Quoth the Raven

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December

That's what the famous 19th century triathlete E. A. Poe said when his quirky training partner, a black bird, flew in his window wearing those ridiculous yellow bike shorts, and said "Nevermore sitting around here crying over old girlfriends. Let's go running!"

As you remember from lit class, Edgar had a morbid fear of training in December. As do I. Why? It's cold, dark, and feels just like a coffin. That's why I call December my off-season.

During my off-season I lift, weights. Last year I had a hard time squatting. Wait, what was I talking about? Anyways, to help me with my squat I built this:

Yes, that's my finger on the left.

No, not a garage, a weight rack. This bad boy lets me squat to my pants content. It features safety rails for when I get stupid and load up more weight than my raven legs can handle. I can lower the safety rails and bench inside there as well. The other nice thing is I can do chin-ups from the top rail.

There's another angle. The carriage bolts in the front hold my bar for when I'm doing the military press.

OK, enough for now. Perhaps the next time I'll tell you about my effort to sandblast my bike.

Take thy beak from out my heart...

Routine Maintenance-Way of the Samurai

As you know, there are a number of abandoned roads around my town. They get flooded several times a year because of the dam down stream. However, when they are dry you can run, ride, or whatever on them. It's the whatever that concerns me today.

The other day I chose to run one of these old roads. It heads straight south out of down via a park about a half mile from my house. I don't live in a large town. We do have a Wal-Mart and a McDonalds but those are probably only there because we're a natural rest stop for folks heading from KC to Branson. So, when you're two miles out of town on an abandoned road it can feel like you're in the middle of nowhere.

So I'm about two miles down this forgotten road when I spot two fellows up ahead. It's not totally unexpected to see people down this road. However, everyone I'd ever seen on the road before were either fishing, jogging, or riding. These guys didn't appear to be doing any of those things. They were standing on a bridge and the one dude was holding something. What does he have? I couldn't tell.

Finally I got close enough to see. One fellow had his phone out like he was texting. The other guy had two samurai swords! Now keep in mind, there is not another soul or house around. No other witnesses. I'd like to tell you I didn't give it another thought, but as I got closer I couldn't help wonder what he was doing with those swords. And, this is embarrassing, I was prepared to jump out of the way if Hanzo did anything funny.

As I passed them I realized I was dealing with a couple of nerds, and I use that term affectionately. I'd like to think I am a nerd, but I've never been intelligent enough to be considered a nerd, so that makes me more of a dork. But here's the thing: though I'm a big fan of kung fu and movies about samurais, I've never been tempted to go get a samurai sword. Come on! That's ridiculous. I mean, if I'm going to get a sword it would be a Roman gladius or, most likely, a reproduction Narsil, the shards of which Isildur used to cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand. After all, I'm not a big nerd.

My run this day was an out and back, so I'd have to pass Kwai Chang Caine  and his Grasshopper again. When I saw them on the way back, Miyamoto Musashi had both swords strapped to his side and he and his kung fu texter were walking towards me. I looked at them and nodded like I would with anyone I passed on that road, as if to say, "There's nothing weird about carrying two swords out here. Have a great day."

Well, I'm still working out. I run five or six miles every other day, and I lift weights three days on, one day off. I'm a little lax on my diet, but I'm maintaining 150-152 pounds. Speaking of running, I need to get ready to go. Have a great Saturday! If you go running, keep some gas in the tank in case you have to out run a samurai.

The Year in Training

Looking back over my training year, I'm kind of surprised at how lazy I was. I'd known since January or February that I'd be running in the Branson 70.3, yet somehow I didn't put in enough miles, evidently. Live and learn. If I do that race again in 2012, I now have a better understanding of what I have to do to get ready to have a respectable showing.

But the question becomes, how dedicated do I have to be? And, how dedicated do I want to be.

Here is what I did since January 2011:

Ran 343 miles, more or less.
Rode 386 miles, more or less.
Swam 50,388 yards, plus a few more that didn't get recorded.

Throw in some weight training earlier in the year and that's pretty much it.

I guess the biggest weakness I see is the lack of biking miles, and swimming yards, and probably not enough running either.

So what am I going to do? I don't know yet. I'm back to lifting this week but I've gotten a couple of half decent 5Ks in this week as well.

If you've got a good 70.3 or full Ironman training plan, send me the link. My training plan didn't give me the results I needed. As a coach, I'm fired.

Andy Potts - Pro Triathlete

He wears Asics, I wear Asics. We're the same!

Branson 70.3-Part Two, Being the Second Part

Yesterday I detailed my triathlon up to the bike leg. Today I'll bring it home.

Bike 56 Miles

Let's get it out of the way. I finished the bike in 4 hours and 5 minutes. They tell me that's 13.67 miles per hour. I would have loved 20 MPH, but realistically I was looking for 17 MPH. The Hills kicked mine arse and so 13.67 is what I'm left with.  By comparison, the winner, Ben Hoffman, a pro, did the bike in 2 hours and 24 minutes. That's 23.33 MPH. Another pro, Matt Lieto, also did the bike in 2:24. Mr. Lieto also participated in the 70.3 World Championship race just a week before where he rode the bike in 2:18. Not a big difference, so that blows my theory  that the bike course was especially hard. Dang it!

I'm not going to make any excuses. I didn't train hard enough. More about that tomorrow, maybe. But I am going to re-gear my bike. I already have it taken apart. There were plenty of fellows spinning past me up the inclines while I'm bearing down on the pedals like some kind of skinny bike riding circus bear.

You can't wear headphones during the race, and so you are left with nothing but your thoughts over the entire course, which can be distracting. You have plenty of time to think about how tired your legs are, and oh, BTW, you have a half marathon coming up.

I have a lot of observations, but I'll spare you the details and tell you about one semi-humorous thing I saw. The bike course is primarily on a four lane highway. At one point I'm cranking up one side when I heard someone yelling from across the median. I look over and there is some girl heading down the hill, all alone but yelling something like, "Going down the hill! Mah mah mah wah wah waaaahhhh!" She was having fun.

With about ten miles or so left on the bike, just as I'm leaving the Ozark Mountain Highroad to begin my descent into Branson, the sky began to empty and I got dumped on. It rained hard. A thorough soaking. Not only that, lightening flashed directly overhead and thunderstruck at less than a second later. Oh yeah!

I thought for sure they were going to call the race, but they kept us going. By the time I got to T2 I was shivering and had a little trouble getting my shoes on. Once I started running, however, I was fine.

Here I am at the bike dismount. I asked my wife for the time. She said "12:25. Did you have a flat?" Thank you, babe. I love you, too.

Run 13.1 Miles

I started running in the rain. The course takes you through the shopping area at the Landing, into a residential neighborhood along Lake Taneycomo, and then back along the walk down by the lake and through a park. We had to do four loops. I started out OK (for me) with about an 8 minute pace, but ended up with a 9:38 pace for the entire run. Total time was 2:06.

We ran in the rain for a while, through ankle deep run off and puddles. After my first loop, however, the rain slacked off quite a bit, and by the time I finished the rain stopped. I ought to be given credit for running with soggy shoes.

When it was done I was done. It's been a week and I just today did a work out. I felt sore until Thursday and felt fatigued until Friday.

Oh, and on Wednesday I turned 40! Maybe that's why I was so tired.

Random pics:

My cheering section!

When my five year old saw my finisher medal her eyes got real big and she said, "Daddy, you won!" A little later she told me, "I'm glad you won Daddy." I still haven't told her any different.

Branson 70.3 and 7 Hours

About half way through the bike course at the K-Swiss Branson Ironman 70.3 I thought, "I'm not doing this again." Then when I finished and saw my time of seven hours I thought, "I totally have to redeem myself."

I acknowledge that my time was horrible, and I totally blame my bike.

But let's start at the beginning.

We got to Branson on Saturday the 17th, and it was raining. We checked the weather on our wireless devices, and the apps predicted more rain for the 18th. Not good. I got all checked in and attended the mandatory pre-race meeting. I also enjoyed a reasonably priced latte at the Chateau, the host hotel. We left the Chateau and checked in my bike, in the pouring rain. I also got my body marked. Lucky number 335, 40 years old (at the end of the year), thank you.

We ran over to Wal-Mart to pick up some last minute items, ate at Golden Corral, and then headed back to the hotel for the night. We didn't stay at the host hotel, so I would have to take a shuttle from T2 over to the swim start. Yes, a two transition race. The swim start was at Moonshine Beach, Table Rock Lake. T2 was at Branson Landing.

I left the hotel at 5:30 AM. I wanted to catch the last shuttle at 6:15, and I still had to drop off my run bag at T2. I stood in line for the shuttle, which left a little late, and it was a twenty minute drive over to T1. The drive took us right down Highway 76, which I hadn't been on in years. BTW, in Branson I saw this place where you can ride a Segway on a go-cart track. The sign read, "Segway, Feel the Excitement!" I am totally doing that the next time I'm down there. Anyways, here is a pic of our shuttles:

The shuttle left so late that they were trying to close T1 by the time I got there. So I rushed around getting ready and got out of T1. Then I realized I forgot my goggles, so the volunteers graciously let me back in to retrieve them. I proceeded to put on my wetsuit, and since my wife hadn't arrived yet, I asked some fellow to zip me up. At this point I'm as ready as I'm going to be, but my wave didn't leave until 7:25 AM. Let's do this!

After the Star Spangled Banner and the pro start, I stood around until they called my age group. No warm up swim, no stretching, no nothing but being nervous. I did count the buoys with the idea that I'd count them as I went by, but that didn't work out very well.  The horn sounds, and we're off. A bunch of middle age dudes splashing around. I hung towards the back of the pack and once I was waist deep or so I started swimming.

Swim 1.2 Miles

This was the first real swim I had in my rental wetsuit. I did swim a few laps at the pool the Friday before, but not enough to really get used to it, evidently. I took off swimming at an easy pace, at least that's what I was trying to do. I always feel like I'm going too hard at the beginning of a swim. I counted three buoys, but then lost count somewhere. I'm ashamed to admit, but somewhere before the first turn the thought went through my mind, "I can't do this." I said, "I know, but I'll do it anyways. Now keep swimming!"

I made it to the half way point and tuned back to the beach. Somewhere on this last section I finally found a rhythm and was able to make some better time. I did see a couple of other orange caps (guys in my group), but I'm sure most were finishing already. I got to the beach in 48:04. Honestly, that's only eight minutes over what I hoped to do. I'll take it.

That's me, the one with exposed nipps.

T1

I ran up to T1 and saw my wife and my father-in-law. They were encouraging but I'm sure they thought I'd already drowned.

Like I said, this was a two transition race, and we were instructed to have everything in our bag that we wanted transported back to T2. So we not only had to transition, including removing the wetsuit, we had to pack up.

Before the beginning of the race I wanted to air up my tires, but they were hustling us out of transition. So I'd be riding on tires lower than I wished. Oh well. Time in T1: 7:06.

Bike 56 Miles

This is already too long, so let's finish this up tomorrow. Come back to read the exciting conclusion, including how I finished this 70.3...in a thunderstorm!

But first, a bonus pic of me in my wetsuit!

Branson 70.3

Just a quick note about the race today. I finished in just over 7 hours. It dumped rain and lightening crashed directly overhead. Thankfully Ironman kept the race going, and now we all have a story to tell. Thank the Lord I finished and no one got hurt.

I'll bore you with the details later, I promise.

Sent from my iPhone

This Is It

So I walked into my closet today and wondered why it smelled like a dive locker. Then I saw the wetsuit hanging up that I rented. Yes, I rented a wetsuit and I hope it works for me. I'm a little nervous; it feels a little tight. It's a long sleeved one, and the shoulders feel constricted. My hope is that if there's resistance straightening my arms, then there'll be a snap back effect when I pull.

If you haven't heard, the Branson 70.3 is Sunday. I will be there. I'm bib number 335. I've seen a link on other Ironman races where you can track the racers by name or bib, but I don't see it up yet on the Branson site, or esle I'm just blind.

I will test my wetsuit in the pool tomorrow. I'll do just a few laps to see how it goes. It'll probably look strange swimming in an indoor pool with a wetsuit, but most of the folks there know I'm racing, so maybe they'll understand.

Until afterwards...

One Week to Go

The other day I saw this on my bike ride:

I'm not a herpetologist, but I'm pretty sure that is an anaconda. I was riding along and ran over what I thought was a stick, but then the stick moved. I thought, "I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the staff became a serpent," or something like that. I thought that was rather odd, but then I observed other cyclists riding over staffs and making them snakes, so it didn't seem like such a big deal, but then my snake ate all of the other snakes.

I did shepherd the snake off of the trail so that he/she (I'm not a herpetologist) didn't get hit by another bike.

One more week before I'm in Branson getting checked in for the 70.3. Am I ready to get this done? Yes, I am. It's not that I'm tired of training or anxious about doing it.  It's more that I feel ready to do it and don't want spend any more time waiting around. Now, when I say "ready" I don't mean ready to win or be competitive with the good racers. I just mean that I feel like I'm at a place where I can finish it. I've blogged before about how I'm in it to finish it. Finishing is the best I can hope for. Finishing, and not coming in last. Surely I can beat at least one person. Oh great, I just amped up the pressure.

Speaking of taking a break from training, I will immediately cease all swimming related activities for a good little while after I get out of the water next Sunday. Last year I ran my last tri of the year in July, and then didn't swim again until February. I know I ought to train in the wet stuff year round, but I'm so lazy. In '10 I swam from March to July. In '11 I've been swimming since February, and I'm ready for a break.

I did rent a wetsuit for Sunday's race. I hope it arrives so that I can get in at least one practice swim wearing it before I wear it to race.

I also hope my left knee doesn't decide to hassle me during the race. It's still a little angry about our run on Monday. It'll be fine, right? From what I understand I should be tapering down now. I never feel like my training is so intense that I need to taper, but taper I will. The Boy and I will take the canoe out today and explore a local river. No training and hopefully no swimming today.

70.3* Weekend

This weekend I completed a 70.3*.

OK, no, the Branson 70.3 is not until September 18, and I did not complete my 70.3* all in one day.

Here's what I did. On Friday morning I got up, went to the pool and swam 1.2 miles. It was not an impressive swim, but I did it, and it took me 53 minutes and 2 seconds. It's not a great time, but it is better than the last time I swam a mile.

On Saturday, day two of 70.3* weekend, we went to El Dorado Springs to visit the in-laws. So my wife dropped me off in Collins, and I headed toward Wheatland on Hwy 54. At Wheatland I turned around and rode the rest of the way in to El Do. Here's where my asterisk comes in. From Collins it's 24 miles to El Do, according to the highway sign. So I rode 16 miles east, which takes you just beyond Wheatland. Riding back to the starting point would be 32 miles, and the 24 into El Do makes a 56 mile bike ride. When I arrived at my in-law's place, though, my Garmin read 54.73 miles.

Given that I was totally out of gas at this point, I called it good. I like riding Hwy 54 into El Do because there's a good number of hills, and there is a nice wide shoulder on the rode, and the rode is not that busy, but someday I'm going to ride it when it's not 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside, which it was. I got sunburned, and I love the biker tan. Bike shorts make for a very clear and delineated tan line on your legs.

Sunday was spent chillaxing with family. I'm not at all equating that with an endurance sport, I'm just saying that's what we did. Actually, we've been celebrating my son's b-day all weekend as well, so I indulged in a cake made out of ice cream sandwiches.

Monday morning I rolled out of bed feeling fine, ready to put the cap on the 70.3*. When I looked at the thermometer I praised our Lord and Savior for the wonderful blessing He bestowed upon me. The temp read 55 degrees F. I didn't know the thermometer went that low anymore. By the time I started running the temp was 59 degrees and it felt great. I basically did a couple of 4.5 mile loops so I could pick up Powerade at my garage as I went by. The last leg ended up being a 3.88 mile out and back. I did the half marathon in 1 hour and 56 minutes.

I felt great on the run energy wise, but I developed a little tendinitis in my left knee, and another little pain in my left hip. I think I'll be OK. Will just need a little rest. I did a half marathon a couple three weeks ago and finished in 2:06 feeling kind of pooped, but no pain. This time I have pain, but otherwise felt fine.

Thirteen more days to go when I have to roll it all into one. Let's do this.

*70.3 was actually only a 69.03.  

The Branson 70.3 is this month! I can't remember exactly when I signed up, but it was months ago. If you look at the official website and review the participants, you'll see my name. That means I have to do it. There's no getting out of it now.

It is not hard to believe that the time is close. It seems like I've been waiting and training for eternity. I'm convinced that the best triathletes in the business are very patient. Of all the attributes that you might assign to a top notch racer, you cannot leave off patience. Sure, there is physical ability, strength, endurance, tactics, nutrition and whatever else you need to win, but don't forget about the ability to train hour after hour, day after day without quitting.

I'm not saying I have that ability. Not at all. So far that has been my biggest weakness. Not that I haven't been faithfully training. I've been pretty consistent, but nothing on the order that will win me the gold. For instance, I'll go out in the evening and ride for an hour or so. That'll give me 18 or 20 miles on the Katy Trail. Or when I run I'll do 5, 6, 7 miles. Not exactly a marathon. Then there's the swimming. Swimming, how dost I hate thee?! It's not that I hate swimming per se, it's that I have to do it on some one else's time, so that means dragging out of bed at 5:30 to swim before work. I'll usually get 1100 to 1500 or so yards in per swim. (Don't worry, I have actually swam 1.2 miles, but more on that tomorrow, maybe.)

At some point during a workout I start having this conversation with myself.

"OK, we've been doing this for a half hour, forty-five minutes, can't we do something else."

"No, I'm sorry, we have a few more laps/miles to go."

"But I'm bored!"

"Well, that's too bad."

"Let's go home!"

"Do you want to finish this 70.3 or not?

"Yes, I guess."

"Then keep swimming/running."

I think I've had that conversation with my kids as well.

So I believe the best racers must posses the patience (and discipline) to stay with their training, even when their "A" race is months away.  If we expect to run today and then run faster/lose weight/have more energy tomorrow, then we are kidding ourselves. It's going to take day after day, sometimes monotonous work in the heat of the day or in the freezing cold of winter before we see any results.

Hey, I'm going to make a DVD and sell that on an infomercial! Work out day after day for months on end and mind your diet and you'll get in shape and lose weight! It's that easy!

Mountain Man

There's a new rule at my house; if when I get up in the morning and step on the scale it reads 150 or less, I can eat whatever I want that day. That's a pretty sweet diet plan. I may market that. Eat whatever you want, assuming you're swimming, riding, or running every day, and sometimes two in one day. Otherwise, lay off the carbs and the sugars.

When you're laying off the carbs, that's when you realize how good they taste. Especially cake. I will freebase that stuff when I'm jonesing some icing, which is a very inconvenient way to ingest it, but you don't think straight when you're carb-deprived.

Last Saturday I arose at 3:30AM and got out of the house at 4:00AM. I headed out into a heavy thunderstorm with rain so hard I couldn't see to drive. Why would I do that? It was the day of the Branson Mountain Man Triathlon. I never thought I'd wear a pair of bike shorts in Branson, MO, but now I have and that's all there is to it.

I met up with my friend Micah who is an excellent racer, but given that this was a short pool swim, I knew I had a lot better chance of competing. If you're not familiar with the pool swim, don't worry, I wasn't either until this tri. We jumped in, swam down and back the first lane, ducked under the rope, down and back the second lane, and so on. It was an interval start and so we all lined up according to our expected pace. I duly took my place toward the back. How'd the swim go? 400 yards, 9:02. Ugh.

The bike was 15 miles, 15 hilly miles. Here's a pic of me riding up one of the hills:

Pretty steep. I got done in 58:18.

Run. 5K. 24:46. There were some pretty steep inclines on the run as well. I probably don't have to tell you that Branson is really only known for the hills. There's not much else to do there.

The reason I wanted to do this tri is because the bike route covered a portion of the route we'll use next month at the 70.3. It's a four lane highway, the Ozark Mountain Highroad, that they close down for the half Ironman.

Anywho, total time at the Mountain Man Tri for me was 1:32:49. I finished 29th out of 62. Didn't place in my age group. However, the one bright spot for me is that my run was the  11th fastest time.  I'll take that.

My High Point Today

When at the highest point on the Katy Trail you are at the staggering altitude of 955 feet above sea level. I know that because I rode there and back again, a biker's tale. It's a 44 mile round trip and it took me 2 hours and 50 minutes. I didn't exactly burn it up, but I did meet up with some dwarves and fought a dragon.



I take my high points seriously

I feel a lot like Bilbo sometimes. "I want to see mountains, Frodo!" I'm sure Bilbo would not be satisfied with 955 feet, but it's the best I had today. I live in a part of the country that is not exactly known for its peaks. I blogged a few weeks ago about making it to the top of Taum Sauk, the high point here in Missouri, and could hardly breathe at 1,772 feet. I spent a good portion of my life in eastern Kansas, and so I know Kansas gets a bad rap for being flat, but Kansas' high point is 4,039 towering feet. Missouri is short by comparison.

The sun was up this morning when I started, of course, it was 7:30 AM by then. When I got out of my truck to get my bike, I vowed to get a new bike jersey. Whose idea was it to make these things out of polyester? The air was as thick as a quilt, and all of a sudden my shirt felt like plastic against my skin. I have other shirts that are more comfortable in this muggy weather, but they don't have those handy-dandy pockets in the back. I'm going to sew cargo pockets onto the side of my bike shorts. Maybe that'll catch on.

Despite the oppressive humidity today, the trail was crowded this morning, relatively. I'm convinced that ninjas used road bikes to sneak up behind people. It's amazing how close you can get to a couple of yacking cyclists before they realize you're there. I always give them a chance to acknowledge me and move over, but they never do, so I have to give them a, "On your left," and then they act all startled and sometimes, quite frankly, indignant, that they have to move over to let someone through. Oh well, they're still not half as bad as the folks who insist on walking in the running lane at the community center. Don't get me started on those people.



It's all down hill from here. Heading East.

Then there's the squirrels. When it comes to making decisions in a high pressure situation, I believe the squirrels have the first step nailed. The first thing to do in a stressful situation, like if you think you may be eaten by something, is to stop, remain still, and assess the situation. That's exactly what I see the squirrels doing when I ride up on them. Their next step, however, seems less thought out. It's always the same--run like hell!



Heading West.

OK, I've rambled long enough. I'm sorry I didn't carry that LOTR theme all the way through. You'll have to find my post about how I keep losing my wedding rings for that. I'll take the time to confess that I did not swim this week, and I have a 70.3 in like seven weeks. I need a kick in the pants.

149.5-Getting Close to My Original Driver's License Weight

Yes, I stepped on the scale this morning after an uncomfortable six mile run, and it read 149.5! When I got my first driver's license in 1980 something at the tender and innocent age of sixteen, I weighed 140 pounds. I know because I still have the license around here somewhere. Whenever I come across it I'm reminded why I never feel nostalgic about high school. That's the mug I had to contend with? With that thought in mind, and the fact that I'm only nine and half pounds from high school, I enjoyed a 20 ounce bottle of Coke today.

Speaking of enjoying things, I contended with other triathletes last Saturday during the Windsor Tribute Triathlon. That part was fun, but I consumed one of those Gatorade Prime deals before hand, and then I ate one of those Hammer goo packs at the start of the bike. They started warring with each other in my stomach and I really wish I could've evacuated them. If you're not familiar with the Gatorade Prime, it's a sloshier version of the Hammer goo stuff. Consult your doctor before you begin using any weird nutritional supplements.

Tomorrow I hope to ride a few miles, but I'll also need to do some work. It's nothing but hot and dry around here right now. I literally can't remember the last time I had to mow the grass. The reservoir is the lowest it's been since they dammed the river, probably. So if I'm going to ride, I should start around 4AM, that way it'll only be 89 degrees when I start. I better take some Gatorade.

Windsor Tribute Triathlon-2nd Year Run

What did I do last weekend? Well, for an hour and forty minutes of it I competed in the Windsor Tribute Triathlon. How'd I do? Twenty-second over all, out of seventy-one males and females. Two girls finished ahead of me. I finished third in my age group, unless you count the forty year girl that beat me, then I finished fourth. If none of that sounds impressive, consider this, five guys older than forty-five beat me, including a sixty-one and sixty year old!

But really, I did as well as I should have.

Swim

The water was very wet this year. If you didn't keep moving, it would've been very easy to sink beneath the surface. I employed a strategy of thrashing my arms and legs about until I reached the other side of the lake. That took about ten minutes. They tell me it was five hundred meters, which I guess is about five hundred Canadian cubits, but no one really knows.

Bike

No training wheels, but my dad did give me a good push. Eighteen miles and an hour and one minute later I found myself putting on my running shoes.

Run

Five Kay run, which is roughly four Spanish furlongs. The run was just like the bike, except you do it without a bike. I rode the run in twenty-five minutes and fourteen seconds.

While we were standing around making excuses, Micah and I decided to do the Branson Mountain Man Triathlon in Branson, Missouri, USA next month. That bike course takes you on the same route as the seventy point three event in September. I believe I have Micah talked into doing the half Ironman. He's a very good racer, but he's not in my age group.

Here are some pics. I had to attend this event sans family, and I hired the worst photographer in town. I didn't end up in any of the shots!

Oh wait, there was a pic of me.

Losing Weight

Just a little update on my weight. I know everyone is wondering.

Last year about this time I stepped on the scale and it read 152. I got on a few days ago and saw 150. Over the winter I was hanging around 166. At one point I was up to 168. (5'11 3/4", just so you know.)

Where did all the pounds go? I suppose my body consumed most of them once I started running, riding, and swimming more consistently into the Spring and Summer. For the most part I don't mind being so light. It seems like it would be easier to run, ride, and swim when I'm not dragging around eighteen extra pounds. However, some of those pounds may have been made up of muscle mass. I quit lifting in May and started logging more endurance miles. I'd prefer to maintain what strength I have, but I see very few big runners.

Diet wise I did make a little change about a month and a half ago. In addition to taking in a few more grams of protein in the form of protein powder, I've cut back on carbs. I'm not a teetotaler mind you. I did, however, give up sweet drinks of all kinds (for the most part), and I quit eating breakfast cereals, which are very carb-laden. So instead, for breakfast I try to get in my protein with eggs, sausage, and cheese. In the evening, after supper, I'll mix up a protein shake with some frozen fruit of some kind. A lot of evenings I'll even throw in some ice cream (I'm not a teetotaler).

For the last couple of weeks I've been very consistent with training, and I did a triathlon in that time. I only say that to say this, for whatever reason, for the last couple of weeks I've been voraciously hungry. I don't generally get hunger pangs throughout the day, but I've felt them recently. I don't snack on a regular basis, so it's not like I've given something up, and now my stomach is growling for it. Should I take in some more calories? When my weight drops to 149 I'm going to start throwing in an extra scoop of protein.

SM Tri-Part II, and Bike Shorts

I forgot to give a shout out to the organizers of the Shawnee Mission Triathlon-2011. Very well organized, a lot of good volunteers.  The volunteers even cheered for me as I came around, and that says something about their dedication!

I didn't mention in my earlier post about how this almost didn't happen for me. The thing is, I forgot my bike shorts at my in-laws house (yes, I only have one pair). So on Saturday I had to buy a pair at a, gulp, store. If you're like me, you only buy items that will reside in close proximity to your crotch from some unknown seller on the interwebs, and trust me, I only trust the provenance of my groin coverings if it's been verified by three stars or more.

Have you seen what they charge for bike shorts at Dicks? Why would I drop that much dough on an article of clothing that my family will laugh at me for wearing, accentuates my skinny legs, and has a built in Depends diaper? Anyways, you can find them cheaper online.

Oh, and btw, you can't just run over to Wal-Mart and pick up a cheap pair for the day, cause they don't sell them. I did end up getting a pair at The Sports Authority, I think, on 95th, over there buy Sam's Club. They were thirty bucks and I felt ripped off. However, I do have to admit, they are way nicer than my ebay find. Way higher quality and more comfortable. I believe the brand is Canari.

So there you have it, disaster averted. Why couldn't I just wear a pair of gym shorts? C'mon, how often do you get to wear lycra?

Me and my new bike shorts

Try a Triathlon!

If I can finish a triathlon, I'm sure you can too!

Every once in a while someone will ask me about training for a triathlon and they seem interested in doing one, so I say, "Sign up for one." They generally say something like, "Oh, I couldn't do that. The (swim/bike/run) would kill me."

Well, I'm here to tell you, if the safety swimmers aren't being careful, the swim could literally kill me, but I do it anyway.

Heaven knows I'm not an athlete. Just look at my times! But thankfully with most events you don't have to qualify, you simply have to sign up. It is true that there are a lot of athletic-y people that race, but there are a number of folks like me too, people just trying to stay in shape. We won't win, but that's cool, we're just there to have fun.

So what's your next step? Get on the inter-webs and find a race in your area, probably one that doesn't have "Ironman" in the title, and then sign up. There's nothing like paying your entry fee that makes you want to go train.

Shawnee Mission Triathlon-2011

Yes, we were able to finish this year! No lightening!

The day started at my parent's house. We stayed over the night before since they live in town and we live an hour and a half south. I woke up about 3:30 AM, dozed off and on until 4:50 AM when I got up. My wife and son got up and we headed over to the park.

I checked in. The Shawnee Mission Tri uses Tri Tats, so I already had my number on, but we had to get our age group mark. They initially marked me with and "F" for the 35-39 age group, but evidently since I turn 40 in September, I was put in the 40-45 age group, so the volunteer had to draw a "G" over my "F". So even though I'd aged up, they switched the groups around, and I had to start with the first wave at 7 AM again.

My swim sucked buoy again, though I felt better about it this year than I did last. I did very little breast stroking. It wasn't an option for me, just like when I swam in high school. The swim is 1000 meters, and somewhere around 750 meters I dropped anchor. I tried to look up at the finish, but couldn't see it because my goggles were all fogged up. Then I got off course and the kayak girl had to whistle at me to get back in line. I did finally get out of the water. I think my fingers were all wrinkly because I was in so long.

Got on my bike and started getting passed, and I didn't pass too many other cyclist. I enjoy passing fellows with expensive bikes, but that happened far fewer times that I would've liked. On the dam hill I passed a fellow with a very expensive looking bike and tri suit, because he was having mechanical problems. The next time I came around he was walking his bike back. I felt bad for him and prayed my bike wouldn't break. I felt worse for him when I saw the results. There were two men with DNFs. One had a swim time of 13 minutes! I assume it was him.

Please pass on the left! Not like this one knuckle-head who tried to pass me on the right, went off the pavement, and then knocked me and two other riders over when he tried to get back on, crashing himself at the same time. I wasn't hurt, but my chain came off. So now my hands are greasy and I'm wearing a white shirt. Not cool, knuckle-head dude!

Started running and passed a few people, but did get passed once or twice. I didn't get to the run course last year, so I was not familiar with it. The 4.5 mile run takes you down some trails below the dam, and it's a very cool run. At the finish I gave it a kick and crossed at 2:13.

So, I'm disappointed with my results, which you can see here, but hey, I took up this sport last year and this was my third triathlon ever. If I could ever learn to swim it would help, but honestly, my bike is pretty weak as well.

Had fun, and that's what counts, right?

Clinton to Windsor and Back

Rode to Windsor and back today, 33.48 miles. Total ascent: 2,109 ft. Time: 2:13:52. It was nice ride in the heat of the day. The Katy Trail is relatively flat, but you don't have to worry about getting hit by a car, and that's important to me.

Once there I went into the Casey's General Store. I needed some carbs to power me back home. I can't believe what they charge for a candy bar. $1.25! And this wasn't the giant sized bar, this was the normal sized bar. You're ripping me off Casey!

Johnson's Shut-Ins

Last weekend The Boy and I went down to Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park. This year I managed to keep the camera dry.  We also went back to Taum Sauk Mountain and Mina Sauk Falls.

We had a deck, but we had to hump all of our stuff back to the site, a quarter mile hike.

The Taum Sauk resevoir broke a few years ago, prompting these signs, I'm sure.

It was fun swiming the shut-ins.




 



On top of Missouri, at the staggering elevation of 1,772 feet.



Descending Mina Sauk Falls

Did it rain? I don't know, is there water in the skillet?

Our favorite part of the weekend, cleaning up.