Collegiate Triathlon

My first Xterra..

Swim: Awesome, best open water swim of the season!  1300 m, started out
strong but didn't kill myself, figured out how to draft, stayed on course, kept
strong til the end, getting out of the water was awesome with the TriCats and
my mom there to cheer me on!

T1: Slow but no screw ups, saw Rachel in transition and got a shout-out for
the TriCats from the announcer

Combined Swim/T1: 31:24.00

Mountain Bike: Well… right out of the parking lot I had to push the bike up
a big hill spiking my heart rate which sucked, got on at the top and had a nice
trek all the while looking at this mountain in the distance that I would have
to climb.. it was pretty cool talking to people as they passed me, everyone was
awesome and there were some other first-timers out there as well. So yeah, that big mountain.. I see Rachel half way up it as I reach the
base, it was steep, really steep, really really steep and rocky. The next bit of the course was actually not
that bad, beautiful scenery, got through the sand w/ no problem thanks to tips
from Makko and Coach (one woman even said I was her inspiration through it, but
then took off like I rocket once she could)! Forgot to mention that it was pretty hot out and only getting warmer. I figure I’m almost done with the bike but
then see more of the trail in the distance. Lost sight of pretty much everyone and that’s when I started getting
down and loosing a lot of drive and energy, a few stragglers passed me on the
next stretch and then I was alone. Oh,
and I almost got hit by a few quads and dirtbikes, that was cool and my seat
post kept slipping down so I had to adjust that a few times. Highlight: didn’t crash on any of the
downhills this time but I came close, remembered to keep my butt back and my
elbows loose, thanks Chris! But.. had to walk my bike down the last hill then
hit pavement, man did I want my FastBack! Made it to the resort with a messy hand-off of my bike gear.

T2: Quick transition, only needed to throw on my race belt and hat.

Trail Run: I don’t really want to
talk about it but I will. It was
pathetic. My feet were aching from my
too tight speed laces but it was near useless at that point. Tried to run, so hot, cursing the incline,
almost crying, take off my shoes and run a while then think it’s probably
better if I have them on. Get to the
first aid station, drink water, keep going, find a friend running through the
sand, walk the uphills. It’s so f-ing
hot but I’m feeling chills on and off and the scenery is kind of swaying, the
only thing good about tunnel vision is that I can still see the trail. Aid station #2 drink water, my friend finds
his second wind and takes off, run past David in the sand and tell him to keep
going. Run through some crazy tunnel,
dizzy, confused. Keep going to 3^rd aid station, only a little bit left. See
shade that I could sit down under but hear the music and keep going. Run over river rocks, Phalyn finds me as I’m
nearing the stables and runs up the last hill through the finish line with
me. Remember kicking off my shoes and
taking off my socks, Mom, water, ice, TriCats, and the first few choice words
from my mouth “So when’s the next Xterra?”

3:52:21

Not bad for learning how to ride a mountain bike two days before race day..

Combining the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of this race, I can
say that this was the hardest thing that I have done. But I won’t let this be the hardest thing
that I have ever done, I’m ready for the next challenge and the one after that,
and the one after that.

10:21:57 in Ironman Arizona, after a long day of Hot and Windy weather. Honestly, I had a great day. My swim was solid in the 65 degree dirty water of Tempe Town Lake. I wore a sleevless wetsuit and fealt good. Not too cold, not too warm. It was a bumper car ride the entire 2.4 miles though. I really thought things would separate out a bit more, but I guess 2000 people in the water at the same time doesn't leave much room for space. Nothing too bad though. One heel kick to the left eye. But the goggle lens took most of the hit. I have a few more finger nail scratches on my wetsuit!

After the swim, the T1 tent was awesome! The volunteers are great at an ironman event, and I took a little more time to make sure I had it all together. After getting on the bike, I realized the wind that was supposed to go away, DIDN"T! There was some hang on moments, since I stayed with my decision to ride with a Zipp disc in the back and a Zipp 808 in the front. The three loop mostly out and back course started right into the headwind. And at times, I found myself going only 13mph. I thought, "this is going to be a suck day!" But at the turn around, I realized why others were smiling on their way back. The wind was helping to carry me back to transition at up to 35mph!! It was awesome, and it gave me motivation to keep grinding into the wind on the other two loops out.

I got to the run and fealt great. I had to force myself to slowdown, after I split the first 2 miles under a 7 minute pace. Through the first and a half of the 3 lap course, I fealt great. I, of course knew, that unknown territory was coming (my long run of only 13 miles, and persistant calf muscle cramps/pull). And at about 15-16miles, I hit a wall. No cramps, but just ran out of mojo. I found out that chicken broth, even warm chicken broth, on a 96 degree day, tastes great! I managed to go through many emotions during the next 10 miles.......walking, taking up a new sport, jumping off the bridge into the filthy water of the lake (would anyone notice?). But in the end, decided to stick with the forward motion and finished a slow overall marathon, 3:54, but a great overall day. The finish of Ironman, is enough to make any crazy thoughts go away and made me immediately start to wonder what I could have done (besides train longer and more!!!) that would have given me a sub 10 hour time and a slot to Hawaii (12th in my division, with only 9 going...).

It was a great experience

So collegiate nationals is this Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  For some of us (like myself) this will be our first experience racing at a big time event.  I'm totally psyched and ready to destroy destroy destroy, but more than anything I'm impressed with how far i've come since beginning triathlon in august 07. two goals i set for myself shortly after joining the team were to do an olympic distance triathlon and to put myself in a position where I would be able to go to the collegiate nationals.  i've accomplished both goals, but i've got one more in mind for this weekend--leave it all on the course when its all said and done (while having a FUN time and enjoying the fact that i can do something like this).  for me this weekend isn't about a particular time or whatever...its just about putting together what i've learned and all my physical abilities and having a solid race.  this doesn't make or break my season--i've had a great season.  i've gotten in shape, met awesome people, and done tons of crazy races i never would have considered attempting a year ago.  i've challenged myself and in doing so learned more about myself.

we've got a great team, and I know everyone is going to out there and give it their all and accomplish their goals. 

I leave you all with this:

We're faster on the swim (swim), We're faster on the bike (bike), We're faster on the run (run) 

Goooooooooo Tricats....Destroy, Destroy, Destroy

Well, tomorrow is a long day coming.........so it will be, a long day. Here in Ironman village and hotel, there is an interesting energy combined with a calmness. All different walks of life have led to this path. From all corners of the world. Some to win, some to dive into a personal agenda. Some unfinished turmoil that needs to be let go through the exhaustion and intensity of a day of Ironman. You can see the different stories in people's eyes as they walk, talk and stare..........

I have been a triathlete for over 18 years. Truly dedicated to the sport. I love the competition, the people, and the well roundedness of the sport. Maybe the Libra in me! THIS will be my first Ironman, though. And with it comes a new feeling. There is a definite thoughtfulness and respect for the race I will do tomorrow. Maybe not so much "the race" but the distance. Whether it takes me 9 hours or 13 hours I will be going much slower than what my brain typically considers racing. I will try to set my body like a metronome and just cruise. And hopefully set the count right!

There are families here. Support systems that only they can describe. There are friends from clubs, and there are lone rangers. All have a familiear stare and look in their eyes. You do not have to ask who is doing the race tomorrow, it shows in their face. I wish my kids were here to sense this energy and learn from it. And to know what the training that they have seen me do, ultimately turns into. But..............

I have been fortunate to have many friends and family that have called me to wish me luck and to have a good race. It reminds me that with the everyday life we live, people notice.........And with that, it gives me a greater humility and sense of being. Because it is not just with Ironman training, or any race training, it is with life that people notice and are in a way influenced. We all notice the good people do..........We all notice the bad people do....... Inbetween is a lot of life that we think goes unnoticed. But is it? Our children notice, our friends and family notice. Work colleagues notice. How we live matters......... We are an example as individuals.

The evening news is full of dread and doom and gloom. But here at Ironman, and maybe in everybody's everday life, we can strive to do good. To make our own good news. I hope the first good news to share is a good race tomorrow.

Thanks, to all my friends and family

Last week was a run focus week. And I ended up a little short of my goals in the swim and bike. Overall for the week, I had 7250 for the swim (goal was 8-9k), and only 80 for the bike (goal was 120). For the run I was just wanting to get total of 26-27 with a couple of quality runs and a long run of atleast 13. I did some pick-ups on the track on Tuesday. Not much, but a couple of mile efforts: One at a 6:40 pace and one at a 5:50 pace. They fealt good but my calves were feeling it the next day. No cramping though.........WOOHOOO!! On Sunday, I did a 13 miler with my brother in northern California. We were visiting my Granpa, who is turning 90, and celebrating a birthday with him. The run fealt good and I ran it in a 1:35 total. No issues and thismorning getting up, I did not feel the run at all..........So now it is just putting it all together in two weeks. Hoping that my tapered and rested and trained body can do twice that after swimming and biking. I do not plan to run that pace of course!! If I do manage to I will go ahead and apply for my pro card!!

The next two weeks will be all about keeping my edge and NOT overdoing it. About a true taper. Days off. And short days with good post exercise refueling and keeping hydrated. Ironman is a race of unknowns, even to those who have done it many times. A matter of science, discipline, rest, tapering and good old fashioned luck!! I hope that I can manage to put it all together and have a successful race. I will pray to the Gods and have peace within (Mark Allen would be proud!).

If everybody in the world took life as sereiously as we do training and racing, what a world it would be...................

Well last week was a good week for training. For a rare time, I exceeded my plan! 11,000 in the pool, 242 miles on the bike, and 14.5 running. The last and big workout was a 112 bike with headwinds and sun from 10:30 to 4:20. I did a weigh in before and after and kept track of my fluids to help manage myself for the race in 3 weeks. I drank 120 oz of gatorade over 5 hours and 50 minutes and came home still down 9.5 pounds!! So race day I have calculated that I need to drink, in similar weather, about 18-20oz every 20 minutes to keep up fluid management. My salt content is another thing. I was encrusted after the ride, but quickly recovered over the first two hours and felt fine. My power output dropped only slightly and I did not BONK. So I think my calorie intake was close to good. Besides the gatorade, which I mixed and had a total of about 720 calories, I had two Odwalla bars and a small snickers. That was another 710 calories. This will all help me have the best race I can with the training I have done. Fluid and caloric management are just as important in an Ironman event as the miles you put in. I have experienced this with some of the adventure racing I have done. So I hope all will be put to good use and I have a kick ass exeriencein Tempe!

As of March 16, 2008, I can no longer say, “never have I
ever competed in a triathlon.”

The Tucson Tri was awesome and I had a blast (the sun even
came out for my wave)! Yes, it was hard
but sprint distance is fun and I only had to run once! It was great having so much support on race day
not only was my team out there cheering for me but my mom too. You all kept me going and it really meant a
lot to me.

As far as the rest of the race went, I put myself in the
wrong swim wave (oops) so I was nearly first out of the pool and didn’t have
anyone to pace myself against. T1 didn’t
go nearly as smooth as it had in my living room but I think that a full trisuit
will cut down on time. Clipping into my
bike was a challenge for my shaky legs but once I did I felt awesome on the
ride, lapped some people from earlier waves and only got passed twice. I rocked T2! Leaving the shoes on the bike is a brilliant idea. I had to put socks on for the run but that only
took about two extra seconds and then I got off to a great start. I took about a mile to get my legs working
again and then I pushed it to the finish line after these little kids gave me a
high five.

It was a great day. Raced. Went home and took a shower. Mom bought me lunch. Took a nap. Woke up and went to dinner with friends. Came back home and went to sleep. I see myself doing this sport for a long
time. :)

The last few weeks have been busy. Work, life, and fortunately some working out. I think the surgeons have run a special on procedures this last month, making my life busy as an anesthesiologist! But with Ironman AZ only weeks away, I have sensed the urgency of getting mileage in. So sleep has given way to the risk of injury. And I am happy to say that SO FAR, SO GOOD! Although not doing "classic" Ironman training, I am getting in enough to feel like I can finish. My run has started coming around, without my dreaded calf cramp/pull being a problem. Yes, I am up to 21 miles this last week.

For the last 3 weeks, here are my totals: Swim 6500/8000/66350, Bike 176/40/176, Run 14/19/21

My goal for the next 2 weeks is: Swim 9000/8000 Bike 220/120 Run 13/26.2

So if I can stay healthy for this two week run up, it is taper time and on my way to hopefully a "fun" Ironman AZ on April 13th. No more weekends at work to get in the way and a couple of vacation days to catch up on sleep. Hopefully cooperative weather.........however at this point, I will get out in anything. High of 54 and rain in the forcast for my 60 mile ride tomorow!!! WHooHoo!!

Happy to be feeling healthy.

So this has been quite a winter. I live in Reno, NV and for those that don't know it's on the base of the Sierra Mountain range. My home is 20 min's from incredible Lake Tahoe.
Anyways, it's been snowing like crazy and not just in the mountains but in the city of Reno. I am so sick of shovelling snow!
Over the past week the weather has finally let up and temp's have risen to the upper 60's. I have been getting outside more for runs and better miles on the bike. It's amazing the weight I gain by being confined to treadmills in the gym and riding the bike trainer in my bedroom. My appetite is the only thing that seems to increase and max heart rate definately decreases!
When the weather gets pleasant everyone seems to get outside. It's very motivating for my own training and working to get back into race shape. The local bike races are going to begin towards the end of March/beginning of April and it's good to bring in some decent fitness to these events as they ultimately get the "high end" back quickly.
So this week has finally put a smile on my face and the racing spirit is beginning to come back. I have been utilizing Triathlete magazine and the internet to start planning my racing season and having something to actually strive towards.
Finally, I am going to be turning 39 in April (I know I am getting old) and this will be my last year in the extremely competitive 35-39 age group to which I have had quite a bit of success over the past few years. So to kick things up a notch, I decided to contact one of the advertisers with Athlete in You, Trisports.com, and I ordered the new Zipp Vuma Quad crankset. I am so jazzed to be adding this component to my already incredible bike set up and all the folks at Trisports.com were excellent to work with!
If anyone sees me out there racing this year, I hope I am fast - but I will be the dude on the smokin' Litespeed Blade that will be decked out in the Zipp 909 disc wheelset and the Zipp Vuma Quad cranks.
To all the young athletes out there, once you really begin to get in the work force and your earning potential increases you get to buy nice things like the Time trial bike that I race on. The unfortunate thing is I was able to acquire the dreamy equipment when I was older - but hey it's about the sport not the equipment right?
Things are looking up this year as we are all getting ready to race and wish for record breaking seasons. A lot of the advertisers with Athlete in You are available to service all of our needs and give some good deals on merchandise. Finally, Athlete in You is starting to get races listed and is one step closer to their goal of hosting great events and offering registration for a low price - to ultimately have all of us become happy with racing and not to worry about fees always going up for everything!
I hope everyone reaches their goals, and I hope AIY gets tons more races listed to make decision making easier because we won't have to worry about high on-line registration fees!

I’m back at home. Clean, relaxed and unpacked from a weekend
of TriCats training Camp and a little Duathlon fun.  Now that I’m full of food and re-hydrated I
can begin to try to process the past few days.. 
My conclusion: This sport is HARD!! 

Physically, I was prepared for this race and finished in
2:27.  I was amazed that I reached the
goal I had set for myself.  I thought
that I could do it sub 2:30 and did it! 
But it hurt.  My legs felt like
lead during the last half of the bike and after T2 going into the second
run.  I just kept going, cursing on the
uphill and thankful for the downhill. 
Crossing the finish line was amazing! 
I couldn’t believe that I had any energy left in me to kick it up to
that last gear.  Afterwards I was definitely
running on autopilot.  My body didn’t
quite know what to do with itself anymore and my mind hadn’t caught up yet.

Mentally, I was definitely not prepared for what it meant to
race.  Barely ten minutes into the first
run I was getting passed by the men age groupers and was steadily loosing sight
of my team mates.  We’ve got some crazy
fast TriCats!  And I was kind of pissed,
o.k. I was definitely pissed that I was getting passed by all of these 50 year
old dudes and it only continued on the bike, then the women caught up.  So, instead of motivating me to push harder I
almost felt defeated.  Then I started
yelling (literally) at my legs to go faster. 
That helped.  Then I was singing
in my head and chanting “I can die when I’m done.”  I felt better and then I got passed
again!  And then I had to repeat the
whole process to mentally pick myself back up again.  I almost broke on top of Devil Mountain
which we had to climb the last leg of the run. 
I was near tears but my legs were still working so I kept going.  So, not only was I physically exhausted but
emotionally and mentally drained.

That was my first race and I wouldn’t give it up for
anything.  I learned a lot this weekend
both about this sport and myself.  Here’s
what I walked away with: Don’t get pissed, get motivated.  Listen to Liz and run my race.  Convince myself that I can push harder.  But most importantly, remember that I’m doing
this for fun and go for a one piece trisuit!

There are many schools who planned to send over 20 people to nationals this year before they knew about the 20 person cap, and as a result they are forced to make some tough decisions. One of the things that some schools are doing is entering their athletes into the "alternate races" that USAT is providing on the same weekend. The alternate races consist of one open sprint race that anyone off of the street can enter, regardless if they are in college or not, and the other is an ITU type sprint distance race.

I am wondering if the alternate races are filling up because people are satisfied with the idea of adding those races, or if they are just filling up because that is all that is being offered.

Either way, I wish that USAT would communicate better with the collegiate club community, and not make crazy decisions without asking in an open forum.

I would even make a website for them if they wanted, just for the sole purpose of communicating collegiate triathlon news.

This past weekend was the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo........A great event that takes a scrappy piece of desert and turns it into a bike city of 3,000 plus people every winter outside of Tucson!  RVs, tents, expo, entertainment and lots of just plain good people.  For those that do not know, the race is a 24 hour non-stop affair........A 17 mile loop course and you and or your team making it around the course as many times as you can from 12 noon Saturday to 12 noon on Sunday.  I was in a duo team.  Our goal was 16 laps total..............We were doing well until late in the night Saturday, both of us started to experience BAAAD stomach cramps!!  We both were using Accelerade and think the protein and the bouncing around on our bikes caused some gasseous cramping.  So we laid off and took some sleep and when we felt better headed out for some more laps..........Only 11!!  6 for me and 5 for him.  But our laps were good and fast and competitive, so all was not lost!  AND.........I will never use Accelerade in a competition again!  I have used it plenty post exercise and I think it is great for that, but not during mountain biking!!  So like every race, even though not on the podium, lessons learned for better racing in the future.  The good thing is...........no crashes, no injuries, and my calf felt good!  I even ran 3.5 miles yesterday.  So Ironman AZ watch out!!  Ok not really ready, but still going to do it..........................

Who would make the best triathlete????  A commentary..................

Hilliary:  The largest CANKLES (having no distinction between calves and ankles) I have ever seen!!  I have met her and shook her hand........NEVER a triathlete!!

Obama:   Thin and lean.  Young and with potential.  BUT.........a SMOKER he has been.  Only quit to run for the presidency.  NOT an athletic attitude.  But potentially a reformer if it gives him fame and fortune...........Sounds like it leaves him out of our poor sport!!

Huckabee:  Actually ran a marathon recently.  But has that "look" to sink in water.   Just being judgmental!  But he could be a surprise............I once bonked and got passed by a clydesdale woman in a leopard suit (Cinched up from a long day!).

McCaine:  Fighter pilot tough.......But has age and grace in his past.  But again, could be a surpise.  We all know the wonderful 80+ year olds still pounding the pavement!

Romney:  Thin, young, successful in every personal way.  Saved the Olympics in Utah and showed passion.  BUT.........might not get in a speedo for his religous beliefs????

MY VOTE???????  ROMNEY..............with a full sleeve speedo shark skin suit!!!!!

So, collegiate nationals filled up super early this year leaving many clubs wondering what to do about all of their team members that wanted to go, but can't because of the new 20 people per team limit.

The University of Arizona TriCats spent the 2007 fall semester setting up club goals and expectations based on sending 50 people to nationals.  They did their homework, calling up USAT officials to confirm that this would be possible, and then proceeded to lead the club using the set goals as motivation. 

November, USAT published new policies on their website limiting the number of entrants from each team allowed in the collegiate national race to 20 per school until February, and then teams could enter as many people as they wanted up to race capacity.

November could have been a good time for the TriCats to change their goals and reconfigure the club and how all of the fundraising credits would be used and the coaching could have altered the training plan to shift the majority of athletes training plans to some other race that had enough room, but the officers called the USAT officials in charge of collegiate nationals and were assured without any reasonable doubt that the TriCats would be able to get at least 40 people into the race if they so choosed. So the goals, and the fundraising structure, and the training plan all stayed the same.

 Fast forward to now.  Collegiate nationals is closed, and all of the clubs are being forced to decide who they are going to send to nationals and who doesn't get to go.  How can they decide?  Should the fastest people go? Should the people with the best fundraising record go? Should the officers go?

Why would USAT put clubs in this type of predicament?  Who knows.

So other than having a big part in the athleteinyou.com site, I also work in the pharmaceutical industry selling legal prescription medications.  At times, this job requires me to travel - lately I have been travelling quite a bit.
Just last week I was at a National meeting and they are fun as you get to see so many of your friends from other parts of the country and have some great "catching up" time.
However, one thing I noticed is that we tend to hang out with those that agree or accept our qualities.  Hence, I hang out with healthy, attractive, very healthy oriented people.
While at this meeting, I had the chance to stop and look around at the different types of people out there.  In case anyone does not know much about the pharma selling industry - most of the sales people out there are extremely outgoing and very accomplished in their own right.  However, looking outside of my groups that I associated with, I was able to observe how many unhealthy people are out there!  Many men and women thrive to take on bad habits - such as excessive alcohol drinking and smoking.  Most of these people can't wait to get out of the daily meetings to participate in all of this.
Well don't get me wrong, I have my "social" moments too, however those that I am around like to let off a little steam but also can't wait to get their next workout in or work towards a healthy goal. 
When most ask me what makes me tick - it's my son and family, all of the amazing friends that I have in my life, and training for my next race.  Now those unhealthy types may look at me like I am too extreme from the other end.  Maybe I am - not everyone has to compete in multi-sport/bike racing, etc.  But it's good to have some type of a healthy goal.
When we read in the newpaper or watch the latest edition of nightly news - you can't run away from the fact that most Americans are fitting into the unhealthy lifestyle category.  The "norm" is now becomming overweight!  Why is it easier to eat badly and take up bad habits that put a strain on every part of your life?  We have all listened to the nutritionist or health trainer tell us how to eat and workout - everything they say is true but it mostly goes on deaf ears.  We choose to be the way we are, the way we eat (I do like to eat lots of bad food too), etc.
My whole point to this blog is maybe we all need to become redundant in promoting our lifestyles and reach out to as many as we can to convince to start living a better way of life.  As I stated before, the pharma industry employs some of the most outgoing people in the world!  If there are so many unhealthy types here, then what must the rest of this country be like?  My bet is all of those news reports are extremely accurate and this in an epidemic.  We are getting lazier/fatter, whatever - if this continues America will not be the best place in this world in years to come as our offspring will soon take over and they will have inherited unhealthy values.
We all need to do our part - maybe not tell everyone that they need to train for multisport - but seriously participate in a healthier lifestyle and make it permanent.
There are many college students on this site and all of you need to make it start with you.  Promote yourselves in positive ways by your actions.  When you get the chance to show somebody how to become active - Do it!  Nobody needs to always be a cheering fan in the stadiums (I do like to cheer at times too), but to actually go out and have someone cheer for you!  Clearly this message is not being promoted enough and not enough people out there are living a healthy lifestyle.
I know that I will do my part in always promoting a healthy lifestyle, raising my family to have healthy values, and cheering for anyone that makes a difference to live a healthier life no matter what their chosen activitiy!
Cheers to everyone already living their dream, and to those younger athletes that will be accomplishing much in the years to come.  I hope you all do your part to keep this lifestyle alive forever!

It has been a mundane couple of weeks.  Lots of bike trainer time.  Some good swims.  And keeping off my run for another week.  Going to get an MRI to check my calf out next week.

But today I wanted to comment on being an athlete spectator...........While watching two of my best friends expose themselves into competitions that most will never dream.  One in the Rock-n-Roll Marathon in Phoenix, and one in the Washington State Judo Championships.  Both well accomplished athletes in their regards.  Both with dissappointing results...............And I have been there..........Pissed at the results for whatever reason.  But to spectate the trials and triumphs and even personal failures of the age group athlete is both inspiring and humbling.  You want to support your friends and also want to wish them success.  But it will not always be a success and I think it is humbling to watch athletes, no matter their level of play, grow.............Because every experience is a growth process.  Success or failure alike.  And when you are on the sidelines, you know they are surpassing you with their new experience.............  And it makes me just want to get out there all the more!!

SWEET! So, I got this new job with Sprint (which I love! And will be working A LOT). And 12 credit hours at school... including upper division classes, a Teaching Assistant position & an Internship with UA Student Affairs. Additionally, I am a Student Manager for the Southwestern Company (Best Summer Gig for any college student with cajones!) and am interviewing students all throughout the semester. So much cool stuff going on! WHEW! And even with all of that mandatory stuff, TRICATS still takes first priority in my heart, so I've scheduled everything around as many TRICATS workouts & meetings as possible. Isn't that interesting?! lol But, what can I say, I love the TRICATS! Our First Official Meeting is tomorrow and I am stoked! This should be a smokin' awesome semester. Just hoping that I have the energy that these next five months demands of me. I know that there are a lot of TRICATS with tons on their plates, too, so if they can do it, I can do it! haha Life is good. ;)

The last couple of days I have been feeling better.  Still a nagging cough, but my body feels good.  I have been able to get out on the mountain bike and was shown by a friend of mine, some BRAND NEW trails on the west side of Tucson.  Tucson has been very pro-active in improving the cycling community;  more bike lanes, and advertising for bicycle safety.  It is always ranked as one of the best cycling communities in the country for a reason.  But mountain biking has gotten a great boost here in the Old Pueblo.  The state has purchased massive amounts of acreage around the skirts of Tucson.  For one reason:  improve the natural paths of the desert animal life.  Tucson is in the Sonoran Desert and is very unique in its flora and fauna.  But the other wildlife......................Mountain bikers are going to get the huge benefit!  Because not only is the state setting land aside to always be protected, they are paying mountain bikers to cut tons of new trails!  The ones I rode the last two days, I do not yet know the name of, but they can be accessed off of the end of Sweetwater Road in the Tucson Mountains.  There currently are three loops of pristine rollers through the saguero forests out there.  With enough of rocky technical riding to make for about an hour (depending on your level of expertise of course).  I spoke with one of the guys planning and cutting the trails and he let me know plans of about 60 miles of trails to be cut over the next few years.  So no longer is Fantasy Island, way out on the east side, the only designated mountain biking haven in Tucson.  The reasons to love this place just keep growing!

Well, I hope everyone had a safe and fun New Year.  Mine was filled with some family, sparkling apple cider and dancing like a fool with my kids!  It was a great night after a great Christmas at my house.  But the stirring was already happening in my body that night.................On New Years day I got the crappiest bug I have ever had.  Fever, malaise, GI, myalgias, coughs..........Welcome to 2008!  Woohoo!!  Tonight I am much better, but coughing like a madman.  I was of course on track to start running/biking more.   The Rock n Roll Marathon?????????  Out.  Plans for Ironman Arizona????????  Seriously waaaaaay behind.  Frustration level????????  Extremely high!!!  How did Lance stay healthy and on top for so many Tours de France?

Well I hope for myself and everyone out there, 2008 is a better one.

I can finally blog again! My life has been completely abducted by graduate school applications... even classes and training have had to take the backseat. It's difficult to knowingly let your hard work slip for a few weeks-- after gutting it out (and thoroughly enjoying) El Tour (made Gold, enjoyed pancake breakfast at mile 78, thrilled to draft at a speedy 32mph in a tight pack on the home stretch), I've lost about, shit, 3 weeks of training? I've literally been working on 11 different applications since October. But they are all completed and submitted.

As a very competitive individual, it's extremely difficult to consciously make the decision NOT to train, to knowingly sacrifice training hours and phyiscal ability for something with less-tangible rewards. But really, it was more important to set myself up well for grad school than to train hard and have mediocre applications. It is a challenge to maintain this perspective and not feel depressed about workout hours lost or how many minutes slower my time trials are.

This brings me to my winter break goals: to catch back up, to push harder than I necessarily want to, to not succumb to the temptation of sleeping late and being lazy all break, of splurging on holiday sweets and such.

No, no, no.

I will bundle. I will layer. I will freeze my toes off biking and running. I will suck it up and get in the pool-- even though I have to drive 7 miles out of the way and pay money to do so. I don't want to stop lifting because it makes me feel good, body tight and fit.

Tricats have a sort of challenge sheet to see who can log the most hours of genuine workouts (not limited to swim/bike/run/ing). And, I'm off to a slow start. But, not being able to take any competition lightly, I'll really have to work to catch up. Oh I will.

No races until January 1st.... applications definitely cleared my bank account. Got my eyes on another half marathon in February that I want to dominate. GRRR.

So, after many years (don't ask how many!) of talking about it but not signing up, I finally joined TriCats. I have been running long distance off-and-on for ~7 years (2 Tucson Marathons...woohoo!), but the cycle has always been overtrain for 6 months, do an event, get burnt out, and get lazy for 6 months. Triathlon has brought diversity to my training and has kept me interested...it is awesome to actually look forward to training. Cycling has been quite a discovery. I was addicted after one ride... Surprisingly, I have become a much faster runner while running much less!

Anyway, I came up with a list of endurance training/event "firsts" that have come during my initiation to this new sport (sports?):

First multi-sport event: July 28th full moon aquathlon. A swim and run at night at Reid Park in Tucson. A great experience, check it out if you're in the Tucson area. These are great, inexpensive, low-key events twice/week every summer: www.swimandrun.com

First 4 workout day: Sept. 29. No, really! Run, Bike, Swim, Run. Hooray for Tricats fall training camp! Can't wait for spring...

Biked Gates Pass: Aug. 25. I used to think those people were nuts...

Ran A-Mountain (several times): Oct. 9. Why? Not sure...Brian, what do you say? Hill repeats are not so much fun, but you really feel a sense of accomplishment.

First Tri: Oct 28. Tinfoilman. A great experience. I was really nervous for the swim, but it went well. I was surprised how tired I was during the run. There was great support from the large TriCats turnout and my wife and daughter!

First 4:05:22 (first marathon) plus workout: Dec 2. Randomly left for a 4 1/2 bike ride around the perimeter of Tucson. It is awesome that biking can actually take you places (or get you lost...another story), and it's great not to be wasted after a long workout like you are after running.

Cycling to work/school: 22 miles on Dec 12 despite cold temps and dense fog. A great way to cut down on gas costs and increase the training time. It has been an investment (another bike with all the commuting gear), but It is already worth it (3 days and counting).

This has been a great experience! More diversity in training, a great team atmosphere, and no risk of burnout for me. Thanks much to all the TriCats team and coaches for your encouragement and advice. Looking forward to another great semester...if it wasn't for this grad school distraction...

Well I took 10 days off of running because of the focused calf cramp/pull.  Hard to do, but I did get out for a few bike rides.  Not too intense and I didn't feel the calf at all on the bike.  But after only 2 short and very slow miles on the treadmill today, and feeling like it was perfect to that point, it did it again!!  Son of a ...........!!!!!!!!

So running is out for a while.  I am signed up for the Rock n Roll Marathon next month, but there is no way I can think I will be good to go.  A friend is flying in to do it (his first) so I will plan on running some, but have no expectations I guess.

So now to focus on cycling......In February is the 24 Hours In The Old Pueblo.  I am signed up as DUO Team.  Our name, athleteinyou.com, of course!  So more time on the mountain bike.  It is a great event, and I have done a couple of the 24 hour mountain bike events, but never as a duo.  12 hours of riding per person.  I figure about 150 miles of mountain biking per person.  I spent 3 hours at Fantasy Island this past Sunday

I got in the pool 3 times this last week and will start more consistancy with that as well.  Udall and 78 degrees feels great compared to my unheated 52!  So for April, and Ironman AZ..............?  I am a little scared about my calf and cramping issues.  Maybe it is time to get a full metabolic panel on myself and see if I have some wierd freeky deficiency.  I figure at the very least, I can kick ass in the swim and bike and do whatever I can on the run come crunch time.   Very frustrated right now............

Dear friends, 

This morning, while riding up Gates Pass, I began to think to myself, why do I choose to put myself through the things that I do?  Why do I do triathlon?  I could only come to one conclusion.  I do this for him, for the legend, for who some people say is not human, for whom I pray to, for whom I believe to be God himself.  I do this for Brett Favre.  The man is not only a football player, he is the epitome of a true American hero.  Favre (or Ferr've) is a proud father, the devoted husband to a dime wife, a recovered addict, a damn sexy Wrangler Jeans model, and is the definition of a true man, according to William Shakespeare, I swear.  

 So the next time you're struggling in a workout or race, just think of why you do it.  I promise you it is probably because of a man called Ferr've.  Remember your motivation, remember your dedication, and remember your hero wearing #4 every Sunday afternoon.

 The Man, The Legend, The Only.  BRETT FAVRE (Ferr've)  

So for those of you reading this that don't know me very well, I tend to be a giant walking injury. I have been this way since I was 8 (when I started gymnastics) and while my injuries are generally resolved after some time (or surgery) there always seems to be another one waiting in the wings. However, I have two that are chronic. My C6-C7 disc (C=cervical=neck) and my L5-S1 disc (low back) are very unhappy campers. The first has been the bane of my existence for the past six years while the second has only been making my life/training miserable for the last year and a half. And I have tried everything- I've seen more doctors than I can count, physical therapists, chiropractors, cortisone injections, drugs, massage, traction, stretching, strengthening, yoga, ice, heat and even, gasp, taking time off. But nothing has helped. It still feels like someone is stabbing me between the shoulder blades in a nonstop 24/7/365 painfest. 

So today in my quest to do anything and everything possible to make this stop, I paid someone money to stick me full of needles. I have threatened numerous times throughout all my various injuries to resort to acupuncture, but until today, I hadn't actually done it. So the following is a short report on my first acupuncture experience.

 It hurt. It didn't hurt a lot, but it hurt a little. Especially the points that he did in my hands. I have two meridians that are blocked and causing my pain and he worked on unblocking them using needles in my hands and my feet. The needles were in for about 45 minutes and during that time my hands began to throb and tingle. About halfway through he twisted the needles in a little farther which got them going again. The weirdest part was that after he took them out, the places they had been still hurt for a while after I got to my office. So you are probably wondering if I feel any better. The answer is maybe. My pain increases and decreases in ways that are not always predictable to me. As well since both injuries are chronic it will probably take a few treatments before it is clear if it is helping. But I am definitely planning on going back. 

Sarah 

So on Saturday, after months of drooling and years of saving, I bought a tri bike. Not just any tri bike. A sweet new Felt B12. I didn't get to take it for a test ride at trisports because of the rain but I did get to ride it on the trainer while Mike and Rudy tweaked the fit. Finally yesterday the sun was shining and the roads were dry so I took it out for a spin (a short spin because I have been/still am sick). Now you have to understand that I have never ridden a tri bike or a carbon fiber bike.

My first thought about the bike is SWEEEEEEEEEET. The second thought is that this bike is way to fast for me. The whole time I was riding it I felt like the bike was going much faster than it should have been for how hard I was working (not very). I realize that this is a good thing/the reason why I just dropped a load of hard earned cash on the bike. Nonetheless it is going to take me a while to get used to it. The third thing is that I can't believe how responsive the bike is. This lead to me weaving around the bike lane like I had had a little too much egg nog but I'm sure as I get used to it, I will come to appreciate the bike responding to my every movement. Fourth, as I imagined would happen, I woke up incredibly sore this morning. My new, much more aerodynamic position clearly uses muscles I have not used in recent memory so this will clearly be an adjustment process. Finally, when I got into this sport a few years ago I couldn't fathom spending a grand on a bike (my first road bike) and couldn't imagine how anyone could possibly justify spending more than that on a bike. I'm glad I finally outgrew that mentality :)  

Week  of Pain:

Monday:  30 min on the trainer with high resistance, followed by immediate 2.5 mile run on treadmill.   A good little time to workout effort.  HR in the 160s on the bike and 180s on the run.

Tuesday:  After a trail warmup from Broadway, a hilly 8 mile tempo run at Saguaro Monument East.  56 total minute effort with long interval/fartleck work.  Then a trail cool down.  Sore and stiff from the steep ups/downs.  11.5 mile total.

Wed:  Day off

Thursday:  Before work 35 minute indoor trainer.  After work weights

Friday:  Before work 30 minutes on the indoor trainer.  After work 6.5 treadmill.  Nice and easy at 7.7-8.8.

Saturday:  On call at the hospital for 24 hours.  Before got on the treadmill for a goal slow 4-5 miles.  At 2.8, for no $%&$# reason, my calf balls up.  End of run!  I'll just say it FUCK!!

Sunday:  Today, after a night a wrapping my calf, I thought of spinning on the bike instead of going for the planned 6 mile run, but opted out.  Thought about getting in the pool, and tried to motivate myself with the hot tub first.  The pool is at 56 degrees.  I am a whimp!  Feeling so especially, after my daughter jumps in after a moth.  I go have some coffee.  In Russian fashion (Where vodka cures all ailments), I add some vodka and some holiday cheer to the coffee.  Some egg nog.  No work out.  Depressed.  Have no idea why I share this to cyberspace.  Maybe somebody will get a laugh from my pathetic weekend.   I hope everyone out there has a great week.

I know I said I was back about a month ago. However, a fierce bout with pneumonia (left lung) kept me off the roads From Nov. 7 until the week of Thanksgiving. In my past life I would've trained right through the fits of coughing and massive chunks of phlegm and probably be spritzing my keyboard with spittle, this very moment, as a result (although it did take a month of coaxing to get me to even see the Doc). I must say - it's amazing how much more quickly you heal when you get a little bit of rest. Too bad it took me this long to admit to this obvious fact.

• Anyway, I thought I'd share my "training" since I've been back (again). The month of October featured 2-3 days/week of swimming - 2-3k/workout, mostly drills. This is significant, as I've not been in the water, except during my Multisports.com camps, for the better part of 3 years. I also ran 2-3 days/week, 4 miles each day. I rode 2 or 3 times (period) in October. I know this does not seem like much, but it's a start for me, in terms of resuming "consistant" training.
• As I mentioned above, Nov. started with good intentions, and ended up with nothing to brag about until Saturday, Nov. 17. I rode the 31 mile El Tour with some old friends. It took 3 hours. That's a long ride for me . . . just not very far. I ran 4 miles Sunday. I ran 5 miles Monday to get in shape for the T-Day X/C race. I ran 7 miles Tuesday in hopes that the 5k X/C race on Thursday would feel a little shorter. I rode 2 hours with my brother and a buddy on Wednesday (to give my running legs a little taper for the big X/C T-Day race). Thursday, I sprinted my ass off for 5km in the T-Day X/C race, ran faster than I thought I'd run, but didn't run very fast. And it felt like the course was 10km, even though I know it wasn't. However, it was very fun to push myself again. Friday I hung out with the family. Saturday I rode up to mile post 7 (easy) of Mt. Lemmon with Teri Albertazzi, I woman I coach (3 hours total). Sunday I rode 3.5 hours with Teri, Marco (guy I coach), and Wang (best buddy).
• I'll fill in the blanks for this week in a couple days. I'll try to include a more interesting content in future entries. For now you'll have to be bored with my pathetic workout "log."

With the semester coming to an end I find the balance in my life tipping towards the school end of things which makes it hard to find time to train.  Mind you I said hard, not impossible so I woke up this slightly less brisk morning for a nice ride only to discover that it was raining!!  By raining I mean it was more like sprinkling but the drops got a little bigger five minutes later, then it began to sprinkle again and so forth..

I have a rule:  I don't ski in the rain because then I get wet and cold.  Now I have extended that rule:  I don't ski or bike in the rain because then I get wet and cold.  It's just not fun anymore when you're a miserable drowned rat.

 I suppose now that I'm up I'll do something productive like study then go to work.. or I'll just sit here in my cactus jersey and hope that the rain stops in the next 20 min.

    Right before Thanksgiving I had the opportunity to have my LT tested.  There are two local Docs (one is an ex WebCor rider) that have formed a company in which you can have your LT, Vo2 Max, Body fat, etc. tested.  I have never focused a huge amount of energy towards understanding why or how my body works, quite frankly I have mostly trained on feel and past results.  But as the old story goes...my time spent training has gone from 20 - 25 hours a week to 8 - 12 hours a week.  With this said I really felt like I needed to get an idea of how to gain the most of my time on the bike.

The test was actually fairly difficult (100w + 40w / 4 minutes).  Basically they give you as much time as you need to warm-up, then the test begins.  Starting at 100 watts you maintain an 85 or greater RPM for 4 minutes.  During this 4 minute interval, they prick your ear lobe and draw blood to measure the amount on lactate, have you rate the amount of effort you think you are giving, and record your HR.  Then they increase the wattage by 40.  Take all the above mentioned tests again, and raise you again by 40.  You continue to raise the wattage by 40 unitl you have complete failure or you can no longer maintain a RPM above 70.   My test went as follows:

Male 175 lbs. age 38 height 71 Sport Cyclist 

4 minutes @ 100w = felt easy / HR @ 116 / lactate = 1.2mMol

4 minutes @ 140w = felt easy / HR @ 128 / lactate = 1.2mMol

4 minutes @ 180w = felt good / HR @ 146 / lactate = 2.6mMol

4 minutes @ 220w = starting to give some effort / HR @ 153 / lactate = 2.4mMol

4 minutes @ 260w = feeling good / hr @ 159 / lactate = 3.9mMol

4 minutes @ 300w = WOW big jump in effort / HR @ 168 / lactate = 4.3mMol

4 minutes @ 340w = Not much left in the tank / HR @ 174 / lactate = 5.7mMol

- 2 minutes @ 380w = DONE! / HR @ 188 / lactate = 10 mMol 

Test results:  LT(e) = HR @ 178 / power at peak 330w /    

So, I said to the Docs "How can this help me, how can I apply this test to my basic understanding of how my body works and make my training more efficient?".  Basically this is what they said, I have a basic problem many, many master athletes have.  That is.... we (master athletes) tend to think that lack of time should be "made up" by more intensity.  While this formula might work in the short term, most master athletes will experience longer periods of being "flat" with this approach.  So if I am spending the majority of my time training at / above or near "tempo" (for me this would be HR above 159) that I would "empty the fridge to fast" and never have time to replace "the groceries".  They suggested that I needed to put effort / time into riding  endurance (for me HR @ 130 to 148) in order to keep sufficient "stock in the fridge".  While they said this may sound easy, it actually can be difficult because of the limited time I had and the nature of group rides / riding with the fellas around the area.  I was thinking "cool they are telling me I should take it easier, I can sit in with the best of them",  when they added you also need to increase your effort on interval days (for me 340w @ 170 +).  OOOCH!  The docs told me that most master athletes go too hard on their recovery easy days, and not hard enough on the interval / hard days.  So basically they said you now have a really solid baseline (the LT test) in which you can measure your efforts while training, and oh yeah the best thing is that your LT is the most "plastic" measure you have.  Meaning that we as master athletes can change our LT dramatically if we train with a level of intelligence and not just ego and muscle.

I have been training with the "test results" for two weeks now and have some races coming up, I will let you know how it's going.

Carothers       

Had a fun thanksgiving weekend,

Thursday, ran the Turkey trot, ate lunch, got stuffed, grazed all day, and went out to my friends house where we played Jenga drinking games until 11pm, then thankfully I had a designated driver, and got home safe where we proceeded to have a bonfire until around 1, I think.  The bonfire was warm and a great way to wind down.  Side note, don't pick flaming pieces of rubber out of a fire with your bare hands... That shit is sticky. OUCH.  I am wondering if these burns on my hands will get infected.  hope not. 

Friday, went on a nice bike ride with some Tricats up to Gates Pass stayed home tonight so I could get up early on Saturday

Saturday biked up Lemmon and got coffee with friends afterwards, watched football, had a meeting, and rested until  the TriCats Dance Party which started at 7:30pm and didn't end until 7:30am when we all got up and went for an hour run on the river path.  Whooo Whooo.

One more thing, I have been sick for two weeks now... I wonder what it is.  I don't usually let the way that I feel show through, but I do crack once in a while to complain about my throat hurting, or being tired.  It isn't that bad, I did the tour with it in full swing.

Sometime around 7:30 this morning a few of us decided we should blog about this practice, so here it is.

 I woke up around 5:45 to the second alarm I set for myself.  It was too early, too early for anything.  I got up, ate a Cliff Bar, told myself it was too early again, got dressed and biked slowly to campus.  The workout plan had said A mountain, but at this time in the morning the parking lot wasn't even open and to get back to campus after would be a nightmare of morning traffic.  so we opted for the closest thing to a hill on campus, the parking garage.  Now I am from Prescott, a mile high city where one has to drive miles to find flat ground; I coudl do hill repeats a street away from my house.  So this was a first for me.

The man-made hill was a little on the dull side.  We were supposed to run at an effort 7 out of 10, but for me it took at least a effort of 8 to get one foot in front of the other.  I ran after column and column of cement.  On the first trip the cement ramps up I wondered if it was even legal to run up a parking garage.  I pondered what a hilarious WildCat police story it would be: seven students cited for improper conduct in a parking garage.  However, this amusement was spoiled when the UAPD truck passed us with only a look of confusion. 

Then I studied concrete.  I never realized how un-flat a parking garage is, they actually made it tilted in the corners so if it ever rains (big if) there would actually be drainage (if any of you have seen the flooded streets of Tucson after about fifteen minutes of rain, you now how amazing drainage actually is).   Then I was amused by the rising sun.  It made patterns on the cement.  At one point, the light hung from ceiling, almost like Christmas lights.  At the end of each up, we were rewarded with a view of the city, awaking, with sunshine and smog.  And the ups continued...

After forever, Matt told me at the bottom we had two minutes to go.  I said we should run up the first two ramps.  Instead we sprinted to the top.  It felt like an accomplishment to be done.

In the end, Renae, Matt and I complained about how painful that was, then concluded it was probably easier than A mountain.  But still, running up a parking garage at 6:30 in the morning is something to brag about.  We were amused at the looks people in the cars driving into the parking lot gave us, like we crazy.  Then we realized that we are crazy.

Only a team can make you do something that ridiculous.  I will miss practices over Thanksgiving.  It will be hard to motivate myself without a bunch of other crazies. 

This crazy weekend started Friday with a carbfest dinner at Glen's house. Thanks to Glen and his family for a great dinner...

 Saturday morning we met at the flagpole at 4:30 and rode over to TCC where the start of the race was at. Seemed kinda silly to ride over there when we were already going to be riding 109 miles that day, but whatever. Once we got there, we lined our bikes up. We had two hours until the start of the race and it was F'n freezing. Thanks to Nick, Matt, Sean, Andy, Alan, Glen, Christina, and Phal for making the time fly by. We got great spots in the gold section. Wound up only being less than 5 minutes off of the top riders.  

 Around 6:55 they sang the national anthem and then counted down the seconds until the gun went off. I dont even know if there really was a gun?!?!?! I was too nervous to hear it if there was one. I kept thinking I am going to be on this damn bike for the next 6 or seven hours and I hope I dont crash. 

 The top riders were off and the rest of us just waited until the crowd dispersed. Right away I saw two riders go down. One was my teammate and the other guy fell into the fence, sucks..  

 The first eight miles went very fast. I was in a pace line with Nick and Matt and we were averaging over 20MPH. Within those first eight miles, a fire truck went by with it lights on and sure enough it was for a group of cyclists up the street. Didnt look too good. We finally got to the river crossing. No point in trying to run. Too many people, but if felt good to get off the bike for a couple of minutes.

 Ok, back on the bike. Saw two more accidents. One, this little kid was weaving in and out of pace lines and wound up hitting this guy's, in front of me, handle bars and went flying and skidding on the pavement. Pretty scary. We managed to avoid hitting the bike as it slide underneath this other ladies bike. Stupid kid...

 Coming up on 36 miles in about 1.5 hrs, we meet our teammates (Andy and Quack) for a water bottle trade off. Thanks guys. Some more riding. Ok, lots of it and then came up to the Sabino Canyon River crossing. Perfect timing because my A@@ was really starting to hurt. After pouring a pound of sand out of our shoes we were back on the bikes. 

 Still in pace line with Nick and Matt, Nick and I got stopped at the La encantada light for traffic. Freaking sucked. There went our teammate and our pace line. After a couple minutes, the cop let us go. Of course, I had trouble clipping in and Nick and the other cyclists flew by me. O, and to make it even worse FLAT TIRE. F_*@!!! I pulled over onto the sidewalk to change my tire and just my luck it was the back tire. I am trying to hurry, yet keep my cool as all these cyclists go flying by me. I got this little kid standing next to me asking me where I got my bike at? and what is this? and what is that? SHUT UP!!! I got my new tube on, but could not get my tire back on my bike for the life of me!!! There goes Phal and Christina.... Finally after throwing a tantrum, I got the damn thing back on!!! The spectators cheered me on as I got back on my bike. It was really hard to stay motivated since I lost my teammates and knew that I was in this by myself now.

Heading north on Oracle. You know, where that bitch-ass hill is at, I got another flat on my back tire. What a great spot. Nowhere to pull off, except for the ditch and on the damn hill. So now I have really given up all hopes for this damn race. My teammates are prob a good 20 miles ahead of me right now. I changed my tire and got back on my bike, which was pretty entertaining on that hill. Now WTF was wrong with my bike!!! I am peddling my hardest and only going 8 mph. Bent chain?? Prob from me throwing my tantrum. Pull off again to take a look at it. I dont know what the hell I am doing. Thank God it wasnt bent. I would have no idea how to fix it. My tire was rubbing on my frame. Fix that and back on the road again...

 Riding by myself, sucks. Trying to catch any pace line that I could, but I kept getting dropped. About an hour or so later someone rides up behind me and says, " Go Tricats". It was Petter :) :). I was sooo happy to see someone that I knew. I drafted off of Petter for the rest of the race, which was still 30+ miles. We caught a pace line with these big guys that were cranking!!! Petter kept checking to make sure that I was still with him and if it looked like I was going to get dropped he would slow down a little and wait for me, then we would get back into the pace line. 

 About 5 miles away from the finish, we caught up to Nick. I thought he had already finished. He had some bad luck too :( and the three of us helped each other out and crossed the finish line together at 6 hours and 24 min!!!

 It is amazing how much difference riding with a team makes. Thanks everyone... Glen, Alan, Andy, Christina, Phal, Andy W, Quack, Sean, Matt, Nick and Petter

Liz

 P.S. I dont know why the first word is in its own paragraph. Whatever....

    I guess since a lot of people on the team have started blogs that I should go ahead and start one too.  I just did my first event yesterday so I guess this is as good of time as any.  Basically, the day started for me at 330am.  I woke up, having slept for only a good 3 solid hours because I was so anxious for the day to start, and had a nice, big breakfast.  430 am, I met up with a few teammates and we headed to the start line to get a decent position.  Man, it was cold.  Good thing Liz's boyfriend and Renee were both nice enough to come get our warm clothes before race time.  You realize how hardcore some people are when you show up 2 hours before the start and there's already about 1000 people ahead of you.  The two hours flew by and it was 7 o'clock in no time. 

      I was so nervous at the start.  We started off really slow.  So slow that about half a dozen people around me went down because they had clipped in and couldn't balance going that slow (nice one Phalyn).  After that, we were off.  They started fast and I was just thinking to myself that it better slow down because I can't handle 6 hours of this pace.  The first two turns went smoothly and we all kinda got split up and then regrouped once things got a little less hectic.  About 3 miles into it my seatpost came loose and dropped all the way down.  I stopped to fix it and realized that the clamp was broken and I was gonna be riding low all day.  Only 106 miles to go.  The first river crossing was a nice time to get off the bike and stretch a little.  Kinda like a warmup.  Back on the bikes and we were off again.  I was without teammates at that point, but we quickly regrouped and I rode with Liz, Matt and Nick for a while.  

     Then, I got in with a group that was flying.  I was worried that I might be using too much energy too soon.  We had a good pace going for quite a while and then some tires bumped up toward the front of the group and two riders went down and a few others had close calls.  I avoided the chaos, but had lost the lead part of the group.  Oh well, I could use a little slow time.  My computer battery went dead so I wasn't ready for the first water bottle swap.  I was also kind of out of it from all the excitement/nervousness that when I saw two guys on the side of the road wearing Tricats shirts I didn't realize it was Andy and Eugene.  I just went by and figured I'd have to go with just water until I saw them again.

    The next 20 miles or so were really relaxed and smooth.  I let these two ladies in sunflower jerseys pull me around for most of the time until the next river crossing.  At this point, I wasn't happy about getting off the bike.  It was more painful to try and carry the bike across the river than to just sit on it and ride.  At the other side, I filled my bottles again, grabbed another power bar and fixed my seat again(that was a waste of time).  The seat dropped again within 5 minutes and going up what was described as "the wall," I lost a spoke.  I hate my bike.  I clunked for a few seconds and then I thought it had fallen off.  The next part was a big blur of rolling hills and nothing too exciting.  Turning to go up Oracle was not a happy time.  I have done this part a few times and wasn't looking forward to the hills.  Luckily, I joined up with a small group that was led by a tandem.  Those things make a huge draft and go really fast down the hills.  I had to ditch them up some of the hills because they were a little slow, but I thanked them for the pull and took off for the next group.  Somewhere around here I missed the second water bottle exchange.  Damn batteries.  Oh well, more gels and more power bars and water.

    After Rancho Vistoso, it was about 15 miles of downhill cruising at around 30mph the whole time.  This was a really nice break at this point.  I could feel myself starting to bonk a bit and got a little worried.  Making the turn onto the frontage road was supposed to be a happy time because it meant the home stretch.  Then, the spoke I thought I had lost came back and started banging around a lot.  I had to stop and ask the police for wired cutters to trim it down so it didn't hit the fork.  This is also when I noticed that when I lost the spoke at the beginning, my wheel was actually out of shape and it wasn't just an illusion.  The wheel was rubbing the brake pad for about 30 percent of each rotation.  Did I mention that I hate my bike?  I lost my group and was all alone for the next half hour until some 66 milers came cruising by and a I joined up with them.  They were nice and rested so they were pretty fast.

    The last little bit seemed to take forever.  I think I discovered what it is to bonk.  Thinking of quitting, vision blurring, cramps and shaky joints.  I was ready to give up, but then at and aid station that was run by girl scouts, I got some more water, some encouragement and found out there were only 16 miles to go.  I powered on through that loooong stretch called Silverbell with a bike patrol guy.  We switched off pulling eachother until we started coming up to Grant.  I knew this area.  We were almost done.  I got a new burst of energy and hammered the rest of the way in with a fast group.  The best part of the entire ride was after that right turn onto Congress and there are hundreds of people cheering you on, and even better, the finish line.  I was done.

    It took 5:40:59.  11 minutes shy of my goal, but with the mechanical issues and it being my first time, I was just happy to finish.  It was a great experience for my first bike race ever and I can't wait to do it again next year and go for platinum.  I encourage anyone reading this to do it next year because it was awesome (and if you're still reading, I know you have the endurance).  Thanks to everyone that helped out.  We couldn't have done it without you.

This is my first posting. I am a little late to our apparently rapid blog-fests on athlete in you and have been feeling a little lonely on our forum. So I make a foray into my blogging adventure by bringing to you lessons I have learned at this Friday's swim practice. 

First. I always instigate the playing of sharks and minnows when I am feeling like not swimming thinking "hey! It’s a game and I won’t have to work as hard!" Somewhere between attempting to blend in with tile strips on the bottom of the pool and fleeing Kosuke's wandering hands I realized I was breathing in ragged gasp and bent over the pool like I had sprinted a 500. So much for my strategy.

Second. I learned the Jerrod is part fish, part submarine, and apparently kicks like a mule while chasing me down in the anchor leg of a relay. 

Third. I learned that Krystle, using just her legs on the pool deck, can escape in a tadpole like fashion from the pool. I was able to catch on to the skill but really...its something you have to see and try to understand.

Third (part b). Kosuke was never meant to leave the water. He tried to use Krystle's strategy and spent 20 minutes trying not to drown upside down in the pool before rolling across the lane line like a beached whale and putting in a climber like heel hook to escape...even then he had to be pushed out.Fourth. I can escape the pool using my shoulder to hook the edge and end up on my feet with no hands or arms in a twisted parody of evolving from a giant clear blue pool of primordial soup.

 All in all today's swim practice was epic and you should be sorry if you missed. I have also been inspired to try and create a Tricats Decathlon so that I can feature the Butt Crawl Abdominator and the Evolution Climb. Other ideas include one footed hopping, a bike mount style competition scored ala diving, and many many more. Stay tuned. 

Hey everyone, just wanted to tell everyone how I beat the Africans for the first mile by 3 seconds in the CATWalk last saturday, then I blew up and finished the 10k in over 40 minutes, which was still good enough for the top 10.

So this coming summer of 2008, I am going to cycle across the country for charity. The Journey of Hope is a 4,000 mile, 71 day trek from the West coast to Washington, D.C. to raise funds and awareness on behalf of people with disabilities. My route is eaving from Seattleand two others from San Fran. This past summer I drove along with the team as part of the support crew (92 men raised $525,000!) documenting their trip in over 7,000 amazing photos.

So I still need a road bike to start training. Looking somewhere under $1000 price range, but the cheaper the better. I was looking at the Trek 1500 and 2100 series when I was at their store the other day. Any other ideas?

Also I was looking to join some cycling groups around Tucson, AZ.

Lastly, I have pledged to raise $5,500 for the sponsoring organization, Push America. The tax deductible donation goes to programs of the organization and we will be giving out grants along the way to those organizations who help people with disabilities. In addition, we get to meet those with disabilities and interact through various sports and dinners, seeing where this money goes. On of our main missions every summer is to spread awareness of the abilities of those who are considered disabled.

If you'd like to learn more, or help sponsor me if this great cause...

http://www.karlsjourney.com

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Just a typical sunday......YEA RIGHT. Woke up at 6:15 with out a ride to the bottom of the mountain, ate some oatmeal, then just decided to break my bike down and throw it in my car. Forgot to actually check the clock before I left and ending up getting to Le BUZZ cafe at like 7:15, 45 minutes before we were scheduled to be there. Oh well I thought, Ill just make a sweet 5 hour long playlist on my Zune. So after not too long, people started showing up, and after fixing a few fellow tricats bikes, we were off.

The first 5 miles to the base of the mountain kinda sucked. I was pretty tired, and couldnt stop thinking about the 27 mile ascent ahead of me. Plus we all got passed by a guy on a beach cruiser, on the phone, IN FLIP FLOPS, going like 17 miles an hour. Luckily he turned off before heading up the hill. So once we get to the hill, we swtich from 2 abreast to single file, and I grab the lead. Im doing an easy 11 miles an hour at first, just feeling good. Little do I know that after the first mile I had already dropped everyone, and was putting alot of distance between us. WHOOPS, but I wasnt about to stop, so I just kept on motoring. At mile 4 I couldnt even see anyone I knew anymore, and I just figured they all had flatted and gone home (which is partially true). 35 minutes in I pop a gel, and get a well needed boost of energy. I had some time to look around, and I was quite impressed. Its rather beautiful country, especially only being a few miles away from the vast desert that Tucson is. The next hour was just alot of peddling, followed by more peddling, and some water. 1:45 in im starting to hurt pretty bad, and that stupid cobblestone section wasnt helping at all. Popped another gel and hammered on, passing some guy that wasnt wearing a helmet, but he had like a $4000 bike.....wtf? Once I had hit the second group of trees, my arm warmers were pretty soaked with sweat and doing anything but warming, so I started hooting and hollering to get my self pumped up. mile 21 involved alot of cursing to the mountain gods for putting hills around blind corners. Mile 24 was great, because for some reason I thought I needed another gel, even though I was only a mile away...oh well.

So then I finally pull into winterhaven....2:40 minutes later. got bored very quickly and decided to make the short trip to ski valley, up a very steep section of hill. Got to the empty parking lot and threw my hands up like I had just won the Tour, and somehow that drew a weird look from the old couple who was about to go hiking. So it was back down the hill to get a piece of pie, then back to civilization. Only problem is that the pie took 30 minutes to get. 3 waiters, 4 customers and about 40 slices of pie, but today they were "super busy, sorry". Ate a rather large piece of delicious pumpkin pie, and then I saw 3 of my teammates ride past the pie place, so I hopped on my bike and went after them. They looked to be in pretty rough shape, and kept telling me how I was half billy goat or something. So we refueled and headed back. But not before some more cursing to the mountain gods and talk of renaming Mt. Lemmon to Mt. Bitch. Downhill was fun, except for the cars ONLY going 35 mph and blocking the road....Slow pokes.

Overall it was an awesome day. 4 hours and 20 minutes of total ride time. 3 Gels. 2 bottles of water. 1 slice of pumpkin pie. Id say its a pretty perfect sunday....

I am wiped out.

Bike swap this morning went great. Helped sell yummy baked goods