What's Next Dave?

WAY Behind: Check, Check, and Check

2011-06-12T15:04:00.006-05:00

Hello web world! Time to catch up a bit, lots of things knocked off the bucket list in the last year:

I finish Ironman Wisconsin last fall. It was a great day. In the process of training for it, I made a bunch of really great friends through my WellFit Chicago Ironman training group coached by the awesome Elizabeth Waterstraat. If you ever plan on doing an Ironman, look up Liz or WellFit. They will get you there!

BTW- Liz won her age group and qualified for Kona today at Eagleman. That is some 10 months post having a baby. She is a really incredible.

Also, the Mrs. Whatsnextdave and I have been busy. In December we purchased a little home in Roscoe Village in Chicago. It has been a great neighborhood and we love our new place. I have actually started a blog documenting the countdown to baby: 146 Days.

AND it was just in time to get some new space, because it wasn't too much longer when we learned we were going to have another roommate. We are expecting a baby, due November 1, 2011 (also my birthday).

Lastly, and least important... I went to Vermont a few months ago, . If you are keeping track at home, that only leaves 5 more states.

Cool Story About My Friend Amber

2010-10-02T15:01:00.002-05:00

Here is a cool story about my friend Amber. Her total kickass at Ironman Wisconsin is no surprise to anyone who ever tried to keep up with her on a ride or run. She is a total stud, and this is such a great story about her.

So here is the story. She has worked very hard for this and earned her successes. Great job!

Ironweek is Here

2010-09-09T17:20:00.005-05:00

"The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the other people."

Welcome to Ironweek 2010. It's all pretty real.

I had great intentions of keeping up the blog through my Ironman training this year, but as it turns out it takes a whole lot of time to train for these bad boys. The training, trying to hold down the job, staying married, and occasionally see friends (although I failed on the last one) didn't leave much time for writing.

But nearly a year ago I did sign up for Ironman Wisconsin. I had no plans to until that day. I had been following people the Sunday of the race, checking out their photos on Facebook the next day, and thinking about when I would take on the big race.

At work the Monday after, I called the pre-wife (this was 2 weeks pre-wedding), "Hey, remember how we talked about doing that Ironman... what would you think if I signed up for Ironman Wisconsin next year?"

"You might as well take care of it now."

Well, she didn't say no. I pushed a bit further, "You do realize this is going to be a LOT of training. WAY more than I did for the half."

"Listen, I support you. If you want to do this, go for it."

Huh. OK.

So I posted on the facebook.

David Murphy What are you guys doing at noon today? Is anyone taking the plunge into IMoo 2010?

My friend Tammy was first to respond, something about how watching the day before made her tired. Then...

Elizabeth Waterstraat Do it!

Kelli Are you - Seriously I think you should!

No matter who you are there are certain people you look to for approval and guidance. Liz has been my tri coach since June of 2009 and Kelli had been my training partner who had done Ironman Louisville a few weeks earlier. In the case, they were the exact people I needed to hear from.

David Murphy I do Imoo

Holy crap was that premature.

Even That Guy From the TdF Wants Me to Ride in Madison

2010-07-21T16:57:00.004-05:00

You got to love Robbie Ventura. One minute this guy is on TV telling me all about the conditions on le Tour, interviewing the riders, giving the first hand perspective of the course, the next minute he is emailing me telling me to preview the Ironman Wisconsin course with his Vision Quest Coaching:

I will have to miss one Robbie so I can enjoy a little riding in Iowa, but I will have to join your guys when they do it again in August.

Ironman Wisconsin, Not the Easiest

2010-07-16T09:53:00.004-05:00

There is a good article today from TriJuice. It compares average finish times from the different Ironman races. The good news is, it doesn't look like Ironman Wisconsin is the hardest to finish, its like the second hardest.

Crap.

Jackson Hole Vacation

2010-06-22T17:05:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Whatsnextdave and I joined my sister and brother-in-law for a quick vacation to Jackson Hole, WY. It was an amazing trip, with awesome hikes in Grand Teton National Park, a great ride up the Teton Pass, and fun meals and times in the cowboy town of Jackson.

Here are the details of some hikes and the ride up the pass. Will supplement with photos in a bit.

Hike on top of Tram at Jackson Hole - Details

Phelps Lake, Death Canyon Hike - Details

Cascade Canyon Hike - Details

Teton Pass Ride - Details

Goodwin Lake Hike - Details

Great Quote from Runner's World Daily Kick in the Butt

2010-01-12T11:47:00.002-06:00

"At age forty-three, when I found myself standing in my garage in a new pair of running shoes, I knew that it was my moment of truth. Behind me lay forty years of bad decisions and broken promises."

John Bingham, The Courage to Start

To sign up for these click here

How Much for an Ironman Trophy?

2010-01-08T17:39:00.002-06:00

I get that doing an Ironman is a big deal. It's an accomplishment that takes a lot of time, effort, and dedication (at least that's what people keep telling me). And I can see where Ironman finishers would want a memento of this impressive feat.

So when I received my daily top stories email from Ironman, I was fascinated by the story on the new "Ironman Trophy".

"Ironman athletes hardly need to be reminded of how much dedication, time and support is required to finish a 2.4 mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a marathon run. Many will proudly display pictures of their achievement in their offices at work and around their home. Now, thanks to the folks at Ironman Trophy, there's a very special way to recognize your accomplishment - a spectacular bronze trophy."

So as I visualized my future trophy intimidating anyone that walked into my future corner office complete with a couch and wet bar, I hit the link to see more details on this "work of art."

Available in both types of patina colors: BLACK MARBLE and TAN! Watch out, it weighs more than most infants (16 pounds).

WHERE CAN I PRE-ORDER ALREADY??????????

Price = $695.00

I'm sorry... WHAT? Does that include someone doing the race for you? Does it come with a free Emma Snowsill? Can you at least put Macca's time on it? How about a free disk wheel? No?

Oh, wait... I get it. People (the World Triathlon Corporation in particular) now understand how triathletes love blowing money on their hobby.

But they forgot to ask if it passes the triathlete test for irrational spending... Does this make you more areo?

Welcome to 2010

2010-01-06T22:29:00.005-06:00

Happy New Year! Many people take a moment this time of year to think about "what's next," so I thought it would be appropriate to write a quick entry into the old blogosphere. I hope your 2010 is a great one and your adventures are exciting. So put together your list of what's next and start knocking them off.

As for me, I don't need any help building lists, but rather on the focusing and execution of the lists. So the next few weeks I am going to update the list, work with the WND team to make a Life List and a 2010 List. Hopefully by adding a list with a date stamp on it, it will help with the focus and the execution.

In addition, I am going to start incorporating other people in my goals. I always intended for many of these things to be done with friends and family, I am just going to make it more obvious.

Lastly, as we welcome in 2010, I want to take a quick look back at 2009. Although I was not the best blogger (averaging only 2 per month), it was a monumental year in What's Next Dave World.

Admitted Tri Addiction and Hired a Tri Coach
Did a Half Ironman
Did an Olympic Tri in under 2:50
Got Married
Knocked off another state on the quest to 50 (HI, 9 to go)
Learned How to Surf
Had a Surgery on Major Organ
Left the US twice
And signed up for a race on his new wife's next birthday (Keep it classy Dave)

All and all, a pretty terrific year for me, highlighted by the fact Melissa agreed to spend the rest of her life with me. A lucky guy indeed.

So here's to your 2010. Make it memorable. Make it a good one.

Auld Lang Syne as I heard it to bring in 2010 from our good friends Umphrey's McGee at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.

Busy Summer Happenings

2009-11-09T19:58:00.008-06:00

Hey strange web world...

Over the next few weeks I have some time off of work and I plan to do some more posting. For the time being, here are a few photos from my "A" race this fall:

Thus, WhatsNextDave Gal is now Mrs. WhatsNextDave.

Here are a few more photos. Thanks to Michael Rastall for his great talent.

Welcome Back to Wrigleyville Mr. Ricketts

2009-11-04T20:14:00.001-06:00

What's that I smell? Is it hope?

Good interview. He is probably right about the family stuff. Wrigleyville is a great place for a 22 year old, but I have seen a number of awkward situations with kids at Wrigley.

I like the discussion of player development. I think that is something the Cubs have literally traded away over the last 10 years.

So Mr. Ricketts, you are saying the right things, but of course you are. Let's see what it means for the north sides favorite ballplayers.

Triathlon Swimming... LA or Chicago?

2009-11-03T18:55:00.002-06:00

This is from the LA Triathlon this year. As I am still working on my swimming, I am please old lake Michigan doesn't get rolling like this (in the months I would think about getting in it.

In related news... for you swimmers on the west coast, this was off Sunset Blvd a few weeks ago:

Link of HUGE Shark jumping out of water

Sure, the water is only really good for swimming 5 months a year here, but I don't have to worry about that guy swimming at Ohio Street Beach.

Lastly, in cool news, my boys from Umphrey's McGee were featured in The Toilet Paper on Sunday. I guess they have really made it.

You Talk'n to Me?

2009-09-03T17:34:00.003-05:00

3 days 20 Minutes.

2009-09-02T14:06:00.004-05:00

I have been a little chilly the last few nights coming home, so I grabbed the ND pullover today leaving the house. As I did so I whissled the first couple of notes of the Victory March, like at the beginning of the game after the band is on the field and the announcer is introducing the band and the director, etc.

da, da, da, daaa, daaaaa, da ,da

"Oh no," says Melissa.

"Oh yes."

[Sigh]

"Hey hon, you know what we need to do on Thursday?" I ask the pre-wife.

"No," she says mentally running through our wedding to do list.

"Do you know what week it is?"

"Football week."

"Yes! But specifically..."

"Notre Dame football week."

"Right honey, so what do we need to do on Notre Dame football week?

"Take our meds?"

"No. Think pregame night time activities."

"Drink beer?"

"We can do this while drinking beer."

"Oh, We watch Rudy," she said proudly.

"Yes we do."

For all the info on Notre Dame's Season Opener, Click Here.

Focusing on My Mistress - Goals for 2009

2009-05-23T08:37:00.006-05:00

Hello from the land of ice, beer, and hockey, that's right I am celebrating Memorial Day weekend like any good American, in Canada. WND Gal and I are up her visiting her aunt and uncle and cousins. Not too different from last Memorial Day weekend when we almost made it to Canada visiting my relatives.

Now, let's get to business. This blog and my WND life had been lacking focus recently. Excuses are both plenty and worthless. It's time to kick it into high gear.

Case-in-point was the annual JP Morgan Chase and Co Corporate Challenge 3.5 mile race Thursday night. You might remember last year I ran a sub 7 minute mile race, but held back a bit because it was only two days before the Bayshore Half Marathon. So I thought this year I could hold a 7 minute pace.

That worked for about a mile and a half, at which point I cramped up in my shoulder and my neck. Very odd, and not much fun. Anyway, I ended up running about a 7:40 pace, which was a full minute slower than last year. In all honesty, that is probably about what type of running shape I am in. I have not been nearly as consistant running as one needs to be to advance his base.

So let talk goals.
This summer is all triathlons all the time. I have referenced my cyberfriend Donald's great post on about his marriage to marathon running and his mistresses of triathlons before, and without a doubt I feel I am on a tryst this summer with the tri's. Last year I think I burned out a bit. I started my running very early in the year, and my training was unfocused while I was trying to do too many types of events (tri, martathoning, and that crazy idea of mountain racing). I think all the ideas where good, but it was just too much to train properly for them.

So I am focused on triathlons. The "A" race is the 2009 Whirlpool Ironman 70.3 Steelhead Triathlon August 1 in Benton Harbor MI. It is the big Ironman branded half IM in the area. The choice was that one or one in Racine WI. I decided to go for the bigger race, and one where the run was not 100% in the sun.

"B" races are the Olympic distanced Chicago Triathlon (late August) and maybe the Hy-Vee Triathlon (late June). "C" events will include the Udder Century Ride June 7 and a few running races.

How does this fit into The List?
There is the whole Ironman thingy. I am probably looking at the summer of 2011 for that. I also hope to cross off a couple other things off the list this summer too, first on that list is getting married (Sept 26, if WND Gal doesn't leave me due to too much commitment to my mistress the triathlon). Hopefully I can do a few other things too, I feel kind of ambitious.

Notes:

I am excited to be blogging again. I hope I can keep it up. Work has been kind of a bear and the wedding has added some stuff to the schedule, but summer is a good time to write. Everything seems brighter.
Happy Conrades weekend. I think I will write a post about this fantastic sounding ultra race in South Africa. This year 12,000 people are running it!
I am bikeless in Toronto this weekend. It is strange not to be riding today, but I am about to take off for a run. Hopefully we will have some good photos to post when I return.
Congratulations to my NYC blogging friends (link and link). They both had pretty good races in the last few weeks, so much so they inspired me to look into their training methods. More on that later.

A Good Post on Open Water Swimming

2009-05-18T12:27:00.001-05:00

In honor of all the cold water swimmers in Galena over last weekend, here is a good article on how to improve your open water swimming:

Triathlon skills: how to improve your open-water swimming

The Gift of a Nice Run

2009-04-24T17:37:00.004-05:00

The quote of the day from Runners World:

"Running is a gift I give myself almost every day. Even on those days when things haven't gone great, I can come home and give myself the accomplishment of a 30- or 40-minute run."

ARTHUR BLANK

With the weather finally turning here in Chicago, I can appreciate this a little more. I am going to try to give myself that gift after work today. Nothing too crazy though. Tomorrow is The Race to Wrigley. Let's hope WND Gal has a little better race than last year.

Hottest Tri Ever? Ironman China

2009-04-24T15:08:00.003-05:00

Blogging is fun, but reading race blogs from elite level athletes is fun too. For example, this story from Chris McCormack about his experience doing the Ironman 70.3 China is crazy. I have run marathons when I was hot, but it was NOTHING near 120 degrees. It's a good read.

Ironman 70.3 China - Toughest Triathlon Day of my career

Also, just picked up the new Triathlete Magazine last night. In it, it talks about qualifying for the Ironman World Championships in Kona. Yeah, right. I used to think the only way I could get there is by winning the lottery to get in (there is one). Now, I have found there is another way. It only cost $10,000. See the article here.

Happy Boston Marathon Day!

2009-04-20T08:59:00.002-05:00

The Granddaddy of Them All. . . The Boston Marathon is today, and all the news is how Boston Billy, Bill Rodgers who won in 1975, 1978, 1979, and 1980 is running it again, and how he thinks there are some Americans who might be competetive this year.

26 more miles for Boston Billy

Boston Marathon Champ Bill Rodgers Sees U.S. Runners Winning

Ryan Hall dishes on tapering, the Boston Marathon and Chicago

Good Run in Des Moines

2009-04-19T22:20:00.002-05:00

I joined the family in Des Moines for my mother's birthday party. It was another great Iowa weekend. The weather was warmer, I got a great run in on Saturday, and saw some good friends, and enjoyed great family time.

Here was the run:

I took off from my parents house and took the back roads down to the old location of Raccoon Valley Little League. This is where I played 12 summers worth of baseball. It has since been moved because it was in the middle of a flood zone and didn't make it back after the floods in 1993. It's now part of water works park and they have a nice little disc golf course there. It was strange running through there as I couldn't even place where the different fields where.

The whole run was enjoyable. I enjoyed the expanded bike path and was pleasantly surprised by all the flowers on the route.

Quick note: Tomorrow is Patriot Day. I am looking forward to seeing how my good buddy Ryan Hall does in the Boston Marathon.

Thank God for Baseball Season

2009-04-17T11:18:00.002-05:00

Soccer just isn't cutting it. Case-and-point: Funniest German Video Ever

Breaking News from the Cubs

2009-04-14T10:52:00.000-05:00

Cubs To Continue Tradition Of Playing Baseball

Why I Love Baseball

2009-04-13T10:45:00.004-05:00

Fun
Pronunciation: \ˈfən\; Function: noun
Etymology: English dialect fun to hoax, perhaps alteration of Middle English fonnen, from fonne dupe
Date:1727

Definition: 1. When men can act like boys and it's not only ok, but exceptional.

Use in a Video: Johan Santana of the Mets (a starting pitcher non-the-less), with an unique, personalized handshake for each one of his teammates before his start.

Yes, I will continue blogging about endurance stuff at some point, but I am in a baseball mood today.

Newest Lance Armstrong Interweb Report

2009-04-13T10:28:00.002-05:00

He Tweets, He blogs, He videoblogs. He breaks his collarbone and rides the next week, He pisses off the French. Yes, Lance Armstrong is a Superman.

Love him or hate him, here Lance Armstrong's latest video message to all of his virtual peeps:

Lance Video

Cubs Home Opener... And I am at Work

2009-04-13T10:12:00.004-05:00

I haven't missed an opening day since I have moved to Chicago, until today. But it's raining, so I might miss the home opener tomorrow. Either way I couldn't be more dissappointed in the whole situation and still consider myself an adult.

In other Cubs related news:

Goat's head found outside Wrigley Field
April 13, 2009 4:50 AM
A new Cubs season, a new attempt to lift the curse.

A goat's head was found on the Harry Caray statue outside Wrigley Field early this morning. Police said they were treating the whole thing as a prank and didn't intend to pursue an investigation. The same thing happened two years ago, they said.

This morning I listened to WXRT radio do their annual deal from Yak-Zies on Clark. It isn't the same as starting off there and then heading over to Murphy's, then to the bleachers to sit through some crappy weather to watch the Cubs.

Some people find sitting in 40 degree rain miserable, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Maybe this will be the year, and maybe it won't, but either way I will be watching from start to finish. I am back. I am on-board and strapped-in for another 164 games of the Cubs Roller Coaster ride.

God Help Me, and God Bless the Chicago National League Baseball Club.

GO CUBS!

Preseason Triathlon Inspiration

2009-04-08T22:30:00.006-05:00

Are you like me in that you are finding it tougher and tougher to workout when the weather sucks. Here is some good stuff from the web I thought I would share to get fired up for the upcoming race season:

"Accept your limitation and, with care, the thinking runner will have a comfortable, creditable race. But go for broke and prepare to be broken."

GEORGE SHEEHAN

"I am sure George means well, but what fun is it if you don't go for broke?"

WHATSNEXTDAVE

Here is a classic:

Looking for the answer to the question, Why Tri? This gem is from Ironman Kona survivor Steve Moore of the Chicago Tri Club.

(Steve's quote, "The music is the 4th Ballet Suite of Shostakovich. No one does pain and suffering like the Russians.")

Well if you are inspired by those clips, you are in the right sport. And you are also a little sick, but in a good way.

I got to watch the Cubs game on the tv tonight. Good win. I am still not drinking the coolaid yet, but it's nice to see them over .500.
Tough week at the whatsnextdave house, and it's only Wednesday. Melissa gets the hero award. I should have her blog here describing her whatsnext moments. They have been much more inspiring than any quotes or people falling over because they have been out in the sun too long.

Welcome to the Chicago Cubs Virtual Waiting Room!

2009-02-20T12:07:00.004-06:00

"Just because it isn't working for you, or anyone you know, doesn't mean it isn't working for ticket scalpers."

Being a Cubs fan isn't easy. Never mind the annual meltdown. Don't sweat the overpaid coddled starts that are past their prime. $8 Old Styles, it's part of the charm.

Here is the actual catch of it all, despite all of that and annual face ticket price increases, YOU CAN'T BUY THEM.

If you don't actually have to go work on wrist band day, you will lose the lottery. If you are at work and don't have to be in meetings, you can sit in the "Virtual Waiting Room" and watch games get sold out.

But yet, here I am...

... and some sunny day in July or maybe even early August it will all make sense. I only hope one of these years that feeling makes it to Thanksgiving.

Woman Swims Across the Atlantic, Or Does She?

2009-02-19T06:37:00.001-06:00

I hate to blow the ending of this one, but NO she didn't. Not even close.

She did swim a real long way though. See the EverymanTri story for the explanation.

BTW- They also noted how someone could do it, but that would be even more silly than running across the Sahara (which is the subject of an upcoming post).

Lance Armstrong Comments on Doing the Ironman Triathlon

2009-02-18T00:38:00.007-06:00

This one cracks me up (you can click on the photo to see the full photo).

For the last couple of years I have been talking about Lance Armstrong doing an Ironman. Clearly I am not the only one, and looks like the word has gotten back to him. See the photo above for his thoughts on it at he was training in Kona for his latest comeback bid. Yeah Lance, the joke's on us.

"What's with all this Ironman business... I'm ready. Actually I'm not. Toughest competitors around.."

He also talked about going back to triathlons in this article in Outside. And his coach, Chris Carmichael, talked about it in the article Lance Armstrong: Training in Kona, Thinking of Ironman (with video) from Slowtwitch.

That will be fun to see.

BTW- This is Armstrong's Twitpic page. Kind of interesting to see what he posts. For example, I guess someone stole his TT bike. Since I am still riding my LeMond, it clearly wasn't me.

I Am Not Ready to Deal With The Cubs... Yet

2009-02-17T10:00:00.004-06:00

Pitchers and catchers reported on Friday the 13th. Really, is that a good idea for the Cubs?

I am just not there yet. Not even close. People are talking about going to opening day (I have gone the last 5 years now), and I have yet to throw my hat in the ring. Single day tickets go on sale Friday and I don't think I am going to even try.

Part of it is that the Cubs are getting more expensive every year, and we are trying to save pennies now. But truth be told, the bigger issue is that I am still pissed. I am pissed that the Cubs continue to treat their overplay players like fragile eggs. I am pissed that the team played like crap AGAIN in the playoffs last year. And I am pissed that despite 100 years of not winning the playoffs it has become virtually impossible to get tickets at face (not to mention the fact the face cost of BLEACHER tickets are $60).

If I was GM I would trade any big contract guy for as many prospects as I could get. In 4 years I would have a hell of a team. As the Marlins how many championships they have won in the last 100 years.

So I post the video below in hopes that I get over my disappointment and jump on the Cubs bandwagon again this year. I am sure the Kool-Aid will taste good when I get to it, but now all I can remember is the very bitter aftertaste.

There was a good story in the Tribune today about the leadoff spot. Stuff like this gets me closer to being able to deal with the Cubs, because I immediately get angry when Lou feels he has to coddle Soriano by leading him off. OBP in the leadoff spot scores more runs. More runs wins games, maybe even playoff games. I have a feeling the Ewing Theory will take effect after Fonzy leaves.

Happy Birthday James

2009-02-16T06:41:00.002-06:00

I started this post in June to congratulate my buddy Charlie for winning an open water swim around Key West. From his own report, he beat almost everyone in the race, took first place in his division (male), and he punch a shark in the face at the end for good measure. Regardless that he got smoked by the only female in the race, they still gave him a cool trophy. Nice work.

Since I am only some 10 months late with this post, I thought I would use it to wish by favorite God son, James a happy first birthday. It has been a very exciting year.

See below a photo of the wonder kid taking his first swim. This was right after the Hy-Vee Tri in June 2008. I have been told that since this photo was taken James' swimming has vastly improved. I am sure before we know it Chuck and I will be watching James put wakes in the Roosevelt pool or maybe be first out of the water at some triathlon.

So Happy Birthday James. Tell your pops I miss him and wish I could be around for him this week. Your family is in our thoughts here in Chicago.

Dave's 2009 Motivation Blog

2009-02-15T22:57:00.009-06:00

Will Anyone Notice If I Blog Again? Do I care? Not really...

Today's post is all about motivation. I write this half to keep my ass moving in the craptastic weather that is the Chicago winter, but also to move my vast and loyal readership.

"Exercise is done against one's wishes and maintained only because the alternative is worse." -- GEORGE SHEEHAN

Well, there are many reasons for exercise, but I think Doc Sheehan covered the basic one there.

Here is a good article about how there are no excuses not to workout (well there are a few in there). "It may be Mardi Gras time, but don't let excuses weigh you down when it comes to exercise" I think I really liked this article because it relates exercise to Mardi Gras. You really do have to love New Orleans.

Sticking with the motivation theme here is an Runners World on how to Tough It Out. I love the Star Wars reference from Brian Sell.

Since I am going to try to ease back into this internets blogging business that is all for today. Here are a couple of odd balls for you:

As if you needed another reason to work for Outside Magazine. This has nothing to do with endurance events, but I suppose I should tack a few of these "Cool Party Tricks" on my to-do list. "SHABA DO!" Note: I really enjoyed the video where I learned to sabre a champagne bottle. Put away the knifes next New Year's Eve. Also, I want to go on the record that I do not recommend the blowing fire bit.
Lastly, I got this from an email from Coldplay. Glad to see they keeping their sense of humor despite all they've got going on.

What's Next for Dave? Hot New Things in Triathlon?

2009-02-15T21:54:00.002-06:00

Still have to play catch up, but I read this article and thought it might be a good one looking towards next summer.

Half Ironman is the 'hot new thing' in the sport of triathlon

Some kind of skin infection?

2008-10-09T13:22:00.003-05:00

Just recieved the running "quote of the day" email from Runners World.com....

"There is an itch in runners." -- ARNOLD HANO

Hmmm, I am really hoping to avoid that.

Hey Matt Damon, You Suck

2008-10-07T22:53:00.008-05:00

Matt Damon, Mr. "Sexiest Man Alive," cool of you to surprise everyone at the Miami triathlon. I am glad you are supporting our sport. It's cool that you are a role model for keeping America active.

But you only RAN? You wimp.

What was that J-Lo? Yes, you did show up Jason Bourne by doing all three parts of your tri.

But Will from Good Will Hunting, you must have run fast right? Nope.

59 min 10k is not blazing speed. It's almost an Ocean's 10 minute mile.

OK, I will cut you some slack. It was your first race. Next time you want to really give a go, drop me a line. I will even let you draft off me... if you can stay up.

By the way, did you know he was a "Red Sox Fan" (an extra) in Field of Dreams? I have watched that movie a thousand times, never noticed. Now I get to watch it again.
But not until I am over baseball season. It will be a while.
UPDATE: Matt Damon emailed me. He didn't really believe that J-lo finish the whole tri herself. Well Matt, here you go. I just report what I read on reputable websites like People.

We're Home

2008-08-29T12:40:00.005-05:00

You may have read by now, but we pulled Charlie from the water after six and a half hours. My emailing device ran out of juice, and we have been attending to Charlie, thus the hours since the last update.

Never have I seen an effort equal in magnitude. In the end the cold did him in, and the decision was an easy one to make.

Months ago, Charlie and I had a quick discussion about why we do the things we do. Why do we choose hobbies that are aspirational in nature? Why do we pick big dreams that sometimes we dominate and sometime dominate us. Because in the end, we don't always want to win.

The answer to why we do it, why he jumped in cold water under cloudy skies at 9:30 this morning, is we want to see how far we can push the limit of human endurance. Charlie found it today. And he will go looking for it again.

And that's why he is my best friend. And I am lucky to know him. A true American Hero.

Just so you can breath deeply. Chuck is sitting next to me, laughing and doing fine. His temp is now above 95 again (it was under 92 two hours after we pulled him out).

Four and half hours in

2008-08-29T08:17:00.001-05:00

Charlie is still cruising along, but its apparent why not everyone
does this. At his last feeding he was still talking fine, but it is
clear he is working hard.

His pace is fast, he is keeping up w a relay about 400 yards away.

We have passed through the first set of shipping lanes. I keep losing
reception, so I will probably have to be closer to France before I
post again.

--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

Third feeding

2008-08-29T06:44:00.001-05:00

Thus far Charlie's pace has been spot on consistant. His cadance
(strokes per minute) has varied but a stroke or three.

We are now starting to approach the first shipping lane. On the last
feed Chuck said, "whoa those are some big ships."

So we cruise along. No big news is good news here.

--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

Second feeding -- two hours in

2008-08-29T05:54:00.001-05:00

Second feeding has come and gone. The logistics of it went much
smoother. As you can tell from the ais map, Chuck is cruising. 4.6
miles in 2 hours 9 minutes.

More good news, the water is 20.2 degrees c, which after about 5
minutes of Art's calculations works out to 68 degrees f! Practically
bath tub water for channel swimmers.

Now that sun needs to just make an appearance.

More later.

--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

First feeding

2008-08-29T04:36:00.001-05:00

Just had the first feeding. Chuck said his legs were tight but he felt good.

He form is very strong and he seems to be making good time.

There are maybe 10 other swimming boats out today. The water is
totally calm for the time being. The skies are overcast, but we the
feeling it will burn though.

Next feeding is in an hour.

Reminds me of one of the signatures at the white horse, "I swam from
feed to feed till I ran out of sea."

--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

10 am and Chuck is looking strong!

2008-08-29T04:09:00.001-05:00

--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

Chuck is away!

2008-08-29T03:48:00.001-05:00

He took off right at 9:30 am local, 3:30 chicago time.

--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

Since You've Been Gone...

2008-08-28T15:52:00.006-05:00

Yeah, I know... Bad Blogger.

I broke the cardinal sin of blogging, "Don't take off two and a half months." Well, I will attempt to catch you up, but in the mean time I need to call your attention to my crazy friend Charlie Wittmack. You have heard about him before here... well tomorrow AM he is going swimming... from England to France. He is swimming some 30 miles across the English Channel.

Once he hits France he will be the first American to swim the channel and climb Everest.

And Melissa and I have come to the white cliffs of Dover to root him on.

(Photo above of Charlie and I at the White Horse, a pub in Dover named after what the waves look like in high winds. It is the channel swimming pub in dover. Those who get across get to sign the wall.)

Charlie defines local celebrity in Des Moines, Iowa. He was the first Iowan to climb Mt Everest. For background on what is going on, I suggest the AP story that was out today. You can read about it in the International Tribune, the Canadian Press, The Houston Chronical, or my favorite, the rag from my current hometown, The Chicago Tribune.

[By the way, as I write I can typically hear the words I am typing in my head. Don't be scared, I think it somewhat common. Anyway, today's version the read-along has a British accent. Although if you ask my FIANCEE (yes, another new development), she would tell you it's a crappy one at best.]

Back to old Charlie, one may ask why exactly have I spent a week here in damp, cold, Dover with his parents and in laws, just to watch someone swim for 14 hours from a boat washing back and forth like a rubber ducky in a bath tub... well that is almost as dumb as asking why the bloody hell he is swimming in the first place. The answer is there is no answer. It's like restaurants where there are no prices on the menus. If you need to ask, you don't belong.

So we are off tomorrow. Chuck will hit the water at 9 AM London time (3 AM Chicago time). I will attempt to post updates here, but failing that, Chuck has a blog his wife Catie will be updating (click here).

-It has actually been a very cool trip, and as Charlie has been my best friend for years his family has been like my family for just as long. In no way do I want to leave the impression that I have had anything but the best of times with his parents and in laws. They are truly wonderful people.

-If you still haven't figured out the answer to my question, its because it is the only place in the world I would want to be. I can't swim for him, but I want to do everything I can to help him across (and I do have my wet suit and fins in case he needs a little in water motivation.) Plus, if someone were to remove half of my brain and all the sudden it sounded like a good idea to swim 30 miles in hypothermia water... well he would be there for me (although I would hope he would just talk me out of it).

Charlie and the next adventuring Wittmack, James.

2008 Hy-Vee Triathlon Report

2008-06-24T23:36:00.001-05:00

Hello strange blog world. Sorry for the slight delay in posting the tri report. It has been a very busy couple of weeks. Overall the Hy-Vee Triathlon was a good day, but I need to learn how to better rid myself of stress and errands on race weekends. Maybe it was the swim/no swim drama of the race, but I don't remember ever being so mentally not prepared to race.

Prerace
Melissa and I drove to Des Moines on Friday for Sunday's race. I worked a full day so we didn't arrive in Des Moines until past 11.

I had only heard a few days before that the swim was back on. Race officials had announced about 10 days earlier that they had to cancel the age grouper swim due to flooding. Needless to say, I simply stopped practicing the swim when they made that announcement. This wouldn't have been such a big deal, but Lake Michigan has been so cold this year that I had only two open water swims under my belt at the time of the race.

Saturday we were up early and had a long day of running errands. They included a trip with Melissa to the farmers market in downtown Des Moines, a quick swim in Chuck's fastlane in his backyard, the typical prerace packet pickup activities, lunch at Manhattan Deli, picked up a battery for the camera, and going out to drop off the bike and T2 supplies at the triathlon site in West Des Moines (there were two transition areas). The real highlight of the day was dinner where we had the big first meeting of the parents (Melissa's parents came down for the race and met my folks for the first time).

We didn't get back home until past 10, but I don't think it really interupted my sleep. I only slept for 20-40 minute incraments the whole night. Either way you look at it, it wasn't a good race prep the day before.

I left bright an early on Sunday (4 AM). The only people on the road had USAT stickers and bike racks on their cars. They had the athletes park at Valley West Mall, which was about 2.5 miles from the finish and about 5 miles from the start. The shuttle was full of nervous energy, or maybe that was just me. I am a talker by my nature, add a little bit of butterflies to that and I am just looking to make new friends. At 4:28 AM, most athletes don't want to make new friends. I suffered through.

Once at T1, I made a quick trip to the bike stand. Said hello to my old friend Andy Lueck, who checked the air in the tires and removed my embarrassing reflectors that were on my wheels for a year. Then it was back to my transition spot to set up my gear and struggle into my wet suit.

As I was fighting the wet suit, I quickly looked around to realize that they had organized the transition area by age group (which is good so you can see how many bikes are gone when you get out of the water), and also that the fellas around me seemed to look much more serious than I did. Now considering I only minutes before removed reflectors from my wheels, this probably isn't saying much, but I was a little intimated.

[From stage left, enter KT]

"Yo Murph, what's up man?"

I don't remember being so pleased to see someone. Kevin and I went to high school together, played little league together, and have shared a few sips of whiskey over the years. Now he is living in Des Moines, and has been doing tri's for a few years. He is actually a damn good triathlete and also just as friendly as they come. Since we were a few miles from any spectators (they told all the spectators that there wouldn't be space near the makeshift swim area, so to stay up by the high school to watch the bike and run), I was glad to have a friend there.

As I managed to get into the wet suit, talking to Kevin really let me relax. By the time Charlie and Bikal ran into us about 10 minutes before the start, I was feeling good, ready to go. A few minutes later the first group went off. A few minutes after that, our horn went off and were off into the water.

I remember thinking what a perfect morning it was. Very pretty sunset. It felt good to be back in Iowa.

Race

All those pleasant thoughts were kicked away the first time I was kicked in the face in the swim. Still, after last year when I got significantly off course during the swim, the kick and subsequent beatings I took were good indications that I was headed the right direction. In fact, if I didn't feel someone passing me by going over me, I began to worry I was off course.

I managed to do much of the first half of the swim without stops. The wetsuit made a huge difference. The course was triangle, but felt a lot like an out and back as it was so long. The water was a typical Iowa lake in that it was VERY merky.

After the turnaround, I started to get tired. I would stop, tread water, and adjust my goggles a little more often that before, but I continued to make progress.

I made it out in pretty good time (17 minutes faster than last year), but I think a lot of it has to do with the wetsuit advantage (and some might be due to swim lessons and training).

After a pretty uneventful T1 I was out on the bike course.

[In a related note, I make really funny faces on the bike.]

The bike course we a good Iowa course, some hills, a stretch on a country road, a couple of hot laps around a mall parking lot (could have done without the last part). I pushed it hard thinking that I had been riding more and should keep a good average mph (also known as "not thinking"). There was a part in the ride when I remember feeling somewhat tired, never a good sign.

On thing that made the whole event better was my awesome crew. Good look'en too!

On to the separate T2 area I had a pretty quick bike rack and shoe switch, then tried to minimize the damage with a gel (unsuccessfully). Then it was off to the run.

I don't need to go into much detail, but the run was hot and my legs felt like bricks. I was spent. All that lost sleep and crappy prep week, plus bad hydration and nutrition, plus probably not running enough, and my run when from an enjoyable Iowa morning to looking forward to stopping.

In the end I finished well and slightly improved my time from last year's tri.

Overall, I have to say I liked the 2007 course better, but I think that is clearly because I grew up in the city of Des Moines vs the suburbs. I did hear from a number of people they liked the West Des Moines course better because the downtown run was too confusing. Either way, they run a top race there. They changed the entire course on a flip of a dime due to the flooding, and it was run very, very well.

I was also pretty pleased with my performance. I didn't drown, Melissa's parents and my parents got along well in their first meeting, and I dropped a ton of time in one year. New PR in the swim (37:47), the bike (1:18:11) and the run (54:05) and overall (2:55:41).

'Cause I'm Coming Home Again...

2008-06-20T12:08:00.007-05:00

Couple of notes before we talk off for Des Moines...

Positive thoughts going out to my boy, Chuck, who is taking the day off to swim around Key West. Not just your average day at the beach... this is a 12 mile swim. Check out the website. He is gearing up for the English Channel swim this August. This is a big test. He started swimming around 9 AM EST. I talked to him last night and he said there were 11 solo swimmers giving it a shot. I am sure he will do great. Looking forward to Sunday afternoon by his pool swapping our weekend war stories.
It's my sister's birthday this weekend. You know you are a self-centered athlete when you get you sister up at some ridiculous hour on her birthday so she can watch you doing silly sporting events. Hey, it's all about me people (see link). She is turning 24 (?), and while the rest of the world may have figured it out a few years ago, she has matured into quite a special woman. Happy birthday Patricia.
Cub-Sox Part 1 is this weekend. Despite losing a few games in a row, the good guys haven't given up much ground to the evil cardinals in the NL Central. That is all fine and dandy, but for the next three days no one I know really cares about the NL Central. Let me sum up my feelings on the subject: Sox suck.
Better now than later in the year, but I am a little annoyed with the Cubs articles reading like medical reports.
Not only is this the weekend of the Redline Classic, the FL Swim for Chuck, Patricia's Birthday, Dave's Next Attempt at Drowning... it is also the weekend Mo and Coach meet Jane and Craig (aka WND Gal's Parents). Very exciting indeed. Melissa and I agree, they are so much alike. I am sure they will get along great.
There was an article today linked in Daily Triathlon with 10 Tips to Keeping Up Your Relationship While Being a Self Centered Endurance Athlete (I might have improved the title a bit). I was going to link it, but the article was really bad. It had me going until one of the tips basically recommended that you don't cheat on your loved one. Brilliant advice dumbass. So I am going to put that on my list of posts to write this summer... right after I figure it all out.

Lastly, it has been a while since I have had a good music post. In honor of my trip home to Des Moines, and my love of all things Chicago, and my infatuation with Coldplay now, I give you Kayne West's Homecoming:

Catchy tune right? Doesn't Chris Martin (from Coldplay, lending his vocals to the song) sound like Sting? "Oh-ie oh-ie, oh!"

Hy-Vee Triathlon Preview... Oh Crap! The Swim is Back

2008-06-19T20:00:00.000-05:00

[Updated: 6/19/08 8PM]

On my way back from a work trip from Reno, I wrote a post about my running and preparation for the Pikes Peak Ascent. Back in Chicago, I spoke with my sister Patricia who told me the swim was back on for the Hy-Vee Triathlon. I told her it was just for the elites so they could keep the Olympic trials on schedule and at Hy-Vee.

Well Trish was right. They sent out this email this evening:

2008 Hy-Vee Triathlon Update—The Swim Is Back On!

For days, Hy-Vee and West Des Moines city officials have been monitoring water conditions at Blue Heron Lake in West Des Moines’ Raccoon River Park in the hopes of hosting a true triathlon. Today, they got the news they had been waiting to hear: the water level is lower and the bacteria readings well within the safety range.

This means that age-group, junior and youth elites, and ITU World Cup athletes will all have the swim returned to their events during this weekend’s Hy-Vee Triathlon. So bring along your wet suit! Water temperatures have not yet been determined so please be ready for a wet suit or regular swim event. When we find more information out about the temperatures we’ll pass that along via the e-newsletter.

Please note: the Hy-Vee Kids Triathlon for children will remain a duathlon, which is a run-bike-run. It will be hosted entirely on the campus of Valley Southwoods. The finish line will remain on the campus of Southwoods School, where officials moved the event last week after flood waters threatened Des Moines.

New course maps are being drawn up reflecting the swim routes and bike transition area. Those maps will be distributed to the media and posted on www.hy-veetriathlon.com as soon as they are finalized.

All activities will take place at the times already scheduled. Volunteer and spectator parking will be at Wells Fargo on Mills Civic Parkway. Athlete parking will be explained during the mandatory briefings each participant must attend prior to racing.

Oh CRAP! I have to swim Sunday. I guess it is kind of like tapering, because I haven't swam since they announced it was going to be a duathlon last week.

A big congratulations goes out to the organizers of the race. They deserve a lot of credit for keeping this going. I am sure there are still major challenges that must be overcome, but so far it has been a herculean effort.

I don't know much about this lake, but I will do what I can to find information about the lake (water temps especially). Check back later for more info.

Notes:

They released an updated course today. Looks like the bike is a point to point course of sorts, with two transition areas. See the map of the bike.
Here is the website for Blue Heron Lake on the West Des Moines Park and Rec Page. There isn't much info, but it does have a few photos. I tried calling the Parks and Recreation Department on a water temperature, but they didn't know. I guess that is something we will find out at the expo.
UPDATE: The triathlon just sent an email out saying the water temp on Thursday was a balmy 73 degrees. That means unless it gets REALLY hot in the next couple of days, it will probably be under 78 for race day, and it will be wetsuit legal.
Also in the email, they announced practice swim times on Friday. That isn't going to do me a lot of good getting into Des Moines on Friday night. I am going to head over to the lake on Saturday to at least look at the set up and see if I can sneak into the water. If not I am going to take a quick dip to loosen up in the fastlane de Wittmack.
Here is the story with quotes from the Des Moines Register. I love the quote from the native Iowan from NYC who talked about the tri being just gravy on top of the water receding in general. My feelings exactly.
Lost in all the fuss over the swim is the fact we have an Olympic Trial going on!!! Inside Triathlon talks about it some in this article. The big showdown will be between the US's top male triathletes, Andy Potts and Hunter Kemper. If you need help figuring out who to cheer for, Andy Potts swam for the University of Michigan... so he is out. GO HUNTER! [Andy, I am only kidding, if you win I am sure you will represent the country well and not wear any horrible UM stuff in Beijing.]
As people are looking for information on the Hy-Vee Tri, a lot of you are ending up on What's Next Dave. Welcome. Feel free to click here to see the rest of the blog. If you lik what you are reading, feel free to click here to subscribe or here to get it sent to your email.

Just for fun, and to get a little fired up, here is a video from last year's Hy-Vee Tri:

Hy-Vee Triathlon Update

2008-06-15T23:40:00.007-05:00

There has been some news about the triathlon in the last couple of days. They released the course for the age groupers. You can see it here (10k and 5K and bike routes). It is way west of town, and no where near the flooding.

There are two news stories that sum up what is going on with the tri. First the one on in the local paper, The Des Moines Register.

Then there is one that came out yesterday in the New York Times that does a good job explaining what we know about how it will affect the US Olympic Team Trials (which is not much).

For more info on the Hy-Vee Tri, hit up my blog for my other posts.

As for me, its race week. I have to admit, a lot of air is taken out of the sails of this one, but I may have had too many A races this year anyway.

Time to focus on Pikes Peak. More on that this week.

Chicago Marathon Training’s Opening Day

2008-06-14T20:16:00.000-05:00

Like most people, I divide the year up into seasons. There are tax seasons, duck hunting seasons, Christmas seasons, wedding seasons, football seasons, stone crab seasons, Some coincide, many overlap, but each hold their own special significance. To celebrate the seasons that matter most to me, I always like to commemorate opening days.

Opening days are special. No matter what season is commencing, opening days have a special sense of hope and excitement. It is the only time when the answer to the question, “How will this season turn out?” is always, “Perfect.”

The most popular opening day in my neighborhood, takes place annually on a cold, rainy day in April (or this year late March), when the Chicago Cubs take the field for the first time of the year. It is a very exiting day. Typically 40,000 fans do best fake cough on the phone to the boss in the morning, then don their best rain suits and parkas for an exciting day of Cubs baseball. The bars open at 6 AM, and all the sudden a sleepy little northside neighborhood comes alive after its five-month hibernation.

But this is not a story about baseball. Rather today is another equally exciting, but VERY different opening day in Chicago. Today is opening day in Chicago Marathon training.

The 2008 Chicago Marathon is October 12, and this year God has promised it won’t be so hot. For those of you who were unaware, that makes it only 15 weeks away. So break out your body glide and nipple band-aides, it’s time to go for a run!

By why is today opening day? Well many people, and most organized training groups, work with a 16-week training for the 26.2 mile run. So training technically started on Monday, but today is the first group “long-run” for most training groups.

Training Groups? Yes, in many cities and towns there are these strange underground sub-cultures of “Running Groups”. These slim and often mentally deranged people wake up at obscenely early hour to meet up with other “runners” to “run.”

I have been running with Chicago Area Runners Association for about five years now. I have trained with CARA for three half marathons and one of my three marathons. This year I have deiced to pitch in and help lead their training groups. I led a very small pace group for the winter half-marathon training from January to April. There were only three people in my pace group that often braved sub 20 degree weather. Today I started my role as pace group leader for CARA’s much more significant Marathon Training Program.

There were probably 250 people who showed up this morning at 6:30 to run with CARA. They are all divided into pace groups by whatever pace they can hold for their training runs. Then, within each pace time, they are further divided into groups by how hard they want to train (which correlates to how far they will run each week). All the people that choose to run 8 minute, 30 second per mile pace, and wanted to run the intermediate distance, were stuck with me as their leader. While people will shift between groups, there were about 30 people following me around this morning.

So happy opening day. If you are training for a fall marathon, check back here for tips on running and endurance sporting. If you are stuck in my group, think about trying to run a faster pace (only kidding).

Today’s Run:
They opened up the season with a pretty tame 6 miler. Some in the group decided to spread it out to 8, but I stuck with the program to get to know the group.

6.1 Miles, 50:43, 8:18 min/mile

Time to Run

2008-06-12T23:51:00.006-05:00

I am over my hang up with doing a triathlon this year. Sure, I did work hard at the swimming, and was a lot more prepared for my tri this year than last. But even had Des Moines worked out perfect, I had spread myself too thin between very different types of competitions.

This was never to be my year of the triathlon. This was the year to improve in the three disciplines, not to master the tri. This was always to to be my summer to do the Pikes Peak Ascent. Now its time to refocus on my original goal. It's time to run.

How to Do a Du?
If anyone has any hints on duathlon strategy, I am all ears. Sounds like a very taxing day on the legs. I remember thinking last week at Batavia, that I was really glad I was doing the tri because the du looked really hard.

Pikes Peak
64 days until the Pikes Peak Ascent. I am going to put a countdown widget on the site the next couple of days, as well as a link to my workout plan.

Thoughts are in Iowa
As a native Iowan, my thoughts and prayers are with everyone back home who are having to deal with issues related to the flooding and devastating weather.

Notes:

Lots of good links today in Daily Triathlon media watch email. If you don't already get it and are into tri info, that is a great source.
They posted an interesting article on the USOC site about how they are still scrambling to find a swim location for the pros in Des Moines for the Hy-Vee tri. They still want to make it an Olympic qualifying event, but to do that it sounds like they really need the swim.
With all the news of the floods in Des Moines, I have yet to report on the pro's race last weekend Vancouver. Matt Reed continues his good racing by placing 5th and in doing so secured the US three spots in the triathlon in the Olympics. Here is the story in Inside Triathlon.
On the Time to Run theme, CARA's (Chicago Area Runners Assoc) marathon training program started this week, with the first group run this weekend. I have decided to lead one of the pace groups this year. Hopefully I will have more than two people in my group like the winter half training group had (it will be closer to 20 this time).

Email from Hy-Vee Triathlon on Changes Due to Flooding

2008-06-12T23:40:00.006-05:00

Below are the contents of an email to the particpants of the Hy-Vee Triathlon:

As participants of the 2008 Hy-Vee Triathlon we know how disappointed you must be to learn that we are hosting a Dry Tri this year due to extreme weather conditions. Trust us; we are very disappointed by the situation as well. While you’ve been training for months preparing for this race we’ve also been busy getting ready and were excited to watch all of you compete in each of the three events. Unfortunately we can’t control the weather and had to come up with a plan that keeps each of our kids, junior and age-group participants safe.

Since the Dry Tri announcement was made, we have received many questions and concerns from participants—we hope this e-mail will help field those.

First of all, please understand that eliminating the swim portion was the very last option on our list to consider. Over the past few weeks we met with various communities in the greater Des Moines area to host the swim event. However, all of these bodies of water, which include Gray’s Lake, Easter Lake, Copper Creek Lake, Raccoon River and Lakewood Lake, have all been impacted by abnormal amounts of rainfall and less than ideal temperatures, resulting in high bacteria counts, beyond the allowed limitations. To ensure that our kids, junior and age-group participants are safe, we had to do what was best and avoid potential health concerns and problems by eliminating the swim.

Having said this, USA Triathlon has asked us to continue exploring any options to accommodate an elite swim. While we are doing this, we are not optimistic we will find a swim venue that will be suitable to accommodate an elite swim, let alone an age-group swim. If there are dramatic improvements, we will consider any options to host the triathlon, but are currently proceeding with our plans for a world class duathlon.

Finally, unfortunately we are not offering refunds or the option of transferring registrations to those who are now unable to participate. If you read through your registration form again, you’ll see that the form explains our no-refund policy—this policy still remains in effect.

We greatly apologize for any inconvenience this causes but hope you’ll all join us on June 21 and 22 for what promises to be an exciting event!

For more info on the Hy-Vee Tri, click here to see my other blog entries.

Update: Flooding Will Move Hy-Vee Triathlon, Dry for Age Groupers

2008-06-11T21:15:00.008-05:00

They have announced that the Hy-Vee Triathlon has been changed to a duathlon for age groupers. They are going to run a 10k Run, 40k Bike, and a 5k Run. Sounds like they want to keep it a triathlon for the elite athletes, but they are still looking for a place to swim.

They have changed the location of the transition area to the Valley Southwoods Freshmen High School in West Des Moines. With the location so far from downtown Des Moines, it sounds like it will be entirely in West Des Moines.

Here are the sources:

The Des Moines Register has a story on the tri.
KCCI, a news station, also has a story on it. Click here for the whole story. They note that they new course will be announced Friday.

I know the race directors are doing the best they can, and making decisions best for the athletes. I also know there are people who are having big losses due to these floods. All that said, I can't help but be a little disappointed. I have been really working on my swimming for months now. I have taken lessons, spent hours in the pool, I even went in the 60 degree lake tonight.

Truth be told, I wasn't sure if I was really ready for the 1500m swim yet, but I wanted to give it a shot. I know I can finish it, but I wanted to do it comfortably, and to really cut some time off of my last year's finish.

Now I am not sure what I should do. I would like to sign up for another triathlon, but my summer schedule is so full, and I really need to switch my training to focus on the Pikes Peak Ascent. I am going to talk to Melissa, look at the schedule, and figure out what's best.

For more updates, click here for the blog main page.

Flooding Might Move Hy-Vee Triathlon? (UPDATED 11:30 PM)

2008-06-11T16:40:00.012-05:00

Unless you are living in a cave, you probably know that there is a lot of excess water in the midwest right now. With the Hy-Vee Triathlon is now only 11 days away, there seem to be some concerns on how the flooding will affect the event.

The Hy-Vee swim takes place in Gray's Lake in Des Moines, which exists in the flood plane of the Raccoon River. See a specific map of the race from Google Maps here. Additionally, the run crosses the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers a number of times. Now according to reports the Raccoon River itself is not necessarily flooding, but it meets the Des Moines River about a mile from Gray's Lake. The Des Moines is nearing record flood stages, and because it is so high, it is creating a dam like affect upstream on the Raccoon.

Now that all being said, 11 days is a long time for water to receded, although the water is still rising and they expect more rain later this week. Even if the water recedes there exists other concern of bacteria contamination that officials will have to make sure is safe prior to the race

Moral of the story, if you have ever been to Des Moines when there is any flooding at all, you know its always bad near Gray's Lake. Gray's Lake Park and the adjacent Water Works Parks are flood plains. And even if the Raccoon stays behind the newer (1993) levees, the Des Moines is currently so high that they have closed the downtown bridges over it (where the run was scheduled to cross it a number of times).

Thus, from reports I have read, race officials are scrambling to figure out a solution. They have not made an official announcement yet, as they do not want to release any misinformation, but I suspect something will come out later this week or early next. As Hy-Vee is the last of the US Olympic Trials, they need to do a swim-bike-run for the pro's (vs. changing the format to a duathlon, were you would run-bike-run). Of course, even if they decided to change the race to a duathlon, they would need to change the course considerably with the original transition area being flooded out, and a bunch of the run course not usable due to river crossings.

There are other lakes in the Des Moines areas, and from the reports I read, it looks like officials are looking into an alternative route should Gray's Lake not be ready by race day. Of course many of these lakes are at flooding levels themselves, and they also might present challenges for the size race that they are trying to hold. I don't envy race officials right now, although I am sure they will do the best they can.

Of course, I should note that this race is one of the least significant outcomes of this flooding. People are loosing their homes, possessions, and businesses. I will certainly keep them in my thoughts and prayers, and pray that it dries up a bit so water levels can drop.

Either way I am looking forward to going to Des Moines for the race. I do hope I can do some type of a swim, seeing that I have been working on that for some time now. In the event there isn't a swim assocaited with Hy-Vee, I might look to do an additional tri this summer, although I am really running out of open dates.

Notes:

There is a good discussion going on over at Slowtwitch on this subject. You will find it here.
The Des Moines Register is also doing a great job of covering the flooding in Iowa right now.
I will update WND with a new post as more information leaks out.

Tonight:

Going to Lake Michigan for a swim in the new wetsuit. Brrrrrrr

Hy-Vee Tri Update (11:30 PM CST):

All indications are pointing to moving the event from Gray's Lake to Easter Lake. It will take some rerouting of the course, but it sounds like the event directors are on top of it. [Update, no route announcement, but the age groupers will be a "dry" race (a duathlon). See my update post here.]
The Des Moines Register wrote a quick bit quoting the director of communications from Hy-Vee corporate (which by the way is a grocery store chain those of you not from the area). Looks like a decision is going to be made soon "“I can’t say until the (release) is approved, because we’re waiting for one more phone call.”
One of the local news channels, KCCI, did a spot on their evening news.
Check back here at after the 10 PM news in Des Moines is over. I will update this post when if an announcement is made. See the updates here.

Batavia Triathlon Report

2008-06-09T08:46:00.014-05:00

It's a crazy sport that calls an hour plus event a sprint.- Annette Jonker, CTC

A good look at the swim layout for the triathlon. (and Melissa's best photo of the day)

I am still a relative "newbie" to the triathlon world. I knew this summer that I wanted to try the Hy-Vee Triathlon again, other than that I took me quite a while to plan my races this year. I think part of my slow planning comes from my background in running where you didn't really sign up for most races until the morning of.

Well times have changed and races are becoming more popular, and triathlons especially fill up quickly. For example, as soon as I figured out most of the Chicago Tri Club (CTC) members do Galena and Tri-Shark as their early season warm-ups, they were full.

I had to look for another option to give me a race to get under my belt before I took my revenge on the Hy-Vee course. Enter the Batavia Sprint Triathlon. I liked that I didn't have to travel for the race, saving the price of the hotel. I liked that the run is 4.1 miles, was longer than most sprints, which typically have end with a 5k. Without knowing much about it, I was in. A sprint triathlon would be a great way to see how all this training was paying off.

3:35 AM: Alarm goes off. Ouch early. It's raining. I threw the tri shorts, a tee shirt, and the flip flops on, brushed my teeth and I was out the door. Pulled up the car, tossed in the bags, and secured the bike.

I live in Wrigleyville USA, home of the Chicago Cubs and about 40 bars and nightclubs. This was one of the first times I have ever awoke before 4 AM while living here, but I knew what would be outside. Let's just say it wasn't other triathletes packing their cars. No, it was the leftovers of Saturday night's fun. And like a tuna sandwich after four days, it wasn't looking so good.

Despite having the option to sleep in, Melissa decided she would join me for the day. I was a bit surprised as she is a self-confessed sleepaholic, but I couldn't have been happier. Despite her ever decreasing patience for all of my crazy endeavors, she has come to enjoy race day. As I have learned watching my friends run the Chicago Marathon, as a spectator you can't help but feel a lot of the anticipation, excitement, and pride that the participant feels, even to the point where you typically feel very tired at the end of event(although it could also be partly due to the obscene early hours at which time you have to get out bed for these events).

So half awake Melissa and I took the drive out to Batavia, a pleasant suburb about an hour west of Chicago (or around 40 minutes at 4:20 AM).

We arrived just after 5, with the transition area open from 5-6. Already I felt rushed. The chip pick-up and number writing went smoothly. I gave Melissa a quick kiss and headed into the transition area to set up my gear.

I found the rack numbered with the range that matched my race number, found an open spot and couple of pretty friendly guys next to me. Set my my stuff out, took a quick sip of the Gatorade and decided I should hit the restroom before donning my new wetsuit.

Well it turns out I wasn't the only one with that idea. There were four stalls, and about 20 people in line. It was 5:38. I told myself, "if I can get out of here by 5:52, I should be OK." Well, I was out of the bathroom at about 5:54. On my way out I saw the line had grown to about 50. Timing is everything.

There was a lot of discussion around water temp and should you wear the wetsuit or not. Well, I decided I needed to practice with it, so it was going on. Then I hear from the PA, "The time is six o'clock. The transition area is closed. Participants please make your way down to the pool area." My first thought was, "oh crap," but I really didn't have much to worry about. My transition area was set up, I just need to toss my new CTC jersey on, spray a little "suit juice" on the right spots (a lubricant designed to make putting on and taking off the wetsuit a little easier), and put on the wetsuit.

Sounds easy right? Well I had only put on a wetsuit maybe three times before in my life, and I think the average time was about 10 minutes. But they had to do the pre-race announcements, the Star Spangled Banner, and then they were not starting in big waves, but a person every three seconds. I was around the 240 person, so I had some time.

AND it only took me a couple of minutes to get the wetsuit on (a subtle brag).

The "Swim"
They had us line up by our race number (see above, thanks to Melissa for the photos), which was also in order of the average 100m swim time we put down when we registered. I had put 2 minutes per 100, because that is my reach goal for a 1500m swim. This was a 400m swim. No worries, I was glad to see how the whole thing worked before I got in the water. As they didn't care what swim cap you wore, I put on a different color one so Melissa could see me.

When it was my turn to start, I have to admit I was VERY nervous. Not like running races, it was more of a surreal moment, one which I can probably most compare the beginning of my college boxing matches. The water temp felt great with the wetsuit, so I am glad I had it. Once I took my first couple of strokes, I was fine, but also swimming in a crowd for the first time this year. It was also the first time this year I swam in open water, but I felt much better about it compared to last year in the Hy-Vee tri.

I quickly noticed that swimming in a wetsuit was great. I felt the buoyancy right away. I kept to the inside mostly so I could see the side of the island we were swimming around on my breaths. That worked well until it took a turn towards my right and I was all the sudden pushed into traffic around the turn.

After around 80-100m it was time for a U-turn left for the second half of the first of two laps. I was feeling pretty good now, but then people started standing up. It was shallow enough on the whole backstretch you could stand. Now I had watched the first swimmers swim almost the whole lap, so you didn't have to stand up there, but it was very hard to swim around people that were walking in front of you. I did by get around a couple of people, but after a while it was too shallow to swim (as we had been told), so I plowed my way around the end of the first lap (see below).

The second lap was more crowded than the first. What I should have remembered is how short the actual swim is and just gunned it, but I think the nerves got the better of me. The second back stretch had twice as many walkers, which made the swimming very difficult. None the less, when I came out of the water I was glad to see the time on my watch was under 7 minutes. Good enough.
I wanted to focus on transitions today, and they were faster than the last race I had, but still slow. I need to remember to do my recovery from each event during the next. Still, considering I had to take the wetsuit off, and everything was wet from the rain, I think the first transition was OK. With practice they will get faster.

The Bike
The bike course was nice. There was a pretty solid cross wind on a couple of miles of the backstretch, but overall it was a very pleasant day for a ride. I tried to go out hard early, but I am not sure if that worked out. I always seem to "warm-up" on the bike, and pick up speed as I go. I averaged over 19 mph on the ride, but I still see this as one of my weak disciplines. I am going to try to get a little extra time in the saddle the next two weeks.

I felt like T2 was fast. The shoe change was quick, but I did eat a gu and take a quick sip of Gatorade (why I didn't do this on the bike is beyond me.) I say it felt fast, because according to the times from the tri it was painfully slow (third slowest in my age group?). I had all these times on my watch, but the memory was full prior to the race and I couldn't go back and look at my splits. This whole dumb move with the watch is especially annoying because there was a three minute difference between my chip time and my watch (not in my favor).

I keep telling myself that the watch splits don't matter, but I am curious as to where those three minutes went. Let's just say I am very suspicious with the tri's timing system (not helped by the fact it took them over a day to post the results).

The Run
The switch from bike to run is a tricky one. Your legs typically feel like they weigh a ton each after getting off the bike. That being said, after leaving the transition area, I felt surprisingly good. I felt like I was moving fast, mostly because I was picking off a lot of other runners.

I hit the first mile marker at 7:25, which is pretty quick for me. The second one was closer to 8 minutes. I don't know exactly what the last two were (watch and the memory issue), but I think the mile markers may have been a little off. My pace didn't drop that much.

I think I may have had four or five people pass me in the run total. I probably passed two or three dozen. That being said it was so tricky because the race wasn't organized by age group (by numbers or start times), but by estimated swimming time.

The run course was very nice. It was along the fox river in Batavia. It reminded me of running along the Iowa River in Iowa City. A wide, full, slow moving river with a nice bike trail running along it. We actually crossed over the river at the turn around point, and then crossed back as we approached the finish line.

Melissa was there at the finish, she was impressed with my day. I felt good, but I wanted to go faster. Overall I was right at the top third (179/517 finishers), top half in my age group (22/49). My goal was top half of my age group, but this is kind of a beginners tri with a very short swim (my weakest link), so I will have to put up a much better effort to keep that kind of place in Des Moines.

Final Times: Batavia Sprint Tri
(400 m, 14.7 miles, 4.1 miles; first number is my age group place out of 49 people)
Swim: 28 6:36 (1:39 per 100 m pace)
T1: 32 3:29
Bike: 20 45:28 (19.4 mph ave)
T2: 45 3:34
Run: 16 32:38 (7:58 per mile pace)
Total: 22 1:31:43

100 yards away from the finish

Batavia Triathlon Tomorrow

2008-06-07T23:57:00.005-05:00

I need to get to bed, but I have a little nervous energy. First tri of the year is tomorrow. I actually have to leave the house at 4 AM. Everything is packed. I am ready to go. I hope the weather works out (it rained and tornadoed today, supposed to rain more tomorrow).

Obviously, I will let you know how I do.

Not Talking About "It" at the Cubs Game

2008-06-05T22:31:00.005-05:00

"Yeah, I'll take a light one," Ryan says to the beer guy.

Last Sunday, my good friend Ryan and I decided we would catch up at our favorite spot in neighborhood, Section 127, Wrigley Field. The view was pretty good (see above), the weather was cool but sunny, and he and I had some things to discuss.

It was the fourth inning and the Cubs had just tied the game up at 2 with the Colorado Rockies. Rookie Sean Gallagher was on the mound for the Cubs, and looking pretty good. He would have been in better shape if left fielder Alfonso Soriano hadn't dropped a routine pop fly earlier in the inning (he later made up for it with a monster HR in the 6th).

Both Ryan and I were not quite 100% from the night before (the night before the Zoo 10k, more on that later). As I was finishing my Gatorade that I smuggled into the stadium, Ryan decided it was time to order another beer.

"Yeah, I hope Soriano gets those drops out of his system. We can't have those type of mistakes in the World Series," said the beer dude.

We both grunt in agreement.

"Yeah, that will be $93 for the beer."

"Here you go, keep one for yourself."

"Thanks." [Beer guys walks up the aslie.] "GET YOUR ICE COLD PAIN KILLERS."

I look to Ryan, "I just don't feel comfortable when people refer to it."

"I know what you mean."

"Do you ever think about it? I do all the time. I mean without a doubt this team is a contender. They need another starter, or at least one to really step up so we have three solid starters. That and just a little more middle relief."

Ryan pipes in, "Yeah, but I like how like last year, Lou is shuffling the line ups, sending guys up and down from here to the minors."

"Right, that is what makes me think this time is deep enough to survive the typical injuries that will happen."

"Yeah, like when Soriano went down."

"Right."

"Honestly, I don't even like thinking about it," said Ryan.

"I am ok thinking about it. I just don't like talking about it."

"Yeah, me too."

We will miss you guys when you move.

Notes:

The Cubbies won that game Sunday 5-3. They swept their entire 7 game home stand.
Cubs won again tonight. 10 of the last 11. Their Magic Number is 98.
Speaking of the Cubs' Magic Number... the automated script is working again! (See right)
The photos with the singled out color were made with my Canon SD700, which has a color accent feature. We had a lot of fun with that one Sunday.

The Lord Stanley's Cup

2008-06-05T20:35:00.002-05:00

The Mac in the photo makes it look strange, but this is what it looks like to watch playoff hockey (especially in a 3OT game). It as exciting as sports get.

The good guys lost that one, but won the next to bring home the goblet.

Congrats Red Wings Have fun with Lord Stanley's Cup this summer.

You Like Everest Stories? Then Go See It

2008-06-05T14:44:00.002-05:00

I realized before I even started doing this weblog, that I am really not all that interesting. In order to keep my loyal readership awake, I have decided I need to occasionally do some interviews with other people who asking "What's Next?" Some of these stories will be crazy adventures, some will be comparatively simple, but they will share a common thread… they set a goal, and then they made it happen.

I hope you enjoy the series. If you have any ideas of people I should talk to, please drop me an email.

The Everest Base Camp Trek
The first in this series of interviews is with my co-worker and good friend Jennifer Dewitt. Jen is 25 and like me lives in Chicago. As you will read, she increasingly became interested in Mt Everest over the last couple of years and after seeing friend of WND Charlie Wittmack talk about his Everest experience in Chicago, decided she wanted a closer look. Five months later, she was on a plane for Nepal, set off for a three week Everest Base Camp trek. She returned to Chicago last, and was graciously willing to share some of her experiences with WND. Enjoy!

WND: Why did you want to do this trip?
JD: Over the last two years I've gotten really interested in the allure of Everest. What first started out as curiosity around some of the disasters on the mountain (mainly 1996) I began reading books, articles, and watching programs about climbers conquering the mountain and what a mental and physical challenge it is... it was unlike most anything I'd heard about. So when I found out that there were guided treks to base camp I thought it would be a perfect way to see what it is all about and see for myself if I could make it. I was also looking forward to learning more about the culture of the sherpa people and the Hindu and Buddhist religions in that part of the world.

WND: What technical skills did you need to acquire before making the trip? How did you prepare physically for the trek?
JD: Our trek wasn't very technical so mostly I just tried to get in shape so I could physically do the hiking and carry our pack.

In terms of preparing physically I walked in my hiking boots at the gym on a treadmill at an incline. I looked pretty weird to the other gym goers but such is life. I probably didn't prepare as much for the trip physically as I should've but in the end I think your body's physiology and how it interacts with the altitude trumps whatever kind of physical shape you are in. Some of the most physically fit people in our group really had a rough time with the altitude towards base camp so you never know.

WND: What did you learn most about Everest, Nepal and yourself from this trip?
JD: Nepal was an amazing country with a very eclectic population. Many of the Nepalese people look either more Chinese or Indian and all ranges in between since it is such a religious and cultural melting pot. The Nepalese people in Kathmandu and the mountains were all extremely kind and overly helpful to all visitors. Their Buddhist and Hindu cultures are very peaceful and although they lead rather simple lives many of the Nepalese in the mountains regularly live to be over 90 years old!!

Everest amazes me even more now that I've been there. I could imagine the types of people that would take on this challenge before but now after actually meeting many of them it really is almost a way of life for many climbers. There are some that only have the goal of climbing the tallest mountain in the world to say they've done it but the majority of people we met were more seasoned climbers who have climbed extensively throughout the Himalayas, Pakistan, and South America. I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that now that things are so commercialized that anyone with enough money could climb Everest but I really think this couldn't be farther from the truth. It is true that if you pay enough you could get a guide to organize the trip and take you but if you don't have the mental, physical, and physiological toughness to combat the harsh elements, altitude, and physical demands you certainly won't make it very far. Even though Everest is the highest in the world it is certainly not the prettiest or most technical in the Himalayas....mountains like Ama Dablam and Lhotse are beautifully picturesque and much more technically demanding.

As for what I've learned about myself I think I really tested my mental toughness more than I thought I would. Especially at the beginning after getting really sick from the food but forcing myself to keep climbing to not fall behind was definitely a challenge. Additionally with the altitude affecting our sleep (2-3 hours a night) and appetite (nearly non-existent) it was hard to keep yourself energized but I think mental toughness definitely carried us all to our goal. I also learned a ton about the world in general with a lot of the conversations we had as a group and with our guide and sherpas. Between politics, religion, and cultural discussions it was truly a wonderful learning experience.

WND: What about the trip was different than you expected it to be?
JD: I really kept an open mind going into the trip and had certain ideas of the physical challenge of hiking and what the altitude might be like but I really wanted to go into it blind for fear that I would psych myself out. I definitely did not expect all the altitude challenges and especially getting so out of breath after walking just a few feet. I think if I had known all of this going in I wouldn't have had such an optimistic attitude but once you get there you find yourself just putting one foot in front of the other because that is all you can physically do or think about.

WND: How long did it take, how many people did you travel with and what hurdles did you have to overcome (I read one of your emails that said you and everyone got sick)?
JD: The whole trip itself was 19 days of which 10 days were spent hiking up to basecamp and 6 on the way down, the other 3 days were spent arriving/departing in Kathmandu and sightseeing in the city. There were 9 of us on the trek plus 1 guide, 5 porters (to carry our heavy bags, we carried our day packs), and 3 sherpas who served as assistant guides.

The biggest hurdle was getting really sick from the food on day 2 of the trip. It's especially hard for Americans sometimes because all our food is so processed that in Nepal you get kind of a shock to your system. I had to stay back one night by myself (with an assistant sherpa) in a village 4 hours below the rest of the group because I was too weak to finish the day's hike and that was pretty lonely and disheartening. But I had to keep hiking through the sickness the next day even though I couldn't keep down food or even water...but it was worth it once I started being able to eat again and get my strength up and met up with the rest of the group after staying back another extra day to acclimatize in the Namche Bazaar village.

WND: What did if feel like to reach Base Camp and what did you see?
JD: Base camp is really a huge sprawl of tons of tents, it's almost like a mini-city perched just along the Khumbu Icefall. Most camps would have fairly flat ground but since this is on a glacier the terrain is very rocky and uneven. We actually saw a little German bakery that was set up inside a tent selling delicious cinnamon buns and cookies so there are definitely a few comforts there for the climbers who spend months at base camp. It's a very colorful place with so many different tents set against the black and white backdrop of the mountains and it was actually really net because it started snowing right when we got there which seemed very fitting. I just couldn't believe that our trek was so long and hard just to get to the beginning of where these climbers start their summit of Everest.... incredible.

WND: Do you have any other similar climbing aspirations?
JD: For the foreseeable future I'm probably going to stick to doing some more hiking/climbing in the western U.S. and hopefully someday I'd love to do Kilimanjaro as well.

WND: What will you remember most about this trip?
JD: I think the most memorable part for me would be: 1. Reaching base camp and finally seeing with my own eyes Mt. Everest and all the determination of all the climbers risking their life for the challenge. You can read all the books that you want but nothing compares to actually standing on the Khumbu glacier and seeing climbers trek through the Khumbu Icefall right in front of your eyes... it's truly awe-inspiring. -and- 2. Just being in such a beautiful part of the world and seeing how the Nepalese culture in the mountains is so simple but fulfilling. They are all such hard workers and kind people and genuinely happy. It makes me remember to stop and be grateful for all the opportunities I have and more importantly put things in perspective in my own life.

WND: What was your favorite part of the trip?
JD: I loved getting to know the sherpas and porters in our group and understanding what their lives were like and their culture. Many of them are from large families of farmers and don't even leave the mountains. It's so interesting to see how others who are my exact same age, 25, grow up and see what their aspirations are.

WND: If you were writing an article yourself, what would you say to the reader?
JD: In doing this trip I've talked to so many people that have thought about doing the trek to base camp but never gotten around to it. I would say if you have the means to do it you can always find the time to set aside and you should just do it. It was definitely a once in a lifetime trip and just makes me not want to waste a single day in my own life.

WND: OK, so here it is… What's next?
JD: What's next? Well I would like to do some traveling in South America and I'm really hoping to do Kilimanjaro at some point as well. I think this is just the start of my travel bug and I see many more exciting trips in my future...

Here is Jen's Everest Base Camp group at Everest Base Camp.

Jen is third from the left in the blue jacket.

Thank you Jen. Welcome home.

Ready or Not... Time to Tri!

2008-06-05T14:27:00.003-05:00

Harold Hall Quarry Beach, home of the Batavia Sprint Triathlon

The first triathlon of the year is upon us!
After all the laps in the pool and miles in the saddle and on the shoes, we get to see just where I am in my training. I am looking forward to putting it all together.

From what I have read, the Batavia Sprint Triathlon on Sunday should be an interesting one. The swim is short (only 400 m), but it is two laps around an unheated sand bottom pool. I guess between laps it is so shallow that you actually have to get up and run a bit. They are also doing a staggered start, with participants leaving every 5-10 seconds. I think that is fine as I am sure I will mix it up as it's a tight swim course (and it is two laps, so I will be lapped and lapping). As I still see swimming as one of my weaker disciplines of the tri, thus I like that its is short, although part of me wishes it was longer to give a better test for later. Not that I ever over think such matters.

I still don't have a wetsuit. I know which one I want now (looks like Blue Seventy's Reaction, size S*), but the tri stores in town didn't have it in my size. My hope is to break the first rule in endurance races, don't do or use anything new on race day. Nope, the experience of racing with a wetsuit trumps not. That way if I have to wear it at the Hy-Vee triathlon in Des Moines later in the month, it won't be new there.

*I am not the biggest guy I know, but by no means have I ever thought of myself as small. Despite being on the higher end of all the list size ranges for the small (height, weight, chest size), this is the size they said best fit me at the store. I am a little suspicious, but seeing as they could have sold me the M on the spot, I can't really doubt their intentions. I even tried to explain that I don't plan on being any skinnier ever again, and that I would like to use this for a couple of years, they didn't flinch.

The bike is 14.7 miles, the run 4.1. Very odd distances, but I will just be happy to be out there. The weather looks warm, but with the early start (6:30) it should be fine.

I haven't told Melissa this yet, but I plan on leaving the house at 4 AM for this race. She had planned on coming out with me, but we will see about that (I can't imagine waking up that early if I didn't have to).

Notes:

Here is a great page for transition areas from Beginner Triathletes.com. Enjoy!
I know I owe a couple of posts (Jen's story from Everest, Zoo Results). Expect them tonight and tomorrow.

WND Photography

2008-06-03T00:44:00.007-05:00

I have had a couple questions this week about my photos. Specifically what camera I use, what settings I use, and a few questions on how I have taken some shots you will see on this blog. Thus, I thought I would take a quick break and talk a bit about photography.

First off, I have been taking photos for a long time, but have only recently been doing it again. I was a photographer in high school and especially in college for the student newspapers, and supplemented my post college income working on the side as a commercial photographer. Then I basically didn't take a photo for about five years.

Last year, I bought my first digital camera, a Canon SD 600. It was the perfect size to take with me everywhere, and the quality of photos are great. It lasted a little more than a year, when about 3 weeks ago it decided it wouldn't power up.

I called Canon, to see how to repair it, and they said it would cost me $99, but I did qualify for their customer loyalty program. This program lets you upgrade to the new version of your camera (although it is a refurbished model) for $100. While I wasn't pleased that I had to give Canon another $100 14 months after I bought the camera originally, I was pleased to get the new SD750.

Well now that I have it I really am pleased with the difference. I have recommended it to a few people who are looking for digital cameras. It is great.

So there you are. Please feel free to send questions my way!

Notes:

There are two good photo web sites I recommend to people. The first is Ken Rockwell's site. It is perfect for the everyday photographer wondering which camera to buy, and how to take better photos. Here is is site, and just as importantly, here is his page for camera recommendations. As you will see, he and I share a taste in cameras (or at least agree on the best ones). That being said, he does a great job of explaining why and the details behind it. You will be happy to hear that Ken says (and I agree) you don't have to spend a bunch of money to make great photos. Oh, and congratulations to Ken on the new daughter. Needless to say, it is a great photo.
The second site is a little more advanced, but still something I think the average Joe should learn. How to use a flash. Strobist is a blog dedicated to teaching tricks using a flash. Really again something everyone could learn and take much better photos. I learned about this site from a story in USA Today a few months ago.

The End of Human Excursion

2008-05-30T20:52:00.005-05:00

‘‘It was as if the brain was playing a trick on the body, to save it,’’ says Timothy Noakes, head of the Cape Town group. ‘‘Which makes a lot of sense, if you think about it. In fatigue, it only feels like we’re going to die. The actual physiological risks that fatigue represents are essentially trivial.’’

The more I learn about endurance athletes and the ability of people to push themselves to the very end of our physical limits, the more I realize we are only starting to learn what that means. That being said, while you cannot help but be impressed by such displays of human accomplishment, at some point you find yourself asking, "is something wrong here?"

As I read the New York Times article on ultra-endurance athlete Jure Robic I couldn't help myself but be a little concerned. Not so much for Robic (although the "is something wrong here" red flag did appear), but for people I know who will have to push themselves to somewhat similar limits.

Then of course I realized there are lessons to be learned about this story. He has a very tightly controlled system with his crew, and his success in these races depends not so much on the turning of his legs, but the ability of his right hand men to make sure he is pushed to the limit and motivated in the way that works for him.

It is a very interesting article. Not only does it discuss Robic, but also just what exactly causes fatigue.

Note:

It does note in the article that Lance Armstrong has hinted that he might try RAAM. So I will add that to the list of things people speculate Armstrong will do. Other activities include open a bike shop (done), date every famous woman on earth (well on his way), Ironman triathlons, cure cancer, and run for president.

Run for the Zoo

2008-05-30T12:37:00.002-05:00

There is a BIG group of people I know running the Run for the Zoo on Sunday. I have friends, family, and a signficant other running in the 5k, 10k, and 5k Run/Walk. It should make for a fun day. All of the races are sold out, and the route looks really cool. They all start in Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, and do a great job of spreading out around Lincoln Park's lakefront. The weather looks to be very nice on Sunday.

The line-up looks like this:
5k Run/Walk: Melissa, Mandi, Shea
5K: Ryan, Allison, Nate, Julie,
10k: Kevin, Jessie, Brittany, Tashy, Dave

I only have two 10k's on my list of results, so a PR should be pretty easy to get.

It should be a fun Chicago morning!

Full report after the race (including everyone's results).

Last night: Tashy came up to the hood for a run. We crashed a small 5k they were holding on the running trail. We gave the race a 7:30 minute start, and still beat a lot of people.

Runnng:
6.93 Miles, 57 Minutes (not including Tashy's chat break at the "finish" line), 8:19 min/mile, Ave HR 158, Max HR 168 (nice job keeping it under my AT)

Specializing vs. Triathlons

2008-05-29T07:46:00.004-05:00

Why be really good at one sport, when you can be mediocre at three?
(A common runners joke about triathlon training. I heard it first from Dan Lee from the Chicago Triathlon Club)

Writing on all things triathlon, running, and general dream fulfilling, people tend to email me articles from time to time. I really appreciate the help, and they are typically either every informational articles or just downright amusing (see open water training video below).

Every once in a blue moon there is an article that gets enough press and speaks to my vast and loyal readership, that I receive it from multiple sources.

A good example of this is the article about triathlon training in the New York Times three weeks ago. I think four or five people emailed me that day to tell me about it. Take a read for yourself, but the article discusses how the training for triathletes is spread too thin to actually find a peak performance in any of the three disciplines.

Duh.

I think that quote from Dan Lee at the top really sums it up. Although it is well worth noting that I am in the middle of the peak of my triathlon training now, and I have set two PRs in the last week in my main discipline of running (half apology for the not so subtle brag) AND I am as good as a swimmer and biker as I have ever been.

Of course, I am working out a fair amount now. And the argument is that if I would just specialize in one of the three, I would be better in that sport. I agree with that. While I am nearing the best running shape of my life, if I solely concentrated on running I probably wouldn't be talking about a 1:43 last weekend in the half-marathon, but closer to a 1:38.

This was most definitely a concern of mine as I drove up to the race this weekend. I have spent a lot of time in the pool recently, and I was worried that I was not in good enough running shape to do the half well.

And furthermore, I am also starting to worry a bit about the Pikes Peak Ascent in August. While I am in good shape for running on flats, running up a mountain does take some specialized training. I tried some of that out last night, running on a treadmill with the incline jacked up to 15%. Not easy. In fact I was a little surprised on just how hard it was. I have plenty of time to adjust to the different actions associated with climbing, but it is nothing I would have typically done as a part of triathlon training (unless of course the triathlon was on a mountain).

It all comes back to the great metaphor of the triathlon as the mistress. This is Donald's metaphor not mine, but I think it makes a lot of sense to me. I am a runner. I love running and what it does for me. I see myself running many more marathons and maybe trying to dabble in ultras. I love going out on a trail and getting lost for a few hours. There is nothing that clears my head better or calms me to a greater extent.

But triathlons are fun. They are intense. There is a TON of cool gear. Every day you get to do something new. And I am participating in sports where I have a lot of room to improve.

But in the end, like Donald, I see myself going back to running. She will be there for me. We have been together too long to leave her forever.

How does that relate to the New York Times article?

I may or may not keep hitting PRs in my runs this summer, but I am doing events that are interesting and new to me. I have never woke up in the morning and ran up a 14,000 ft mountain. I have never decided it would be a good idea to swim along some of the best architecture in the world. I had never ridden my bike 100 miles in a day. And I have never had the chance to have an artistic expression about things I am passionate about. But I will this summer, and I think that is pretty cool.

So thank you for the articles. Keep sending the blog fodder my way. I added an email link to the right to make it easier when ideas come up, but feel free to leave comments on the blog entries as well.

Tragedy Averted

I forgot to mention how I saw my life flash before my eyes on my way to Traverse City. Were we almost in a car accident? No, worse. My bike almost came loose from the car.

Melissa (the girlfriend formerly known as WND Gal) saw the color flush from my face as I stared intently into the rearview mirror.

"What's wrong? Are we being pulled over?"

"No, it's worse. My bike."

Luckily, it was pretty well strapped on to the carrier. While it was flying horizontal for a while, and it did scratch up her pretty little frame a bit, we didn't lose her. Oh, and Melissa was fine too.

[A note to Melissa's Mother: I am only kidding about my bike being more important than getting in a car accident. Obviously your daughter was the most important cargo that day, and every day she rides with me in the car. And I would also like to note that I am a very safe driver. I use my turn signals at least 87% of the time, and passed drivers education and all DOT and DMV (depending on the state) tests in my first attempts.]

Notes

Speaking of ultramarathoning, like triathlons they are increasing in popularity. It seems that we are all getting totally more extreme. My guess is most people that do ultras might not like its newfound popularity, but I doubt there is much that will stop it (see me thinking about it).
Speaking of running at altitude (tough segway there, I know) the 30th Bolder Boulder, the worlds largest 10k in Boulder CO, was last weekend. Running superstars Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor, who will both run for the US in the Olympic Marathon, are running. Kastor finished 7th (she has won it three times). There was no mention of Hall's place in the articles. The weather was very good for fast times. The lead pack of men averaged 4:32 per mile. Sick. Nasty sick.
As if we didn’t have enough to worry about with sharks… “Unprecedented Collision with Pelican Sends Woman to Hospital."

Training This Morning:

20.23 mile bike, 1 hour 13 min, average 16.6 mph

Searching for the Right Wetsuit

2008-05-28T01:46:00.002-05:00

OK team... my evolution into a triathlete continues. Last year at this time, I bought a bike and first got into the pool a month before I finished my first and only tri. This year, I started the masters swimming and swim lessons in January, started biking as soon as the weather allowed (and got on the trainer at a bike store a couple of times before that), and got my running legs under me (including hill and speed work).

Next step, I need a wetsuit. For the tri I did last year (Hy-Vee in Des Moines), I borrowed my brother in law’s suit, but the water was too warm, and they didn't allow wetsuits. So I have never actually used a wetsuit. I have been shopping around and understand the general differences (sleeves, no sleeves, one piece/two), but I really don’t understand which one to get.

It reminds me of when I bought my bike, there are so many brands/styles that I don’t really know where to start.

What am I looking for? Obviously I would like to swim in Lake Michigan. I tend to sink like a rock, so the more float the better. I would also like to shave about 20 minutes off my 1500 meter time, so if you know of a magical wet suit, I am all in.

So here are my questions: How much should I spend? I need a better understanding of the sleeves vs no sleeves (such as a temperature difference for using them). If you had to buy your first wet suit all over again, what would you do differently?

I next triathlon is in Batavia on June 8 (my sprint warm up tri), so I would like to have it for that (although it is only a 400, I want to practice with it, and I heard it is a chilly one).

If you have any hints, drop it in the comments section.

Notes:

My nice little Cubs Magic Number widget isn't working. So for the time being I will try to update it myself. They won tonight, so it is down to 110.
I saw this story about the US Olympic Swim Trials, discussing how they need to sell more tickets at the Quest Center in Omaha to break even. Then I saw that they didn't know how many seats the pool would displace there... so wait, does that mean they are building a pool for the Olympic Trials?
Yep, they are installing a temporary pool for the Olympic Trials, and the best place they could find for it was Omaha. If not having a pool wasn't an issue, I think they could have got a little more creative on where to have it.

Tonight's Workout:

Chicago Blue Dolphins Practice in the 50 meter pool at UIC. 2300 Meters. Mostly in 50s and 200s.

Bayshore Half Marathon Race Report

2008-05-27T16:41:00.014-05:00

The blossoming cherry trees of Old Mission Peninsula

Cherry Trees, Vineyards, and Running

And the race reports just keep on coming! After we ran the Hustle Up the Hancock this February (see here), my Honorable Uncle Tom proposed that we come up to Traverse City for Memorial Day Weekend and join him for the Bayshore Half Marathon. Well you don't have to ask me twice to go to Traverse, and to run a race up there... the whole thing sounded perfect.

Growing up my family would drive from Iowa to Traverse City every summer to meet up with my mother's family there. My aunt and uncle had lived there for all of my life, and my grandparents built a house next door to my aunt and uncle's place when I was very young. It was (is) a great summer town, and a wonderful place to escape to for a weekend.

So low and behold, three months later, Melissa and I leave one shore of Lake Michigan for another. We arrived around 11 pm local time at my aunt and uncles, just in time for a quick nap. My alarm went off at 5:10 AM so we could leave the house for TC Central High at 5:50.

The Traverse City Track Club has put on the Bayshore Marathon for 26 years now. The Half-Marathon is relatively new (three years), but a very popular event. They both filled up pretty quickly. I believe they capped the races at 1700 apiece.

The course is about as nice as you could put together. It runs along the east shore of the Old Mission Peninsula just North of downtown Traverse City. It is very flat and has some stunning views. The run the half-marathon as a point to point, busing us out to the start 13.1 miles up the peninsula. The marathon starts near the high school (the finish line), and is an out an back. The fun part (for the half runners), is they start at the same time! Thus you start seeing the marathon runners about half way through your race, and give you the further incentive to run hard as you don't want to get beat by a marathon runner.

As I put my racing schedule together this year, I did pick this as an "A" race, a race where I am looking to get a personal record (PR). I was hoping to run this race under 1 hour 45 minutes, which translates to an 8 minute per mile 13.1 miles. My fastest 1/2 marathon thus far was in Nashville last year for the Country Music Half Marathon. I ran a 1:46:36 there (and was very pleased with that run at the time).

We arrived at the high school around 6, quickly picked up my packet and headed to the bus. The trip was short, but I enjoyed my conversation with some runners from the area. Once off the bus we walked to a starting area complete with a tent and plenty of port-0-potties. The weather was cool, in the 40s, but in the sun it actually felt ok.

I stripped the pants and long sleeves off, I decided I didn't need the gloves so I checked them as well. Once I checked my stuff, I realized I had lost my uncle, and that I needed to make one more stop at the john before I hit the road. Despite the fact it was 5 minutes before the race start time of 7 AM, I convinced myself it was ok because it was a chip race and the race was pretty small.

I actually made it to the start line to hear the gun go off, but I was well to the back of the race. So I spent the first mile somewhat concerned about my pace and trying to pass people as quickly as possible.

Another thing this race does well was post mile markers. Since the marathon was an out and back, and due to the location of the start and the turn around, their mile markers were about a .1 of a mile before ours. This was a good little "heads up" for me to know where I was. While that first mile was a lot more crowded than I expected, I finished the first mile in 7:45. I decided I would try to keep every mile under 8 minutes, that way I would have some cushion in time should I hit a wall at the end of the race.

And then there was the course...

Near Mile 5 on Bluff Rd

I had planned on taking my camera on this race so I could be more like my blogging mentor Donald and have cool race reports, but Melissa convinced me that would be dumb as I was trying for a PR. Of course she is right. Donald is running ultras and stopping to take a few photos won't mess up his time as much as it would mine.

Speaking of times, here are my mile splits:
Mile 1: 7:45
Mile 2: 7:51
Mile 3: 7:57
Mile 4: 7:54
Mile 5: 7:58
Mile 6: 8:17

Mile 6 was kind of annoying, and proved Melissa's point about stopping messing up the times. My shoe lace came undone that mile, so I stopped to tie it and there was a knot that in my labored state could not undo. I guess I lost 15 seconds there just tying my shoe. I was very upset that I had a mile over 8 minutes.

Mile 7: 7:57
Mile 8: 7:59
Mile 9: 8:06

Mile 9 I did not tie my shoe, was just getting tired. In talking with my cousin's husband after the race, that was also the tough mile for him. I knew I would see Melissa at my aunt and uncle's house at the end of the mile, but I did struggle a bit getting there.

Once I reached my aunt and uncle's house, I was surprised that Melissa wasn't there at all. I have to say, I was more than a little bummed out. Then I hear, "Hey Babe!" Turns out my aunt and uncle's neighbor was throwing a party for the race and my cousin had come over and got Melissa for it. Thus two houses later I saw Meliss and my cousin (and maybe 10 other people). I was glad to see Melissa was taken care of, and as always when ever I see someone I know on the side of the road it left me feeling a little refreshed.

Mile 10: 7:58

There are a lot of mind game I use in a races, and I think that is true of all endurance athletes. When I ran marathons I started to break up races into the "pace-yourself" section and the "leave-it-on-the-course" section. This is a pretty natural thing to do in the marathon due to it's "mental half-way point." Half-way in a marathon is of course 13.1 miles, but mentally half-way point is 20 miles. There is a lot of talk about how the marathon is two races, the first 20 miles when you try to pace yourself, and the last 10k when you try to survive.

Since my marathons, I have taken that approach to breaking the race up to my other distances. In the half-marathon, I used to think of it as 10 mile and a 5k (because I really like the 10 mile distance), but for this race I decided to take a different approach. I thought I would keep it under 8 minute miles (on pace) for 11, and then see what we had left in the tank after that. This approach seemed to work.

Another mind game I play when I race is I think of a phrase to motivate myself. Something simple that I can focus on while I run. For the Bayshore I decided I would focus on something Kevin had texted me the night before, "dig deep."

Thus, combining my two little mind tricks, I kept telling myself that if I could just hit the 8 minute mark, I would be fine AND not to go all the way to think about "digging deep" until I needed it late in the race. Once I hit that 10 mile mark, I decided I would make it to the end if I picked up the pace a little and started focusing on "digging deep" and leaving what I had left on the course. I didn't really want to be able to sprint to the end of this one.

Mile 11: 7:39
Mile 12: 7:53 (running out of gas)
Mile 13.1: 8:20 (with the extra .1 mile)

Total time, 1:43:40 on watch, 1:43:37 on chip. Under my goal of 1:45 (and another thing off The List), 3 minutes faster than my previous PR, and I felt pretty good.

My uncle ran a great race (see him finishing above in the blue on the left). And my cousin's husband Than just came in behind me despite not sleeping for the last few months with a new born and not really training!

Post race Melissa and I went the farmers market in TC, then a little wine tasting tour on the peninsula. Traverse City is known as the "Cherry Capital of the World," but I couldn't help but notice many of the cherry farms were new vineyards.

Regardless, I had a great weekend. My hats off to the people of Traverse City Track Club. I highly recommend running in the Bayshore races, but don't tell anyone about it as the size of the race is part of it's charm.

Notes:

Next race: June 1, Run for the Zoo. A local 10k/5k with the Chicago crew.

Since I didn't take my camera with me on the run, I took it with me on my bike ride the next day. It was a very pleasent 27.6 miles along a lot of the same miles as the run.

Since it seems that people have actually liked some of my music recommendations, I am going to keep them coming. We listened to Death Cab for Cutie's new album Narrow Stairs on this trip. There are a couple of songs I really like, I will leave you to sample Bixby Canyon Bridge. It is the first song on the album. Enjoy!
Bixby Canyon Bridge - Death Cab For Cutie

OK, OK, Her Name is Melissa

2008-05-27T14:37:00.008-05:00

Driving back from Traverse City on Monday, the girlfriend formerly known as WND Gal (see this post for why she was cool enough to actually get a pseudonym in the first place) made her last ditch effort to get her name changed on the blog. [This dialogue may be slightly paraphrased, I can't remember word-for-word the conversation.]

"Seriously, will you please just call me by my name. Everyone knows it's me anyway."

"Sugar plum, you just don't understand how blogs work. It is very important that remains anonymous, otherwise I loose all of my web-cred."

"You have web-cred?"

"Sure I do lovie-dovie. My millions of readers from India to Marion, IA will no longer think of me as a ‘cool’ blogger. I will just be another guy who posts his photos of his vacations for his family to see."

"I thought you said no one reads your blog but my mom and your two friends from college. Plus, we don't get vacations; we just go to your races."

"Races in exotic places."

"Like Des Moines?"

"Yes, and Chicago, and Traverse City, and Colorado Springs!"

"We live in Chicago. Anyway, everyone else in your blog get to use their name."

"They are not as important of characters as you are, my sweet pretty princess."

"You mention how Kevin beats you in every race. He is in like every blog entry. And who really wants to hear any more about Charlie?"

"Yeah, but WND Brother-in-law just doesn't have a ring to it."

At the end of the day, I just ran out of good arguments. Therefore, WND Gal is, and will be referenced to in the future as, Melissa, my much, much better (and smarter) half.

Corporate Challenge Race Report

2008-05-23T13:12:00.005-05:00

(Photo: Team Sg2, ready for the Challenge!)

Last night I ran the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge in Chicago It is a 3.5 mile race that over 23,000 people ran last night including 44 people from my company, Sg2.

Running with me was my brother in law Kevin, who has tagged along with us for this even the last two years. We started near the front, with a couple other runners from my team. The course leaves a lot to be desired, much of it is run in the “lower” streets (Lower Randolph for example). The with the exception of the first mile, it is actually about the ugliest route you can find in Chicago, but it is the best for cutting off traffic as it’s an evening race during the week.

Kevin and I ran together for about the first half mile, at which time I told him I was going to try and save myself for the ½ Marathon I am running tomorrow in Traverse City. Later Kev. He ran a nice sub 22 minute race (6:16 pace).

Despite trying to “save myself”, I couldn’t really turn off the competitive juices. I did slow down for the second mile (although not as much as the splits indicate because I think the first mile marker was short). But then I wanted to finish with a sub 7 split.

Here are my mile splits:
Mile 1: 6:28
Mile 2: 7:28 (I think the first mile marker was short)
Mile 3: 6:49
Mile 3.5: 3:01
Total 23:47, 6:47 pace, and a PR (Personal Record) at 3.5 miles (which I have only run twice before).

Let’s hope I didn’t blow it by running too hard and I can get two PRs in one week.

Other Notes:

My friend Jen has returned from checking something off of her Life To-Do List. Inspired by WND friend Charlie Wittmack, she participated in a Mt Everest base camp hike. Despite a serious of challenges, Jen made it to base camp and has a ton of cool stories. She has agreed to do an interview for WND. Look for that next week!
My fascination with the open water 10k swim in at the Olympics continues. Strangely, the Wall Street Journal continues to be fascinated with it too. Here is the latest story, which is about the US’s first qualifier in the event.
In kind of a bummer of Olympic news, it looks like Paula Radcliffe’s injury is somewhat serious. My have been a big fan of hers ever since she destroyed the world record in the women’s marathon at the Chicago Marathon in 2002. I didn’t see her finish because I was still at mile 14 or so. In less than 2 years she dropped that world record over 3.5 minutes! Still, she really struggles with her public image in her home of England due to her dropping out of the Olympic Marathon in Greece in 2004. She was coming back from a serious of injuries, and actually won the NYC Marathon last fall (8 mo after giving birth to her daughter). Reports are now that she has as stress fracture in her femur. Not good. She is going to try to run in the Games, but it sounds like a very difficult task. I wish her the best of luck, but either way I am a fan.
As a side note to the note, Paula’s husband and coach, Gary Lough, went to Iowa State.
The New York Times has an article on shoes specific to triathlons. It is interesting. The tester said for each perk of each shoe there was a drawback and she wouldn’t give up her favorite shoes anytime soon. I wish they had tried Newton’s in the test as well.

Triathlon Swim Start Video

2008-05-23T08:53:00.004-05:00

A classic video I found on the Chicago Triathlon Club message board.

Pretty Day in Chicago

2008-05-16T12:01:00.021-05:00

[Sorry for the hiatus. Been a busy week and a half. I am trying to ramp up the training and it is totally cutting into the blogging time. I plan to catch up a little over the weekend. Lots of good stuff next week.]

Day off today...
Woke up this morning and went to my masters swim practice. At practice on Monday night, they told me I probably needed to start working out with the level 1 group. Yep, I graduated from the guppies. I am trying to go to three practices a week plus my Saturday lesson, but I just couldn't get my lazy butt out of bed on Wednesday, thus only two practices this week.

Fridays are sprint days, so Fitz had us doing repeat 100s today. After the warmup, we did 4 100s on the 2 minute. I held them pretty well, but was spent after the fourth. Then we did a 100 non freestyle for a rest, then 2 more 100s on the 2:15. Rinse, wash, repeat twice more. All in all we swam some 2100 yards. Pretty good for me.

For fun, let's compare my workout with one my buddy Chuck did this week. As I have mentioned before, Charlie is swimming the English Channel this August, and his workouts are just plain silly.

Today I swam 1920 meters (thanks to Google for the yards to meters conversation tool). Chuck's workout on Tuesday was 12,000m! SIX TIMES as far as I swam! He warmed up doing a mile (1600m) in 23 minutes, then he knocked out another 10k worth (that is 6 more miles), THEN he decided he wanted to do some 100 repeats at the end. Today I am proud of myself for swimming 10 100s and trying to do them in 1:40 each. Chuck was doing them in 1:10, AFTER he swam 11,000m (or seven miles).

Most of you don't realize how insane this is, but imagine me without arms... because that is what would happen if I tried to that... and it would take me 3 days.

Moral of the story, Chuck is a stud. We will have to interview him for the blog and catch up with his training later this summer. He is planning for the swim in late August.

Back to My Day

After practice met my brother-in-law Kevin for a quick 4.5 mile jog along the lake. It is sunny and high 60s here in Chicago today. You couldn't have painted a nicer scene than was on display along the lake today.

After the run, quick shower, picked up my favorite quick breakfast at the bagel shop, and I am hammering out a little work before I walk the four blocks to Murphy's Bleachers for a pregame meeting with the sister, Kevin, and the WND Gal (not to mention about 15 of our friends). Today our good friends are doing the national anthem at Wrigley, so we have had this game on the books for a while.

Thus I have a pretty good day planned. Fun times in the sun, with family and friends, drinking Old Style, and watching Cubs put up their 7th win vs the Bucs.

Did I mention I am watching my cleaning lady take care of business now? I just wish I knew what she and her sister were talking about [Polish.]

Go Cubs.

Swimming

2100 Yards, Sneaky Repeat 100s

Running

4.4 Miles, 36:26, 8:17 Miles

Jack White…Talented? Check. Life Saving Superhero? Check. All Around Awesome? Check.

2008-05-07T06:00:00.004-05:00

I have been enamored with the rock band The Raconteurs for some time now. I have been trying to figure out how I can work a Raconteurs post into this web log, but it really hasn’t fit in well with running, swimming, and race car driving. Lucky for me this my blog and my Life-to-Do list, so I am adding a new “To-Do:” Play in a real rock and roll concert.

Yes, I want to be a rock star. I don’t need to make a living out of it. I just want to learn to play music at a level that is tolerable to other people. And rock and roll simply because I do like a good bluesy rock and roll.

Plus my new to-do gives me the liberty of talking about music, which is an obvious interest of mine, and staying within the theme of my blog.

Which Brings Me to the Talented Mr. White

I have been fascinated with Jack White’s projects for a while now. Many will know him from his duo The White Stripes, but the discussion today is around his new pseudo-superband, The Raconteurs.

They released their second album, Consolers of the Lonely, in March, one week after they announced they were going to. Give it a few listens before you judge it, as it may be an acquired taste, but it is become one of my favorites. They are now on tour supporting the album, which is where this next story comes from.

The blog The Modren Age alerted the person who runs the Facebook fan group of the Raconteurs to this great story. The story also ran in the Kansas City Star.

To quote The Modern Age:

Imagine you’re a girl, and you love the Raconteurs. You go see them at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, and your having a grand time, when all of a sudden you faint.

The crowd pushes your body to the front, and instead of a bouncer coming to your rescue, Jack White himself leaps off the stage and carries your weary body to safety. He then (as you are told later), continues on with “Carolina” like nothing happened.

There is even a photo of “Super Jack.” Classic rock story.

Wait, you are interested in this “Carolina” song? Ok, here you go. It is a good one.

A good example of why they call themselves The Raconteurs.

This widget is from The Raconteurs website.

The IT Band Comith

2008-05-06T06:21:00.001-05:00

I knew it would come for me eventually. I have always had some issues with my IT Band and running. If I don't do the right precautionary things (stretching, drugging, icing), it is only a matter of time before the hip pain kicks in...

And it found me Saturday. So sometime this week I am going to devote a post to IT band injuries, preventions, and remedies.

In the meantime here is my route that caused the pain:

Running:

9.85 miles, 1:24 minutes, 8:43/mile

And that was all after an hour swim class with the Chicago Blue Dolphins (more on my new class later as well).

Drake Relays on the Road Report

2008-05-06T01:26:00.011-05:00

I apologize this report is running so late with this report. It has been a busy couple of weeks around the house.

Why This Run?

I should probably start in how I picked this race to run. Originally I was was planning o running the Country Music Half-Marathon in Nashville. I ran it last year. It is a very well run race, and despite a hilly course I managed my personal record in the half. I had a fun time with my friends in Nashville, but I have to leave right after the race and didn’t get to fully honky-tonk it up (I had to get back to for a friend’s wedding).

This year I decided I wanted to lead a CARA pace group in training for a “spring” half marathon. I knew it would get me into shape a little sooner, and I really enjoyed running with groups. Well what I didn’t know is how bad this winter would be in Chicago. It was brutal, and the Winter Training Group for CARA was not very popular this year.

My group (8:30 pace group) consisted of the other group leader, Ellen, and Rob. Yep, there were three of us. Others sometimes joined us for a run, but for the most part it was just the three of us.
Well my group was pretty small, and only Rob was planning on running in Nashville, and I couldn’t convince my other friends to get in gear to train for it. I also realized how expensive it would be to either fly or drive down and hotel it in Nashville.
Then I found out they ran a half-marathon for the Drake Relays on the Road that same weekend, and it would be the perfect excuse to go see my parents and my friends in Des Moines (where I grew up).

This was actually the 40th running of the Drake Relays on the Road. It started as the Drake Relays Marathon, but was shortened to a half in 1994. They have also run 8 and 10ks as well.

Whenever You're Ready… The Race Report?

Right. WND Gal and I drove to Des Moines from Chicago Friday night. Up early on Saturday, my dad drove me to the start area at 6:50 for a 8 AM start. I got there, registered (only $30), looked for the gear check (there wasn’t one, used a bush in the parking lot), and tried to find the rest room.

I have run a few of these races in Des Moines on my “vacations” home at my parents’ house. They are a refreshing break from the gigantic races in Chicago. This race had 1900 participants, half of which ran the 8k that had the same start. No chip, no crowd, just a bunch of people out for a run.

Not that everything went smoothly. I did not feel well from before I went to bed, and didn’t shake whatever it was when I got up. I was tired and had stomach issues. It was a about 37 degrees with a decent wind. The hour before the race I was really wondering if I should really go out and run it.

And that feeling didn’t go away…

The start was right in front of the Drake Stadium, where they were holding the rest of the Drake Relays. The first couple of miles did not feel good. My legs felt heavy and it was cold. Maybe it was just that I was not awake yet and cranky, but I was not having a good time.

Then comes the 8k turn-around. No, I didn’t do it, but I sure thought about it.

About a half mile later, around mile three, I saw my sister, father, and WND Gal. I decided I was warming up enough that I could lose the pants. At that time I told my dad that I wasn’t feeling well and that it was going to be a long day.

“Well you are on pace, so keep going.”

Yep, sure enough. OK Pops.I felt a lot better in shorts. I also knew the roads for the next mile or so (having gone to high school in that neighborhood). Oh, and it was also the downhill portion of the run.

I also met a nice guy from Northeastern Iowa running in a distinctive cowboy hat. Turns out this was my kind of fellow. He had done some pretty cool ultra runs and we were about the same pace. We ran for a couple of miles together and swapped cool running stories to pass the time.

Of course, what goes down must go up, and once we started back up the hills around mile 6. I wasn’t really in the condition to keep up much a conversation, but still was not too overwhelmed by the hills. I kept thinking of the bike ride I had done the week before where the trend had been to work hard up the hills and coast to get your breath going down.

WND Gal and her two chaperones for the day (my sister Patricia and my father) did show up at miles 6 and 9. It is always nice having support like that on these runs. I keep thinking with all the training and races I do, that one day WND Gal will get sick of it, but she seems hanging around (as long as I don’t make her run them).

I had read some stuff on the internet about a big hill near the end of the race, so I knew right after I saw Team Dave at mile 9 (see photo with the three other guys) that I would have to do one major hill then I would be home free. As we ran up a hill at Beaver Rd towards Forest Ave, I assumed was the big hill everyone talked about near the end. Of course, it wasn’t. It came right after mile 10 going up Forest towards 46th Street. Not only was it a pretty good size hill, but it came with a pretty strong head wind.

But by this time I knew I had enough gas in the tank to get home. My game plan for the day was to run a strong 10 mile race, and then see what I had left for the last 3.1 miles. I wanted to run an 80 minute 10 mile run, and at the 10 mile mark I was just under 1:22. So I was pleased. So while I was tired, I tried to push the last 3 miles to see how I could finish.

I finished with a pretty quick mile. It was nice to see WND Gal at the end. Right after I finished I went into a pretty big coughing fit, but after I caught my breath I was fine.

I finished the race in 1:46:47, which is only 10 slower than my PR in Nashville last year. I still think I have a lot of room to improve, and I think the Bayshore Half in Traverse City on Memorial Day weekend will be the perfect time for a quick PR.

Later that night we had dinner at my parents house with my folks, sister, WND Gal and my best friend Charlie, his wife Catie, and their newborn James. It was really a great evening and fun weekend overall.

Open Water Swimming at the 2008 Olympics

2008-04-30T15:38:00.006-05:00

I got my butt out of bed today to do a nice morning run with my brother-in-law Kevin. It was a great run. The morning was just cold enough that the lakeshore path wasn’t completely packed with runners, but warm enough we both sported shorts (with hat, gloves, and long sleeve shirts, but shorts none the less).

Kevin and I both travel with our work, and thus we don’t get to spend as much time hanging out as we would like. We also share a lot of common interests, which include triathlons, thus whenever we can we try to catch up over a workout.

You may remember Kevin from when he destroyed the competition in our indoor triathlon at UIC.

As we were wrapping up our run today, we talked about how we were really looking forward to the Olympics this year, and how the number of events we were interested in watching has grown since the last time they held the games. That is when I mentioned that open water swimming will be an event for the first time this year.

I hadn’t really thought much about open water swimming as a competitive event until I started doing triathlons. That, along with my best friend preparing for the English Channel swim this summer has me interested in what this sport would look like.

Well it sounds very aggressive, check out this story in the Wall Street Journal. In Beijing they will will compete around a 2.5K course for the 10k Swim. I am sure it will be something to watch.

As for the run, I though Kevin was pushing the pace the whole time, and that we would be sub 8:30 miles, but it turns out we were only running 8:50s. Time to get back to the track…

Running:
7.35 miles, 8:50 min/mile pace, Kevin kicking my ass… again.

Bonus:
Here are some of the efforts of Kevin's work...

Catch Up Post

2008-04-30T10:29:00.012-05:00

Well we had a great weekend in Iowa. I survived the Drake Relays on the Road Half Marathon. I will give it proper attention in a full write up later in the week. There are a lot of other stories I needed to follow up on. I apologize I am so far behind.

Lance and Mike in Boston

The Boston Marathon was a few weeks ago. You may remember my joking about Lance Armstrong becoming an Ironman competitor a while back. It seemed to make sense to me as he is obviously strong in the bike, and his marathon times keep creeping down. That along with the fact he actually started his career in tri’s before moving to a full time professional cyclist.

He finished race just over 2:50 minutes. I am pretty certain that is his PR, but not quite as good as he had hoped to do (I think he was hoping for something in the low 2:40s). Still for Boston, which is a fairly hilly race, that is a great job. I will be interested to see how he does in NYC this fall.

Also running in Boston was former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. His day did not end so well as he had to drop out of the race with runners knee (an IT band issue). I guess he needs to spend more time running, less time running for president. A problem we all run into from time to time.

Liz Rocked St. Anthony's
Last week I wished my friend and classmate at ND Liz Berls good luck on her first tri. She did very well (Swim: 25:38, Bike 1:33:49, Run: 59:22, Total: 3:07:43!). Yes, Liz is a very good swimmer. What I wouldn’t do to get out of the water in 25 minutes.

She wrote a cool summery of her weekend. I will steal a little bit of it for those of you who are thinking about doing a tri, or more importantly thinking of doing an endurance event for a charity.

"This was truly one of the best experiences I’ve ever had and am proud that I not only completed this physical and mental challenge but also surpassed my fund raising goal by raising more than $5600 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society."

Yep, that is over $1000 more than her goal. Great job Liz. I have done a few events for charity, it really adds to the experience. I cannot say enough good things about Team in Training (the endurance sport training wing of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society). Not only is my father in remission from lymphoma, but my good friend in Kansas City Emily runs one of the Team in Training groups. They really do a great job raising important research dollars and getting people trained for triathlons, marathons, and century rides. If you have never done one of these events and are thinking about it, look up Team in Training.

For those of you who didn’t donate to Liz’s fund, here is your last chance. Click here.

Sharks
Very sad story out of California. I man was training for a triathlon lost his life to a shark attack. I must admit this has always been a slight fear of mine. I am not a good swimmer. I have enough to thinking about while swimming. I have a small fear of the ocean to start with… now we are hearing about more shark attacks. This story is tragic, but according to the experts, you have a better chance of dying via car accident on the way to the beach than you do by shark attack.

In other news, while there may be cougars roaming Chicago, there are no reports of great white sharks in Lake Michigan. So I am safe for now.

Hy-Vee Tri Looking Better All the Time
It is a rare occasion when a law is passed that completely make sense, one where you want to call your local representative and say “Thank you.” Well that happened in Iowa recently. The state senate made an exception to the rule disallowing acholhol served on the state capital grounds at any time. And the one acception… the finish line for the Hy-Vee Triathlon.

Oh, we going to booze it up! Margarittas with the Govenor Culver! Would you like another martini Lt Gov Judge? I can only assume that they will have beer instead of Gatorade at the water stops right?

Wrong, but it will be fun to have a little bubbly if I make it to the finish line.

Payout for Des Moines?
Lastly, I thought I would bring some attention to this article from Tuscaloosa, which discusses how much money they brought in for having the tri there. Hopefully there will be a similar revenue flow headed Des Moines way for hosting the Hy-Vee Triathlon in June. I am a big fan of the Hy-Vee event, and I hope it continues to grow it as the years pass.

Hoops Team Report
My rec basketball team won our second game on Monday. It was the first win in which I was in town to play. I knocked down a bunch of free throws at the end of the game to seal it, apparently earning my new nickname “Ice Cold.” [I would really like to put an Outkast song in here now, but despite the use of the phase “ice cold” I don’t think the rest of the song would impress many of the readers.]

Workout Report
Last night was a killer one at the Chicago Blue Dolphins practice. We were in the long 50 m pool, where I worked out with the “transition” group. Believe me, I was fine with that. The Group 1 was doing repeat 300, which was just a little too aggressive for me. I was just fine doing my repeat 150, which might as well been repeat miles for me.

Swim:
1700 M, 1.5 Hours

Another Fun Weekend!

2008-04-26T00:07:00.008-05:00

Running in Des Moines

I am off to Des Moines this weekend to do my first half-marathon of the season, the Drake Relays on the Roads. It has cooled off a little bit, race weather looks to be in the 40s. But the sky should be clear, so I won't complain.

Best of Luck to Liz

My good friend Liz Berls from college is participating in the St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Petersburg FL. It is an olympic distance tri and it is Liz's first. She has been a swimmer her whole life, and a natural athlete, so I am sure she will do great.

The best part is Liz is doing the tri as a part of Team in Training, raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

As my father actually had lymphoma a few years ago, and I am happy to say he is doing very well now, this charity is a special one for my family. So way to go Liz, have fun on Sunday. And for any of you looking to donate to a great cause, see Liz's site.

Way to Go Silvia

One of my favorite pastimes is convince people what they are capable of doing. This week my cube neighbor at work, Silvia, signed up for the Soldier Field 10 Mile race over Memorial Day weekend. It will be her first race anywhere near that distance, and she is a little bit nervous, but I know she will do great.

Topics of the Day: Speed Work and Keeping Up with the Halls

2008-04-19T12:04:00.000-05:00

My Peter Pan Syndrome is well documented.

On the night of my 29th birthday, I explained to my friends that I never thought I was going to make it to 30. This revelation was upsetting to my friends, but it was really matter of fact to me.

It isn't that I necessarily thought I was going to die, in fact I haven't really thought about that at all (nor do I want to.) Rather I just never imaged myself as someone older than 30.

What does this have to do with running? Well I am older than 31 now, and I am getting slower.

Why? Part of it is that I am working more and running less, but a bigger part is I am just getting slower (read: not as fast as I was in college). Well I will not go quietly into the "waddle on" running crew. Thus, speedwork is the topic of the day.

Looking back at my racing results, the point at which I was fastest at distance was 2002. I ran my best times in both the 10 mile and the marathon that year. What was the difference? I was running 6 days a week and consistently doing track work. At the time I was training for the marathon, and had read in Runner's World about Yasso 800s. Which is a great workout that is running half mile repeats at the time you expect to run the marathon (read the article for greater detail).

Since I have moved to Chicago my workouts, and especially my speedwork, have not been as consistent, and it shows in my race results.

This summer I am turning a new page. That is one of the reasons why running a 5k in 20 minutes is one of my goals. In addition, I need to get faster for my triathlons, when I am only running 6.2 miles. I am committed to doing the time on the track.

So last Thursday night I joined the Chicago Tri Club in the first track workout session of the season. They hold them every Thursday at 7 at the North Park Track. The track is actually very nice, and the group is great too. I immediately jumped in with the "faster" runners (because when running with others, I never say no to my ego). As it turned out, I could hang with some of them. We were only doing 8 200s, so the workout was short, but moving forward they are going to split it into two groups doing different workouts (one long, and one short). It was fun to be on the track with others again. Kind of like high school track, which I always enjoyed.

So I hope to continue this commitment to doing the track work. I am hoping it leads to a fitter me, and blazing times!

Speaking of Blazing Times and Speedwork...

One would be hard pressed to find a faster running couple than Ryan and Sara Hall. May God help the Kenyans if these two ever have kids... actually God may need to help the Kenyans or anyone else in the world if they plan on beating the Halls in Beijing.

You want freaky fast? Don't go to Jimmy John's, just watch Ryan Hall's Olympic Trials marathon in NYC last November. He crushed the field running in 2:09 (on a hilly central park course). Check out this Runners' World article on Ryan Hall just before he smoked everyone at the US Olympic Trials in the Marathon. It has great stories about his first long run (15 miles at a very young age), and how he was doing 10 mile tempo runs with college teams when he was n high school. Sick.

This week in the New York Times, there was a great article about doing races at different distance and incorporating speedwork into training regimens. It specifically talked about how Sara Hall has come to run the mile and her training for the Olympic Trials.

Today's Run:

Tapering 6.19 miles with CARA Training group (last one for the winter session, everyone is racing next week!). 49:51, 8:03 minute/mile

Big Weekend in US Endurance Sports

2008-04-18T12:54:00.007-05:00

US Olympic Trials in the Triathlon
This is a BIG weekend in US endurance sports events. First, tomorrow we have the second of three Olympic Trials for the US Triathlon team in Tuscaloosa, AL. Here is a good story in Inside Triathlon that explains the qualifying and the favorites.

The third and last of the Olympic qualifying races is the Hy-Vee Triathlon in Des Moines, June 22. I will be there, although only racing against the other age-group competitors (they keep us well separated from the pros).

Patriot's Day in Boston
Then of course Monday is the third Monday in April, which in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is Patriot's Day. It is the celebration of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in the Revolutionary War. Traditionally the Boston Red Sox play a home game at Fenway Park and the granddaddy of all running races, the Boston Marathon, is run. I will get to the marathon in a minute, but of note with the Red Sox... every year since 1960 they have scheduled the game so that it ends about the time the runners are running through the area (so the fans can leave and cheer on the runners in Kenmore Square). Sounds like both the coolest thing ever for the runners, and a logistical nightmare.

The Boston Globe has a great overview of this weekends events, with include the 112th running of the marathon on Monday AND the US Olympic Trials for the women on Sunday. You might remember they ran the men's Olympic trials in the marathon in November the day before the NYC Marathon.

Very exciting stuff.

Here from the Boston Globe is a story of marathon runner who runs and incredible amount of races, at a very good pace. His name is Michael Wardian and he runs a sub 2:30 marathon, but he does it almost every week! Makes you wonder if this guy learned how to train for a specific race, just how fast he could be. On the other side of it, it is pretty cool that he just likes to go out and race. He will be lining up next to my fellow blogger Donald at the Western States.

So enjoy the weekend, it is a good one for endurance sports fans. Between watching some of these event on tv I am looking forward to a rainy Cubs game tomorrow here in Chicago. Hopefully they will bounce back from a tough loss yesterday. Go Cubs!

We Talking About Practice?

2008-04-18T11:24:00.006-05:00

Yes Allen, we talkin' about practice.
Went to the Chicago Blue Dolphins practice this morning at Moody Bible Institute's pool. It was my first time going to their morning practices. They don't have a transition group at the morning practice, and there were not very many people there for a level 1 group, so Fitz threw me in with the level 2 group.

There were two full lanes of level twos, and Fitz was loving it because it felt like a swim team practice. It actually did kind of feel like high school swim practice, it was hard work and I was coming in last most of the time. The good news was it was sprint work (I can hang with that)... the bad news, they had 150s and 200s in between sprint sets (anything longer than a 75 and I start to lose my "form"). The practice was tough, but great.

Fitz also emailed me the next set of lessons. I am going to try to sign up for some. There was one that promises "Speed and Distance," which is exactly what I am looking for.

Moral of the story, I may never be an awesome swimmer, but feeling better about it all the time.

Race to Wrigley...

2008-04-14T07:58:00.013-05:00

You just have to love a good 5k.

Why? They are so inclusive. Don't get me wrong, I also like 10 mile races, because not everyone can go out and walk/trot a 10 mile race. There is some self selection in the event, which allows for it to be run by runners who understand the few unwritten rules to a running race.

That being said, the neighborhood 5k is just as much fun, for different reasons. First of all, they are smaller races. Here in Chicago, the Race to Wrigley I ran on Saturday is about as big as the neighborhood 5ks get (5000 registrants). Now there are much larger city events (Chase Corp Challange, Shamrock Shuffle get over 15,000 runners), but there are a bunch of these neighborhood events that are just great.

So pretty much everyone can get out and do a 5k. Some people walk and run, some people do it it in under 20 minutes (me someday?), but most people finish between 20-30 minutes. A great way to start a Sunday if you ask me.

Of course, not everyone was asking me... or wanted to hear from me for that matter. Top on that list was What's Next Dave Gal (see above). We celebrated a friend's new job and impending move from Chicago the night before, at which time WNDGal was trying to find excuses not to run the race the day. Apparently the best thing she could think of was a hang over, well that didn't stop her.

The next morning she was up and at 'em (although not pleased), and managed to brave the low 30 degree weather and threat of snow. With WNDGal is our good friend Sara (having a laugh at poor WNDGals expense).

On to the Race

This is only the third running of this race, and it has really improved every year. The route is a real good one, and nice because it is in an area I know very well. As you can see from the photos, it ends going through the Wrigley concourse, and coming out under the famous marquee. Cool stuff.

I didn't run nearly as well as I did last year, finishing 2 minutes slower in 23:57 (ouch, I know). Not sure what was going on with that, but it would have been slower had I not run with my co-worker Brittany. I think much of the problem is it has only been some 14 hours since I ran 12 miles (which is my high for this year thus far.) I thought about putting off the long run to do better in the race, but decided the schedule just did work out well if I did that.

All in all I think everyone had a good time, with the possible exception of WNDGal, who left her breakfast right around 1.5 miles into it. Even she was glad she did it, and ran the route later in the week to prove she could do it.

Running:

3.1 Mile Race, 24:57, 7:47 minute/mile

Have Love, Will Travel

2008-04-14T07:54:00.007-05:00

There are few things I like doing more than going to a real good rock and roll show. My favorite type of music is rock with a real soul blues sound to it. The kind that makes you hurt, and the kind of music The Black Keys drop upon every unsuspecting room they play.

What's Next Dave Gal and I had a chance to go see The Black Keys at Martyr's in Chicago on Saturday, and it rocked. It was part of WXRT's Studio-X series, where they get a band or performer who plays big shows (in this case The Keys were playing the Riviera later in the evening) and put on a short show in a small venue which XRT then plays on the radio in it's completion typically a few weeks later.

So Martyr's might hold 2o0 people, all of which won the tickets from the radio station. So we were pretty stoked for the mid-afternoon show. They only played 4 songs, and one of XRTs DJ's tried to do some interviews between the songs (although The Black Keys don't give interviews, and made the whole thing very awkward, and somewhat funny).

Although short, the show rocked.

I read this comment about The Black Keys recently:

The Black Keys are incredible refreshing, if this doesn't want to make you eat BBQ, drink beer, smoke cigarettes and piss in your neighbors mailbox, I don't know what does.

Well, I certainly don't condone pissing in your neighbors mailbox, at least without provocation, but I understand how they certainly stir the soul.

The Black Keys also played David Letterman last night (April 17). I was about to head to bed when I heard they were coming on. They gave a great performance. They are promoting their new album, Attack and Release, which is a good one if you don't already have it.

They are also playing Chicago's Lollapalooza show in August. I haven't decided if I am going to pony up for the ticket yet (and whether I am going to do a tri that weekend), but the line up is very intriguing (Radiohead, Wilco, The Raconteurs, Kayne West, Flogging Molly, The National, Explosions in the Sky, to name some of my favorites there). I am hoping they put enough of then on the Friday or Saturday show that I can go one day of it. Three days is a lot of festival for me.

Here's a listen off the new album:

Quick Workout Diddy:

So I just didn't feel good getting out of bed on Saturday, so I didn't make it to run with my CARA group (sorry Rob and Ellen), but I did do my 12 mile run in the afternoon. It was pretty unremarkable. A little slower pace than usual, but I was ok with that as I still wasn't feeling up to par.

Run:

12 Miles, 1:50, 9:05 min/mile pace

Fridays Rock

2008-04-11T14:00:00.006-05:00

Congratulations to the Notre Dame Hockey team for advancing to the NCAA Championship Game
They beat Michigan 5-4 in OT in the "Frozen Four."
They next play 6 PM CST on Saturday on ESPN vs BC for all the marbles.

Happy Friday People

Sunday is the 3rd Annual Race to Wrigley 5k! I have run in it every year, and it is becoming one of my favorite race for many reasons, not least of which is the fact it is only four blocks from my house. Other highlights of this race include this its ties to my Chicago Cubs (who are on a five game win streak) and their Cubs Cares Charity, how it ends coming out under the famous Wrigley Field marquee (see right), and how I can typically get some people to do it with me.

Speaking of people who are signed up for the race, What's Next Dave Gal is not looking forward to this race whatsoever. I will save the, "Don't Over Encourage Your Girlfriend Run a Half-Marathon" post for another day, but she hasn't run much since we ran the Chicago Half Marathon together last fall. She said that she had retired from running.

So her running hibernation, plus the weather forecast (mid 30s, snow) has her preparing me for the idea that she might not run. I think she is just being silly, and with all the friends we have participating, I do not take her seriously. I will report back next week.

Notes

Here is an article in Runner's World about Never Bonking Again (forwarded to you by the King of Bonk)
Going to see Black Keys play tomorrow. They are a guitar heavy rock-blues duo who are in my humble opinion, bitch'in.
Here's to good rivalries... (see right)
Yesterday's Workout
Spinning Class 60 Minutes
Crossfit's WOD from Tuesday
Shoulder press 1-1-1-1-1 reps,
Push press 3-3-3-3-3 reps,
Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5 reps
Run 7 Miles on the Treadmill, 59:26 minutes, 8:29 min/mile pace

Early Attempt at Channel Swim... Duo Comes Up 21 Miles Short

2008-04-10T10:59:00.007-05:00

Peak and Pond

My best friend Chuck is attempting to become the very first American to climb Mt. Everest and swim the English Channel. He has already knocked of the climbing part, and he is scheduled to swim this August. It looks like he might have some competition from an MBA student who is trying the swim a little earlier in the summer. In which case, Chuck will be the first Iowan, the first American guy with red hair, the first grandson of a Governor, and the first guy who can use the suffix XVIII after his name to do both.

Anyhow, he is back in Des Moines swimming more than I am running (seriously), which is probably good because I am not currently signed up for any races that long. The Channel is around 21 miles at it's narrowest point, although due to the current it is unlikely to actually end up being that short.

Early Attempt at the Swim

In an effort to support Chuck, the last couple of months I have been following Channel crossing news. I missed this article, but a big thanks to Chuck for pointing it out to me.

This is the story of brothers who tried to swim across the channel in a VERY early attempt in the year. Due to a number of unfortunate factors had to turn back early (after about 20 yards).

Chilly Channel defeats brothers’ swim attempt

A very funny read.

Notes

At Chicago Blue Dolphins masters practice at the 50 meter pool on Tuesday, Fitz the swim coach says, "Do you have a blog?"
"Uh, yeah."
I am not sure why, but for an instant I was incredibly embarrassed. I guess his wife, Mrs. Fitz (his real last name is Fitzpatrick, this is a bad attempt at humor), found it through a Google alert. After I realized I really don't have too much to be embarrassed about, I asked what he thought of it. He said he was ok with it, because I say nothing but good things about the practices and lessons.

Seeing she still has the Google alert, here is a hello and welcome to Mrs. Fitz. Sorry you had to marry a Michigan guy.

Cubs having a rough week in Pittsburgh. Two wins, 29 innings. I will take the wins, but it is tough when you plan to go for a run after the game, and the game lasts another 6 innings.

Here is a great blog entry from Donald and his blog, Running and Rambling. It is about lack of sleep and a recent news story that has run amok about blogging to death. The whole thing is really quite silly, but I can really relate to Donald's take. Between work, family, doing things that keep you sane, and working one's creative outlet, sleep can take a back seat sometimes. One of the many reasons I will never be a sub 2 hour triathlete, or a sub 3 hour marathoner.

An Open Letter to Lance Armstrong

2008-04-09T00:21:00.004-05:00

Dear Lance,

I am just writing you today to wish you good luck in this year’s Boston Marathon. Hopefully they won’t have a northeaster like last year so you can make you goal of mid 2:40s.

I am also very excited to see you run the NYC Marathon this fall. Hopefully I win the lottery too, so I can run with you. By the way, that goal of mid 2:30s there is pretty cool too.

You wouldn’t be thinking about buying a beach house in Kona would you?

I am pretty sure everyone in the multisport world, with he exception of those who want to win, would love to see you there.

Yours truly,

Dave

If You Want to Win an Indoor Tri, Don't Invite Your Brother-in-Law

2008-04-07T07:24:00.012-05:00

A big congratulations goes out to the UIC Triathlon Club for a very well run inaugural indoor triathlon. A second big congratulations goes out to the big winner, my brother-in-law Kevin Browning. Kevin blew away the field on this one, and I wasn't too surprised. He is becoming a very good triathlete. In last year's Accenture Triathlon in Chicago, in only his second tri, Kevin finished the international distance tri in 2:26.

The triathlon was done on time, 10 minutes for a swim, 30 on the spin bike, and 20 on the treadmill. They were very generous on the transitions (I think 10 minutes apiece to change), and the whole atmosphere was very laid back. It was in no way too intense, and a very inviting competition.

I am happy to report that I was very pleased with the swim. My reach goal was to swim 500 yards, and that is exactly what I swam. I stayed on pace and kept it constant throughout the 10 minutes. My next step is to master flip turns, and really work on the efficiency of my stroke, but this was HUGE improvement. Thank you Chicago Blue Dolphins.

In the photo above (taken by What's Next Dave Gal), Kevin is on the left and I am on the right. Kevin finished 26 lengths of the pool to my 20.

The bike was interesting. I had actually picked up new STP cleated shoes for this (I had wanted some for my mountain bike and spinning classes). They on measured how many times the bike wheel went around, having no measurement for resistance. Thus, you had the the resistance off and you were spinning as fast as you could. I went 14.3 "miles." Kevin too first in the bike (by a lot) with 24 "miles" in 30 minutes.

By the time I got to the run, I had some serious lactate acid build-up. On my first two steps on the treadmill I felt like I was going to visit puke city. It was at this time I remembered thinking the day before, 10 miles into that run, that I might not feel the best for my tri.

The worse part was, the high for the men's run was only 2.73 miles in 20 minutes, which would be well with in my reach if I had any legs at all under me.

But I just didn't have any fuel left in the tank. So I set the treadmill at 7:41 min/mile, and then moved it around the 8 minute mark, finishing at 2.53 miles.

Kevin did have some gas left. He kicked out 2.93 to secure his title as champion of the UIC Triathlon.

All in all, really fun experience. It was a great check up to see how the swimming is progressing, and a good reminder that I need to dust off my bike now the weather is changing.

Take homes, congrats to UIC Tri Club and Kevin, and we are on track to improve substantially in Des Moines.

Do I Really Deserve "Step Back" Weeks?

2008-04-05T10:31:00.003-05:00

Ok, let's be honest here... I am not the most consistant trainer at this point in the season.

March for sure, and even April, are build-up months for me this year. I didn't keep the best fitness levels this winter, and I am putting on my base miles for later in the summer. That and I am still spending some time at the office. Well, I could continue my list of excuses forever, but the point is I am not running 5 times a week like I should be.

Not that I am concerned. I don't want to hit it too hard to early, or I will peak too early this summer. There is some plan to all my madness. April and into May will be much harder training months for my second half in Traverse, and the tri in June.

What is the point to all of this rambling? Well last week was a "step back" week in the CARA half marathon training program. We went from a long run of 10 miles, to one of 6, then this week's 11.

When you only run 3 days a week, a step back week is not nearly as useful. It brings up the question, "what are you really stepping back from?" Of course the reason I know this now, is after I did a "great" job stepping back for the last week and a half, our run today was not as easy as it should have been.

Oh, well.

The rest of today: Going to see my neighbors beat up on the Houston Astros.

Tomorrow: My first indoor triathlon.

GO CUBS!!!!!! [And heres to me not drowning tomorrow]

Running

11.42 Miles, 1:36:31, 8:32 Min/Mile

Dick Beardsley, My Hero

2008-04-03T07:05:00.011-05:00

As I get deeper into all things triathlon and distance running, you get to hear and learn about new heroes, great stories of victory and defeat. Names like Pre, DeBoom, Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, Khalid, Macca make great fodder for Runners World and Triathlete. Their stories you hear announcers talk about on Patriot Day, during the Olympic Games, and in Kona. You think about them in on your long runs and your solitary rides.

Dick Beardsley is one of those heroes. Not only for the dramatic races he won and lost, but for his victories and defeats since he last competed on the road.

I had a chance to see Dick speak at the Chicago Triathlon Club's "spring fling" last night. His story is well chronicled, I don't need to go through all of his accolades and issues here. He is probably most famous for his battle with Alberto Salazar in the 1982 Boston Marathon. The duked it out for the last seven miles in an uncharacteristically hot April day This epic run was the topic of the book, Duel in the Sun: Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and America's Greatest Marathon by John Brant.

As I learned last night, this race is not the topic of his motivational speeches. Rather he spoke about how he became a runner and then his later battles verses addiction to pain medication.

His talk is refreshingly humble. He does not brag, nor does not ask or want pity. He does not go into great detail the things that made him most famous, but rather he tells a story of when he was not famous, and when things were not good for him. Still it is not just a story about addiction, but rather a story about how there will be lows as well as highs in life, and how it is important to "stay the course."

I enjoyed the talk immensely. Different than many motivational speakers I have watched, he is truly genuine and honest. About the only thing I absolutely could not believe was that he was a very bad runner in high school.

I had a chance to sit down with him at the end of the evening as he was signing his book for me (Staying The Course: A Runner's Toughest Race) and we had a great little conversation. We talked about my blog, my running and tri plans for the summer, his life back in Austin. Turns out his wife has run the Pikes Peak a number of times. He gave me a few hints for that. He took a photo with me and wished me well.

As I was driving home I reflected on the event. I was very happy to have had the chance to listen to Dick. I couldn't help but feel happy for him that he turned things around. He is one of those heroes from the stories of races, and you want to see those guys doing well. But in telling his story, and in his efforts to help others fighting addiction, his is more than a hero in a race. Dick Beardsley is a hero in life, and I am glad I got the chance to meet him.

Here is a link to the Dick Beardsley Foundation.

Tuesday's Swimming
1500 meters, by myself in the transition group (which was great, like a private lesson)

WND World Meet "What's Next Dave Gal"

2008-04-02T19:02:00.002-05:00

Blog World, What's Next Dave Gal... What's Next Dave Gal, Blog World.

In the tradition of anonymous nature of blogging, have tried to use as few names as possible. Of course I kind of ruined that when I named it after myself (in response to the first rule of blogging, "Be as self-centered as possible").

That being said, I did blatantly steal from "The Sports Guy," Bill Simmons, when I started calling my girlfriend, WND Gal (for What's Next Dave Gal). He for a long time referenced to his girlfriend (and future wife) as "The Sports Gal." Eventually he let her write little blurbs in his column.

There has been some rumblings in the lurking world about what does WND Gal mean, and why don't I just use her name, is he embarrassed by her, why does he write that stupid blog anyway, etc, etc, etc...

Since WND Gal has been so patient with me, between my working, working out, and blogging (which she is learning to really not like), I decided I would devote a whole entry to her so you all get to know her a little better.

As you can see from the photo above, she is a very good sport (and damn good lookin' in a poncho). She is the only women I found that can deal with me 85.7% of the time. For example the photo above was taken opening day. She pinky swore "on our relationship" that she would not complain about the weather, and she more than held her end of the bargain.

I on the other hand, did not make such an agreement and complained about the weather for a good hour or two (read: until I downed my first 2 beers). I digress...

WND Gal is fun, witty, and a perfect companion for me. She both my teammate and my partner in crime. That is why I am renaming her in the blog... she will no long be known as WND Gal... from now on she will be known the blogging community as the What's Next Dave Gal!

Congratulations.

Happy New Year!

2008-04-01T06:49:00.008-05:00

And so it begins...

For all you WND readers out there, you will note that one of the life goals is watching the Cubs win the World Series. My very first hits on this page was from the guy that designed the Cubs Magic Number counter on the right hand side. When I posted it last year about this time he commented on my unreasonable expectations.

When that number read zero last spring, I openly taunted him. But the Cubs were the Cubs and lacking real scoring and a serious number two starting pitcher, they blew it in the playoffs.

So a new season begins, and this year I am going to go into it with a better attitude. I am going to start by thanking Keith Graham for the counter, the hit on the blog, and the mention in his blog. And, while Cubs still have a few holes in their lineup (second starter, lead off hitter, and a manager without brainfarts while writing the lineup), I am going to be quietly and cautiously optimistic. I think this is a team that can make the playoffs. I hope they can still make some move that will make them a better playoff team.

Opening Day

This year major league baseball got the great idea to start the season a little earlier, so that if and when teams from the North play in the World Series, it won't be so cold. So the Cubs opened at home on March 31 this year. Will someone call Bud Selig and tell him what a great idea that was? I just couldn't decide which bikini top to wear, blue or red? I decided to go with long underwear, jeans, boots, rain jacket, and enough beer to keep me warm.

Living in Wrigleyville USA I feel it is my duty to participate in important neighborhood happenings, and there are few more eventful days in my hood than Cubs home opening day. They open the bars at 6 in the morning and the party doesn't stop until the final disappointing out of the Cubs season.

So as I have the last four years I joined a few friends for the welcoming party. We found our spot in the bleachers, put on our galoshes and sat through a couple of rain delays.

Bad News: The Weather, Cubs Hitting, Cub Relief Pitching

Good News: They didn't stop selling beer during the delays, Fukudome (new right fielder from Japan), and funny drunk fans in the bleachers (see below)

Cubs ended up losing 4-3 in 10 innings to the evil Milwaukee Brewers. Magic Number stays at 162.

Good fun was had by all, although at the end of the game I as there by myself with my new friend Alex. Alex is a Captain in the Army on leave from Iraq. My brother-in-law Kevin and I introduced ourselves to him when we got there.

Me, "Who you here with?"

Alex, "I am by myself."

Kevin, "Not anymore. Have a seat. Do you like beer?"

He had an 8:30 PM flight to Dallas to spend a few more nights with his folks before he ships out again. Despite being a University of Illinois grad, he is a good guy and I hope we stay in touch.

I didn't make it to my work hoops game. And because we flew back from Des Moines Monday AM, I didn't have a chance to run. This won't be the best week for workouts.

Really? A Runners High?

2008-03-28T07:34:00.013-05:00

Just when the nerds on Myth Busters were about to call Alan Webb and Ryan Hall, the New York Times runs an article that talks about how the runners high is not an urban myth. Apparently some smart researchers in Germany were able to prove the existence of the runners high using PET scans.

Well I am glad science is proving what athletes have known for a long time, typically you feel better after pushing your body for a while.

Speaking of pushing yourself, I popped off a 10k tempo run on the treadmill last night (it was snowing outside). I hadn't run in a couple of days, so I had some legs under me.

Running

10k, 6.2 miles, 50:07, 8:04 min/mile pace, varied hills routine on treadmill

The Long Pool

2008-03-26T16:44:00.002-05:00

I had a great workout with the Chicago Blue Dolphins masters swim team last night. They hold practice on Tuesday nights at the "big pool" at UIC. The University of Illinois at Chicago Natatorium is a 50 meter pool, which is twice as long as any pool I have ever swam in. It makes for long laps, but I think that is precisely what I need to gain comfort in swimming longer distances.

I continued in the "transition" group, and while the drills can still be challenging, when they actually have us swim freestyle it is not difficult. So, even though we had the long pool, I didn't swim the whole distance all that often. My hope is that they put me in the more challenging group sometime soon.

Swimming

1.5 Hours, Lots of long laps

What about Cross Training??

2008-03-24T22:17:00.001-05:00

Where to start? Whether it is where to start working out, where to start with strength training, or where to start with cross training, I typically reply with CrossFit. CrossFit is a fitness philosophy, regimen, and some have said cult. It has olympic style lifting, gymnastics, and intense functional training. It was written about in this articles in the New York Times, and then again last weekend in this article also in the New York Times.

The workouts are very hard, but they are quick. It is typically around 20 minutes, once a day, three days on, one day off. And if you keep doing it, it works. You get functionally stronger. You will see results. Just know there are easier workouts if you can't do the daily workouts listed on the website (www.crossfit.com).

If you are going to the gym, and need some guidance, start with CrossFit. Do it for a while and you will be impressed. You don't have to be a workout guru to do it, there are scaled back workouts for the rest of us. Give it a shot. You will be pleased with the results.

Now, what do I do with my cross training... well I did the CrossFit workouts over the winter, and they are still what I do for my strength training. I also I have joined a basketball team through work. The first game was Monday night, I hadn't played in a while (3 years), so it took a bit to shake off the cobwebs, but by the second half I was feeing better about it.

We lost (no big shocker there), but we are in a league where we can be competitive, and is a great cross training option for me.

Cross Training:

Basketball, 1 Hour

Happy Easter

2008-03-24T09:24:00.006-05:00

Happy Easter blog world. I am back from a very nice weekend in Marion, Iowa.

Saturday, I went for a run. Nothing fancy, just took off, got lost. Kept is slow and easy. Still a little chilly. Really ready for spring to really start.

Tonight I am playing hoops for the work basketball team. It will be a good change of pace. Also hoping to get a swim sometime today (lunch?).

Here is my run for Saturday. No, I did not see any creepy bunnies on my run, just getting better photos for Ryan.

Running
9.25 miles, 1:23, 8:57 minute/mile pace

Happy Easter... Iowa or Bust!

2008-03-21T12:19:00.008-05:00

Tons going on in Chicago today. It is Good Friday, thus Easter weekend is upon us. WND Gal and myself are taking off for the weekend to visit her parents in wonderful Marion, Iowa. We are going to try to take off early today to beat the Friday traffic out of Chicago. Not only will we be contending against holiday Friday traffic, but there is some winter weather here today, thus the extra motivation to get out a little early.

With the change in location this weekend, comes a change in workout routine. Luckily, there are places to run in most places, and in most US city's there are YMCA's with pools. Unfotunatly, I will be missing my weekly CARA group run, which I have really come to enjoy. Thus it will be a 9 mile run through the Iowa country side (which I have to admit, I am looking forward to).

Not only will I have some time to get out and see some of the rolling hills of my native land, but I will get a chance to run the rolling hills of my native land. Good prep for Pikes Peak (yes, I realize that is a slightly larger hill, but compared to the flat Chicago...)

Last night, quick 5.9 mile run. Annoying because I thought by going by the clock I would be six miles for sure. I wanted a nice slow paced run because my body was killing me all day from my previous workouts. Apparently I was 1/10 of a mile slower than I had expected. Oh well.

Also last night was nice as my sister and her boyfriend came over to my place to watch the Irish clobber poor little George Mason. No, I don't feel sorry for George Mason. They got to go to the final four two years ago. They just got lucky they didn't have to play ND that year.

Next game for the Irish, tomorrow at 5:40. I assume that it is an Easter tradition at the WND Gal's parent's house to watch basketball. If not, I will have to strategically place my run and have it go for about 2 hours longer than expected.

Probably won't post till at least Sunday. Dispite running for president, Al Gore must have never made it to Marion, or at least his wonderful invention the internet never did!

Running:
5.9 Miles, 53:35, 9:04 minute/mile pace (REAL slow)

First Day of Spring? Six Inches of Snow? I call BS!

2008-03-20T15:26:00.002-05:00

Runners World.com has a contest for Spring Haiku’s. Here is mine (with 6 inches of snow on the way):

Welcome to the spring
How I have longed for your sun
Why must snow persist?

The Remedial Group

2008-03-20T09:43:00.003-05:00

I have never been very good at spelling. This was a major issue as a child, as school classes were divided up into groups based on their spelling ability. There was the high level spelling group (the one this guy owned, I am sure), the mid level group, and the dumbass kids. I was in the group of dumbass kids.

To stroke my ego I always told myself that there was no correlation between spelling ability and intelligence. Mind you I kept telling myself that when we were spelling words with no more than 4 letters (and often spelling them wrong). In the end I think I have been vindicated. There were three of us in the dumbass group: Mark O, Kristin R, and myself (not putting full names to protect the innocent). While I have no idea what happened to old Mark O, (Google on revealed he attended his 10 year reunion at North High in Des Moines), last I heard from Kristin R is she is messing with the genetic code of corn for a large company near Des Moines. Thus, at LEAST 2/3 of the bad spelling group has managed to go on to hold jobs at a relatively higher level than our spelling ability would suggest.

Sorry, I digress.

The point is I have never much cared for being in the remedial group. Like most runners/triathletes I own a bit of a competitive streak. Not that I want to win every event, I am not that good at this sport of multisport yet, but I’ll be damned if I am the worse.

So after my smashing success in my Freestlye 1 class, I assumed I would be able to jump right into masters practices with the Chicago Blue Dolphins and be the hero. When I arrived last night, first thing I noticed is Coach Fitz from my swimming class wasn’t there. Not a big deal, I knew he only runs about half of the practices. This particular practice was run by two of his junior coaches (one who had subbed in for one of my classes, the other one was a Domer). I explained that I had just finished the Freestyle 1 class and I should be assigned to their expert group. Jess (the Domer) put me in the “Transition” group. I am not exactly sure what that means, but I can only assume it’s “man who sinks” transitioning to “man who may or may not sink.”

How did the practice go? Not really that bad. Most of it was stroke work and drills, but we didn’t swim for anything longer than 25 yards at a time.

I don’t want to belittle how much my swimming has improved since last year this time; in fact I feel very comfortable swimming freestyle. But I leave a little to be desired when it comes to the drills, and to be honest, while improved, I am still need to work on get the muscle memory to work for swimming. For example, we did 12 25’s at the end of practice, and I only used 17 strokes for the first 3, but then I couldn’t hold that level of efficiency for the rest. [To put this into perspective, I think my friend Charlie said he is down to 11 strokes. Of course he is going to swim the English Channel this summer.]

The coaches were very helpful, but I kind of hope I can sneak into the level one group next time. We will see.

Swimming
Chicago Blue Dolphins practice, around 1.5 hours

Note: GO IRISH!! Beat Patriots! (George Mason, 1st Round NCAA, 9 PM CST, CBS)

Great Speedwork Article from Slowtwitch.com

2008-03-19T10:00:00.001-05:00

I found a great article about how to run faster on the tri site, Slowtwitch.com. It is from 2004 and written by Dan Empfield. Empfield is an editor and writer for Slowtwich.com, but he is better known as an innovator in the trialthlon world, designing the first "speed wetsuit" in 1987 and the first triathlon bike in 1989, both for the company he founded, Quintana Roo. While the article is VERY intense, Empfield makes some good take home points for all of us. Take a look for yourself.

Basically it says if you want to be a much faster runner, you need to run, a lot. Seems like common sense right? Although be warned, the levels at which Empfield is talking about would certainly risk injury for most of us weekend warriors. Despite that, there are good lessons to be learned from this piece.

Here are some good take homes from the story:

"Get into a daily running habit." Good for lots of reasons.

"Run more than once a day." This can add to you mileage while providing some rest. You can't have two hard workouts in one day, but you can do this.

"Run with others." Yeah, as I can attest from last weekend's CARA run, that works well. Most of us runners/triathletes tend to want to stay up with the runner next to you.

"Lose weight." The truth is, if you lose 5 pounds, your minutes per mile will drop. This is what causes a lot of eat disorders in college cross country, but with those of us with pounds to lose it is probably an ok reminder.

"Learn to exert." Here is where Empfield reminds us the body gets used to challenging situations if you keep putting yourself through difficult workouts. It's the whole, "it isn't as bad as it used to be" way of thinking.

"Run fast." He talks a lot about different types of speed work routines, primarily either doing interval days, or tacking it on at the end of a workout, but the point is that you need to practice fast to perform fast.

Here is one plan Empfield designed to be incorporated into your running over two to two and a half weeks (designed for 10k training, for a 37 min 10k goal, yeah I know that is fast, you will have to just do the math):

6 mile run, the middle three miles tempo, at 6:00-6:15 pace [At or just slower than your race pace for a 37 minute 10k -- thus substitute your goal 10k pace here.]
4X800m in 2:45, with a slow, 5-minute 800m jog in between. This is 5:30 pace, and should be a bit uncomfortable to run. You’ll find it difficult to hold form. Your legs will be a bit sore the next day. [For the human runners here, run yours at least a minute faster than your 10k pace. You can do this on the treadmill, but the track is better]
8X400m in 80sec, with a 400m jog in 2:30 in between. This is 5:20 pace, and will be a painful workout. It’ll be hard to hold form. [Again, change the math so the pace is a little faster than the 800 pace above.]
4X800m in 2:40, with a slow, 5-minute 800m jog in between. This is again 5:20 pace, but you’ll find it easier to hold form this time around, as these quicker-paced runs yield surprisingly fast results, at least in the area of motor learning. [Same as 400 pace above]
6 mile run, the middle three miles tempo, at 5:50-6:00 pace. This will be a faster run, with better form, and more even splits, than your first effort at this. [Again just change to your goal 10k pace.]

Overall, it is a great article. There are many more like it at http://www.slowtwitch.com/. Check it out.

Lastly, for those of you who have the fear of falling off the treadmill, here is a few good spills brought to my attention by Daily Triathlon. Watch ridiculous people falling off treadmills.

Here was my quick Tuesday night workout:

Running
On the treadmill, 3.5 miles, 28:06

What is the 3rd Oldest US Marathon?

2008-03-18T07:25:00.004-05:00

Fun Fact: Started in 1956, as a challenge between smokers and non smokers, the Pikes Peak Marathon is the 3rd oldest ongoing US marathon behind Boston and Yonkers. That is Pikes Peak above. I took that photo a few weeks ago from my Aunt and Uncle's neighborhood. I am going to stay with them when I go out for the race.

Last night, I went for dip. It is getting easier, but I am still not good. I did the same workout as March 10. With the exception of warm-ups, it was all 25's and 50's, which isn't awesome. I did do a few flip turns, so there is progress.

I am going to email Fitz today and start hitting the Chicago Blue Dolphin practices. While I am a few months and a lot of swimming skills ahead of last year, I have a ways to go to hit my goals in Des Moines and to swim with Chuck later this summer.

Swimming:

1300 m, around 1 hour

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T08:44:00.007-05:00

Ah yes, the most wonderful time of the year...

It was a very exciting weekend. Ran my furthest on Saturday, at a pretty good pace, mixed in a solid run today, and had a couple of St. Paddy's day celebrations mixed in as well.

Chicago really goes all out for March 17. Above find the river being dyed green, which happens shortly before the downtown parade starts. After my Saturday CARA Training Group, I showered, hopped in a cab, and I made it just in time to see the river turn green. They actually use orange dye to do it. Then we celebrated the old fashion way, by drinking Guinness.

Sunday we decided to have a carbo loading dinner, corned beef and cabbage. The whole thing looked so nice, I decided to let you take a look. While they never eat it in Ireland, Whatsnext Gal really likes it, so why mess with it? It was all quite nice.

But now it is back to the work week.

Here is my Sunday run:

Running:

4 Miles, 34:53, 8:43 Mile Pace

100 Days Till Hy-Vee Triathlon

2008-03-15T11:04:00.009-05:00

Well I noticed this week that it is only 100 days until the Hy-Vee Triathlon June 22 in Des Moines, Iowa. What does that mean? A couple of things:

That I will be a little better prepared this year, and I am looking forward to giving it another shot. If you might remember, sometime in April of last year I decided to buy a bike and "learn how to swim" and enter in their inaugural event. In it I spent 53 minutes in the water (just an olympic distance, 1500 meter swim), which also included a few misdirections. After I finished the swim I was happy to just finish the event (which I did in 3:20:56, not particularly impressive).

This year I am already swimming, the running is again going well (as I am training for a half in April), and I am planning on biking the second the weather gets just a little warmer. Plus, with one under my belt, I have a lot better understanding on how this whole thing works.
Secondly, they ran a very good event in Des Moines last year. They through a ton of dough a the pros, picked a very good route for the age groupers, a very fun one for the pros. And it worked out pretty good for the triathlon as well as they are hosting the last of the olympic trials for the US Triathlon team for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. Pretty cool stuff for Des Moines (my hometown).

Thus our nations finest triathletes also only have about 100 days to see if they can fulfill their olympic dreams. Also pretty cool.

As we are talking tri, I would also like to recommend a new tri website: Daily Triathlon. They have a couple of cool videos on it. One is of an open water swim race in Australia, the other is highlighting a Kenyan running program. Enjoy!

Speaking of Daily Triathlon and Des Moines, here is a little video of a Laura Bennett interview, who won in Des Moines last year.

As for today, my CARA group had a good 8 mile run. Weather was a warm feeling 35 degrees, the wind wasn't quite was bad as last year. I actually forgot my hat and gloves and it turned out ok.

Running:
8 miles, 1:06:05, 8:12 pace

I hope you enjoy the St Paddy's day theme. Today we are off to see the Chicago river get greener, and then we are planning some celebrations.

Some Peoples' Idea of a Dumb Idea

2008-03-13T00:50:00.001-05:00

Dave, "So I registered for the Pikes Peak Ascent Half-Marathon today."
Co-worker, "You know you can drive up that right."
Dave, "That would be a lot easier wouldn't it."
Co-worker, "Yep."

I am excited and maybe a little scared... not that a mountain really cares. I did in fact register for the Pikes Peak Ascent yesterday. According to their website, Ascent Wave 2's (the slower wave, I didn't qualify for the fast wave) 865 spots filled in 1 hour 7 minutes. They still need to confirm my qualifications (that I did a half marathon in under 2:30), but once that is complete I willl be all set to knock off a couple of things off the list. Pikes Peak Ascent as an event is on the list, as is climbing a 14,000 ft mountain. If I don't get up a 14,000 foot peak before August 16, I will just have to kill two items off the list with one "run." Pikes Peak's summit is at the elevation of 14,115'.

I will post more info on this as my training continues, but the more I read about it, the more I get a little "concerned" with what I am getting into.

From their website:

The Pikes Peak Ascent® will redefine what you call running. Sure, they start out like a lot of races on Any Street, USA. But your first left turn will have you turning in the direction of up! During the next 10 miles, as you gain almost 6,000 vertical feet, your legs, lungs, heart and mind will be worn to a ragged nothingness. But it won’t be until your last three miles, with still over 2,000' of vertical to go, that you will realize where the it got its moniker—America’s Ultimate Challenge.
There’s a reason trees don’t bother growing above 12,000' on Pikes Peak. They can’t! Makes one wonder if trees are smarter than runners. Above treeline most runners take 30 minutes or more, some much more, just to cover a mile. What little air remains can’t satisfy the endless stream of zombies hoping only to survive their next step—a death march right out of a scene from Dawn of the Dead. Adding insult to injury, it might start to snow!

Great.

Well I have decided I need to keep challanging myself, this should be a good start.

I got the night off of working out. Joined my good friend Meghan Robb for dinner. Meghan is getting back into triathlons after a few years off. A natural swimmer, she is considering ESCAPE FROM THE ROCK Triathlon this summer. Could be a really cool event!

What was that God? You want me to run?

2008-03-11T19:00:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I don't know if God himself was really speaking to me, but I did get the last seat on an early flight, it was daylight when I got home, and it was 50 degrees outside, so I decided that God was hinting at me that I should go for a run.

Nothing crazy, I had worked out five days in a row, and Monday was a big day, so I made this more of a recovery slow run.

Running:
4.79 miles, 44:13, 9:13 minute/mile. Very comfortable pace.