I Love my phone

Yes its true…I LOVE my new phone! I’m using it right now as I type this. In fact I’m using it to post this blog while laying here in bed.

I love technology…..but not as much you my dear. (yes she’s watching me type….;-)

TriMoot…out
PS: It’s a HTC Android phone called Hero.

Black Diamond Half Iron Results

Date: September 26^th, 2009 – 9:00 AM
Weather: 55 and cloudy, light wind (while biking)
Sleep: Fitful, but had plenty on preceding nights
Health: Good, but I did feel perhaps a slight sore throat.

Overall Time   5:48:04 Overall place   116 / 226

Division           54/M                Division Place 8 / 12

Swim Time      0:40:40            Swim Pace      1:55  min per 100 yrds

Swim Place     164 / 252         T1 Time           5:44

Bike Time        3:07:29            Bike Pace        17.92 MPH avg

Bike Place       173 / 248         T2 Time           2:45

Place after bike 167 / 248        Run Time        1:51:26

Run Pace         8:30 mpm        Run Place        82 / 246

Over all impressions: I feel I had a strong race, probably the 1^st time I actually felt strong on all the legs.

Day before race: I was feeling a little stressed from the race but also from the logistics point of view in that I had 5 other people and a dog to consider when planning things Traveled to race location, and checked into hotel.  That was all smooth.  No issues.

The evening went smoothly as we had two rooms and I was able to get to bed at a decent time and everyone else had the other room to visit in.  This worked very well and will do again in future away races.

Nutrition the day before consisted of my normal oatmeal routine with the super greens drink mixed with a banana and walnuts.  Lunch was spaghetti and meat balls at the local Café Panini in Enumclaw.  Dinner was a light salmon salad with a couple of bread sticks.  I felt just right, not stuffed and we had it early enough.  I believe I might have had a banana or yogurt before bed.

I did wake up about 2:30 and felt hungry but this time (Tiger Tri I got up and ate) I didn’t eat.  Never really went back to sleep after that.

Drove the Course:  Drove the course with Jerry & Steve.  Did both the ride and run.  This is helpful just from the standpoint of not having any surprises. Also it put me at ease on the difficulty of the course.

Morning of race: Since the race was a late start I got up at 6:40, showered, and had a bowl of oatmeal with walnuts, banana, and super green drink, along with water.  No coffee.  I had all my stuff laid out so getting ready was quick.  No issues.

Got to the race site by 7:45 and setup transition area.

Transition Area: I thought the site was a little tight and was not 100% happy with my setup.  I felt my towel stuck out too much and would get trampled on, which it did, but it didn’t seem to matter much.  I laid out all my stuff and was able to put my bag on the inside of the area out of the way of the bikes.  Since it was a small transition area there was no need to mark my bike or rack.  These were assigned racks so it was just a mater of remembering the row.  I borrowed Jerry’s bike pump and inflated my tires to 120 lbs.  Since it didn’t seem like it was going to be hot I didn’t worry about them getting hot and bursting due to the heat.

NOTE: I wasn’t sure I needed to use the bathroom, but before I changed into my wet suit I wanted to stay warm and use the time to relax so I went into the Porta Potty  and relaxed.  It was warm inside, and not at all smelly. (Must have gotten a good one) I closed my eyes and mentally went through each part of the race.  This seemed to relax me and I was able to have a BM.  I did go at the hotel but it was good to make sure I was completely comfortable.

Swim Prep: I used glide on all the usual areas in the morning and just before changing into the wet suit I used it on my ankles.  I believe this helped in getting the wet suit off.  I took a small drink of water prior to leaving the area.  I made sure my suit was properly set and I had lots of room in the shoulders by pulling the legs way up.  (Looked like I had knickers on)  Nothing special here, just took my time, tried to make sure everything was on correctly and nothing chaffed.  I noticed that Steve used some around his neck; I don’t recall seeing anyone doing that but it’s not a bad idea.  Will try it sometime.  I tried not to be distracted during the entire setup time as in the past I haven’t paid too much attention to details.  So I was cordial with everyone but I tried to make conversations brief and really focused on what I was doing..

Swim: 40:40 – Since I have a full wet suit I wasn’t scared about doing a warm up.  I probably waited a little too long to go, but I was nervous about getting wet and then standing there too long and getting cold.

NOTE: I’m thinking about bringing a towel and/or a warm throw away jacket so that I can take a longer swim and not worry about getting cold while waiting for the start.

The swim was two laps around a diamond shape buoy layout.  What I noticed about my swim afterwards was that each leg of the swim was too short so that it was difficult to get into a rhythm as the turns came fairly quickly.  The turns were very busy and there was a lot of pushing and shoving and one guy purposely tried to kick me because I had bumped into his feet a couple of times.  That was a 1^st.  Over all I felt I had just a so so swim as I really never got into a good rhythm until the last buoy where we headed straight to the finish line.  I really pushed at the end and my heart rate was the highest it had been during the swim.  I might want to rethink that as it took me a LONG time to bring the heart rate down on the bike.  40:40 for the 1.2 mile swim.  That tells me that for 2.4 mile swim I would probably been in the 1:30 minute area.  I wish I could do better but I’m not really concerned about it.

T1:  5:44 – This was a disaster! I came into the T1 and the wet suit removal was fine.  No problem.  The 1^st mistake I made was to not take the time to dry off my back.  When I attempted to put on my jersey it got stuck, and stuck hard!  I lost WAY too much time here, probably close to a full minute!  The 2^nd issue was I had to load all my food into my jersey.  I have got to find a better way.  I’ve tried to put the food in 1^st then put on the jersey and it hasn’t worked.  I know I’ll need a bigger bento box for IM, but I think I might need to figure out a better way to carry the food.

Here’s a list of the food I carried on the bike:

2 – PBJ sandwiches in my bento box * Need a larger bento box

I’m not sure this worked very well as I struggled to get the squares out every time and as a result probably didn’t eat all that I could have.

5 – Roctaine Gels: I may have only used 4

2 – Cliff Mojo’s – Mixed Nuts:  I only ate 1/2 of the bar.  Part of the issue was they were difficult to get out of the wrapper.  I should have cut the wrapper or perhaps found a better way to make them more accessible.

1 – Bag of square cut pretzels…didn’t eat many as it was difficult to get to.  (Fix that)

1 – Banana, cut into 2: Ate ½ of the banana

1 – Bottle of Ensure (It was the Safeway brand and for diabetics as it had only 6 grams of sugar.)  This seems to really have worked for me.  It was easy on the stomach and seemed to help settle it.  Seems like I had more food but can’t remember what else I had.

Biggest issue here is I need to make the food more easily accessible.  Perhaps two bento boxes on the bar….?? Ideas?

Bike Leg: 3:07:29 – Don’t really have too much to say here.  After the swim my heart rate was too high and it took me over two miles (maybe more) before it started to come down.  During that time I tried to reach for my gator aid bottle and I dropped it.  Had to stop and go back to get it.  I just tried to find a good heart rate and stay in it.  I didn’t have my HR monitor so I had to do it by perceived exertion and it appears to have worked.  I tried to be conscious of how I was feeling at all times and constantly tried to eat when ever I could and not over do it.  I probably drank too much water as there were a couple of times my stomach felt bloated.  I also had to pee around the 33 mile mark.  Good/bad?  Don’t know.  How are you supposed to do this?  Are you supposed to feel like you have to pee?  Or are you supposed to try and balance it so you don’t?  I don’t know.

My back started to hurt around 12 miles, which was kind of strange.  I was able to manager the pain by standing up every so often and that seemed to help.  The toes on my right foot started to go to sleep early on and I had to reach down and loosen the straps.  I did so on both shoes and then after a few miles the toes felt better so I gently re-fastened the strap.   I would like to get a better bike computer as it was very difficult to read and I had to take my eyes off the road too much.

**** This brings up an issue:  I used my watch during the swim but had to take it off to remove my wet suit, so I didn’t put it back on during T1 because I felt rushed.  How are you supposed to do this?  I NEED to have a watch to keep track of the over all time.  Also, during the run I have to take time to put on my Garmin.  I need a quicker way to do that.  Do they make a different strap so you can just slip on the Garmin?

T2: This was okay, 2:45.  The two issues I had was 1: Emptying my jersey, 2: putting on my Garmin.  Oh, I didn’t have speed laces and that’s a must next time around.

Run:  1:51:26 – The 1^st mile of the run actually didn’t feel too bad.  I was very focused on keeping it around a 9 minute mile pace.  Unfortunately I neglected to start my Garmin so I didn’t get the 1^st mile recorded, but I was watching the pace carefully and I’m pretty sure my 1^st mile was around a 9:00.  I think this is one area that I hadn’t really thought about enough as I wasn’t sure WHAT pace I should run.  I wasn’t sure how I would feel coming off the bike so I never put it on paper or at least clearly articulated what pace I was going to run.  I kept changing my mind as I ran.  Oh, let’s go for an 8:30 to make sure I make it.  Then I thought maybe I should shoot for an 8:15.  I guess the reason for this uncertainty was I hadn’t done enough full bricks to know for sure. The two long bricks I did while Steve was on vacation had resulted in 8:31 pace for 8 miles and an 8:45 for 12 miles (I think…I’m struggling to remember.  Have to check the log book).  So the whole time I’m running my mind set was to conserve conserve conserve.  Hind sight, perhaps I should have shot for an 8:15 the whole way.  I need to look at my Garmin and get the details.

Over all the run was good.  I believe I had a negative split.  I stopped for a pee break at the 1^st aid station and that was a welcome relief.  I was having an issue with holding back as I would find myself surging from time to time.  At the turn around I did try and pick up the pace a bit since it was down hill but once again I had to slow down as I would find myself doing 7:30’s from time to time.  I didn’t start pushing the pace until after the gravel road.  I don’t know what mile marker that was as my Garmin was off and I NEVER saw ANY mile markers!  I do know I was doing a 7:00 or 7:05 pace up until I hit the 12 mile marker and was shocked.  I thought I would be seeing the 13 mile marker so I backed it down and made sure I had enough to finish strong.

This is the 1^st triathlon that I finished so strong that I felt I could have continued running.  I also felt strong on the bike and swim.  I think the mock tri’s helped as well as really good nutrition the two weeks leading up to the race and while on the bike.

The nutrition before the week involved using the Super Greens supplements, drinking Odwalla Super Green drink at work and not eating any (or two much) fat.  (No butter on toast!)

Much thanks to my wife who put up with me and all my training leading up to this half.  She did join our Saturday morning group for biking and swimming, although she did these on her own.  She also joined our Tuesday and Thursday evening bike rides which helped me tremendously.  (Thanks to the “Hammer Heads” that allowed me to tag along.  Their maniacal pace really help me to improve my overall bike results in this race, thanks to Lance, Steve, Fred and the rest of you speedsters!)

Thanks to my kids, Nate, Cass & Beth for being at the race!  It was just a joy to see you guys yelling and encouraging me the whole way.  And thanks for the signs!  They sure meant a lot!  (I’ll try and get some of the pic’s up soon)

Thanks ultimately to Jesus for giving me EVERYTHING good that I have.

Black Diamond Half Iron – Sept 26

You know, I’ve never really liked the name of this triathlon.  Seems to conjure up thoughts of sheer vertical walls that the race director calls “hills” and there are these black diamond signs that say, “Ride at your own risk!” or “Beware Extreme Danger!”.  Sheesh!

But, I’m sure that’s only in MY mind, as by now you’ve gotten to know how I think…or not.

Anywho, my last final event of the year officially….well, there could be others that I don’t know about and at the last minute I say, “Oh, I’ve GOT to do that one!”, but for now, it’s the last one.   And you know what?  I’m READY for it to be my last one.

Even though I’ve done fewer official races this year, 6 officially, I feel like I’ve been training and training hard all year long.  And actually I have.

So when I say this is my last official race of the season, I’m actually looking forward to it.  And not only physically looking forward to it, but mentally as well.

There seems to be a constant effort that I’m putting forth whether it’s a physical or mental.  Always being careful what I eat, how I feel, did I pack my bag, do I have enough gels, don’t forget the anti-defogger, did I over do it during that workout, “OUCH my back hurts!”, on and on.  And I’m not complaining, I’ve chosen this sport, it’s what I love to do, but it does take a great deal of effort to maintain the momentum of always pushing forward, trying to fix this, or strengthen that, and just trying to get better each and every day.

So yes, after the 26th I am VERY much looking forward to relaxing and recuperating and putting the training on the back burner, knowing that come January 1st, I will be working none stop at training for my 1st Ironman in Coeur d’Alene.

But, before we go there, let’s talk about “Black Diamond”….Oooouuu scary!  Really?  Why couldn’t they have named it “Blue Sapphire” or something more peaceful?

As all half Ironman are, it’s a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike, and a 13.1 mile run.  That’s all doable right?

Well, on they’re own, they are!  And in fact I’ve done all these distances and more, but normally just one at a time.  However we have been doing mock triathlons (we being Steve, Jerry and his wife Dawn) out at Fish Lake for the last 9 Saturdays and have approached all these distances and more.

On one mock triathlon that we did a couple of weekends ago, we swam for an hour and half, which is 2.4 miles and the same distance as Ironman.  Then we did a 65 mile bike ride which is a little more than half the distance of Ironman, and while we were on the bike I realized that I already was feeling fatigued and IF this had been a real Ironman I would still have 47 more miles of biking PLUS a marathon to do!

I realized a couple of things:

1. I have a LONG way to go before I’m ready for a full Ironman
2. That even though I’ve been very dedicated to training each and every day (except Sundays), I am tired mentally, of the training and constantly thinking about training, nutrition, etc, etc, that I’m ready for THIS race to be over and for training to be over.  And that I will have to be twice as diligent and focused when my Ironman training starts in January, and that’s going to last almost 6 months!  Whew!

I was humbled by the thought of doing this.  I think I might have undervalued the effort required to do an Ironman, and of course to do it well, not just float through all 140.6 miles of it.

So yes, Black Diamond is my last event of the year and while I’m excited to do it, especially with my two training buddies Steve & Jerry, I am going to be VERY HAPPY to have it over with and know that I don’t have to think about training for the rest of the year.  (No that doesn’t mean I’m  going to sit on the couch and eat bonbons until January!)

Meanwhile, this is my taper week and I’ve enjoyed it but I have soooo much to do to get ready to drive over to the West side of the state.  I will have almost my entire family with me at the start and finish line.  This is a 1st and I’m very excited that they can be there to see their “old man” taking another step closer to preparing for one of my long term goals.

I will report back next week with all the stats.

Predictions?   Well, my only other half Ironman was Troika 2008 in Spokane and I did a 6:14:08.

That was a 46:20 swim, 3:05:56 bike, and a 2:12:00 run (UGH!)

I know what I did wrong on that race so I’m going to try and fix it this race, so, here’s what I HOPE will happen:

45:00 swim, 3:17:00 bike, and a (gulp) 1:52:29 run, for a total of 5:59:59, includes total of 5:30 transition times.

If I can finish in the middle of the pack in my age group I’ll feel pretty good.

Of course bottom line is to have fun and enjoy the fact that my family will be there to greet me (carry me?), that is after all, why I do these things..to enjoy them!

TriMoot…out!
http://racecenter.com/blackdiamond/

I lost my fish in Fish Lake

Hey Steve,

While we’re all in Kennewick this weekend doing the Titanium Man, could you do me a favor?

The last time we were in Fish Lake I took my pet fish with me and forgot to bring it back home.

If you see it, could you gently pick it up and bring it back to me?

Here’s a picture of it so you’ll know which one it is.  You’ll know it by it’s silly toothy grin:

Here Toothy Toothy

Titanium Man 2009 Predictions

Once again it’s time to head down to Pasco, WA, the Tri-City area here in Washington state to the annual Titanium Man Olympic triathlon held on September 5th.
This is a fun well run tri that allows all of us to have the fastest 1500 meter swim ever, since it’s in the Columbia river and we swim downstream, and I want to tell you, we FLY!  I always feel like superman when I swim here as you can see the rocks flying by on the bottom.
Here’s my stats from last year:
Finish Time:   02:36:44
Swim Time:    00:19:32 – 1:19 minutes per 100 meters (Now that’s FAST!  But not because I’m fast)
T1 Time:          00:03:59
Bike Time:      01:22:49 – 18 MPH..well, that’s okay for me..I’m just not a strong biker.
T2 Time:         00:01:15
Run Time:      00:49:07 – 7:54 pace.  Well, that might be hard to beat this year.  Hmmmm.

So here’s my prediction for this years race:

But before I put them all down on paper..so to speak, let’s chat a bit.

To be honest, I “should” be able to do a little faster swim as even last year I had a problem getting into the fast current.  This year I will really focus on watching the starter and as soon as he wades out into the water I’m going to swim out to where most all the swimmers start, which is NOT an easy task!  Why?  Because the current is soooooo stinking strong!  I remember having to swim against the current while waiting for the start and I became so tired I had to swim over to the side, only to have someone tell me, “Hey, they just fired the starting gun, GO! GO! GO!”.  Yikes, I hadn’t even caught my breath and I had to turn around and head out to try and catch everyone which I never did.  So this year I’ll try and manage this better.

T1: Yeah, I should be able to make this quicker as I was kidding around with Steve and not really rushing too much.  This year, I’ll be ALL business.

Ride: Well, you know, Steve’s not going to be here this year and the ONLY reason I had a pretty good ride was I had the threat of Steve passing me (which he did!) and so I really hammered.  (Keep in mind “hammering” for me is like a walk in the park for most people!)  So this year I won’t have that “incentive” pushing me harder.  Plus I really want to try and ride within my abilities so that when I get to the run I’ll have enough left to do a run I know I’m capable of.  Now, one more thing that could come into play is I’ve been working hard on my bike by riding with a bunch of “hammer heads” on Tuesday and Thursday nights.  (I use hammer heads in the most positive sense: Meaning they really push hard on the bike and are kind enough to wait for me at the top of most hills.  They’re a great group!)  So, I’m hoping that all these hard rides will help with my overall bike time.  Also (I know I said “one more thing” earlier, but so what!) there’s a small group of us that have been doing mock triathlons for the last 7 weeks and they have gotten longer and harder each week.  I honestly don’t know if it’s helping or not, but it sure is a lot of fun, but hopefully all the swimming and biking and running for the last 7 weekends will add up to some improved fitness and endurance.  (This week: Swim for 1:30:00, Bike 54 miles, run 8 or 10 miles)

T2:  I don’t think I can improve much on this, perhaps a little, but I was pretty quick last year as I was trying to catch Steve!

Run:  Hmmm, I average an 7:54 pace and to be honest…I don’t think I can improve on that.  This year my emphasis has been on long distance stuff, with very little track or speed work, so getting below a 7:54 pace…yikes..that will be tough.  And once again, since Steve won’t be there, I don’t have anyone to chase!  DANG IT STEVE!!!

So now,  here’s my predictions:
Finish time:    02:35:40  Yeah, I now, it’s only a minute faster, but hey!  I’m not getting any younger!
Swim Time:    00:18:52  Yeah, this is where I HOPE to make up the time.
T1 Time:         00:02:47  I have a new wet suit and I’m thinking it’s going to take a little longer to get out of.
Bike Time:     01:25:00   Yup…a SLOWER bike time this year.  I really pushed knowing Steve was behind me.
T2 Time:        00:01:15    Nope, no improvement here, that’s already pretty fast.
Run Time:     00:49:00  That’s a 7:52 pace..I’m okay with that!

I will update this when I complete it on September 5th.

TriMoot Out!

WTS #7 – 8/22/2009

Hey hey!  Just another in the continuing saga of the “Warrington Tri Series” Triathlons!

Today, August 22nd found us, Jerry & Dawn and myself at Fish Lake for another mock triathlon.  Today’s distance was close to a  ”SprOly” (A sprint and Olympic distance combined).  In fact it was more.

I swam for about one hour and 9 minutes or so but Jerry and his wife Dawn continued on for 1 hour and 15 or 20 minutes (I was hiding the truck trying to get warm!)

The day was MUCH warmer than last week end, where we experienced a 43 degree morning with mist on the water.  Today was probably close to 50 or more so it almost felt balmy.  We did two laps back and forth across the lake and then Jerry did a little more by going back to find Dawn.  (There was some question as to the actually location of Dawn and the buoy’s, but we won’t go into that here! (Heehee, inside joke!)

After a quick change (HA!) we head out for a 40 mile ride.  The weather was actually perfect, probably close to 58 or warmer.  We did two loops of 20+ miles and the 1st loops was nice and easy, didn’t rush anything.  We knew we had another 20 mile loop plus a 10 mile run afterwards so we wanted to make sure we had plenty in the bank for the run.  The second loop, everyone was on there own so they could do their own pace.

I believe at the 17 mile mark during the 1st loop the time was 1:17:00 which was a pace around 14 MPH.  See, nothing too fast, we were just tooling along enjoying the weather (and saving our strength).  The 2nd loop for me was at 2: 24:?? (something like that..I’d have to get up and go get my Garmin in the other room, and frankly….that’s just too far!) for a pace of 15 MPH, so as you can see we didn’t really push too hard, and I’m glad we didn’t.

Once I got to the start point, my wife showed up and was just getting ready to head out for her bike ride, so I did a quick change and we started off together.  My plan was to go really easy, say around a 9:00 to 9:15 pace to let my legs get used to running, and that’s pretty much what happened.  Did that for about 3 miles and then at the 5 mile turn around I went ahead and started running an 8:30ish pace but since it was down hill for a lot of it I kept dipping down to around 8:00 and some sub 8 minute miles so I would have to keep pulling it back.  Finally once I settled down on the flats I ran pretty evenly at 8:30’s which is just where I wanted to be.  With about two miles to go I kicked it up a notch (well actually I was listening to some music and I found myself running to the beat of the music and the next thing I know I’m doing a 7:30 pace, YIKES!  So backed it down to 8:30ish and cruised in to the finish for a 8:43 pace over all.  My wife pretty much finished her bike just before I crossed the finish line so we both headed down to the lake to cool off.  It was “GLORIOUS!”

I’m not sure what the times were for Jerry & Dawn but I know they did really well.  They have made huge improvments since they 1st started and…..should I say it here?  (Shhhh, don’t tell anyone……)  Dawn is “thinking” about doing the Black Diamond HALF IRONMAN this SEPTEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!  And why not?  Her goal?  Just to finish.  She’s not worried about time, she just wants so see if she can balance her swim and bike enough so she has enough to finish a 13.1 mile run after putting in a 1.2 mile swim (which I believe she did today) and a 56 mile bike (She did 40 today) and  the run (which she did 10 today!)  So that’s pretty cool.  BUT…I’m not sure if she’s 100% committed yet, and I think Jerry is nervous about her doing such a long event.  (Stay tuned!)

Some of the things I’ve been reading about and listening to are about “Executing your Plan”.  Meaning, if you know it takes you x amount of time to do the swim, the bike, the run, then do it.  Don’t go beyond what you know you CAN do.  So many times in Tri’s or any event, we get caught up in the moment and find that we are cruising along during the first few miles and realize we’re going WAY over our normal pace but because we “Feel” good at the moment, we just keep going.  Pretty soon, we realize that no, I don’t normally run a 7:30 pace or 9:30 pace or whatever it is for you and we wind up running out of gas and having a lousy event and feeling really really bummed.

So during these WTS’s I have purposely been holding back on the bike, keeping my pace and heart rate down and I’m finding the time difference between a 17 MPH and an 18 MPH is not THAT big of a difference. (11 minutes in a 56 mile bike) but if you’ve got nothing left at the end of the bike because you went “Out side your Box..or pace” then it can mean you’re walking most of your half marathon because you have NOTHING left in your legs.  (Yes, I’m speaking from experience!)

So, I’m drinking the “Endurance Nation” cool aid and not only will I have a good race but I should (WILL!) feel good at the end.  Check out some of their free resources: http://www.endurancenation.us/resources/

Okay, enough.

Here’s some pictures from today: (Here)
And here’s a view videos:  Before the Swim: On the Bike: Peanut Butter and Honey

WTS Continues! 8-15-2009

Yes, another one in the on going WTS, Warrington Tri Series Triathlons!

Today, Saturday August 15th, finds us at Fish Lake in beauuuutiful Eastern Washington at 6:30 (okay okay, it was 6:43 and I was late!) in the morning.  And the lake was awesome!  There was a beautiful mist covering the entire lake and the sun coming up over the eastern sky make it look magnificent.  It was soooo cool (VERY COOL!  More on that later) swimming along and looking over at Jerry and you could barely see him with all the mist.  I sooo wished I had had a camera in the water with me.  I’m hoping next week I will as it is certainly worth the risk.  Just have to figure out a way to carry it without dropping it and without it chaffing me anywhere.  Ideas?

So, did I mention it was 6:43 in the morning?  AND 43 degrees!  YIKES!  Man oh man, I was shaking like a leaf and that was before I even got into my wet suit!  I kept complaining to Jerry about starting this thing a little later but he reassured me the water was warm.

So off we went to start our swim and sure enough as soon as I put my toe in I realized Jerry was right, it was warm.  Amazingly warm!  So once we were ready we started off in the misty mist.  I have to say, today was one of those days where everything felt super!  I MEAN SUPER!  The water was warm and completely flat and the mist felt like a cool blanket covering everything.  The sun was up and once we got out towards the middle where the sun was shinning on the water it felt so good that I didn’t even bother sighting.  I just kept swimming and swimming and enjoying the freedom of the lake.  No turns, no walls, no lane markers, no one to bump into it was so easy to get into a rhythm. The next thing I know I’m seeing weeds on the bottom and I look up and I’m clear over on the side where the island is.  So I finally started sighting every so often so I wouldn’t zig zap all over the place.  Long story short, I spent about an hour in the water and it was only the last few minutes when I started to get cold and got the chills and shakes.

Got out of the water and a few minutes later Jerry and then Dawn showed up and Jerry had a time of 1:09:00 for the swim.  Not bad.  Probably close to 1.2 to 1.4 miles if I had to guess.  A very nice swim.  Of course by that time the mist was gone and it had warmed up to 45 degrees.  Whew..I was almost sweating….HA!  Actually I was shaking like a leaf and even once we got to the car I continued to shake until I finally got dressed in my jersey and riding jacket.  Here’s a short video from Dawn’s perspective: WTS #6 – T1

So off we went on our bike ride that was done at a very modest pace, and unfortunately I don’t have any spec’s on it as my Garmin stopped working for some reason, but according to Jerry’s bike computer we did 31.5 miles, but I don’t know the time.  (Jerry, can you check your computer?)  What was good about the bike was we decided to introduce Dawn to drafting on the bike and she loved it!  She’s actually going to start a campaign to change the rules at all Ironman’s to allow drafting!  Oh yeah baby! THAT would be great!

Once we completed the bike it was time for the 8 mile run and what a perfect temperature it was for that.  It probably was about 65 or 68, somewhere in there and the sun was shinning and the bike path was in use by a number of families all out having a great day.

We all started out at our own pace and pretty soon I was in a grove and just zooming along (well, it was zooming to me) at an 8:30ish pace.  I was listening to one of my favorite podcast from the “The Age Grouper” called “Ace Your Race” and you can download it here.  Pretty soon I was at the turnaround point and as I started back, low and behold, JERRY!  He was right behind me!  WOW!  This guy has been improving each time we do one of these mock triathlons.  I gave him a high five on the way by and he looked great!  Didn’t even look like he was working hard.

Just a little further down I saw another red shirt, and sure enough it was Dawn! (Yes, Jerry and Dawn ALWAYS dress alike. You should see Jerry in a formal gown…beautiful!)  So as Dawn went by I high fived her and continued plodding along.  Pretty soon Fish Lake was in view and that meant I had about a mile to go so I florid it and zoomed to the finish in 1:08:00 for a 8:31 pace.  I was very happy with that pace since my legs were pretty sore from some of the hard rides and squats and lunges I did earlier in the week.

So over all, it was a good day, not a hard one, we really didn’t push the bike pace too much, but I’m sure that’s why I had so much leg left, which is a very good thing to remember.  Stay within your pace on the bike and it will pay BIG dividends on the run!

Here’s a wrap up video report: (Here)

Also, don’t forget you can listen to my podcast over on the right or click here to listen to a quick pre-race report: (here)
And quick audio wrap-up mp3: (here)

We missed you Steve-o!  Have fun!

TriMoot, Out!
PS: You can email me comments at TriMoot@hotmail.com

System Admin Daze

How did this go unnoticed?  This should be a National Holiday!

July 30, 2010 (Last Friday Of July)
11th Annual
System Administrator Appreciation Day

A sysadmin unpacked the server for this website from its box, installed an operating system, patched it for security, made sure the power and air conditioning was working in the server room, monitored it for stability, set up the software, and kept backups in case anything went wrong. All to serve this webpage.

A sysadmin installed the routers, laid the cables, configured the networks, set up the firewalls, and watched and guided the traffic for each hop of the network that runs over copper, fiber optic glass, and even the air itself to bring the Internet to your computer. All to make sure the webpage found its way from the server to your computer.

A sysadmin makes sure your network connection is safe, secure, open, and working. A sysadmin makes sure your computer is working in a healthy way on a healthy network. A sysadmin takes backups to guard against disaster both human and otherwise, holds the gates against security threats and crackers, and keeps the printers going no matter how many copies of the tax code someone from Accounting prints out.

A sysadmin worries about spam, viruses, spyware, but also power outages, fires and floods.

When the email server goes down at 2 AM on a Sunday, your sysadmin is paged, wakes up, and goes to work.

A sysadmin is a professional, who plans, worries, hacks, fixes, pushes, advocates, protects and creates good computer networks, to get you your data, to help you do work — to bring the potential of computing ever closer to reality.

So if you can read this, thank your sysadmin — and know he or she is only one of dozens or possibly hundreds whose work brings you the email from your aunt on the West Coast, the instant message from your son at college, the free phone call from the friend in Australia, and this webpage.

Show your appreciation

Friday, July 30, 2010, is the 11th annual System Administrator Appreciation Day. On this special international day, give your System Administrator something that shows that you truly appreciate their hard work and dedication. (All day Friday, 24 hours, your local timezone).

Let’s face it, System Administrators get no respect 364 days a year. This is the day that all fellow System Administrators across the globe, will be showered with expensive sports cars and large piles of cash in appreciation of their diligent work. But seriously, we are asking for a nice token gift and some public acknowledgement. It’s the least you could do.

Consider all the daunting tasks and long hours (weekends too.) Let’s be honest, sometimes we don’t know our System Administrators as well as they know us. Remember this is one day to recognize your System Administrator for their workplace contributions and to promote professional excellence. Thank them for all the things they do for you and your business.

Help Spread the word

Checks can be made out to TriMoot @ Hotmail.com (HEHEHEHEHEHEHEE!)

Tiger Tri – 2009 (Updated)

Well, here it is again. Each year this little tri gets funner funner. Okay, so maybe that’s not the best grammar, but that’s just how it is. It’s one of the races that the more years I do it, the more enjoyable it becomes.

This normally is a 1/4 Ironman but due to some safety issues they have had to shorten the bike and the run so now it’s a 1K swim, 40K bike and an 8K run. So to be clear:
1K swim is .62 miles or 1093 yards.
40K bike is 24.8 miles
8K run is 4.97 miles

Not a big distance. Certainly very doable, especially since I’ve been doing those Warrington Tri Series Tri’s.

Well, that’s all for now. I will post my results on Sunday, but you can listen to the pre-race podcast over there on the right under “Daily Podcast”. Not so much daily any more.

TriMoot…Out!
So, no matter what I do, this will be a PR! Yeah for new races!

Okay then, a PR it was!

Well, according to my previous blog, I was shooting for a 2:21:30 to a 2:25:30, my unofficial time?  2:15:22

Well, I wish I could tell you I took 1st, or 2nd, or even 3rd for Pete’s sake…but alas…4th place again…AAAHHH!!!!
WILL THE MADNESS NEVER END?!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a great time and will put more info here but for now, here’s the finish time: 2:15:22.  I have no idea how that works out, but I do know I had LOTS left in my legs for the run and actually managed to average an 8:14 pace for the 4.5 miles.  (Yeah, they changed the course at the last minute)

Here’s a link to some pictures, and video!  (And don’t forget my audio podcast on the right.  Look for the date July 17th)

Pictures: (Here)

Video:
Loading the van

On the Road to Colville

BIG Town Colville

My Campground

Checking out the Swim coarse

Tony’s Pizaa and “The CLAW!!!!”

Crystal Falls

On the way Home

PS:  Oh, by the way, I stopped at the batting cage on North Divison…ah…I don’t think the Mariners will be signing me any time soon.  I used the 60 MPH machine, and out of 25 pitches, I probably hit 8 or 9…ugh.  Think I’ll stick with doing Tri’s!

TriMoot…OUT!

Tiger Tri and other Things

As things usually go with me, this started out as an email to my training partner “Steve – o-not-so-slow-no-moe Warrington” and slowly morphed into an entry for my blog.  So here it is….

Wow, I REALLY like this early morning gig.

Yesterday I dropped my wife off at the airport @ 5:00 and then headed into work.  Didn’t take a lunch and was off at 1:30!  YES!

Went over to Fitness Fanatics, bought a new pair of goggles, a couple of gu thingys, and drooled all over the bikes…sigh…I LOVE MY BIKE I LOVE MY BIKE I LOVE MY BIKE…whew..okay, I’m good now.

Then I went to Super Supplements and picked up a couple of things then finally over to Oz and worked out and swam like a maniac!  I LOVE IT!

Didn’t get out of there until 5:00 and I felt like a wet noodle.  Had a good swim tho.  Probably the best I’ve had in a pool all year.  Although I did have a couple of leak issues with my new goggles.  A little disappointed in them.  They are Blue Seventy but I think I bought the “Vision” model.  I was looking at the Hydravision, but I couldn’t find the lens color I wanted and the more I tried them on the more I didn’t like the feel of them.  So I wound up with just the Vision model and…I don’t know.  I guess I’ll try them tomorrow but last night at the pool I was not happy with them, but I did FINALLY get them to stop leaking in the right side.  We’ll see.

THEN..this is the best part, I stopped by Super 1 Foods to pick up a few things and they were having this huge sale and the store was JAMMED!  I was like, ugh.  But did my shopping and I happen to notice they had Townsend “T3″ wine (which was startling, since even Albertsons and Safeway don’t have it) on SALE!  I sent a quick text over to my buddy Terry and asked him if this was a good price for the wine and replied, YES!, so, bought 3 bottles (I’m sure my wife will understand, I mean shoot, she’s in Hawaii with the girls AND a CONVERTIBLE!) AND two nice looking steaks!

So guess what I had for dinner last night?  MmmHmmm, Steak n Salad and ONE glass of Delicious wine….ahhhh.  Guess I’d better not get used to eating like that every night!

I then cleaned up, did a search on an author of this one book that I like so much (turns out he wrote the one book, collected a bunch of money for it, moved to England, and has never been heard of since….not even another book!) and then headed up to bed @ 8:00 to start to get ready for bed.  Don’t think I made it until 9:00, but it was perfect.

Got up at 5:00, in work at 5:45 and will probably run at lunch, although now lunch will probably be at 11:00 or a little before, then get off at 2:45.  I’m LOVIN this early morning stuff!  Once I get home I have some laundry to do and then get ready for tomorrow.  Maybe even wash my bike..YooHoo!

I’m thinking after our tri tomorrow I might drive over to CDA and spend the day doing some more swimming as Ireally need to work on that before next weekend.  I know Tiger is only 1K but I would really like to feel strong in the swim this time and I need more time in the open water.

They changed the distances this year in the Tiger Tri, many people are not happy.  They shorten the ride from 28 to 24 and the run from 10K to 8K.   So I’m not worried about the run or the bike, especially since the bike is almost all downhill. But I really would like to put together a good swim.

Last year I did WAY better than the 1st year, but still I had problems going straight and couldn’t see the swim exit at all, so now with the new goggles and having practiced “sighting” a little more, I’m hoping to actually finish a strong swim.

So what does that mean? (I’m thinking this might be a blog for today..sorry)

Swim: Last year: 20:57, supposedly that’s a 1:59 pace, hmm, I didn’t think I did that good.  So

Swim: This year: 20:00, I don’t know, I really haven’t done that much training, but if I did that good last year I….ah, wait a minute, I just now looked at my results from last year.  What a joke!  I DID LOUSY at my swim!  If you look at my age group, I came in 4th, BUT my swim was the 2nd WORSE!  GOSH! So perhaps I should shoot a little higher for a time like 18:30ish.  Hmmm, we’ll see.

Okay so now the Bike:

Bike: Last year: 19.96 MPH Ah- HAAA! So this IS a downhill bike ride!  But I’m still the 3rd from the bottom in my age group..GOSH!  Don’t know that I can improve in this area since I….STINK on the bike and haven’t trained at all this year to improve my strength in that area.  Sooooo, let’s shoot for somewhere in the middle of the pack this year.  If I can get it down to 1:20:00 I’d be okay with that.

Okay so now the Run:

Run: Last year: 54:38 and that’s an 8:49 pace.  So that was the 4th fastest in my age group.  Don’t know if I can improve on that or not.  Well, my time will be faster because the run this year is shorter, from a 10K to an 8K so…let’s TRY to do an 8:30 pace, which would be tough…hmmm, lets say an 8:39 pace.  Thats an improvement right?  So for an 8K, just shy of 5 miles a 8:39 pace is 43:00, an 8:30 pace would be 42:15, so I’m going to go with 43:00.

So here’s what I’m looking at:

Swim: 18:30, Bike: 1:20:00, Run: 43:00, Total: 2:21:30, Oops, need to add time for transistions, so let’s add 4 minutes total for the two transistions fora new time of 2:25:30.  Last year, 2:43:54  But keep in mind the run AND bike are shorter this year, so EVERYBODY’s times are going to be faster!

So I would like to at least take 4th place again this year as that’s the BEST I can hope for as I really haven’t put much time and effort into training, but hey, I DO have to work and have a life ya know!

Well, we’ll see how it goes.

Later Gator!
(Yes, you’ll see most of this on my blog..)

TriMoot…Out!