The Silent Fury

Ironman Wisconsin 2007 – Part 3

2007-11-05T14:38:00.000-08:00

The Bike
As I rolled down the helix I tried to steady myself in prep for the next several hours that I would spend in the saddle. It felt good to finally be on my bike and rolling towards the hills of Verona. I reminded myself that I was in no hurry and concentrated on finding my rhythm. I figured I might as well find one before I hit the hills where it would be nonexistent til I made the return trip to Madison.

At a steady pace I made my way through the rolling hills to the start of the lollipop. (the double loop of the course) I quickly realized that I had not put enough tape over the top of my aero bottle. This of course caused a splash of water to come flying out of the bottle every time I hit a bump. Not exactly what you want going on with 112 miles to bike. Besides the splash from my aero bottle things were going pretty well. The weather was nice and I was doing my best to just enjoy the ride. Knowing that I still had several hours left on the bike I used the first part to just take in the ride. I took in the scenery and encouraged the other rides that I came across. The point was to enjoy everything before the hills came.

Soon enough I was at the bottom of the hills which the Wisconsin course in known for. I remembered riding them in July, but you never quite remember how steep and long they are. The next hours were all about the grind. Grinding up hill after hill and recovering on the way down. This pattern was on repeat as I covered the miles. The only good part about the hills was the “Tour de France” hill. On the last major hill of the loop the crowd lines the street on both sides in the fashion of the Tour de France. The people screamed, yelled, and ran along with you the entire length of the hill. It was awesome and a great boost heading into the 2nd loop.

The only real reprieve during the ride was passing through Verona. On the first loop the IronCrew was there and waiting. I really needed to see some familiar faces and it again provided a huge boost at the half way point. Soon after I was at the special needs station. I used the time to stop and stretch. I think my body actually cheered when I came off the seat. I refilled my nutrition supplies before heading back out. By this point I was starting to struggle physically. The muscles and tendons under my left knee were starting to give me problems and tightening up. My left side has to compensate for a weaker right knee. The weak knee is the result of old soccer injuries and the long ride was starting to rear its ugly head. At the next aid station I had to stop again and stretch my legs. I figured I’d better do it sooner rather then later if I was going to make it through the hills again.

The ware and tear of the hills were really starting to show on the 2nd loop. There is no rhythm while riding those hills and they just slowly eat away at you. Towards the end it was all just about getting up the next hill and keeping the legs turning. On the second to last big hill on lady was trudging up the hill at about the same pace. Her expression and breathing showed all to well the signs of such a long course. Finally we reached the top and I said something like only one more big one left. She tried to smile as we were all trying to smile. Trying to do something or think of anything that would take our minds off our task. Finally I was back to the Tour de France hill, but my slow pace left a much smaller crowd there the second time through. I was still grateful for the support that was there, but I really could have used the full feature that was there earlier.

After managing the second pass through the hills the course made its way back to Verona. There waiting was my family who cheered as rode by. I was really hoping to see the IronCrew and Ms. R, but they were already on their way back to Madison. I was a bid saddened by this, but I figured if I wanted to see them I best get back to Madison myself. Finally leaving Verona it was back through some rolling hills to get back to Madtown. Finally after hours without having any rhythm my legs found one again. Smooth circle after smooth circle as I tried to relax a bit and note on what I had just accomplished. I had just finished the hardest ride of my life and I was still moving. It may not have been my best ride, but I had done it and soon I would be finished with my bike and a seat that felt like it had made its way up to my throat.

As a saw the city approach I smiled and the feeling that I was actually going to make it through the day started to blossom. I pushed it back as I knew I still had hours of work left to do, but the knowledge sped me forward towards T2 with the thought of “let’s finish this thing.”

Worst Blogger Ever

2007-11-05T14:33:00.000-08:00

I might be the worst blogger that ever took up blogging in the history of blogland. For some reason I just haven't been able to get the posts out. I hope that is going to change. I have all but one last post about Iroman Wisconsin ready to go. Hopefully I can get that all out this week and get back to the present. So if by chance you are still checking this blog I apologize for being the worst blogger ever. I guess someone has to be, but I'd rather pass on that torch to someone else.

Later...

Ironman Wisconsin 2007 – Part 2

2007-10-11T14:22:00.001-07:00

The Swim
…or should I say the Splash. What do you get when you throw 2,200 people into the water all at once? Lots of water splashing all over the place. Chaos is the best way to try to describe the swim during an Ironman. Both Bob and I tried to avoid the majority of the action by staying towards the back. The good thing is that you avoided some of the people swimming over you and things like that, but no one is totally immune. At the start I took a very easy pace and actually swam behind Bob for the firsts ¼ or so. I was in no rush and just wanted to get through the swim. I got kicked a few times, but nothing major. My two issues with the swim were just related to the environment. The first was that it seemed everyone was zig-zagging all over the place. It seemed that whenever I started to get into a groove someone would come cross right in front of me. The other issue I had was that the majority of the people had white swim caps. Now this doesn’t help you when you are trying to sight and all you see is water splashing around because the white caps just blend in. Now this could easily be changed with different colored caps. An added bonus would be to make the course buoys a LOT bigger so that if you are a ways from the markers you could actually see them.

Anyway the swim ended up being pretty uneventful. I saw Bob a few times during the first lap when we would both stop to get our bearings. We’d yell HEY and then it was back to “just keep swimming, just keep swimming.” About ¾ through the swim the boredom factor started to come into play. I wasn’t feeling tired or anything which was good, but I was a ready to be done. I tried to stay focused and pushed toward the end. Finally after 8 straight-aways and 7 turns covering 2.4 miles I reached the swim exit. I climbed out of to a roaring crowd and smiled. It felt great to get out of the water and I was happy to have finished the swim without any major events. I spotted the strippers and within 7 millie-seconds my wetsuit was off and I was jogging toward the helix. With the crowd cheering as I went, I slowly made it up the helix to transition.

T1
I made my way into the Terrace and easily found my swim to bike bag. Maybe it was because the majority of the bags were already gone, but it probably was just the fact that the volunteer was there right away. At least that’s a better story. hehe My transition wasn’t fast by any means, but I needed to slow things down to make sure that I had everything and that my body was settled enough after the long swim. Again the volunteers were great and a quick rest stop I was running towards my bike. Half way there I heard the IronCrew cheer which was great to hear. I was at the far end of the Terrance so it was only a hop, skip, and a jump to the helix. Right at the top was my family who screamed, a little too loud, and I tried to get on my bike. Now it’s one thing to be enthusiastic and cheering, but I don’t they understood the concept of getting onto a bike and then trying to ride down a circular parking ramp. Or at least that they person need to be concentrating on that task and it’s better if you are not screaming from three feet away like you some teeny-bopper at a Justin Timberlake concert. I love that my family came to support me, but they almost caused a bike crash before I even got on the course. :)

Back In The U.S.S.A

2007-10-05T06:12:00.000-07:00

I’ve been back for over a week, but so much has happened since then. First Ms. R and I had a great week in Mazatlan. For the majority of week we did nothing and it was great. Well I suppose sitting on the beach, reading, ordering drinks, and splashing around in the water is a little more then nothing, but you get the idea. Ms. R noticed that this was the first time she’s seen me relaxed and I mean totally relaxed. I’m a bit of a busy but I slapped my ass in those lounge chairs for hours on end without a care in the world. Other highlights included a city tour and a sailing trip on our last full day in Mazatlan.

It was the trip that we both needed after a long triathlon season and all the craziness surrounding Ironman. We just needed to get away and not have to care about real life for awhile. I think the trip suited us both well and accomplished the goal of getting some real R&R.

Upon our return we had to dive headfirst into an all out pack fest. Back in July I took the big plunge into lifelong dept and bought my first house. Totally crazy and nerve racking experience to say the least. I don’t want to buy another house for a long time. In the end we ended up with a great place, knock on wood, and last week we finally closed. This meant that we spent every free minute packing to get ready for the move. On Sunday a great group of friends and family came over to help us move our stuff, which was at three different locations, into our new home. Even with the rainy weather we managed to get almost all our stuff to the house in about six hours. The key..food and beer!. If you offer people plenty of food and beverages they are fairly happy to help with such a big task. The move went really well and at the end of the day all our stuff was in the house in some box in some room. The task of unpacking everything has started. It’s kind of strange to all of a sudden have tons of room, but you are not sure where to put things. It will take some time, but I’m sure that we’ll figure it out eventually. In the meantime there will be many trips to places like target and home depot for the tons of stuff a new homeowner needs. Everyday the lists keep growing and I think the trend will continue for awhile.

A couple of other happens currently going on. The word is that TriSaraTops is now a mother for the first time. There has been no official post yet, but major congrats to the new family.

Last night I did my first workout since Madison. I’ve joined a swim class to get some extra pool time this fall. It never hurts to get some extra instruction. Plus it’s a little cheaper then seeing my regular swim coach. It’s actually kind of nice not to be the one coaching, but I did have to remind myself that I was there to swim and learn and I’m not the coach during that time. hehe

Finally another person has given into the draw of blogland. Drum roll please…….The newest blogger is Ms. R herself. You can find her at http://triventuresofmsr.blogspot.com/

Now back to your regularly scheduled and very late Ironman Race Report…

Ironman Wisconsin 2007 - Part 1

2007-09-14T22:28:00.000-07:00

There is a lot to say about the all that happen over Ironman weekend. At times I think I blinked and then it was over. Other times it seem like I was in Madison for a month. So here’s my best attempt to tell my Ironman tale.

Pre-Race
Details, details details. It seems like all I was doing was running through the details of getting ready for the race. There were the lines to stand in and the tons of prep work to do. I think the nature of the Ironam really having to be completely ready on Saturday really started to get to me. This is the only race where you have to get your gear to the race the day before. I’m use to having everything with me in my transition bag that I need for a race. I’m use to setting up my transition area the morning of the race and this whole routine was not an option. This really threw me out of sync as the race drew closer.

On Saturday Bob and I went through our last checks before it was time to take everything down to the race site. Once again we checked our gear and took our bikes out for a little spin. On our ride we stopped at the final blogger meet-up. It was great to finally meet a lot of people that I’ve read about for months. I only with I could have spent more time with the blogger crew. To soon the nervous itch to make sure everything was ready was pulling me away from Bolder, AJ, TaconiteBoy, Stu, and many others. Finally with our bags and bikes in tow we headed down to the race site to drop off the huge weight that had been growing for the past few days. (sigh) The weight was off. Now all I could do was enjoy a nice dinner with everyone who had gathered to support Bob and I during the race.

Race Morning
The alarm and cell phone went off way to early. I had managed a couple of hours of sleep, but I wasn’t going to get any more. I’d be lying if I didn’t ask Ms. R if we could just stay in bed all day. The answer was no and it was time to get up. Soon after spreading some peanut butter on a bagel I got a call from Bob making sure that I was up. He too had the thought of staying in bed as well. hehe Soon I was grabbing my special needs bags and heading out the door. With in ipod in my ears I walked down the dark blocks to the bright lights of the race site. With my bags dropped off I headed to my bike to set up my bottles and get marked. I stopped to talk to Bob at his bike and we both seemed to be in a pretty calm state. After a last check of everything I headed to meet Ms. R.

I was doing fine until I saw her face and I almost lost it. The emotions swelled and the fear of the unknown clutched us both. We both held the tears back, but the emotions rolled through us both. I decided I need to walk and headed toward the restrooms to catch my breath. After the trip and hearing DMB pumping over the speakers my mood flipped flopped and I walked back to Ms. R with a smile on my face. After applying the body glide and sunscreen the others showed up. (Kimmi, Jaime, Bridget, and Waima) They wished me well and it was finally time to part with my friends. Again for a fleeting few seconds the emotions and fears swelled and I kissed Ms. R goodbye. We both knew it would be ok, but the fears were still there.

Finally it was time as I made my way towards the helix. I stopped at the top to pull my wetsuit half on. I slowly continued down and stopped half way down to take in the site of water I would be swimming in within minutes. The water was clam and the red of the sunrise was on the horizon. I finally made it to the bottom of the helix to drop off my last bag. At the bottom was a fellow TNTer and good friend Steve who was volunteering. His voice was booming as he shook my hand wising me luck. The luck I would need as I settled into the moving mass towards the water. I chatted with a lady who was as nervous as me from New York. We were five minutes from the start when we finally reached the water. I headed to left to take my spot in the back. I wanted nothing to do with the mess at the front of the swim pack. Within seconds I heard Bob scream as he knew where I would head once I was in the water. It was a nervous smile, but he was smiling big and yelling to get pumped up. He told me to turn around and he wife was behind us taking a picture, though I never saw where she was. After that I quickly started swimming to get my muscles moving a bit before the cannon sounded. The warm-up was minimal to say the least and I moved back towards Bob for the start of the race. Soon they called for the kayaks to move and within seconds the cannon sounded and Ironman Wisconsin 2007 had started.

(I will post the next parts as soon as possible. I will be south of the border next week so it will depend on how available the Internet is. If I can't post I will drink many margaritas in your honor of being so patient. Well I was going to drink them anyway, but this will make them more meaningful. hehe )

Till next time...

Ironman Finisher

2007-09-12T12:50:00.000-07:00

It feels really really sweet to be able to type the above title. After nearly 15 hours (14:56:15 officially) of continuous effort I finally crossed the finish line at Ironman Wisconsin. I have a lot of say, but you’ll have to wait another day or two until it’s finished. There’s a lot to recall and write about such an amazing day. Til then I want to thank you all for your support. The live comments that you posted were great. A special thanks to everyone who ventured to Madison. Seeing familiar faces and hearing familiar voices made all the different in the world. Thank You!

Hours…

2007-09-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

That’s all that remain until Ironman Wisconsin 2007 starts. I’ll be carrying number 457 for those who want to follow my status online tomorrow at ironmanlive.com. Tomorrow will bring a rollercoaster of greatness, lows, aches, emotions, and joy. To tell you the trust it’s all a bit scary, but with any amount of luck I will hopefully be blogging next time as an Ironman Finisher. There are no guarantees and I will have to each every inch of it tomorrow, but I’m hopeful and have faith that tomorrow will be a great day.

There is plenty more that I want to say right now, but the words are not there. Maybe it is because I should be sleeping. hehe I just wanted to thank you all for your support. I couldn’t have made it this far without it. Now there is just one last thing to do and that’s to race. So on that note…I’ll catch you on the flip side of Ironman Wisconsin….

3 Days…

2007-09-06T19:47:00.000-07:00

We have arrived! After checking my endless lists and doing way too many things last minute SafetyBob and I finally arrived here in Madison a little after dinner time. We took our time getting here from the Twin Cities. Making a few stops to eat and get gas. Most importantly the stops allowed us to get out and stretch. It felt good to just move around a bit after being in the car for a couple of hours. It really felt good for me since I spent part of the morning being beaten up by my massage therapist. I must have missed my calling. I mean what other job gives you the chance to inflict pain on people and they pay for it? Where was that pamphlet at the high school career office? Anyway after a long day of packing and driving we are finally set up for where we will spend the next couple of days doing the final preps for Sunday.

Tomorrow will be filled by getting registered and doing some final gear checks. If the rain holds off we might even get a ride in. There are also the blog meet-ups which will be fun. It’s always great to meet other bloggers at these events. I’d say it makes it even better at such a big event.

Well I guess that is all I have for now. I’m going to wrap things up for the night and put my nerves to rest. They have been coming on strong the last we days so we’ll see what a tour of the race site does. Hopefully it will just put them to rest, but it never works that way. Darn…

5 Days…

2007-09-04T14:51:00.000-07:00

Again I apologize for the lack of posts. This whole Ironman thing has really thrown me off lately. I guess that’s somewhat to be expected given that this is the hardest thing that I’ve ever attempted. The long taper really started to rear its ugly head last week. I wasn’t in a good mood and there was always more things to get done that I had no desire to do. (the last still hasn’t changed) Ms. R was quick to pick up on my moods and was always ready to help or just listen. She’s great! Though there is only so much that can be done until things have concluded sometime before midnight on Sunday. She also told me to read this post by TriSaraTops. Again blogland came through with a much needed lift.

With all the prep for the race starting to eat away at me I figured it would be good to spend the holiday weekend not thinking or training at all. Ms. R and I headed up to her parent’s new cabin to help her family get the place ready for the move. For two days straight we basically stripped wallpaper off and painted almost every room. These people wallpapered everything including a closet or two. So we worked through layers of wallpaper and glue to get down to the wood paneling that covered all the walls. Yeah, no sheet rock in the entire place just lovely paneling. After the walls had been stripped, de-glued, and cleaned it was time to paint. The place was looking a million times better as we left after two days of hard work. Of course there is still plenty more to do, but that will have to wait.

In the end it was a great way to spend the weekend. It was great to get out of the cities doing work that took me completely out of my element and anything related to Ironman. I needed that break if I’m going to manage the tasks that will be required on Sunday. Now it’s time to check and recheck all the lists as I prep to depart in two days. Hmmm….It’s really happening…

19 Days…

2007-08-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

The countdown continues and the weather is not making this better. It’s been pretty much a washout since Friday evening. The rain comes and goes and it hasn’t exactly been a warm rain either. No it’s been the more if you go out there is a good chance you might get sick rain. Something I’m not exactly willing to test this late in the game.

With nothing really new to talk about because of good old Mother Nature I thought I’d share some of what has been happening during my post draughts.

July 29th – Chisago Half Ironman
At the end of July I finally got my first chance to do an actual race. After coaching for so many months it was time to get back to the race course. This was a big day on many fronts. For one it was going to be an indication of if I could pull of the full Ironman even with my minimal training. The second and even bigger part was this was going to be Ms. R’s first ½ Iron.

Race morning was full of people buzzing around as usual. This race also featured a sprint course which many TNT folks were doing. It was fun to be there amongst everyone instead of on the sidelines helping people get ready. Ms. R seemed to be pretty relaxed as she readied herself for the race. I was in my usual race mode with the music in my ears going over my mental checklists. I was probably more nervous then she was as she’d been training and racing more then I had. Kimmi was on site to cheer everyone on which was a big help. She stationed herself outside of transition and watched gear as people came and went. She also became the official photographer for the day.

Ms. R started in the wave before me along with SafetyBob. Up until the start she was very calm and collective. Standing a wave back I was able to watch her final preparation and see her go fully into race mode. All I wanted for her was a good race and a great experience at the new distance. As I saw her wave start I knew she was going to do well.

After Ms. R started her race it was quick back into go mode for me as I prepared for my own race to start. With Kimmi screaming to my right I tried to fight the nerves and focus. The gun went off and my wave jumped into the water. Within 4 strokes I got kicked in the face. It was a medium strength kick, but it sure woke me up and welcomed me back to racing. The out and back course was interesting as you had to dodge the people swimming in every direction and then make sure you were out of the way of those hugging the line on the way back in. Plus with the out and back it was hard to sight as it was just a somewhat straight line out and back. It didn’t make things easier with the swim caps and buoys being the same color. Overall I had a good swim. Things felt good, but as always I was glad to be done. My race always starts when I hit solid ground.

Transition went by without any big snags as I headed out for the bike. I heard Kimmi as I came up to my bike. The report was that Ms. R had a good swim and was a few minutes a head of me. It was great to get out on the bike. The only issue is that nature was calling. This has never happened on the bike before. I put it off as I passed some of the TNTer doing the sprint. Finally I had to pull over after about 15 miles. I didn’t like having to stop but I reminded myself that this really was just training and stopping for a minute or two was not a bid deal. The first part of the course was really nice with good roads. After descending down into the valley and finding the old bumpy road I caught up to Ms. R around mile 25. We played leap frog for awhile and checked on each other. It was fun and I could tell that she was feeling good. Once we started the climbs I moved on pass her a bit. The climbs were not steep, but they were long slow grinders. The kind that just beat you up and it didn’t help just getting off a really bad road that you were on for over 5 miles. Finally there was a long straight drag on the backside of the course. At this point you just wanted to be done as the physical and mental fatigue set in. Finally after the long hot stretch the roads curved around for the last 10 miles before the finish. Coming back into transition all the TNTers who had done the sprint had finished and were cheering. It was a great boost to her all the familiar voices.

As I came into transition I was stunned to realize that I didn’t know exactly where my race was. What! What the heck! Somehow I had forgotten to walk the route from the bike in to my rack. Eventually I found it, a little embarrassed. Ms. R’s parents were right there cheering and asking how she was going. I quickly told them as I slipped on my shoes and grab my visor and number. With the TNTers still cheering I headed out of transition and on to the hot run course. My legs were tight after the ride and I was just waiting for them to get into the rhythm they would eventually find.

Unfortunately the rhythm that they found was short lived. Within a few miles I knew things were not right. The course was wide open with no shade. I was starting to over heat and goose-bumps were starting to form. I decided I’d better walk and allow my body to cool down. I ran and walked another mile before Ms. R came up behind me. She could tell that I wasn’t doing well and decided to stay with me. She’s so amazing! Next the cramps set in. Both my calves were solid knots. For the next 9 miles we jogged until they ceased up, stopped to stretch, and then walked to the next water stop. Luckily they were every mile. If they hadn’t been there would have been a lot of people in really bad shape with the excessive heat. I wanted noting more then to quit. I’d never had a run go so badly. My legs would not loosen up not mater what I tried. I had taken plenty of water and salt throughout the day, but they would not relent. Finally with the help of Ms. R we neared the finish and jogged toward the end. We heard the TNTer scream as we came into view and ran up the chute. Finally hands clasped together we crossed the finish line. Finally it was over.

Besides being in really bad shape physically I was beaming for Ms. R and how well she had done. She had moved up in the world on triathlon and taken on a long course and done amazingly well. It just goes to show what type of person and athlete she is as she basically carried me on her shoulder the entire run. I will forever be grateful…

Chisago pictures

25 Days...

2007-08-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

5 work weeks, approximately 600 hours. Anyway you look at it I’ve got less then a month before the big day. A day that seemed so far in the future only a short time ago is knocking at my door. There will always be the desire to change how some things turned out over the last six months as far as training is concerned, but that’s really not an option. The only option I have is to use the little time I have left to the best of my abilities.

Without the ability to stop or go back in time, I can only strive to put my best in every minute and hour of training I can muster before the race. Though it is limited I must take the time to rest and mentally prepare for the longest day I may ever know. In that preparation I must fully come to terms with being ok with what I couldn’t accomplish. I must be able to let go of the “what ifs” and “if I onlys” If I am to succeed in Madison there can be no room for these debilitating negative thoughts/attitudes.

I have 25 days to put the final pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together…

Detour

2007-07-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

On Saturday the alarm went off way too early for my liking. It certainly would be nice to sleep in one of these days. Anyway it was another early morning to go ride the course for the Chisago Half Ironman this weekend. Kimmi and I met a couple others from the team to ride. Ms. R was feeling under the weather so she had to stay home and get health. She wasn’t happy about this because this will be her first Half Iron and her big race for the year. So getting sick hasn’t been the greatest for the nerves.

The course is actually a really nice course with some scenic roads down by the river. The only problem was that we took a little detour early in the ride. One wrong turn and we were 7 miles off course. After asking a friendly runner where we were, we back tracked the right way to finish off the ride. Not that the extra mileage is bad for me or anything, but when you have in your head that you are riding 56 and end up going 70, you want nothing more then to be done. After getting though the bumpy road down by the river and finally climbing back up the valley we finally arrived back at our starting point. It felt really good to be done. Yes it was good to do the extra miles, but at the time I was having none of it.

We spent the rest of the weekend outside of my hometown for a family reunion. Nothing like seeing aunt, uncles, and cousins who you haven’t seen in probably a year or so and who all of a sudden have kids of there own. There were at least a dozen little ones running around or being held by various family members. There was a good showing overall with about 60 people making it to the main meal on Sunday. After spending some quality time with the fam is was time to head back to the cities to end the long weekend.

P.A.T.S

2007-07-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

It may be self diagnosed by I feel that I have the symptoms of a possibly chronic disorder know as P.A.T.S which stand for premature alarm termination syndrome. Symptoms of this disorder are noticed when one is scheduled for an early morning workout yet turns off the alarm in a semiconscious state after it has sounded not knowing that this action is taking place. This debilitating condition has massive repercussions when trying to train for any major endurance event say an Ironman. The workout lost is rarely made up since little time is available for training in the first place. Scientists are working around the clock to find a cure for this condition. Endurance athletes who are very heavy sleepers or are functioning on inadequate sleep are very prone to this disorder. Progress was thought to being made with the alarm across the room and bucket of water on the head treatments, but no fool proof cure has yet to be discovered. Public opinions are always desired to aid scientists is solving this crippling condition. So please blogland, submit your suggestions and help prevent early morning workout loss. The endurance athlete community thanks you…

What a weekend!

2007-07-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

The big day for the team has come and gone but they certainly went out with a bang. The alarm went off at 3:00 AM on Saturday morning has the team started to gather at 4:30 AM when transition opened. (earliest start for a non Ironman race that I’ve heard off) Come race morning our team was a sight to see as 132 Team in Training triathletes gathered before the race. This was the biggest team MN has had and they raised a record 328,000 dollars for the society. It was pretty special to be apart of the largest team from MN in both numbers and dollars raised. Race morning was full of nerves and last minute hiccups that were all settled before the race started. I even had to shoo out the more relaxed ones to start their warm-up. For the next few hours I watch team kick some major butt as they came and went through transition. For many including myself it was an emotional day. The team did so well and we have all but three people finish the race. I was so frickin pumped and proud of each and every one of them. It was absolutely amazing seeing this great group of people finally race.

After the last team member finished it was finally time to clean up and pack up. When we arrived home it was time for food and a shower before a quick nap. I only got about an hour and I could have used about three more. The reason for the short nap was that we had to go to the victory party. So we headed towards downtown Minneapolis where we ate, drank, and celebrated with a majority of the team. At about midnight we headed out for some more food to calm our hungry stomachs. The night finally ended when we arrived home at about 2:30. So it pretty much was a 24 hour session, but it was an amazing one.

Go TEAM!

Pictures coming soon…

Where is WaldoWalchka?

2007-07-11T13:35:00.000-07:00

You may not believe it but I am in fact still around, though I know I haven’t made much of a showing in blogland lately. It would have been nice to chronicle all that has been going on, but there just hasn’t been any time. I’ve been spread pretty thin the last few months between all my responsibilities. At the top of the list has been work and coaching for TNT. Other items, including my own training, have had to take a back seat. Not exactly what I how I planned going into my first Ironman, but the team came first and that’s a choice I’d make again. The TNT season is almost complete as the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon that they are racing is this weekend. It will be great to get that time back for my own training, but I will miss coaching and helping others meet all the challenges that I triathlon brings. We have our final team workout last night and the pasta party is on Thursday before the big race on Saturday.

With the weekend off from coaching I was actually able to turn my attention to my own big race by heading to Madison to train with the WIBA crew. Overall it was a great weekend and I met a lot of nice people. There are more details to share, but this weekend told me how much work I have yet to do before September 9th. Not a lot of time, but I know have a better idea of what it is really going to take to finish an Ironaman.

Ironwil, Simply Stu, and everyone else who helped to put WIBA on did an amazing job. I can’t thank them enough for all the opportunities that they provided in a jammed-packed weekend.

Weekend Recap:
Friday - SafetyBob picked me up early in the morning and we were on the road to Madison by 7:00 am. About 4.5 hours later we arrived in Madison and checked in to our hotel. After a trip to the bike shop and some food it was time for the activities to start. First up was a 2 hour session on the Cycle Ops bikes working on max power. I don’t think I was quite ready for an all out 2 hour session. The Cycle Ops bikes are pretty sweet, but I was drained afterwards. Lucky for us it was just the beginning as the bike was followed up by a 30 minute swim and a 20 run. So nothing like being in a car all morning and then doing a triple workout. Bob and I were beat afterwards, but rebounded a bit in time for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. We talked with others from the group including MN’s own TaconiteBoy. The food was great and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Saturday – After the long day on Friday we skipped the swim to get a bit of extra sleep before the big ride. It was the right choice considering the ride we were about to have. Basically the 75 miles on the course was the hardest ride I’ve ever done. The 100+ heat index didn’t help while riding the very hilly and challenging course. I’ve never had to change my gears so many times in one ride. The only bit of joy was arriving at the three stops to refill our water bottles before heading out again. I think I went through 7 or 8 water bottles in the 4.5 hours that we were out. I rode ¾ of the ride with TaconiteBoy which was fun. We had a small group that suffered together. Getting lost once and adding an extra hill didn’t make the day go by any faster.

Sunday – We were schedule to do half the marathon course with the group. Saturday’s bike had some lingering effects and I woke up with a nasty headache. Bob’s legs were suffering as well so we decided to play it smart and skip the run. It would have been nice to run the course, but the body just wasn’t ready for that. After a good breakfast we packed up the Jeep and headed home.

Overall it was a great weekend and I’m really glad we went. Again a big thank you to everyone who played a part in making WIBA happen. The weekend provided me with the list of things I need to work on before the race. Some parts need a lot of work, but I’d rather know now then be surprised on Sept. 9th.

Hopefully after this weekend I’ll be back full steam in my training and blogging. Until then it’s back to coaching and to all those last minute things before the team races on Saturday.

Take care…

A Mix

2007-06-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

Mother Nature has been having her fun in the upper Midwest the last few weeks. Like any spring in MN we’ve had our hot, dry, cold, wet spells which vary day to day. The problem has been that the cold and wet has always come when we’ve tried to get our team in the open water. The latest chance on Tuesday was met with a rain storm that varied from very light to downpours. We had the team in the water during a light spell but had to pull them out when lightning was spotted. We were hoping the storm was moving on so we tried to wait 20 minutes to give the all clear. Just about as the 20 minutes period was about to be up there was another spotting and we had to cancel the swim.

The complete opposite could be said for yesterday. The weather was great with the sun out and shining. Ms. R wanted to go get a swim in, but I couldn’t pass up the nice weather to just go out and run. My running had been somewhat limited as of late so it was nice to go out and get a medium distance run in.

The weekend of course is suppose to be a mix of sun and rain which always has a chance to disrupt the load of training I’d like to get in as well as the team brick scheduled for Saturday morning. As usual we’ll have to wait and see what the weather has in store for us.

Have a great weekend!

Unofficial Start

2007-05-29T12:37:00.001-07:00

The old unofficial start of the summer came and went over the weekend. Like many I left the big city to get some R&R out among the lakes, trees, and country side. Ms. R and I headed a few hours west and north of the cities after the team workout on Saturday morning. It was good to get out of the city for a few days. We spent a good amount of our time cleaning and getting the cabin ready for another summer for the families to visit. Ms. R’s parents never seemed to slow down the entire weekend. Always finding something else to clean or work on. Of course that was after the major items like mowing the lawn and putting the dock/lift into the water. It was a good thing that we had our wetsuits along because that water was still a little chilly. Warm enough to do a little open water swimming if we would have had time. Ms. R used some of the weekend to catch up on sleep with a couple long afternoon naps. I had a couple short ones, but nothing like hers.

It’s funny how time wasn’t measured by hours while we were there, but time was tracked by meals. You’d get up and do some work, eat, do some more work, eat, and then most activities. For a couple of days eating dinner at 9:00 pm was fine as we used all the daylight to the best of our advantage. Time of day, governed by our stomach…I guess that’s the way it really should be anyway.

In the end it was a great weekend and we had a lot of fun. It was great to get away from the city and the busy life that we live if only just for a few days.

Sleep

2007-05-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

It was a hard commodity to come by this week. TNT occupied the first three night of my week and it kind of set the stage for long days and short nights. The problem really isn’t the time spent at these activates, but the lack of time at home afterwards. For me it’s been really hard to get back between 9-10 pm and then go right to bed. I’m the type of person who needs that down time before I can even think about falling asleep. I need a couple hours at home doing stuff or chilling out before my body and mind is ready for sleep. Anyway the low sleep count led to a low workout count this week. Hopefully this weekend will offer some recovery and I can get back into the groove next week. I suppose it doesn’t help that Ms. R and I have a wedding to go to tomorrow. Maybe in September we’ll actually have some time to relax every once in a while. This being busy 24/7 is getting a little old. :)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

James…Michael James

2007-05-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

I am a big enough dork that I did use the above phrase a couple of times at the James Bond Adult Prom on Saturday night. Hopefully I can shorten up a few groans by stating that I only said it 3 or 4 times and most of those were to Ms. R. Overall it was a really fun event and hopefully it raised a lot money for the LLS. People really got dressed up for the event and SafetyBob even pulled off the white jacket tux as the best James Bond look of the night. There was also the orange tux from Dumb & Dumber that was quite entertaining. They even had a photo guy to take your picture as if it was a real prom and a live band to top things off. Two honored patients were crowned the Prom King and Queen. There was a little height difference since the queen was maybe four years old, but even she was decked out in a gold dress with matching shoes.

Toward the end of the night they announced the silence auction winners which earlier caused a scramble as bidders tried to out bid each other. After which they called off the winning raffle ticket for the raffle and guess who won? Woohoo! my number was called. I was lucky because no one claimed the first number. After Steve introduced me I heard from the crowd, “I read his blog.” A few minutes later I got to meet the awesome IronJenny. We talked for a bit and it was a great way to end the event.

After the event our crew went on to a local bar to listen to more live music before calling it a night. All in all it was a great night and a highlight of the weekend.

Rocking the cummerbund James Bond style

Wild Times

2007-05-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

Big happenings are taking place out in Cali this weekend at the event known as Wildflower. There are several people from the Tri-Geek clan traveling in a big RV to take in all that the weekend has in store. Both that Kahuna and TaconiteBoy have already made posts with pictures of the crew. (Robo, Ironjenny, Tac, Trimama, and many others) Good luck to all the racers, but I wanted to do a special shout out to TaconiteBoy who will be doing his first half-iron and Nic who will be doing her first triathlon. Hopefully this will be the first of many tris for Nic. Woohoo!

In Twin Cities news TNT alumni and fellow triathlon guru Steve G. is in the running for the LLS Man & Women of the Year for the MN chapter. Next weekend he is hosting an adult prom as one of his big fundraisers. (May 12th) If you are in the TC area you really should think about coming. It’s going to be a great time. The theme of the event is “The Spy Who Loved Me Adult Prom.” There is a link to register for the event. Over half the cost is tax deductible so let’s help Steve raise funds for the LLS.

Have a great weekend everyone!

The Zoneout

2007-05-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

For those who find themselves with a busy schedule, say you are training for the Ironman or something along those lines. Maybe you are just a busy person in general and never seem to have any down time. Either case there is a fundamental skill that is necessary for survival. This skill is known as the Zoneout. There are a few required items to perform the zoneout properly. See the image below for said required items…
Once you have obtained those items it is recommended to remove all other humans from your immediate presence. If necessary place all required items in a basement or garage. Now the idea behind the zoneout is that you are conscious at all times, yet diminish the use of ones brain power. This activity or actually inactivity should be done for 2-3 hours biweekly, but weekly is even better. For best results perform the 2-3 hour zoneout in one sitting. Personally the best zoneouts are when the viewing includes such shows as Man vs. Wild and The Deadliest Catch.

Blogland…What’s your idea zoneout?

3rd is a 100

2007-04-30T11:30:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I finally got out for my 3rd ride this season. Schedule and weather have limited my outdoor riding time so far this season. Besides the wind, the weather Sunday was very nice. This was a big relief, again except for the wind, when you are about to spend several hours on a bike. Why several hours? Well Sunday was the annual MN Ironman Bicycle ride. So for me, my third ride of the season was going to be my first century ride. Not exactly how I would prefer things to go, but in the end it worked out.

SafetyBob and I set out about 7:30 to start the long ride. The first few stages went really well. We found some good groups to ride with. This helped out a ton with the wind factor. The wind was 15-20 mph most of the day with gusts up to 30 mph in some spots. Which was not rider friendly by any means, but you couldn’t argue too much with it being in the low 80’s and mostly sunny. Back to the ride…The first 50 miles ticked off pretty smoothly despite the wind and hills. The stops were great with a lot of food and fluids for the riders. The next 30 miles or so were pretty challenging with a lot more rolling hills and the wind to boot. By the time we reached the final rest stop we were more then ready for a break. Finally we arrived at the last stop where people like Ms. R and Kimmi were waiting. The two of them, along with other from the team were doing the 62 miles route and it was nice to see another familiar face. It was short lived as they had to leave shortly after we arrived. (Since there were nice enough to wait for us in the first place) We took a few extra minutes to rest before tackling the final stage. Even though we were tired and sore the first 80+ miles had gone pretty well. The last stage proved to be the hardest, which I guess it should. The wind had picked up even more and there were more hills. You would have thought that we were use to them by now, but at that point we just wanted to be done. The last leg was our slowest, but we finally managed to make our way to the end. After 6:05 of ride time we coasted down the little hill into the high school parking lot were the event was being staged. Boy was I glad to be done.

After a quick shower, to rinse off the 100 miles of grime, we all headed to Old Chicago to fill up our empty stomachs with food and fluids. There may or may not have been a few alcoholic beverages consumed. All I can say is that my initial order amounted to three different beverages being placed in front of me. Which totally rocked!

In the end it was a great day even though I’m quite sore and tired today. You couldn’t have asked for a much better day, except for the stupid wind. We had a lot of fun, got in a huge workout, and made some great strides towards September. It just would have been nicer to get a couple more rides in beforehand. I’ll have to work on that next year.

Hope you all had a great weekend…

Wear and Tear

2007-04-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been ridiculously busy. So busy that they days and weeks have all just started to blend in. This is really not a good thing. In that span there have been a number of roller coasters to ride the highs and lows of my multiple facet life. This of course leads to the typical too much to do in too little time syndrome that many of us are famous for. All of it was starting to wear me down a bit. The true indication of this was the napping that occurred this weekend. Both days this weekend included naps which is basically a world record for me. I have mentioned before my inability to nap but the body and mind were having none of that this weekend. They blew the whistle and signaled T, T..for a couple hours each day. If only I could fall asleep on demand. Hmmm…maybe all this extra stuff going on will have a positive change on my napping abilities. Total scoreage...

So maybe, just maybe I haven’t been getting the rest that I need as of late. That’s going to be a major goal this week. Which should hopefully help right the ship a bit. Besides the ups and downs thing are progressing which is good. Unfortunately things like blogs and emails have fallen by the waste side a bit, but hopefully that can be rectified as well.

In other news Ms. R picked up a hot new ride a few weekends past. What a sweet looking ride, check it out.

When do I get a new bike? (Insert: temper tantrum of 28 year old male, supposedly all grown up)

Hope all is well! Later…

Some Hits and Misses

2007-04-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

At the midway point in the week things have gone pretty well on the training side of things. A couple trips to the pool and spinning with the team last night have all been workouts. The one miss was this morning when I was suppose to get up and do some running and lifting. Last night was another late night due to coaching. We didn’t get home til 10:30 or so and it was midnight by the time we crawled into bed. I did set the alarm for 5:30, but I just couldn’t manage it after another night of little sleep. I figured my rest was more important. So it was go go gadget sleep for an extra hour or so. I’m still a little worn out today, but I’m sure it would have been much worse if I had went to the gym as planned.

It’s pretty typical to get a least a little bit of snow in MN during the month of April. Usually it’s a quick shower and its gone is a day or so. This time around the temps have dropped as well. It’s been in the 30’s for the last two days and it’s not supposed to get back into the 40’s til the end of the weekend. Blah…It kind of kills my plans for using my day off on Friday to get a nice long ride in outside. Yes some may call me a weakling when it comes to riding outdoors, but I’m just not one for wanting to have to worry about frostbite or be completely covered to ride outside. hehe Anyway it looks like more time on the trainer this week to get some saddle time in.

Finally I have to say congrats to E-Speed who had the number one ranking for the RBF Final Four bracket. I dropped to 10th overall after not picking either of the final two teams. I did end up tied for second in the correct picks category. So I’ll take that as a small victory.

Happy hump day folks…

Twilight

2007-04-03T10:15:00.000-07:00

Out of a dark dreamless sleep the unbearable sound of the alarm clock calls me to wake up. I hit the snooze almost praying that I fall back asleep and unconsciously turn off the alarm. Something from inside kicks me and I know I should just get up. I argue for a bit about only getting five hours of sleep, but I lose and I make my way up to a seated position to start the wakeup process. I look outside and notice that like myself the day is having a hard time starting as well. It’s still dark, but a few birds are chirping calling for the start the day.

I quietly gather my things trying not to wake Ms. R as I wasn’t smart enough to prepare all my stuff the night before. On this morning I wasn’t quiet enough as she wakes as I’m putting the last few pieces together. At least this allows me to say goodbye which I normally don’t get to do. A part of me is sorry for waking her, but I know that she will be asleep again in a matter of seconds. She is one of the lucky ones who can fall asleep very quickly anytime and anywhere. I quickly leave before the thought of crawling into the warm comfortable bed has a chance to take hold.

With gear, clothes, computer, water bottles, and food in hand I make my way out the door. The street is fairly quiet until a taxi drives by blasting its music. As its passes I listen and swear that the driver is listening to techno and smile at the notion. I drive in silence not even caring for the radio on this dark morning. Cars pass by and the drive is made up of white headlights, red taillights, and green road signs against the dark sky. I happen to look up at one point and see some dark blue muffled by the clouds. So that’s why it is still so dark. The huge cloud mass that has been around for the last few days is still there and fighting to hold back the light of a new day.

Like the clouds I have moments that I want to hold back the start of my day. The sore neck that plagued me the day before is still there. The idea of spending the next hour in the cold water is less then appealing. Unfortunately I don’t really have a choice. Goals and expectations have been set. The journey has begun and like many my day starts in the twilight of the morning…

Happenings

2007-03-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well for starters it’s pretty obvious that blogging has not been one of them. Really I’m going to get my act together on this. A new month is coming along and I’ll start hitting the blog sense harder. I swear!

In other news I’ve been able to get some consistent training in the last couple of weeks. At least something of a routine is starting to form. I don’t feel like I’m out of the woods yet with my training, but it’s getting better. Plus there are a couple of signs that things are heading in the right direction. 1) I had to put a huge order in for drink powder and stuff like that. 2) Deep tissue massages are back on the schedule. Tonight is the first one. (oh the pain, but it hurts so good!)

The Final Four is this weekend which means that I’m going to have to spend at least a little bit of time in front of the tube. I was doing really well in my bracket til Kansas decided to choke but I’m still hanging by a thread in fourth place. Somehow Mouse is leading the bracket. hehe Though I will point out I have more correct picks then her. :P That’s about all I can muster since she’s going to be at the Final Four in person. Now that’s a lucky lady.

Have a great weekend. If you are in the Midwest stay dry. It looks like the rain in going to continue through the weekend. Later…

Need Some Juice?

2007-03-22T14:47:00.000-07:00

Not a bad little video to get the motivational juices flowing…

Take a look

Not sure if that video is old or new. My bad if it's so last year. :)

Later...

Small Victories

2007-03-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you have to take the small victories and run. This morning it involved successfully navigating past a few roadblocks to get a swim in before work.

Roadblocks
1 – Waking up at 5:15, need I say more
2 – Realizing that you’ve forgotten your shoes after you’ve been on the road for five minutes and have to go back home. (if only I could wear sandals at work)
3 – Realizing you’ve forgotten your belt once you get there. (was riding a little low today)
4 – Master swim is going on when you get to the pool. (luckily it was over 15 minutes after I arrived)
5 – Stomach pissed over the bread and peanut butter you fed it beforehand for most of the workout.

Now none of these were show stoppers but little things can add up quickly and sometimes they bring your plans to a grinding halt. Thankfully on this morning that wasn’t the case. It’s not a big victory but it shouldn’t be overlooked. I mean how else to we manage the big ones if it weren’t for the series of small ones leading up to it.

Mazatlan

2007-03-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

Mazatlan

Several months still remain in my journey toward Ironman Wisconsin. There are many unknowns that will have to be tackled and resolved, but one this is taken care of. The post Ironman vacation had been planned and booked. If all goes well, six days after completing my first Ironman (knocking on wood right this instant) we’ll be off to Mazatlan. My travels have never taken me to Mexico so I’m really looking forward to going. I can’t think of a better way to get away from everything to heal and rest up after the race them by heading south of the border. If anyone has been there and has any “must do/see” please let me know.

Overall it was a nice weekend up here. There were lots of crazy people out and about with St. Patty’s Day in St. Paul. To add to things the WCHA (college hockey) had their league tourney going on as well. To cap things off the U of M won in overtime on one of the most ridiculous goals I’ve ever seen. Take a look! And another! It was a great game to watch and made staying in soooo worth it. In other sports there was a lot of BB to watch. So far I’ve faired well in my bracket, but didn’t get any love from our border buddy Wisconsin. Oh well someone had to be the first #1 to get knocked out.

Oh and I’m totally working on your 350+ post I have to read. You all have been busy busy bees.

Talk to you later…

Daylight Savings

2007-03-15T13:43:00.000-07:00

All I have to say in that the change in time has thrown me off. (cause I need more things to interfere with my workouts. hehe) Anyway with no light in the morning I’ve failed at getting up early for workouts before heading to the office this week. So needless to say I’m a little behind in my workouts. Oh well I’ll try again tomorrow. Maybe by the 5th day I’ll get things to work. Stupid daylights saving…blah!

This past weekend we had a pancake breakfast for all the current TNT teams. This included our honorary patients and speakers in the cancer field. It was good to get all the teams together and hear about the current research that is going on. Not that I actually heard or saw anything. Along with two other coaches and mentors I was in the kitchen the entire time. Over the course of about 3 hours we made around 700 pancakes including one very large Mickey Mouse pancake for mentor Kimmi. The feedback so far has been very good and my guess is that we will do more of these events in the future. All I know is that I’m not making pancakes for a long time. I’m sure the same goes for the marathon coach Sam as the two of us flipped every pancake made. Here a link to some pictures from the event.

NCAA BB tourney starts today. Woohoo…Time to watch the best BB around.

Totally Unexpected MIA

2007-03-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

Well it’s been a long long time since I posted which is totally my bad. Things have been busier then ever with something new coming up every time I turn around. I’ve been somewhat successful is ramping up my training the last week or so. Since the beginning of the year I’ve been struggling with my training. There have been a multitude of reason but one of the biggest and one I didn’t see coming was what happens when your hobby becomes your job.

Certain situations with coaching have been quite difficult and stressful. Most of it is has do to communication issues, personality differences, and the shear amount of work behind the scenes that takes place in order to provide for a team of 130+. Without getting into details the frustration that was building and the amount of energy and emotion that was going into my coaching job was having a huge effect on me and my training. I was lost for motivation and had no energy to go train myself when I was constantly left with this bitterness after coaching or even thinking about anything related to training. Which it addition kept me away from my blog and yours. Hopefully the actions that are being taken to correct some of issues will work and things will be changed for the better. If they don’t I don’t know what is going to happen.

The whole situation really caught me off guard. It kind of has turned into that too much of a good thing situation. I heart the sport, the tri community, the LLS cause, and coaching, but doing all at once may turn out to be a little ill fitted for me. I hope it doesn’t, but over the last few weeks it hasn’t been looking good. Thankfully the support crew has been amazing and has helped to keep things afloat when they were sinking fast. Hopefully resolution is just around the corner.

On a totally unrelated and silly note I’ve added a new table to my sidebar. In conjunction with stepping up the training I’ve tried to give my health an additional boost. For the month of March and possibly longer I’ve given up one of my favorite foods, chips. They serve no nutritional purpose and are totally empty calories, but they taste soooo good. So chips are off the menu for awhile. Things like crackers and pretzels are still ok for now. I mean I have to have something to snack on. hehe

So my apologies for the sudden drop in posts. I’m going to try and be better about posting regularly during the week and I’ll hopefully get through the zillion posts that I have to read very shortly.

Take care…

Round 2

2007-02-28T07:32:00.000-08:00

Starting this afternoon another snow storm is rolling into the area. Between now and Friday night we should end up with at least another foot if not more. Some reports are saying up to 20 inches but I’m sure we won’t get close to that. Not that I wouldn’t mind if we did. It might be a little on the late side but I’ll take the snow anytime.

The last two nights I’ve ended up as a big sweaty heap. (get your minds out of the gutter) First off was yoga which as usual kicked my butt. Usually it’s a good workout but on Monday night I was actually dripping as I was trying to hold some of the balancing positions. I was holding a pose and all of a sudden I hear this drip, drip, drip as the sweat is rolling off my head and hitting my mat. Ok Judy (instructor) you got me, I’m working out, can we stop now? For the love…

Then last night was our team cycle night. I led two spin sessions and was beat afterwards. I went armed with a new mix and workout and the team kicked some butt and pushed through the hard workout. The best part was each person had a partner and they would switch off sprinting through “I’m the Scatman.” (one of the best songs ever…hehe) When they weren’t sprinting they were cheering their partner on. It’s amazing how much easier something seems when you have your own personal cheerleader right next to you.

Tonight the team will be back in the pool well that is if the snow doesn’t keep us off the roads. Train on…

QOTD: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead

12+

2007-02-26T13:25:00.000-08:00

The weekend blast left over a foot of snow in its wake. The range varies depending on your location, but we haven’t had a snow like this in years and it was great. Yes there is the hassle of shoveling, snow blowing, plowing roads and all that but this is the upper Midwest. It suppose to snow a lot and having a foot on the ground should be the norm. This of course has not been the norm since our winters have been so weak. Anyway it’s great to have all the snow and to just seen it fall for a day and a half was pretty sweet.

The storm held off a bit so we were able to get our team run in on Saturday morning without much trouble. There was only a dusting on the ground when we met up as a team. It ended up being a lot of fun and the team seemed to enjoy having a bit of snow on the ground. Maybe it was more a relief that we didn’t have more but no matter we had a good turnout and a good run.

Later in the afternoon Ms. R, Kimmi, and I headed out into the heavy falling snow to get a swim in. I’m not going to say that it was unproductive, but I don’t think our hearts/minds weren’t into doing a real workout. I think we spent more time working on flip turns then actual swimming. Which I think was ok given the nature of the day. With all the snow it was kind of snow day and all about doing what you wanted.

This trend continued on Sunday. Most people around our place were busy trying to dig themselves out from all the snow that had fallen overnight. The sup to our apartment showed up and started blowing out the driveway and sidewalk. Shadoweyes (a couple good pics of Kimmi and Harley) and company helped out. I stayed in with Ms. R and we worked on breakfast. After a loaf of bread, 15 eggs, 1 pound of bacon, hashbrowns, and OJ we were all fit for a food comma. Ahhhh food comma!

The rest of the weekend was pretty much the usual with grocery shopping and washing clothes. I guess there are some things that have to be taken care of even during a snow day. Hopefully the snow will stick around for just a little bit. Nothing like looking out our window and seeing everything covered with a foot of snow. I heart snow….

Little Steps Add Up

2007-02-23T14:09:00.000-08:00

Last night Ms. R and I headed down to SafetyBob’s do another spin session. It was a shorter session but it was still time in the saddle. TriSaraTops once told me to spend as much time in the saddle as possible and that’s what I’m doing. It might be for shorter spurts at the moment, but it all adds up at the end. Though maybe next time we should spend more time in the saddle then we did eating pizza. Opps

This weekend we are suppose to get a pretty big storm through the area. Some weather peeps are saying as much as a foot of snow. That would be pretty sweet in my opinion. We haven’t had a snow like that around here is years. The weather may affect our team run tomorrow, but unless it’s like a blizzard out there we’ll probably still run. I think it will be fun to do a snow run and a good workout for the team. Besides we were do for at least one more big storm before winter starts to tail off.

Hope you all have a great weekend. If the storm really takes off I might be sending out an SOS for someone to come shovel me out of my apartment. hehe Until then here are some pictures from our cycle/core session on Tuesday. Later folks…

Sacrifices

2007-02-21T20:55:00.000-08:00

With all that I’m undertaking this season the list of sacrifices I will have to make it quite long. Training and coaching will take me almost completely out of my usual social circle. There will be the hits to the body and my health that comes along with such training. The hours asleep will not be the right ratio for the hours that I’m awake and the energy that I will be expending. The list goes on, but these are known upfront and some are unavoidable. Yes you always strive to negate the effects of training and the things that land on the chopping block, but in the end something will end up there. As much as I’m ok with the sacrifices it will take to make it across the finish line at IMWI.

There is one part that is really hard to swallow, yet there is little I can do about it. That is the sacrifices that others will make on my behalf. This mainly includes the time away from those very close people in my life. Those relationships that will have to learn how to compromise in order continue and thrive. That things will have to evolve enough to support the limited hours in each day. That others will have to do a lot of rearranging of their lives in order for me to be successful. This continues to be a hard pill for me to swallow and it’s one that I’ve procrastinated in taking. Like many endurance athletes I’m a typical control freak, but this time around I have control of even less.

In looking at this situation my efforts can only be applied in a few spots to help ease the affects this season will bring. Overall I can think of one way to ease this frustration that I have with the sacrifices others will make and hopefully theirs as well. That is to honor them with every workout that takes me away from those I’m close to. That I give my best every time I step out the door so that every hour that I’m away will not be wasted. All I can hope for is that my efforts will match what others have sacrificed for me so that when the day is over all parties involved can truly say that it was all worth it. That the sacrifices that everyone has made will have their payoff in September and everyone can share in the finale of this amazing journey.

That is my hope and dream for myself as well as everyone who has a stake in or just watching my Ironman journey. On that note I must say thank you to all…

Soon to be typical?

2007-02-19T13:47:00.000-08:00

After finishing a long day at work on Friday I headed down to SafetyBob’s with Ms. R and Kimmi to do some spinning. No going out and having a cocktail or just relaxing on the couch. Nope after a long day it was time to get in the saddle and grind it out. I don’t think anyone, well besides Bob, was 100% excited about spending a Friday night on the trainer, but we managed ok. I brought down “What it Takes” to help pass the time. Overall it was a good session and I was glad we had put the time in. “Money in the bank,” was Bob’s comment afterwards and I had to agree. With work and coaching it’s going to be hard to get all my training in this year. Workouts on Friday night’s are just one of the things that will become pretty typical this season. Oh the joy…

(Our setup in Bob's basement)

(Kimmi, Ms. R, and Me wincing in pain)

Getting Caught Up

2007-02-14T13:46:00.000-08:00

Life has taken me out of blogland for the last few days. Here is my attempt to get all caught up in one post. Ok, seat buckles fastened? Let’s go…

Saturday AM: Unfortunately we had to cancel our first team run this past weekend. The temp was still below average and below zero when 8:00 AM rolled around. We try to keep the best interest in our athletes in mind at all times and we figured that sending them home with frostbite would not be a good thing. So I did get one more Saturday morning to stay in bed. As much as I wanted to be out with the team it was nice to stay under the warm covers and head back to dream land.

Saturday PM: Ms. R and I spent the evening celebrating national rip-you-off-day, aka Valentine’s Days. hehe I actually have nothing against the idea behind the Hallmark holiday. I think it’s good to show appreciation and affection to those in your life. I just don’t like the fact of prices being jacked for the occasion. So instead of having to go give blood to send some flowers we took up a show after a nice dinner. Cirque du Soleil was in town and neither of us had seen it before. It was an entertaining show and we had a good time. It was a nice way to spend some time with just the two of us.

Sunday: I did my first double workout of the year. We went for a short run in the morning followed by a swim in the afternoon. The run was absolutely miserable. It was only like 3 miles, but it felt like 10. Nothing felt right and I struggled through most of it. Thankfully the swim went better. We had a group of 4 that ventured to the university in the afternoon. The pool was busy, but we were able to take over a lane for ourselves and proceeded to go long and strong.

Monday: Yoga…Like I need to say that it kicked my butt. It always kicks my butt, but I think its getting better. Hmm…that might be wishful thinking or the instructor is just trying to be nice.

Tuesday: Holy crap the pain. Tuesday is our group cycle night. Til we can get outside we use a spin class studio at a local gym. The problem is that we have a huge team (100+) so we have to schedule people at different times. Between me and the other coach we are leading spinning, running, and core workouts with people on ½ hour shifts. I started with running with our advanced group and then spinning for an hour with two beginner groups. Holy crap was I tired and sore after that. My calf muscles were close to cramping during the last spin session. I could feel them firing on every pedal stroke and I waiting for them to lock up. My voice was shot as well since the mic wasn’t working and I had to yell instructions. Overall everyone did really well and we managed to get over 80 people though a workout or two. If workouts like that don’t shock the body at this point in the season, I don’t know what will.

Wednesday: Happy Valentine’s Day for those of you who are into that sort of thing. Tonight we have our group swim. I’m not sure how my voice is going to fair after last night, but what can you do when you have to coach. Add in all that chlorine and dry air and you’ve got yourself a good old time. So that’s what on tap for tonight. We’ll see how the holiday affects our turnout. We’ll see who the diehards are tonight.

So whether you are working out, off doing who-knows-what with that special someone, doing the group get-together thing (maybe a little anti V-day vibe), or something completely different just make sure it’s what you truly want to be doing on this fine Hallmark holiday night…

So Worth It

2007-02-08T06:42:00.000-08:00

Last night we had our first team swim. He had a huge turnout which was great. We’re lucky that we have a pool all to ourselves or else we’d never be able to handle the numbers. The lane lines were not up which made it a bit interesting as people tried to stay out of each other’s way. Overall they all did amazing for their first team swim. It didn’t matter their skill level, everyone participated and seemed to leave with a smile on their faces. Well that is until they went into the really cold locker rooms.

This morning I received an e-mail from one of the teammates who had sent it to the coaches and mentors. It was a great e-mail from a new swimmer who came out last night and gave it her all. She went on to say that this is her first experience in really learning how to do a real swim stroke and how excited she is about this experience. It was great to hear that someone enjoyed the team workout so much and who went the extra mile to send a little thank you e-mail. Hearing that people are coming out and challenging themselves is why I enjoy coaching so much. It’s what makes the time, energy, and effort that we put into the teams so worth it.

Here is a bit from the e-mail, it totally made my day and I’m sure the other coach and mentors feel the same way. So to the sender…Thank You!

Top 10 reasons why you all totally ROCK:

10. i hate (and there are VERY few things i would ever say i 'hate') cold water - and tonight i got in and didn't think twice about it.
9. whether you were there tonight or not, you're giving your time to be there to encourage, teach and support us.
8. you had smiles on your faces the entire night.
7. it was COLD in that pool, and you guys spent extra time in there to help us learn.
6. not only do you laugh at each other...you laugh with each other.
5. you must have gotten kicked 100 times, and you were still smiling at the end of the night! (maybe that was because you were finally able to get out of the pool?? ;)
4. we met new people - thank you, mike, for throwing the "who's one person you've met so far?" question out early in the evening. up until that point, i'm pretty positive we were all focusing more on the mechanicals of the downhill than on the people we were bumping into along the way.
3. my lats actually are kinda sore...
2. amidst dodging flying tennis balls, we learned how much of a team YOU all are.
1. i caught glimpses all night of people learning new things...and was giddy-excited at the thought of how we'll all share in those moments with each other over the next 6 months...making the celebration at the finish line that much sweeter.

One final note...For the few mentors who actually visit my site, thank you for all you help last night. The water was cold and you all stuck it out to help our beginners after your own workout and we really appreciate all your help. Mentors rock!

3 Items

2007-02-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

For those who don’t live in the Midwest we are currently suffering from some rather cold temperatures. For the past few days, yes I did say days, it has not warmed up to even 0 °F. So needless to say we are in a bit of a frosty weather pattern. They are saying that temps should reach above zero sometime tomorrow. It that’s the case it will be a freaking heat wave around these parts.

This past Saturday we had our TNT Kick-off party. Overall it went really well and we had a good turnout. We also had a good number of people join that day which is always nice. We’re still are hoping to recruit a few more people before the end of February. I think we will have a great tri team this year. We seem to have a good mix of ages and abilities. This will challenge us as coaches, but usually leads to a closer knit team. I also had an unexpected blogger meet-up when Firefly showed up to support the summer teams.

Finally when Sunday rolled around I had one goal and that was to get in the water. Thankfully I had Ms. R and another friend who both wanted to swim. The three of us made the trip over to the university center to get some pool time in. It wasn’t always “long and strong” as my friends Rocko, a former colligate swimmer, says your stroke should be, but we managed a decent swim. I was just relieved to get in the water after my issues last week. Next time I’ll just take Trimama’s advice and go cut a whole in the ice when the pools are not available.

That’s in from the frosty North…

Shutout Again

2007-02-02T14:45:00.001-08:00

Ok so apparently I’ve really pissed off Poseidon because last night was another bust on the swimming front. I went to the new gym last night to finally get a swim in. Of course I get there and there is a sign on the pool door saying it’s closed and they are sorry for any inconvenience. Are you kidding? What is it going to take for me to get into the water? Anyway I wasn’t too happy to find that out and I didn’t have any other workout clothes with me, so it was back home again with no workout to speak of. I was temped to run when I got home but with the thermometer reading 1°F. I decided that it might not be the best idea. It was already dark and the temp would be falling. I’ll put off getting frostbite for another day.

Tomorrow is the kickoff to our TNT summer season. I’ll looking forward to the kickoff and meeting the new team. Plus it will be fun to see those who are returning, but that I haven’t seen since the summer. Beyond the kick off and hopefully a workout or two it should be a pretty laid back weekend. This is exactly how I’d prefer my last “free” weekend be. After this weekend the season will be on and there will be no sleeping in on Saturday mornings for at least the next 6-9 months. Man I’m going to miss sleeping in.

Have a great weekend everyone!

The Breaks

2007-02-01T10:52:00.000-08:00

Last night after work the plan was to run some errands and then head to the pool. The errands included signing up for a new gym membership. I need a new place to swim since the pool I swim at a lot is being shut down for months while they put in new pool. The new pool will be really sweet, but this was not good timing for me. Anyway after filling all the paper work and getting my membership card I was all set. Now this new gym has many locations, but not all have pools so I wasn’t able to just swim there. Even though I’m running a little late I head over to the university to use their nice aquatic facility. I finally get there, get changed and I’m sitting at edge of the pool wetting my goggles when something falls out of my hands. I look down to see that my goggles are now in two pieces. WTF! The nosepiece of my goggles had ripped it two. Noooooooooooooooo Are you kidding me? What? Why? Come on give me a break! Needless to say I was not a happy camper. I knew that I didn’t have a spare with me. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr So I stood up and went back to the locker room to change back into my clothes. I stomped back to my car and went home. I couldn’t believe it after all the time running around and then being good and going to swim even if I couldn’t be there that long and then my goggles break. Just so wrong!

Ok my rant is over. I guess I’ll keep trying on this whole swim thing cause for whatever reason something comes up whenever I make the effort to get in the water. I must have pissed off Poseidon or something…

A Little Publicity

2007-01-31T14:54:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week a local new station ran a piece about TNT. The story featured three ladies from our triathlon team who had joined in honor of a friend who had leukemia. It was fun to see the clip and hear more about their story. I had worked a lot with two of the women last year and it was just another reminder of how much they accomplished. Hopefully a lot people saw the video and maybe we’ll get a few people signed up because of it.

With our season kickoff this weekend the running of the piece couldn’t have been better timed. A week from now we’ll be holding our first swim practice and it will be back to coaching. I can’t wait! Hmmm…Speaking of swimming I guess I should get my arse to pool. Ok I’m off to the pool. Below is a link if you want to take a look at the video. Take care…

Video clip...

It’s Just Another Day

2007-01-29T12:49:00.000-08:00

I may be the odd person out when it comes to birthdays, but I’ve never been one to be like “hey hey, woohoo, it’s my birthday, look at me, look at me.” In years past people have found out that my birthday had just passed and they are like, “why didn’t you say something.” Who knows why? All I know is that I’ve never made a big fuss about my birthday. That’s not to say that I don’t like getting a group a people together to go have a good time, but I’ve never been the type that says we should fly the circus in. That is why I was a little surprised that the theme of the entire weekend would turn out to be my birthday. Now some will argue that that is how it should be. Or that you have to go big when it’s your golden birthday. (Including Ms. R) Well for my benefit that’s what ended up happening. I’m still in the camp that it’s just another day, but I appreciate all the thoughtfulness and effort that people extended on my behalf. So here’s the run down…

Friday: Ms. R took me out to a very nice dinner after work. We went to Stella’s, which is a great seafood restaurant in the Uptown area of Minneapolis. The food, drinks, and deserts were top notch. We then headed to The Depot in downtown Minneapolis to go ice staking. I hadn’t been on a pair of stakes in about 15 years, but it’s kind of like riding a bike and you never really forget. We had a good time skating around and there was some great people watching to end our evening.

Saturday: Now this was the day that I had actually planned things out for how I wanted to celebrate my “just another day.” A group of 14 met in downtown St. Paul to go to a roller derby. That’s right they are bringing it back and it was a blast. From the opening whistle these girls came ready to skate hard. There was plenty of action in the form of great skating and the ladies ramming into each other with someone going into the crowd. There were a few crowd favorites based on their rough and tough style or their pure skating ability. Plus the couple of pure grab the other girl and take her down to the ground incidents really got the crowd going. I wasn’t sure if people we going to like it, since none of us had ever been before, but everyone seemed to enjoy the action.

The only hiccup was that Mr. JT had a concert next door which made traffic and parking a nightmare. Nothing against the music or the fans of said performer, but I couldn’t help but laugh at the streams of ladies who were dressed to the 9’s to go sit/stand in a dark concert hall. To me it was all too funny.

Anyway after the derby we headed to a local bar for drinks and food. A few more people who couldn’t make it to the derby trickled in. It was great just to chat it up with some friends while having a few adult beverages. Thankfully the shots were limited, I think it’s an age thing, and people just enjoyed the atmosphere.

Sunday: Cause there hadn’t been enough todo about my birthday and nursing a bit of a hangover there was still more to come. This of course was all Ms. R’s doing. We had a TNT fundraiser event Sunday night. One of our teammates but together a huge cookbook as a fundraiser and this was the kickoff part for it. Suzanne, the lady who’s fundraiser it was it one of our best TNT cheerleaders. She’ll talk to anyone about the program and her experiences. She Rocks! So of course Ms. R had to tell her that it was my birthday and she was ready for me. Half way through the party she called for our attention. She then proceeded to clothe me with a crown and gold cape and lead everyone is singing too me. I’m so not a spotlight person so she loved drawing everyone attention to me for the remainder of the night. It was a very nice gesture even if it’s something I would request doesn’t happen again.

Thanks Suzanne

final product

with Ms. R

So there are all the details of how a simple little thing such as a birthday took over an entire weekend. That said, it was a great weekend and I’m grateful for everything people did for me even if it’s not my style. Too bad the age change doesn’t do anything for me in terms of age group classifications.

A Path through the Forest

2007-01-26T15:07:00.000-08:00

As I’ve been trying to work my way out of this little funk, or at least determine how that is going to happen I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my motivation and drive. For undertaking something like the Ironman there has to be a certain amount of personal motivation and reason in the first place. I know my reasons and wants are there though they maybe somewhat hidden at the moment. This got me thinking to what catalysts usually help fire up the motivational juices. For one there is this blog community with tons of amazing people challenging themselves to accomplish their goals. Even though I haven’t been the best reader/commenter as of late, your posting still play an important role. I mean where else will you find people like Mouse who can be quoted as say such things as "screw getting a man who is rich, or a man who is hot. we want to marry an IRONMAN!" The other big catalyst that I’ve come to realize is my involvement with TNT. As a mentor and now as a coach I’ve come to appreciate everyone who takes up the TNT challenge. TNT was the beginning on my triathlon experience and this trend continues for many on our team members. Seeing someone and being apart of their journey from beginner to triathlete is almost beyond words. To work with someone and track their progress week to week and month to month is so motivating it’s ridiculous and most of the time they have no idea that they are having an effect me or anyone else. In short I miss my team and I’m so glad that we are starting up again in a matter of weeks.

So what does this all mean? Well for starters a portion of your motivation has to come from within. There has to be a part of you that says yes, I want to do this. The second aspect is that we are not all superhuman and can’t always do this all on our own. We have to be able to rely on others and take motivation and strength from outside ourselves. We go this way and that way struggling to find our way. It takes time, effort, and sometimes an outside influence, but eventually we will be able to put all the pieces together to find our way through the forest and end up at whatever we were searching for in the first place.

Off Center

2007-01-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

This is the feeling that I’ve had lately and I rather dislike it. A lot of this seem to stem from trying to find my focus and drive as I startup another season. In the big picture there is Ironman Wisconsin somewhere off there in the distance but yet it has an enormous effect on my everyday life. I’ve struggled with getting into a regular training program since the beginning of the year. Not that I should be doing a ton, but the routine is just not there. The other portions of my life; work, friends, relationships, coaching, ect continue to win out and be my focus. This isn’t entirely a bad thing, but at some point soon that will have to change. At some point my focus will have to change and that will mean significant changes in my life and I’m not sure if I’m ready for those changes.

I guess what this all boils down to are the fears that are associated with doing an Ironman. To which there are many and occur on many different levels. On one side you have the race itself and all the training to prepare for it and then on the other there are all the personal affects and all the things that get sacrificed for the sake of preparing for such a race. All of which scare the bejesus out of me. My guess is that every Ironman nubie comes across these issues and for me that time is now and will probably continue for the next 9 months.

I guess through all this mumbling what I’m trying to say is that I have fears and issues to address over the next 9 months. Some will have to be taken care of sooner then others, but at some point I will need to deal with each and every one of them. If I disregard even a single one there is no way that I can reach my goal with is the finish line of Ironman Wisconsin…

Timber

2007-01-16T13:37:00.000-08:00

This is how you could have described my yoga experience last night. We did a lot of balance poses which kicked my butt. My balance has lots of room for improvement and I defiantly felt the weakness is my knees and ankles thanks to all those old soccer injuries. The instructor only came over once to offer a modification to one of the poses as it was clear that I wasn’t really flexible enough to pull it off.

Beyond the benefits of increase flexibility and balance I’m really like that this yoga class provides that quite/meditation/reflection time. With as busy as life, work, training, and coaching is going to get in the coming months it is going to become more and more important to have that down time. Having a class where the only noises are light music and the sounds of people breathing qualifies as some quality quite time.

So the lesson which we have all heard a thousand times and I’ll stated it again; as busy as we get running around a hundred miles an hour 24/7, we can only do it for so long before we crash. Working in those necessary down times and breaks will reap huge benefits is all aspects of life. (Yes I can provide wine to go along with that cheese…hehe)

Now I’m off to go convince people to join TNT. Later folks….

A Salute

2007-01-15T11:59:00.000-08:00

This is a salute to all the boys and girls, men and women who dawn the red and take up posts at your local swimming pool or beach. These brave souls risk their lives to support a safe environment for our water recreational pastimes. They challenge even the sun and end up with bronze bodies that even a regular to a tanning salon would be jealous of. These super people with their rescue tubes and whistles are setting the standard for young people everywhere. I feel so fortunate that I might be included in the ranks of such great people. So here is to all that those who take up the watch and say “you will not drown on my watch” and “walk don’t run please.” We couldn’t do it without you!

In all seriousness I found out how hard a lifeguard’s job can be and they shouldn’t be short changed by any means. Over the weekend I completed the final two days of the lifeguard class. After completing both the written and skills test on Sunday I am a certified lifeguard. Not that I plan to join the profession anytime soon, but I’m finally finished. woohoo Now with all the coaching red tape taken care of I can just focus on coaching which is super sweet.

Thank for all the well wishes last week. I spent all day Thursday and Friday in bed which really sucked. Things were at least making a turn for the better by the time Saturday rolled around. I wasn’t 100% but well enough to go sit in on the CPR portion of the class which was almost a total repeat of the class I took in November so fun times. Things are about back to normal now since I was taken off my feet last week.

Tonight it’s back to yoga which should be fun. We’ll see how many times the instructor corrects my position this time. Afterwards I have to go write my speech for our TNT information meetings which start this week. At least they are short, under 5 minutes, cause I’m just not a big fan of public speaking. I think I have to speak at 3 or 4 meetings over the next couple of weeks. So I have that to look forward to. :P

Anyway that’s about all I have. Oh and you would have thought that after spending two days in bed I would be all caught up on your blogs well thing again. So as usual I’ll be playing catch up this week. Take care…

A bug

2007-01-12T12:45:00.000-08:00

Apparently at some point this week I caught a nice little flu bug. So for the last day and a half my life has consisted of sleeping a couple of hours at a time, get up maybe eat or watch TV and then it’s been back to bed. I’ve mainly been dealing with the chills, body aches, a fever, and fatigue. I guess it could be worse, but I hate being sick. The only good time you can have while being sick is if you really aren’t and you’re just playing hooky. I’m ok with that type of illness.

I know there are a few people racing this weekend so good luck to all the racers. If I’m feeling better I’ll be in lifeguard class all weekend. Woohoo doesn’t that sound like fun? Ok I’m outta here. Take care and have a great weekend everyone…

I'm It

2007-01-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

I’ve been double tagged by Kim so here are my responses.

1. Find the nearest book.
2. Name the book & the author.
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page. Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
5. Tag three more folks.

Tides of War by Steven Pressfield
“And yet nothing,” put in our youthful firebrand Callicles. He spoke of his service, this winter past, on the Naval Resources Board. Among his duties was to treat with the brokers who represented the foreign sailors – the islanders of Samos, Chios, Lesbos, and the other maritime nations who served for pay in the Athenian Fleet.

Tagging: Mouse, Nic, and Running Shorts

The A-B-C Survey

A-Available or Single? Nope, sorry ladies
B-Best Friend? I have a lot of close friends. No reason to single out a favorite.
C-Cake or Pie? Cake, unless it’s Grandma W’s apple pie
D-Drink of choice? Long Island Iced Tea
E- Essential Item? Computer
F-Favorite color? Blue
G-Gummi Bears or worms? I’ll take the worms please
H-Hometown? Rochester, MN
I-Indulgence? Tri gear
J-January or February? January, gotta take the month I was born
K-Kids & names? None that I know of
L-Life is incomplete without? Finding that thing you were meant to do or be.
M-Marriage Date? Some future date
N-Number of siblings? 4, count them 1, 2, 3, 4
O-Oranges or Apples? Apples
P-Phobias/Fears? The monster under my bed
Q-Favorite Quote“You can quit and no one will really care…but you will always know!” - John Collins
R-Reason to smile? Ms. R
S-Season? Winter, bring on the cold and snow. Plus I’d always rather be cold then hot.
T-Tag three people: Mouse, Nic, and Running Shorts
U-Unknown fact about me: I as a cross-guard captain in the 5th grade
V-Veggie I hate: Most of them…
W-Worst Habit? Starting most sentences with “you know” and I hate making decisions so I don’t or just flip a coin.
X-X-rays you've had? Feet, knees, head.
Y-Your favorite food? Potatoes
Z-Zodiac? Aquarius, sing it peoples...

Another First

2007-01-09T14:06:00.000-08:00

Last night I did something new to try and get this new year of training and racing off on a good start. Wait for it, wait for it, ok it’s really not big at all but last night I went to my first real yoga class. I already knew that my flexibility is ruinously bad, but last night proved it even more. Overall it was good class and I enjoyed it, but I knew I was in ruff shape when the instructor kept on having to pull my hips back during downward dog. I couldn’t even get this rest position right. hehe Anyway I’m glad we went and hopefully things will improve over the 10 week session.

A couple of you made points/questions about the ages in the lifeguard class. Luckily I am not the oldest one in the glass, but close. The other TNT coach is actually a few years older then me so she gets the title of oldest in the class. We are the elderly states-people in the class totaling seven. The ages for the class go like this…

2: 15
2: 16
1: In College
2: 27+

So yeah we feel a little bit old with regards to the rest of the class. Nonetheless they are all really nice and fun to work with so the age difference hasn’t really mattered.

Ok that’s all I got. Take care…

½ a Lifeguard

2007-01-08T12:10:00.001-08:00

Over the weekend I completed the first 2 of 4 sessions to get certified as a lifeguard and I’m tired. We were in the water for probably 7-8 hours over the course of the weekend. Afterwards I couldn’t get away from the smell of chlorine even after numerous showers. Overall the course has been good with some good information to offset the dry common sense type of things. The hardest by far has been the submerged rescues, though the 500 m swim kind of kicked my ass too. It wouldn’t have been so bad but half of it was breaststroke and I have about the worst breaststroke kick known to man. Anyway that’s how we started our first day and it ended with the submerged rescues.

Of course I was the first to try the submerged rescue after I was the victim for the instructor to demonstrate. (Note: Playing the victim for a submerged rescue is almost as nerve racking as being the rescuer.) So after not having a chance to watch how to do it the instructor had me rescue him. Ummm, yeah that didn’t go so well. For one I really didn’t know what I was doing, two the guy probably had 60+ lbs on me, and he went completely limp the entire time and just made me struggle. (Nice guy right, :P) I got him up just fine, but I couldn’t get my rescue tube under him so he kept on slumping forward. I think the tube slipped at least 6 times before he stopped things. I was completely drained after that. We kept practicing it with the other students and it went better later on, but it was really hard and very tiring.

The second day was spent doing first aid and then doing backboard drills for head and neck injuries. We learned the different ways to deal with the neck injuries and getting people on the backboard and out of the water. This went fairly smoothly until once again it was time to do this with a submerged victim. Now not only did you have to get your victim up you had to restrain their head underwater, roll the victim while you make your way upward and then finally get them above water. Once above water you worked with a partner to get a rescue tube in place, because you didn’t start with one, and then do all the backboard work to finally get them out of the water. After rotation and playing all the roles (primary, secondary, and victim) I was spent and ready to call it a day. Thankfully that was the last thing we worked on before stopping for the weekend.

Next weekend we’ll be back in the classroom covering CPR and then we’ll have the written and water tests on Sunday. It’s been a good experience, but I’m ready for it to be done with. Anyhoo I’m half way to getting this last certification done with and I can’t wait til it’s all over.

Now I need a nap…

Don’t Let Them Drown

2007-01-05T14:53:00.000-08:00

Last night I finally made it to the pool. It was pretty busy, but it slowed down after the first wave of people started filing out. It had been awhile since I was in the in water but things felt ok. I consider this a good thing with having to spend the next two days at lifeguard training. (and next weekend too, blah!) The longest part of my workout was a 500 had I’ll have to do as part of the lifeguarding test. I wanted to make sure I can still swim that far. I don’t think I’ve swam that far in one shot since the half IM. It wasn’t blazing fast by any means, but I think I should be ok for the test.

Tonight it will be poker with the fellas. Unfortunately there will be no drinking or a real late night for me. It just wouldn’t be the best thing before the clinic and I’m sure I’ll catch the usual flack when I bail early. It’s to be expected but all in jest. Maybe I can win a bunch early and run away will all there money. hehe

I hope you all have a great weekend. Mine will consist of sleeping, eating, and trying not to let people drown. We’ll see how that last one goes. Take care…

Stupid Blogger

2007-01-05T08:15:00.000-08:00

So apparently my post yesterday never really happened with the text being a no show. The long and short of yesterday's post was that I couldn't complete even my first workout of the year as planned. I ended up not swimming and just going for a short run instead. So my apologies for blogger not publishing what I told it to.

Not Even One

2007-01-04T14:36:00.000-08:00

A New Year, but just another day…

2007-01-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

Another year has been written in the annuals of time, but realistically it’s just another day. I’ve never been real big on New Year’s resolutions. Maybe I’m still bitter from having to write resolutions every year as a child. As the years passed I came to the conclusion that change can happen at anytime. It shouldn’t take the beginning of a new year to make things happen. If the new year helps make those changes then I’m all for it, but in the end it comes down to individuals making the effort to change something in their lives. For instance this morning I packed up my gym bag in order to hit the pool tonight. Yes it’s the first workout of the New Year and the start of my base, but in the end it’s just another day in the life of a triathlete.

First Freak Out

2006-12-30T10:41:00.000-08:00

The other day I had my first Ironman freak out. It was bound to happen at some point but I didn’t expect it so early. Of course leave it to my subconscious to get a head start of things. The episode occurred in a dream the other night. The main subject matter of the dream was that I was in the transition area trying to get organized and I was missing half my stuff. The majority of the dream was me freaking out about where my stuff was and running back and forth trying to locate everything. Another weird part was that we were using repair stands to mount our bikes which was pretty funny when I look back at it.

During the course of the next year leading up to IM Wisconsin I’m sure these episodes will come and go. It’s kind of funny that they’ve started already. I think it is part of me wanting to be training full time again. I miss the schedules and the routines. I miss my team and coaching. I want to have my schedules laid out so I can see where I’m going. I’m just ready for the off season to be over with. I just want to the season to start again.

Oh well it will come soon enough and then I’m sure I’ll be complaining about it. Funny how you miss things like training and then once you are doing it you are oh yeah that what it’s like and you want a break. That’s just the nature of the beast. Come on Fido we’ve got work to do.

Who spiked the eggnog?

2006-12-25T06:40:00.000-08:00

Before I depart for another holiday function I just wanted to wish each of you a very wonderful holiday season. Safe travels and good times wherever you may be during this time of the year. Take care…

Happy Holidays!

#1 gift to me, from me (and the bank)

2006-12-20T12:03:00.000-08:00

As I alluded to yesterday, this past weekend I made the biggest purchase of my life. After months of procrastinating and looking I finally found what I was looking for. So here is my #1 Christmas present to myself…

My new ride!!

Now I’m pretty psyched about having a vehicle that is relatively new. I’ve never owned a vehicle that wasn’t close to, or over the 100,000 mile mark so having one that has less then 50,000 is super sweet. I’m not one to get all hyper about things like cars but I’m really excited to have a new ride. It’s not the best or the fanciest, it’s just new to me which is all I really need. I’ve always been a car guy so it will take a little getting use to having a SUV, even if it’s a small one. I figured that it was time to get a little bigger vehicle that will allow me to haul around all the gear that I’ve been collecting over the last couple of years.

So there you have it, the biggest Christmas present that I could come up with and it’s a doozie this year. Who wants a ride?

Apparently only Mouse and MinnesotaDon bought themselves things for Christmas this year. So to everyone else, who has read my last couple of posts, Go buy yourself something! :)

For Me? You shouldn’t have…

2006-12-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

Throughout the holiday shopping spree that takes place ever year it’s hard not to pick up a thing of two just for you. This year was no different when I picked up a Polar S720i heart rate monitor. I still don’t know how to use all the functions, but I needed one for Ironman training next year anyway. So I figured I might as well go all out and get one that has a ton of features. The only things its really lacking is GPS, but I’m ok with that.
I did make one more big purchase for myself that needed to be made, but it just happens to fall right in the middle of the holidays so I’m going to think of it as another gift to myself. I’ll post more about that tomorrow. Where I was going will all this is that I want to know things have you bought just for you this holiday season? What things have you picked up on the notion that these are gifts for you from you? Let’s get a list going folks…

The Old Switcheroo

2006-12-18T12:01:00.000-08:00

I might be one of the last ones, but I finally made the switch to the new version of Blogger. Hopefully this will take care of all the problems I’ve been having while trying to comment on people’s blogs lately. I guess we'll have to wait and see how good this new version is. Anyone have any thoughts on the new version?

Anyone, anyone, Bueller, Bueller...

On to the topic of the holidays which is rapidly approaching. Like many people I’m just wrapping up my shopping and as of today I think I’m done. Which is a nice feeling but there are still cards to send and presents to wrap. Actually I don’t think I’ll have to wrap any gifts as Kimmi and another TNTer are offering gift wrapping as a fundraiser. Now I have to hand it to these girls because that’s pretty creative. So unless something changes I will have escaped all stores and gift wrapping all together this year. Now that’s pretty sweet in my book.

I hope you all had a great weekend. Take care…

Online shopping is…

2006-12-14T12:38:00.000-08:00

pretty much the best invention since sliced bread. I mean how else do people expect me to get my Christmas shopping done? I mean come on here folks I’m a fairly busy person and not the biggest fan of malls so doing my shopping online totally rocks. So far this year all my shopping has been done online and I hope to keep it that way. There might be a thing or two that I will have to go to the store for but I can manage that. What I can’t manage is being one of thousands of people out at the malls this coming weekend. No thanks I’ll be out running and everyone else can go fight for parking and the last item on the rack. That’s just not my vibe…

Mediocre

2006-12-12T13:36:00.000-08:00

I think this is the best way to describe my swim last night. I’m still trying to get back into the swing of things in the pool and it always takes quite a bit of time for me. Last night it was just a case of trying to do too many things at once. Or I should say, trying to correct too many things at once. I should know better then, but sometimes you just have to struggle a bit til you remember how you should go about things. So I’m in the struggle phase to my reentry into the water. The plan is to go back tonight and try once again to get things right or at least a little better.

P.S. Would someone please teach my shoulders how to be flexible? :)

Unseasonably

2006-12-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

I’d like to go ahead and thank global warming for the unseasonably warm weather pattern that passed through the Twin Cities this weekend. Actually I’d rather not thank global warming, but it was rather warm for December. Way to warm for my taste. Now unlike a lot of people I really like the winter. I like having piles of snow on the ground especially during the holidays. With the holidays quickly approaching Old Man Winter needs to get his act in gear cause we’ve got nothing, zilch, nada. So I’m sorry to rain on the nice weather parade, but bring on the snow. This is MN! Is it is suppose to be cold and snowy during the winter and it’s been nothing close to that so far. So please let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

The Weekend is Here!

2006-12-08T12:26:00.000-08:00

Woohoo it’s Friday and that mean quitting time is almost here. Now I can’t say that it was a bad or very hard week working for the man, but the motivation just wasn’t there. This can make for a long week and I’m ready for it to be over.

With one week almost over another one will soon be starting and I’m hoping to be a little more proactive in my training next week. One of the things that I came away with from the coaching clinic was that you really don’t want to wait to start things in January, which was my plan. I figure if I can get in some quality workouts before the holiday break things will get off to a better start once the New Year comes around.

So wherever your plans are for the weekend I hope you have a great one. Take care folks…

Airbone to the Rescue

2006-12-07T13:03:00.000-08:00

It might just be a freak occurrence but I think this Airbone stuff actually might have some benefit. The oncoming illness symptoms that I was feeling yesterday are gone. The little tickle in the throat and the like are no where to be found today. So for now I’ll jump on the Airbone bandwagon. I mean it can’t hurt can it?

A while ago I vented a bit about having to take the Water Safety Instructors (WSI) class. Looking more into things it is actually a class that teaches you how to be a better swim instructor. Great that should be useful during the upcoming season and it actually sounded like fun. Well it turns out that there has been a change of plans as the TNT staff is now asking us to take the Lifeguard course instead, which sounds like a lot more work and a lot less fun. Has anyone ever taken a Lifeguard course or was certified? Is it hard?

The whole ordeal has been a bit frustrating. All I want to do is coach, but there have been a lot of extra requirements to get there. So after I take the course in January I should have my third and final requirement out of the way. Best cross my fingers on that one and get my ass to the pool. :)

Picking up Steam

2006-12-06T12:32:00.000-08:00

After returning from Cali on Monday I had a TNT meeting that night. The meeting was actually for the mentors, but the coaches were there to talk about expectations and other odds and ends. The other triathlon coach wasn’t going to be there so I went to the meeting to talk with our new crew of mentors. We have a good crew of mentors coming in, many were first timers last year, and it was good to see them again. After the staff was done with their portion of meeting I got up to address my mentors. I’m not the more gracious public speaker, outside of actual coaching and leading workouts, but I stumbled through my notes trying not to show my bit nervousness. You see I knew almost everyone in the room really well, but it’s different when I have to put on the coaches game face and tell them how things are going to be. Anyway it’s all a little strange, but I’m sure I’ll get use to it.

What’s exciting is that things are starting to get pick up momentum towards the upcoming season. Our informational meetings start next month, which again I have to speak at, blah and in less then 2 months we’ll be kicking off the 2007 season. Our goal is to have over 200 triathletes. Holy crap that’s a lot of people to coach, I guess I’m going to be very busy next year.

Total different topic…Have to folk tried the Airborne cold tablets? I just found out about these things on my way home from Cali. I was sitting at the bar when a lady asked for a glass of water and drops a tablet into it start fizzing. I didn’t think much of it until another person came by and did the same thing. I asked the 2nd lady what it was and she showed me the Airborne package. She’s was like these things are great. Now the cold and flu bugs have been going around lately. Ms. R even came down with one last night so I ran to the store and picked up some of these tablets. I’m going on the offensive to hopefully avoid getting sick, at least for now. I’ll let you know if they work at all, but it would be great to hear what other people things about these things.

That’s all from the brisk north where currently we are just trying to stay warm. Tonight it will be in the single digits. Oh well bring it on Old Man Winter, let’s see what you got! (P.S. could you please send some snow with these cold temps...Thanks OMW)

My Weekend in CA

2006-12-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

From Saturday morning til Sunday evening, just about every hour of my weekend was scheduled in. Most of my weekend was spent in a conference room at the very nice Renaissance Club Sport in Walnut Creek, CA. The amenities were very nice, but I didn’t have time to use all the health club/spa facilities as I was there for TNT coaching certification clinic. As I mentioned before Dave Scott is the TNT head coach and was conducting the weekend and I have to say that he’s a really nice guy and a great coach. For all is fame is seemed very humble and actually somewhat camera shy. He came with a ton of information and great stories to boot. Most of our time was in the classroom with the exception of a running, bike fitting, swimming, stretching/strengthening activities session. We had a group of about 30 coaches and it was great clinic. It was really good to get to know some other coaches and hear about their programs.

Now being that I was in the SF area it would have travesty if I didn’t meet up with the Nic of Phase Five. After my clinic ended I headed into SF to meet Nic. One thing about SF, or at least the area where Nic lives, there is like zero parking. I spent about 20 minutes trying to find a parking spot and ended up 6 or 7 blocks away from her place. So we both set off from our locations and met at a Starbucks. First if you’ve read Nic’s blog you know what a great and wickedly cool person she is and meeting her was like the icing on the cake. She showed me around the area and we had a really good dinner at a little Italian joint. I have to say that I’m jealous that you can eat outdoors all year round in SF. We finished things off with some gelato and stroll down by the bay. I was only able to visit for a couple of hours but it was nice to see a little bit of SF while I was there.

After saying good-bye to Nic it was back to the airport to drop off the rental car and wait for my flight. I was taking the red-eye back which didn’t leave til 12:30 AM so I had a bit of wait. Finally after a flight full of cat naps I was back in chilly MN by 6:00 AM on Monday morning after one full, but great weekend in CA.

Coaching crew with Dave hiding in the back

California Dreaming

2006-12-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

In a matter of hours I will be on flight head west to the great state of CA. It’s been a few years since I’ve been to the Golden State and I’m looking forward to going back. The main purpose of the trip is to get certified as a TNT triathlon coach. I’m a little nervous about this since I’m kind of in my off season and I’m not in the best shape right now to be going to a two day clinic involving lots of workouts and coaching fundamentals. It doesn’t help that the head coach for the program is Dave Scott “six-time Ironman World Champion and the first inductee into the Ironman Hall of Fame.” Holy crap peoples…Now you couldn’t ask for a better guy to learn from but his is huge! So I can’t say that I slept the best last night knowing what this weekend is going to involve.

Another highlight of the trip will be meeting up with the ubber fabulous Nic! She’s going to show me around SF and let me in on why it is “one of the best cities ever.” (Nic didn’t say that, but my guess is that she’d agree and I felt like something needed to be in quote)

Have a great weekend folks and I’ll catch up with you all on Monday. Cross your fingers that Dave Scott doesn’t kick my ass and says I’m ok to coach for TNT.

Later…

WSI

2006-11-29T14:37:00.000-08:00

Water Saftey Instructor. This is another course that I have to take and be certified in to coach next year and I’m not happy about it. This course is 32 hours long. Who has time to take a course that requires you do be there days at a time. Not me. So it looks like I’ll have to take this course between Christmas and New Years. Which means I’ll have to cut my time short with the fam and only be there on Christmas day. Blah! So much for a little R&R this holiday season.

Ok vent it over. Carry on peoples, nothing to see here…

Long Weekend

2006-11-28T11:58:00.000-08:00

Like many of you I’m back to the normal grind of everyday life after the long and relaxing weekend. I spent the majority of my time visiting with friends and family. I drove the very long 1:10 minute drive to my hometown for the holiday. We had above average weather which provided a few days to perfect fall weather. I took full advantage by getting back out into the country and trouncing through the woods. It was nice to have a few days just to go with the flow and not have to be anywhere at a particular time. Some true R&R.

Now it’s back to the daily grind and working for the man. We also started our efforts for the upcoming TNT season which will be starting in a matter of months. I guess I lucked out the first time as a coach because I wasn’t involved in all the prep work. I didn’t luck out this time as my calendar is already filling up with meetings and informational session. Plus I had to get CPR certified so if you are in need of a little CPR let me know. I can now save lives.

Take care folks…

Questions from Kim
1) Best blogger pal?
I’d have to say Mouse. We’ve met up a couple of times and have had a ball. Plus we chat it up on a regular basis.
2) Favorite position?
I favor the bottom.
3) Best song/album to get you into the mood?
I’m not sure, but it most likely would be a soft, quiet, intimate mix or soundtrack. Soundtracks are usually a good way to go.
4) Have you snorted Ritalin?
I can’t say that I have.
5) Currently in love?
Yeah, I’ve fallen pretty hard and fast for Ms. R.
6) Who’s the hottest blogger ever?
I don’t know if this could ever be determined with all you lovely ladies out there.

Some answers

2006-11-20T12:00:00.000-08:00

Well there weren’t maybe questions asked over the last few days. Either everyone knows everything about me already or people just really don’t care. No matter here are the answers to the questions that there asked.

Ever been in love? Tell us about it. Chickfit
The first time I was off the deep end for a lady was several years ago. We had met at a house party thrown by some mutual friends. We went swing dancing on our first date. We soon were attached at the hip like many college romances. We went through some ruff patches as everyone does and even took a break after a year and half only to start things up again. One of the hardest parts was when she was away in California watching over her dad who was struggling against leukemia. This in turn led to her involvement with the LLS and eventually my own. After she was done with school it looked as if this would be and we'd get married and all that jazz. That changed when she wanted to spend 6 months out of the country and we decided to end things at that time. It turned out to be one of those “if we hadn’t met so young” deals. We are still friends though somewhat distant given that she now lives in Cali where she is in law school.

I could also tell you about my current squeeze, but that story is still be written. :)

Last time you had sex? No need to go into detail... ;) Chickfit
This weekend

Favorite song? Chickfit
I don’t have a favorite song. I like a variety of music, well except country. (Sorry if that’s your vibe, but I just can’t do it) There’s really too many out there to have just one favorite.

Can you be friends with girls? Chickfit
Totally…I have a number of good female friends.

Coffee, tea, or soda? Chickfit
Soda all the way. I can’t stand coffee and I’ve tried the tea thing, but just haven’t acquired a taste for either.

How often do you pick your nose?? Kimmi
I couldn’t tell ya, but I’ll try and keep track for you…

Finally before I go, congrats to E-Speed who rocked the JFK 50 miler and TriSaraTops for posting a new ½ marathon PR. You gals rock!

You only get 6

2006-11-15T11:31:00.001-08:00

Ok ladies and gents it's target practice time. This is you chance to find out whatever you

wanted or didn't want to know about me. I'll post a reply to all the questions on Sunday

so you have til then. Your subject matter is below. Fire away peoples...

1) About friends...

2) About sex...

3) About music...

4) About drugs...

5) About love...

6) About anything...

P.S. I have no idea who originally came up with this list of questions...

Not back yet

2006-11-15T11:31:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday I went out on my second run since the marathon and things did not go well. The run was short, maybe four miles and I didn’t make it half way before my body was pissed. My knees felt like someone was drilling a hole through the middle of them the remainder of the run. I was like “what the heck, come on” things shouldn’t be this hard, but apparently they are. So my second run in almost of month went just about as poorly as the first. It seems really weird to have only run twice in almost a month. I can’t remember the last time I took so much time off in between runs. I guess that means that I’ll just have to spend more time in the pool, but this not running thing is starting to get old. I need to run peoples!

I did make it back into the pool last night. Things left better then the last time around so that is encouraging. If I didn’t have a raging headache I might have actually had a decent swim. Oh well so it goes. I’ll be back to the pool tomorrow. Can’t wait, really I’m so excited to go freeze my ass off in the pool. Really I am…

The Origin of Walchka

2006-11-14T06:25:00.000-08:00

Kels posted a question over the weekend and here’s the response to; why Walchka? Walchka is a play on my last name and it’s a nickname that I’ve had since high school. The inception of walchka was first spoken by a guy on my soccer team who like many called my by my last name, but ended it with a hard K sound. I’m not sure why NN did this, but it caught on. It soon evolved to having a KA at the end and I’ve had the name ever since. It has been used so much by my friends that there was actually a time where someone thought my real last name was Walchka. I thought this was pretty hilarious and just went to show how much the name was being used. Plus when you’re not the only Mike in the group most people use a last name or nickname anyway. It just makes this easier. Well that’s the story behind Walchka. Thanks for the question Kels.

Keep em coming folks. Maybe I’ll have to bust out the 5 question deal that was going around way back when...

Hmm…Lifejacket anyone?

2006-11-10T12:35:00.000-08:00

I went. I got into the pool. I pushed off from the wall and nothing happened. My body was like what do you want us to do? I guess that’s what happens when you take 2 ½ months off from swimming. I knew it was a bad idea to take that much time of and now I know why. Any hoot my swim last night was basically crap. My muscles couldn’t remember what they were supposed to do and I my body felt like lead. Instead of cutting through the water like a fast moving catamaran I was plowing through it like a tugboat.

I guess I have to start somewhere and hopefully a few more trips to the pool and I’ll be feeling a little more like an actual swimmer.

Sorry for the short post but that’s all I got. Any more questions out there?

Have a great weekend everyone…

Tonight

2006-11-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

Tonight I make my return to the pool. I’ve been putting it off for the last couple of days basically finding any excuse not to go. That’s not going to happen tonight, crossing my fingers. I will go to the pool and submerge myself in the chilling lap pool water. I will take a deep breath and push off from the wall and see if I swim or sink.

For a little motivation please be prepared for some verbal flogging to hit me with should I not make it tonight. I don’t know what happened, but going to the pool use to be so much easier. Anyway feel free to leave a taste of what I might have to endure should I fail tonight.

Til then enjoy this entertaining video that showed up in my inbox the other day. Hopefully you haven't already seen it. I hate when that happens. :)

Later folks…

Sticker Giveaway

2006-11-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

If you do nothing today make sure you make it to the polls to vote. Here in MN you get little red “I Voted” stickers. Any other states have the little red stickers? Or what do your stickers look like? Get out there people…

Location

2006-11-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

So last week a question was posted about marriage and a change of scenery. The marriage would be to one and only Mouse and a location change to the state of Michigan. I’m not sure my current squeeze would appreciate it if I just went off and married another woman. The second factor in that equation is location. Currently Michigan doesn’t fall on the list of possible relocation sites which includes; Colorado, California, or somewhere in the Boston area. So my apologies Mouse, but at the moment that just isn’t going to work.

Next question…

Oh and before I forget congrats to local fav Trimama and Cali native the Big Kahuna for finishing their first Ironman in Florida over the week. You two ROCK!

Oh and the goal for this week is to get back in the water. I’ve put it off for too long and it’s time to get my ass back in the pool. It may be the off-season, but that doesn’t mean I can just veg. (sigh)

How it all started…

2006-11-02T11:03:00.000-08:00

Habeela posed a question to me from my post yesterday regarding my venture into endurance sports so here is a little history lesson for ya. To be honest its relatively short history, but my background is running which stems from almost 20 years of playing soccer. Back in 2003 and 2004 I started running more regularly for both physical and mental wellbeing.

After a while I decided that I really needed some goals with all this running and I convinced my friend James to do ½ marathon with me. I spent the spring and summer of 2004 training for the fall race. During that time I went and saw my first triathlon. (Lifetime Fitness Triathlon) It immediately dawned on me that I had to give that a tri, because running just wasn’t the challenge that I was looking for. After completing the ½ marathon in the fall of 2004 I started to get in the pool and go through the pain and anguish of leaning how to swim. Yes I could swim, but swimming for distance was a big challenge and it took several months to get comfortable in the water.

2005 was my first year racing triathlons. I was hooked from the beginning, which was with TNT of course, and dove head first. I bought a tri bike before my first race because I knew that I would heart this sport. I did 5 races my first season and I haven’t looked back since.

This past year I continued my work with TNT as a mentor and coach while also pursuing my own goals in this sport. I did another handful of races this year including my first ½ Ironman and marathon in prep for Ironman Wisconsin next year.

So in short fashion that is my history in endurance sports. I haven’t been doing thing stuff for a long time, but I defiantly jumped right into the deep end. :)

Thanks for the question Habeela!

Next…

5000+

2006-11-01T11:02:00.000-08:00

Holy crap, don’t you people have anything better to do with your time? hehe j/k I just thought I would take this moment to thank all you peeps for dropping by from time to time. I might have to get a little creative to keep you avid readers around during the off season. With a lack of scheduled workouts I’ll have to come up with some other subjects. Any suggestions or anything you are dying to know about me or my opinions? Probably not, but I thought I would throw it out there. Let me know…

Take care folks...

Halloween

2006-10-31T08:10:00.000-08:00

Well it’s that time of year again when you see little kids in costumes running around trying to fill their buckets full of sweet goodness. Others spend their time running the local 5Ks full costumes optional, but you usually find some really good ones. This past weekend I was at a couple of the local races and there were plenty of great costumes out there. It had been a few years, but a group of us actually went picked pumpkins and carved them on Sunday. I had used a cool looking Igor stencil and it turned out pretty well. Of course the local squirrels came around and ate out his face. So there goes that masterpiece. So whether you get all dressed up and take part in the festivities or not enjoy this ghoulish night before you wake up tomorrow to the on slot of the winter holidays.

BOO!

Take care…

Pictures from this weekend

Chicago Post Race

2006-10-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

Crossing the finish line at Chicago was pretty sweet and a big relief. My last big race of the year was over and it was time to relax a bit. After collecting my gear bag I was off to the meet-up area to wait for the rest of my crew. I did have a long wait but it was broken up by a quick stop by TriSaraTops as she was leaving the race site. It was great to see her again if only for a couple of minutes.

TriSaraTops and I

After a couple of hours of standing out in the cold the crew was assembled and we make our way back to the hotel. I don’t think I’ve had a shower feel so good. I could have been in that thing for hours and not even blinked. I might have come out looking like a shriveled prune, but it would have worth it. Once we had all showered it was off to PF Chang’s for some much needed nutrition. I highly recommend the lemon pepper shrimp. It was goooooood!

With food in our bellies we walked the half block back to the hotel to lounge around until we decided on the next course of action. This would finally entail heading down the block to the Rock Bottom Brewery for a little blog meet-up. I had missed the big blog meet-up that Jawhawk put together, but Mouse, e-speed, and Running Rabbit made the trek and we partied it up for a couple hours. The booze was flowing a bit with beer, wine, shots, and of course long islands ordered. It was fun hanging out with everyone even though the runners were pretty tired. Finally it was time to say good-bye and we headed back to the hotel for some much deserved rest. All in all it was a great race and a great trip. I leave you know with some pictures from the weekend.

Take care…

Expo

My Travel Crew
(Patty, Becca, Sara, and Sherry)

Building in GreekTown

Bottoms Up
(Sherry, Patty, Rabbit, Becca, E-Speed, and I)

E and Mouse

Mouse and I (after a couple LIs)

E and I

Chicago Race Report

2006-10-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

The wind was bricks, but the moods were high as we walked the mile from out hotel to the race start. My nerves were there, but not running too high which I was thankful for. I had my Pre-Pre-Race mix on as people chatted while we walked. Soon we were engulfed in the hoards of people making their way to the starting line. After some good lucks and good byes I left my crew and made my way to the gear check and then to the Preferred Start II corral. I have to say that having a preferred start was pretty cool. People made small talk as they waited for the start of the race. Soon the cheers went up as the race started and our corral moved towards the start line. You had to watch your step to avoid tripping over the clothes that were tossed aside as runners started their race. It took us only 3 minutes before we were at the start. A final cheer went up; I smiled and crossed the start line of my first marathon.

My goal for this race was to come in under 4 hours. Even better would be to finish in the 3:50, 3:55 range. To accomplish this I stuck with the 3:50 pace group. Well I should say I ran a little ways (10-30 yards) behind the pace group. I figured if I could keep them in my sights I would be just fine. The first half of the race was over in a flash. I was on the look out for Mouse and TriSaraTops, but I never found them in the crowd. I was a little disappointed, but rest of the crowd was great. There were bands playing and people cheering the entire time. Two sighs caught my eye during the race. The first one said “Run Faster Stupid” and the second was “More Cowbell?” for the SNL skit with Christopher Walken.

Up til about mile 19/20 I was feeling really good. I guess for most people it’s usually around mile 20 where things get a little harder and that’s where the race really started for me as well. I was still feeling pretty good at the 20 mile mark, but the body was starting to tire and legs were starting to feel heavy. It didn’t help that I had been running in the cold and windy weather for about 3 hours. I don’t think the temp rose much past 40 the whole day. After the 20 mile mark my legs started to spasm a bit. I figured that sooner or later the cramps would come, but for the time being I just marched on and took down some sports beans. It’s amazing how some as simple as chewing was like a breath of fresh air. Yum yum I heart sport beans.

At around mile 23 I went more into survival mode. I knew that I was going to be able to finish and I just wanted to be done. I tried to keep my pace steady, but I had lost the 3:50 and would kick it towards the finish on my own. A mile later my legs reminded me what I was putting them through and started to scream. By mile 25 I was cramping every other step and was forced to job and shuffle along at times. It didn’t help that I the finish was a bit on an incline and the wind from the lake was smack right in your face. Soon came the countdown signs, 800M, 400M, 200M. By this point my legs had had enough, but I surged as best I could towards the finish. Finally after 3 hours, 52, minutes, and 2 seconds I had complete my first marathon.

To be continued…Post Race

Make Up Your Mind

2006-10-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

This is all I’m asking of Mother Nature in terms of Sunday’s weather in Chicago. The weather reports have been flaky as always with some saying rain and others not. Now on a normal day the weather comes and goes, but when it comes to race day I want a fortuneteller. Is this too much to ask? I mean with all the technology this world has produced it’s still a crap shoot when it comes to predicting the weather. So like the thousands of others who will be racing on Sunday I’ve been rolling over the combos that might help keep me comfortable and as dry as possible should the heavens open up Sunday. There just a few when you list the many options; shorts, pants, short-sleeve shirt, long-sleeve shirt, vest, jacket, visor, hat, sunglasses, gloves, and maybe some arm warmers. So much for a light packing trip. All I know is that it’s not going to get above 50 which I’m ok with it. Bring it on Chi-town!

Final Taper

2006-10-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

In less then a week I will wrap up my final race for the 2006 season. Oh there might be a 5K here or there, but for big races this is it; Chicago the last big hurdle in a long season. To be honest I’m looking forward to a little break. Yes I will continue to train to retain my base, but I’m looking forward to being a bit lazy. I think 10 months out of the year is plenty of time to devote to my training and the sports I heart. All that’s left is this “little” 26.2 mile run. On Sunday I finished off my last long run before the race. It’s weird how 10 miles just doesn’t seem that long anymore. I’ll be singing a different tune after the break. Anyway just a couple more short runs this week before I pack up and head down to Chi-town. There should be a good crew from blog land on hand which will make it a lot of fun. I know Mouse and TriSaraTops will be in the crowd with Nic, Elizabeth, and several others running. I’m starting to get psyched for this race. Would it hurry up and get here all ready? GOSH!

My 2007 A race

2006-10-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

What It Takes

2006-10-12T04:55:00.000-07:00

Frickin huge! What It Takes is a documentary about 4 professional triathletes and their journey to Kona. I’ve been waiting and waiting for them to release this flick and it’s finally happening. On Monday the movie will go on sale and I’ll be placing my order Monday morning. This is supposed to be an amazing look into the lives of these people and it’s a total psyche up for training. They are even going to be showing the movie at a local theater in November. Woohoo! This is sweet sweet news people.

Check out this trailer. It's super sweet!

Keep it going…

2006-10-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Things have been going well since the weekend. I returned from my trip up north on Sunday (post about that coming) and went for a great 12 mile run. With my new Asics on I was flying and before long I was done. I was kind of like, that’s it? I guess after the 20 miler the previous weekend everything seems really short.

I suggest sunglasses when looking directly at my new Asics....

I already relayed the news about making the preferred start for Chicago. Today I was hit with another bit of good news. My local LLS office wants to send me to CA for my TNT coach’s certification. I mean how sweet is that? I won’t know for a bit if I get in or not, but I’m pretty psyched. I haven’t been in CA in a couple of years so it would be great to spend some time on the west coast. Oh and before I move on, Dave Scott is one of the instructors. He’s only like the most famous triathlete and coach in the world. He won the world championship in Kona 6 times. Holy crap and I might get to meet this guy. Totally bitchin!

More good news rolling off the news tickers, I’ll save the big one for Friday.

Preferred Start II

2006-10-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

When I returned from my weekend up north I found a very nice surprise waiting for me. In the mail was my confirmation notice for the Chicago Marathon. Included was my starting position which read Preferred Start II. This means that I qualified to start in the first 10,000 racers. Now that might not seem like a huge deal to be 1 of 10,000, but when look at the big picture I’m pumped to be starting before 30,000 other races. This is a freaking huge race. 40,000 racers! This will defiantly be the biggest race as far as number as I’ll probably ever be apart of. Get ready Chi-town, 40,000 runners are coming to stomp all over you!

Relaxed

2006-10-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

I think this is the best way to describe my marathon training. After Pigman back in August I just haven’t have the motivation and rigor that I normally put into my preparation for a race. Now this may come back to bite me, but I think I’ll be alright. The one area that being relaxed about that I know is affecting me is my nutrition. This is something I usually watch very carefully when I’m training, but I just haven’t. I’ve been eating out too much, having a few too many cocktails. So it’s time to crack the whip. After this weekend, cause I’m going to visit my little bro and we may have a bit to drink while I’m there, its back to a good diet and non or very little booze til the marathon. I mean if I can’t pull it together for two weeks then I have no business training and racing in the first place. You hear from time to time of people flushing their systems before a doctors appointment, there was a great Cosby Show episode about it, but I’m flushing my system before a 26.2 mile race. Hmmm…maybe I should have thought about this earlier.

Take care folks…

Disney Recap

2006-10-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

Last Monday I returned for the “Happiest Place on Earth,” aka Disney World. My TNT tri team was racing in the Walt Disney World Triathlon on the 24th. It was a crazy weekend with little down time. All I have to say is that it’s a lot easier being an athlete then a coach. That whole responsibility thing can really drain the batteries after a full weekend. It didn’t help that it took at least 45 minutes to get anywhere down there. That’s one of the downsides of staying at the Disney resorts. You can’t just hope in your car to get where you need to go. It was busses, shuttles, or fairies the whole weekend. We also spent a lot of time working on bikes. I had to set up a bike repair spot in my living room for most of the weekend. I don’t think the grease came off my hands til after I returned to MN.

So the highlights of the weekend included all my athletes finishing the race. Three athletes placed well during portions of the race. Kris placed 9th in her age group for the swim. Chris placed 9th in his age group for the run and Nick finished 21st overall in his age group. This was pretty exciting and they were stocked. It was a big race with 1500 racers so to do really well in any portion of the race is a big deal.

There were a few stressful moments when one guy on my team had a flat only a couple minutes into the bike. One girl made me sweat with a fairly slow swim. You always start to wonder and worry when most of the swimmers have come out of the water. Finally she arrived and I was able to breathe again. Myself and a couple other TNT coaches were lined up at the swim exit watching for our last swimmers, it was pretty comical.

Overall I was so proud of the way my team performed. The weather conditions were hot and muggy with temps reaching into the 90s. That’s a huge change from the 50s and 60s we left here in MN. They all finished with huge smiles on their faces. All which were made bigger by the time the victory party rolled around and a few drinks were consumed. The night didn’t end til after 1 AM, nothing like whopping it up at Disney World all night long. The victory parties are always a good time with all the different TNT teams there. We partied with some people from RI who I had met at the Philly tri back in June. It was a good way to wrap up the weekend.

Here is a link to a gallery with all the pictures I took that weekend. Disney TNT Tri weekend.

Oh and I don't want to hear the word "Magical" for like two years!

Flash Gordon Style

2006-10-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

I blinked and my weekend was over. One minute I’m finishing up my work on Friday afternoon and the next instance it’s Monday morning and I’m back at work. So here in blitzkrieg like fashion is my weekend recap.

Friday after work I drove down to my hometown to visit the fam. My brother and sister-in-law were in town to show off the latest addition to the clan. Of course when I arrived no one was there so I got dinner started while the fam trickled it. We had a nice visit and my new nephew is a cute little baby.

The visit was cut short when I had to leave to return to the cities. With a 20 mile run in the morning I needed to be back at a decent time. On the drive home I contacted the infamous Mouse who had arrived in the Twin Cities for the Minnesota vs. Michigan football game. By all account she was having a ball and enjoying her stay.

Saturday morning and it was time for my 20 miler. I wasn’t looking forward to this run at all, but it was my last long run before Chicago. I decided on a 10 mile route to loop twice. My first loop was conservative and slow, but I was feeling good. I made a quick stop at by car for some sports beans and to restock my Gu supply. I felt good starting the 2nd loop and I picked up my pace. Up until the 2.5 hour mark I was feeling really good, but all good things come to an end. Things didn’t take that big of a nose dive, but my legs were starting to rebel and spasm. I slowed down a bit over the last couple of miles to keep from cramping. It worked and finished just back to 3 hour mark. I knew I had pushed the 2nd loop and was shocked and excited when I saw that I negative split the 2nd half by almost a minute per mile. I was stocked even with the knowledge that my body would get me back in only a matter of hours.

After my long run it was back home for a little rest before I had to leave again to meet up with Mouse and her crew for some tailgating action. Now this was the first time Mouse and I had met so all bets were off. I was quick to learn that she’s just like she is on her blog and we had a great time. We partied it up with the other tailgaters until the game started. Drinking some whap like concoction called Hopskipity. (spelling?) Mouse was decked out in full on Michigan clothes complete with blue mascara. It was a blast!

After the game we met up again for a few drinks. Due to the outcome the first round was on me and I treated Mouse and her crew round of Tequila shots. (Mouse’s favorite btw…hehe) Then it was off to another bar for a bit before finally calling it a night.

Sunday morning I’m up for the Twin Cities Marathon. I cheer the runners on for a bit before heading back downtown for the Twins game. I was meeting my little bro and his friends for the last game of the regular season. A few beers later and the Twins had one and clinched the division with Detroit (or the D, according to mouse) losing. I was suppose to go out again after the game for a TNT function, but I went home and crashed.

So yeah there’s my weekend that was over in a heartbeat. It was a good time though and meeting up with Mouse was a blast on Saturday. Don't worry Mouse I won't tell everyone that you were amazed by the Twin Cities and wondering why you are still living in the big D. :)

Ok I need to catch my breath. I’ll catch you on the flip side…

One Sided

2006-09-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

Ever since my ½ Ironman my training has been fairly one sided; run, run, and more running. Now this whole marathon business has left me in a bit of a catch-22. The good side is that all I have to do is run. I don’t have to find time to get on my bike or back in the pool. The rub is that all this running is taking its toll on the bod. It’s seriously pissed and I don’t think that’s going to change til after Chicago. I guess I’m not helping thing by basically ignoring the cross-training that I should be doing. After wrapping up my tri season I just haven’t had the motivation to keep up the other activities. I know that the variety of tri training is great and it’s partially why I like the sport so much. You could look at it as we might be a little spoiled in that aspect. Even though its time consuming and frustrating at times, triathlon training in itself provides some of the needed variety that other endurance training doesn’t explicitly provide. For the next month or so things will probably remain pretty much one sided, but it will be nice once I find the missing two legs of my stool. I’ll track them down eventually, but for now one is all I got…

Blog Sabbatical Over

2006-09-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

So I know that I have not been a good blog citizen as of late. I’ve got a few things to recap from the last couple of weeks. Starting with my trip down to Madison for the Ironaman and finishing with my trip this weekend to Florida for the Disney World Triathlon. I’ll be back in good form starting today. This does include reading the 300+ posts that you all have been writing. So stay tuned as I ramp back up here to reenter the blog fray.

Walchka is back!

A Chill

2006-09-09T21:19:00.000-07:00

The cool fall weather has set in over the upper Midwest and with comes Ironman Wisconsin. I can’t imagine what state our fearless Iron Wil, TriSaraTops, and Chris are in at this very moment. Hopefully they are close to sleep in prep for putting themselves to the ultimate test tomorrow.

I viewed the transition area this evening when I got into Madison. I was brought to a standstill as I approached the finish line that workers were putting up. A block away I made my way to the Monona Terrace where transition will take placed. I looked down at the thousands of bikes all waiting to be picked up and handed off to their owners when they’ve finished with the swim. I just stood there stared out over the mass of bikes.

So much will unfold tomorrow for thousands of people as they test themselves verses the 140.6 mile course. I’m anxious for all the racers and can’t wait for it all to start. I’m really looking forward to being apart of this huge event. Even more exciting will be to see our own favorite bloggers kick some major booty tomorrow.

They are calling for a bit of rain tomorrow so send all your dry vibes to Madison, Wisconsin. Everyone will really appreciate it! Take care and stay tuned for the aftermath of Ironman Wisconsin.

Everybody Yasso

2006-09-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

Waking up early when it’s still dark out is somewhat normal on race day. It’s a little bit harder when you’re waking up early to go do speed work at the local track. This morning I made my second trip to the track to revisit my friend Speedwork. Amazingly I convinced neighbor Kim that it was a good idea that she went along as well.

After my intro last week I decided it was time to really do some speed work and did a set of Yassos or simply put 800 repeats. Today’s workout included 4 repeats with a 400 meter job recovery in between. Now four repeats isn’t a ton, but it’s a good starting point. Each week the number will increase until its time to taper. So my little four repeats went something like this.

1 – 3:26, not to bad a good steady pace
2 – 3:11, maybe a bit fast
3 – 3:11, ok but you’ll have slow down when we pump up the volume
4 – 3:09, yeah too fast. I must have been in a hurry to be done.

Even with my legs still a bit sore from my long run on Monday I managed a pretty good workout. Speed work is just one of those things that sounds good til you’re actually running and then you hate life for the next ½ hour, hour and then it’s all over. It’s a nice feeling to finish as you stop by Jamba Juice on the way to work and then spend the remainder of the day wondering why you’re tired. Oh that’s right, cause you’re crazy, I mean enthusiastic, enough to get up at 5 just so you can feel the burn. Yeah we endurance folk are a weird breed. A great breed with a few quirks. :)

Reintroductions

2006-09-04T20:21:00.000-07:00

Over the last few days I’ve been reintroduced to a few old friends. On Thursday it went sometime like this.

Mike I’d like you to meet Speed-work, Speed-work this is Mike.

Me: Ah yes we first met a couple of years ago.

Speed-work: Yes where you have been?

Me: Well I’ve been a little busy and I tried this new sport out.

Anyway Thursday morning I dragged a couple of teammates to a local track at the ass crack of dawn to do some speed-work. Now it was a pretty light workout because we onl did 4X400, but it was a good little workout to get back into thick of things. This week will be the all fun Yassos as I gear up for Chicago.

My other reintroduction was with the old long distance run on the weekend or on a Monday with the holiday. I know for some 14 miles isn’t that much, but it’s been a long time since I’ve ran over ten. I headed out to the Lakes in Minneapolis to run with the flocks of people who were making the rounds. We’ve had rain the last couple of days so people came out in droves. My legs left pretty good til the last 3 miles or so when they started to get a little heavy. I still managed a pretty good pace and finished off the 14 miles is just under 2 hours for a 8:35 /mil pace. I may have been running a bit too fast and I’m sure I’ll be slowing down a bit as a crank up the mileage over the next few weeks. I’ll have to jump a couple of miles each week, but it should put in a good stop to get the 20 miler in before we ship off to Chi-Town.

I’m sorry the video that I posted last week was a little short at the end and cut me off in mid sentence. There was however a few people who got it right and I’ll be sending out your browning points. I did say “No” in the first part and at the end I was trying to say “It’s gonna suck.” So congrats to those who guessed right, or close enough, to earn your brownie points…

Pigman Weekend Pictures

2006-08-31T10:23:00.000-07:00

Well I finally have them all online and they are available for you to browser through at your leisure.

Gallery #1 – Contains all the photos from the day before the race. They include Bob and I checking out the course, the girls (Kim, Rachel, and Bridget) making their way down to Iowa, the whole crew chillin at our hotel.

Gallery #2 – Contains all the photos that our wonderful cheering crew took during the actual race.

Gallery #3 – Finally a few shots from after the race in the hotel, the girl’s and Bob’s return trip back to MN, and a little victory ice cream cake get together.

Finally Bob took a bit of video as we were checking out the swim course. 100 million brownie points if you can actually decipher my two lines at the beginning and end of the clip.

Nothing

2006-08-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

I seriously have nothing to blog about. What is this world coming to? Anyway I’m working on getting all the pictures from the Pigman weekend up in a gallery for your viewing pleasure/displease. (We had pics on 4 different cameras) I finally got the notice that the official pictures were in for Pigman, but they have huge watermarks on them so I’m not going to even bother.

Anyway since I can’t provide and good reading material today I just suggest you head over to Phase Five and check out Nic’s race report from the Hood to Coast relay she did this past weekend. This girl kicked some major booty and wrote up a damn fine report to share with y’all.

Sorry folks but that’s all I got for today...