be honest, there are no other journalists who I would give a rats ass about. The next in line to Tim Russert in my mind was Tom Brokaw/Peter Jennings, and with both of those guys, I would read the obit and move on (That is what I did with Jennings.

But Tim Russert had a much more significant meaning to me. In case you didn't know, Tim Russert was from Buffalo, South Buffalo to be exact (So is Wolf Blitzer I found out tonght. If any of you have been to Buffalo recently, Buffalo is a town down on its luck. Since 1983 (and I can still remember the headline in the Buffalo News the day it occured, the Steel Mill closed and the City has been in decline ever since. Kids graduate from High School, leave and never come back. But saying your from Buffalo is not embarrassing. It is a source of pride. Its a blue collar town with blue collar roots. It is like the difference in saying you grew up in St Paul rather than MPLS, or if you grew up in MPLS, saying you grew up in Nordeast. Or saying your from the South Side of Chicago, or Brooklyn, or your a Southie from Boston. There is such a sense of pride with those areas, and if you watched Tim Russert, you knew he never forgot his roots. He loved the Bills, Beef on Weck, Chicken Wings, Grilled Bologna, the Bisons, Sabres, grilled hot dogs, and Genesee Cream Ale.

Russert wrote a book called Big Russ and Me 5 years ago for fathers day, in dedication to his father, an Irish Catholic garbage man with four kids growing up in South Buffalo. It was a best seller, and people loved his dedication to his father. For me, it had a special meaning. My father didn't keep a journal from ages 4 to 15. Through the first 4 chapters of his book, Russert dialoged what it was like to be a Catholic going to Catholic School in South Buffalo in the 50's amd early 60's. He described what it was like to be a kid in Buffalo at that time. For me, there can be no better gift from the book than to know how my dad grew up. Throw in a lot more baseball, and you probably have my dad's childhood.

I remember three politicians from my childhood, Reagan, Daniel Patrick Moynahan, and Mario Cuomo. Reagan, I remember crying when we bombed Grenada (The look on my mom's face when I screamed at her "What did they do to us?" was priceless, and I was the only 11 year old who watched the Iran-Contra hearings. (Casper Weinberger lied through his teeth. But Cuomo and Moynahan were the last democrats that I actually respected. Moynahan, a democrat, was at the forefront of school vouchers/charter schools. My entire collegiate economics tenure was spent on education and the disenfrachised, and I wrote many papers and my thesis about it. Moynhans work on the subject definitely framed my point view. And Russert was a key staffer to both Cuomo and Moynahan during this timeframe.

But the greatest influence that Russert had on me was his lawyeresque handling of politicians.
He would ask the toughest question he could pose, and let them handle it without interupting. it is how I handled a bank examination after reading his book. It is so much easier to read a person, when you ask them the toughest question youve got and see how they respond. Meet the Press will never be the same. When you podcast it for your long runs on Sunday morning, you know you respect the interviewer.

But Russert and that book had so many other influences on me. He stated that although he couldn't afford to, he paid back his student loans as fast as he could so somebody else could go to school. After reading that, I upped my monthly student loan payment to $750 a month and got it paid off in 4.5 years. He was a blue collar kid that made it to the top. It gives hope to all of us that if we live in the USA and have the drive/passion/talent, we can all succeed in our own way.

I don't know, it is just sort of sad to see Russert pass away when my son and father are in CO so I can train peacefully this weekend. I miss my father, I miss my son, and I have a 75 mile ride in the morning. Russert was a guy that I saw on Sunday morings and I thought of my dad when I saw him, as well as my kid. I actually thought I might brush elbows with him somewhere in DC.

Like I said, it is only a journalist. But the Kaufman family from Hamburg, NY will be thinking of him this weekend.

jpk

Liberty Triathlon

Pop quiz.

In Slim's dream last night, which image represents him and which image represents tomorrow's half-iron race?

Aloha Mr. Spencer...

Well, we got no choice

All the girls and boys

Makin' all that noise

Cause they found new toys

Well, we can't salute ya

Can't find a flag If that don't suit ya

That's a drag

School's out for summer

School's out forever

School's been blown to pieces

No more pencils

No more books

No more teacher's dirty looks

Well, we got no class

And we got no principals

And we got no innocence

We can't even think of a word that rhymes

School's out for summer

School's out forever

My school's been blown to pieces

No more pencils

No more books

No more teacher's dirty looks

Out for summer

Out till fall

We might not come back at all

School's out forever

School's out for summe

rSchool's out with fever

School's out completely

-Alice Cooper

Articles of Inteterest...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/sports/olympics/11shoes.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/04/AR2008060404003.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121269998910949901.html?mod=sports

People I have noticed while Tri Training in DC...

Whenever you move to a different part of the country, people have different customs/dialects/ways of doing things differently than you are used to. However, these three individuals that I have noticed would qualify as dorks no matter where they were seen in the country. Please rank 1-3 who is the biggest dork.

1. Two weeks ago at the swim race. Guy looks normal, but decides that he just can't make it through the 30 minute swim without tunes, and pulls out the Finis MP3 Swim Player to use for the race.

2. One week ago on Sat morning ride. Pull up on a guy at about 6:30 in the morning. He is 35, riding a Specialized S-works with Zipp 404's and Assos head to toe. He was doing 15 mph-16 tops on a flat piece of road. Thought, well maybe he is just warming up or cooling down. An hour later on the way back, passed him again doing same speed.

3. Thursday afternoon on ride home. About 90 degrees, humid as hell. See a muscle bound type flying coming the other way. He is wearing bib tights, not bib shorts, no shirt.


So in your opinion, who is the biggest dork?

Boys, it is hot here, it is like Chisago every day. But I felt a lot better this morning than last week, starting to acclimitize.

More on the Glove Question???

I just can't pull it off like he can.

More from CSC

The Rock Racing team was definitely the big team at the event, it was cool. I test road a P3C with Zipp discs, it was awesome. I really enjoyed it, you have never known how inept at cycling you are until you see some of these guys.

jpk