End of an era

One more day to go here at Intel. I'm getting anxious to start at Columbia. From what I hear it should be pretty busy there, I'm looking forward to serving a purpose. Tomorrow is a formality. I come in and hand over my laptop and my badge. Then I'm out the door. It really hasn't set in yet. 15 years is a long time, especially when your only 34. I've basically grown up here. Being 18 when I started, then meeting Jen. I've spent more time here then I did in school. Probably the thing I am most excited about is the change. EVERYTHING will be different. My route to work, my co-workers, where I swim and run during the day. It's a fresh start, something I could never get by staying with Intel. Based on how excited I am about that alone just proves how ready I am to make this move. Regardless of what happens in the long run I have zero regrets about giving this a go. And did I mention the employee store? We went on Sunday to check it out. I walked in and there were fleeces everywhere. I admit, I love fleece! I walked in and felt like I was home, finally! No regrets!
Training has been going well. I am still having Graston done on my Achilles but it is pretty much pain free at this point. I've decided not to do the marathon since I have missed so much training. Instead I am switching focus to the California Half Ironman in April. I love this course and I think I can have a good race there. My swimming is going really well right now, and I'm thinking about joining a masters team. I'm starting to get some bike fitness back, and the running seems solid even after a couple of light weeks. The key will be sticking to it once I start the new job. It will likely take a little time to adjust to a new schedule, but others are able to do it with much more demanding jobs. I'm looking forward to the challenge of making it work. I'm starting to get excited about next season!!

I Suck At Blogging

So much going on, let me bring you up to speed! Since my last post we went to AZ to visit family and watch the Ironman. Christian, Aleck, and Sarah M all kicked some major ass. Actually watching the race kind of made me think I want to do another one next year...maybe!


On the training front - While training for the RnR marathon on Jan 16th I managed to develop tendonitis in my Achilles. Ok, so maybe it was actually from running the beer mile. Not sure, but finally today I went to see John Foland, a local Chiropractor, for a treatment called Graston Therapy (http://www.grastontechnique.com/). I think it worked, or at least is helping me move in the right direction. After the treatment I was able to come home and run 6 miles with very little discomfort. In the last 2 weeks I haven't been able to do more the 4 miles at a time without significant pain. More ice and another treatment I should be good to go. Now the question is can I get the lost fitness back in time to actually run a fast marathon. Only time will tell.
Perhaps the biggest development since my last update is my new work direction. Yesterday I officially accepted a position at Columbia Sportswear as a Senior Supply Planner. This is a huge change for me since I have only ever worked at Intel. After 15 years I am definitely ready for a change. I think Columbia is going to be a good thing for me for many reasons. Mainly, I really feel like I need a fresh start. That's something you can't ever really get when you change jobs within Intel. Also, I'm excited about working for a smaller company. I think Columbia has 2200 people world wide compared to Intel with over 95k. I'm expecting a period of adjustment, but long term I think it is going to a good move. It's nice too that I'm not leaving Intel as a disgruntled employee. Quiet the opposite actually. Intel has allowed me to do so many things and has been a great place to work. Trust me, I am definitely not taking this opportunity for granted. With the way the economy is right now I am SO grateful to have this option available to me. I am expecting to have to make some sacrifices though with my training. No more will I be able to work from home one day a week. And in the short term no more hour and half swims at lunch. But that's ok. Most people are able to train without those luxuries, so more early mornings and time on the trainer. I think it's going to be worth it if it means a job that is at least some what rewarding. Exciting times!


I think that sums it up. I have been wanting to update, but didn't want to give updates on things that were still in limbo. I hope to be better as I start my new adventures.

The Fountain of Youth

I found it! It's on SE Hawthorne and 29th! Dr. Nathan Pool's Chiropractic office. He specializes in ART, or Active Release Therapy (activerelease.com). Ever since I slipped in my socks on the freshly polished hardwood floor last week my back and hamstring have been a mess. Last week I should have gotten in ~45 miles of running, instead I did 18. Not good 10 weeks out from the marathon. So I asked around and Dave C. recommended Dr. Pool. I went in yesterday and in a 30 min appointment my hamstring is 100% and my low back feels so much better. I can actually touch my toes again. Not sure why, but that's my indicator on how tight my legs and back are. The best part is insurance covers 20 visits a year. So once a week for the rest of this year is the plan. Next is the calves, and then the periformes (ass tendons). After that I will drop down to once a month adjustments and maintenance.
Last night I put my new hamstring to the test. I met the Perkins' at Dunniway and we did 4x3 min hill repeats up Terwilliger. It felt amazing! No pain at all. Even before I injured it I always had tightness when I was running. It never felt good. Last night it didn't feel at all, like it's supposed to. This new found youth couldn't come at a better time with age 34 looming on the horizon I need all of the help I can get.
Other then that not much else new. The annual Ironheads Beer mile is this weekend. Another reason I am happy about being able to run again. I hope to finish a little better then 5th place this year. I've been training constantly with the beer portion of the race, so we'll see what happens. The big question is what to wear? Costume or no costume... It seems too early to bust Wonder Woman out again...

I Witnessed it...

I'm not one that discusses my religious beliefs or political views very often. However, last night left a big impression on me. On my flight up to Washington this morning on the Intel shuttle I had some time to think about the election. Ever since I was in grade school I have learned about all of the significant events in US history that have led to progress. I've always been a little jealous of the generations before mine that have witnessed these milestones. Up to this point in my life the only true monumental events I've experienced have been tragic. Watching the election coverage last night and seeing people brought to tears of joy over something that we as a society voted for was amazing. I will admit up until this point I have never really felt a true connection with my country. I've always felt that if we are such a great nation then why are we so hated around the world? Just last week I learned of a co-worker traveling to Venezuela. For safety reasons she had to purchase a Canadian passport cover so people wouldn't know she was from the US. It's hard to be proud of your country when you have to pretend you're from another. But last night proved to me that we are heading in the right direction. Even if Obama sits in the Oval office for four years with his feet on the desk and does nothing things will still get better. I don't think anyone person can fix things. But the excitement and hope that he has created within my generation and others, I think will re-inspire people to make positive changes. Don't get me wrong, there are still a huge number of people that are against this move, and I don't think that will ever change. But personally I love change. I thrive on it. I liked when Brian Williams held up a poster of the previous 43 presidents last night and they all looked the same, old and white. Change is good once in awhile. Thanks for listening to me ramble.

Beer and Bike Ridding

Another week gone and another Monday morning at my desk with sore, tired legs. Last week was a good week of training and a some what successful Beer Crit on Saturday afternoon. I believe this was the 3rd annual, but the first time I have participated. The race was held at Powell Butte park. The course was about 3 mins long and was mostly smooth single track with some tight turns and a couple steep little climbs. The required beer for the men was Guinness, approximately 14oz per cup. The format was drink a beer ride a lap, repeat 4 times. Yep, it's as hard as it sounds. That's a lot of Guinness to dump down your gullet in that short amount of time. I'll spare the details since it's mostly a blur. Overall I finished 3rd out of 8. Folske smoked it with his super-human bike abilities, and Jay Chech was 2nd thanks to his superior beer chugging. On the women's side Erin P. dominated almost catching Dave C. on the last lap. Next up, the beer mile in 2 weeks. Good times!



On the training side, still running! Last week ended up 5 days and 38 miles. A little light on the mileage, but there was some good quality. I started hill repeats, those hurt. The long run yesterday was good, but the legs were feeling it. 16 miles @ a 7:25 ish pace with HR avg in upper zone 2. Not as fast as last weekend, but better then expected after the beer crit and the hill repeats. Saturday morning was a reality check, summer is gone. Rode out to Sauvies Island in the rain and wind. The only plus was that it wasn't that cold. It was a harsh reminder of what the next few months are going to be like. There's always the indoor trainer I suppose. Swimming, well, it is what it is. I'm still getting it in but I'm feeling a little slow these days. I've been avg'ing about 8k a week. Not bad I guess. It's hard to stay motivated when there's no race on the immediate horizon. I did sign up for a swim clinic in a couple of weeks. I think I am ready for some feedback on form. Hopefully this gets me motivated again.

Bever Fever Duathlon

It almost didn't happen. Sunday morning at 5am when the alarm sounded I was so close to turning it off and rolling back over. But I laid there for a second and thought about it. I knew if I skipped the race I'd check the results next week and regret not doing it. So I threw my feet on the floor and staggered to the bathroom. We arrived in Philomath just before 8am. I had just over an hour until race start. So I had plenty of time to set up my gear get registered and freeze my ass off. It was a chilly 38 degrees but sunny and clear. So the race started pretty close to on time. The first 5k was a loop around town with a couple rolling hills and one short steep climb. I came into transition in 6th with a new 5k PR(18:19). Once I got my helmet on I was off. Within the first 3 miles I had climbed up to 2nd and begin the hunt for first. The 18m course was nice country back roads with rolling hills and 2 pretty good climbs. I was able to get within sight of the first place guy but wasn't able to close the gap he had on me. My legs were not happy today after doing a tough ride the Friday night before with Grant. Typically in a race of this distance I should be avg'ing ~310 watts. Instead I was struggling to hold 290. Into T2 I was about 50 seconds back from the leader. But based on his run split on the first leg I knew my chances of catching him were slim. The last 5k was on the Philomath high school's XC course. It was 2 laps and had a lot of sharp turns and varying terrain. It was painful but fun and it went by fast. I finished about a minute and a half back from the leader but managed to hold on to 2nd. I was happy that even with tired legs I was able still able to crank out the fastest bike split. The downside was that I have beaten the guy that won in 2 other Tri's this year. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.

Run

Over the last few weeks I have started to appreciate running again. It's been a while since I have had the opportunity to really focus on it and make it my priority over the bike and the swim. The only downside is the loss in fitness in the other areas. I am having a bit of a hard time letting the bike fitness go. I am still riding, but not nearly as much as I was. Since the bike has become my strength in Tri's I am very hesitant to neglect it too much. With the base I've built over the last year though I should be able to bounce back pretty quickly after RnR marathon. It's good to be a runner again though!
This coming weekend I am planning to get a race in and us some of this fitness I have been trying to build and maintain. The issue I am having is trying to decide which race to do. There is a half marathon downtown on Sunday, but I don't feel like I am ready for that yet. It would be fun though since so many Ironheads will be doing it. Or there is a the OSU tri club's Beaver Fever Duathlon (run/bike/run) in Corvallis. This sounds the most tempting since I could break up the run with a little 18 mile ride. This may be better then an actual Triathlon for me since I wouldn't have a swim to slow me down. Who knows, good thing for day of race registration I guess.
Earlier this week we were in Disneyland with our twin nephews for their 8th birthday. Good times... I love Space Mountain! It's always nice to get home though, the crowds get a little old after while. Disneyland would be so much more fun if there wasn't so many kids there :) Fortunately while we were there I did manage to run everyday. On Tuesday we drove down to Huntington beach and I ran from there to Newport beach and back (about 10 miles). Flat, but great scenery. It was nice to get away from D-land for a few hours. The other two days were running around Anaheim. Not the ideal place to run. Both times I got a little lost and found my self a little concerned for my safety. But when your lost and a little scared the time flies by! Like I said, it's nice to be home...

Hunnington Beach

Flakey

So yes, I am feeling a little like a flake lately. A couple of posts ago I was all fired up about doing the SOMA Half. Shortly after I decided, Scott posted my training plan. I don't know why but I just wasn't feeling it in the workouts. I was getting them in but was dreading the actual race. I'm not sure if I was just getting burned out a bit or what. Anyway, I've changed my mind again and I will not be racing. I decided I didn't want to waste the time, energy, or money for something I was excited about. Since I made that decision the workouts have been feeling outstanding again. Today will be my 6th day in a row of running, and I should get close to 50 miles this week. I've backed off of the riding a bit, but am still getting 3 rides and 3 swims in per week. It feels good to be getting the running endurance back though. Right now I am getting over the hump of sore and tired. It's the point in which you think "how am I going to run today with these tired legs" but when you start running they feel great. The last 3 days have felt like that and each day the runs get faster and feel better. RnR Marathon is still a long way off so I really need to stay focused on not over doing it like I have in the past. Nightly stretching and recovery drinks after each run have been key.
Speaking of marathons, last Sunday we went down and watched the Portland Marathon. It was a harsh reminder of how hard marathons are. Trying to run that hard for that long hurts. Especially with the goals I have in my head for January, it's really going to hurt! But it was great to see so many friends coming in looking strong. There were, of course, the train wrecks that pushed beyond their limits and paid for it. Like the guy who was projectile vomiting as he ran up the street to finish. He was under 3 hrs, but it was not pretty. Then there was the lady with what looked like mud running down her legs. Needless to say it wasn't mud... I'll admit I gagged a little as she passed. Why do we do these things to ourselves... Oh ya, cause it's fun!

The Great Tuna Adventure

This last Saturday Rob P and I set out to the coast. That afternoon we fished the Neacanicum River just off hwy 26. This is where I caught my biggest fish up to that point. It was a 10 inch trout. I was very excited. After few hours we continued on to the booming town of Hammond just outside of Astoria. We met up with our guide Jad, Capt Chuck, and the other two guys that were fishing with us the next morning. The goal was to head out before dawn, stop for some bait and out into the ocean in pursuit of Tuna. The unique thing about this trip was the fact that we would be using fly rods rather then normal rods. The main difference is the length. A normal rode is much shorter and stiffer which gives you more leverage once you hook into the fish. With a fly rod the pole bends almost completely in half and makes if difficult to get the fish up to the boat. Especially when it's a Tuna fish.
So we were up at 4:45, mostly because we couldn't sleep. We loaded up the 36ft boat and headed out. A quick stop in Ilwaco for live sardines (bait) and we were off. The Columbia river bar is one of the roughest bars in the world and this was my first time crossing it. I was excited to experience it, but a little nervous about getting sea sick. I have never had the issue before, but my actual time out in the ocean is very limited. As we progressed towards the mouth of the river the swells grew and it became a noticeably rougher ride. It was amazing, the sun was just coming up, it was clear and relatively calm. It was a perfect morning.
We arrived at the fishing grounds at about 9:30 in the morning, about 30 miles out at sea. On the way out we saw a whale and some sea lions. We dropped the lines and started fishing. Within 20 mins we started catching fish. It was crazy at first. One person would get a fish on and yell "fish on" and everyone else would start reeling in their lines as quickly as possible to prevent getting tangled. Through out the day we had a fish on every 20 to 40 mins. Typically the goal is to find a large school of fish and throw out the live bait to attract them and bring to the surface. Then you cast your line into them and hope they take your fly. In this scenario it is normal to have multiple fish on at once around the boat. Unfortunately the wind had picked up so much that it was impossible to see the schools or really use the bait. But total we still ended up with 10 fish caught and 3 others that got away before we could get them to the boat. Not a bad day at all.
Overall it was an awesome trip. It is unbelievable how strong and fast a Tuna fish is. I had no idea. Also, just being out on the water that far off shore is very cool. You see so much more wildlife. I can't wait to do it again next year. Unfortunately the season is pretty short since the Tuna travel with the warm currents. So they really only show up from mid to late July through early October. But, I think that makes it that much better, makes you appreciate it more when it's so limited. In the meantime it will be back to the river in search of those little guys. Everything is going to seem little after this...

Here's a video that Rob put together:

http://perkwire.com/tunafishing

And some photos:

But wait, there's more!!

Just when I thought my Tri season was over I decided to do one last race. I tried to get into IMAZ, but no luck. So I am going to do the Soma Half IM in Tempe on 10/26. Jen and I did this race last year and it was REALLY hot. I remember finishing that race thinking "well, at least the full Ironman won't be this hot" and it was... So when I tell myself that there's no way it could be 97 degrees 2 years in a row I catch myself knocking on the nearest piece of wood. It's kind of nice to have the fitness to decide to jump into a half IM 4 weeks prior. I think it will work well. Scott has me running a lot right now as I build a base for Marathon training leading up to Rock N Roll marathon in January. My bike fitness seems to be hanging in there and the swim is feeling pretty good right now. So why not race?


On the job front, still not very busy. Should start to pick up again next week. I've been continuing my search outside Intel and have stumbled upon some interesting leads. I'll update ya'll on those later if they workout. Keep your fingers crossed!


Jeep update - I LOVE this vehicle! It has changed my life. I am a much happier person now that I own a Jeep again. I can't explain it... But there's definitely a connection there. It's strange because it is probably one of the slowest and clumsiest vehicles I've ever owned, but I always look forward to driving it! I got some new shoes for it yesterday. After taking it in the sand a couple of weeks ago I was unhappy with the lack of traction with the stock tires. So I found some mud terrain tires that are stock on the Rubicon version and swapped them out. Once I sell the stock wheels/tires on Craig's list I should just about break even. Let the wheel' in began!
My next post should include pictures of REALLY big fish! This Sunday is the big Tuna trip. Weather looks perfect...


P.S. I was just proof reading this entry before I posted it and I realized how strange I am. What a weird mix of topics. Not sure how I got this way... Wait until I post my list of top 10 favorite songs to do trainer intervals too. I'll give you a hint, it contains music from Crosby Stills & Nash, Disturbed, Lil Wayne, Johnny Cash, and the Greatful Dead.

Post Sabbatical

Two weeks back at work and it's not so bad. Work has been really slow though. It's been a busy two weeks outside of work. Last weekend we were at the beach camping, fishing, and crabbing with the Perkins'. Had a beach fire and hung out, good times. Last Sunday we jumped into the Pints to Pasta 10k at the last minute. The first 2 miles felt great, then my legs reminded me that I was only 2 weeks off of IMCA and 5:30 pace was unacceptable. So I watched Rob and Chris V quickly pull away as I suffered the last 4 miles. But this is the only time of the year that drinking beer before 10am is ok. The result is usually a nap from noon to 4, but it's worth it, the beer is free after all.

This last weekend was a tough but fun Mt. bike ride up at Browns Camp. I only had a couple notable wrecks this time, but I feel like I've been in a car accedient. I am sore in the strangest places. I'm sure part of it is getting old. Overall it was a lot of fun though. Other then that not a lot new. Starting to pick the training back up to a sustainable level. It's nice to get be back on a routine even if it is reletively light.

So what's next? Thinking about doing the Run Like Hell half marathon at the end of October. The main focus starting next month will be the Rock 'n Roll marathon in AZ on Jan. 11th. I hope to qualify for Boston and check that off the list. Right now it's looking like the next triathlon won't be until next April when we do the California Half Ironman. I am bummed that the season is over, but on the other hand I'm not craving to race one right now. The running races seem to be enough, and I hope to try my hand at Cyclo-cross soon while I still have the bike fitness.

In other news - Rob P. and I will be heading to the coast on Sept. 28th to fly fish for Tuna. It is supposed to be very intense. Check out the video on Rob's website: http://www.perkwire.com/oceanfishing.html. It should be interesting since to date the biggest fish I've caught on a fly rode is about 6 inchs long and these tuna are usually about 2-3ft long. Should be cool.

Finish Video

Here's my finish line video from IMCA....

Sabbatical Summary

So I've been trying to think of the best way to summarize my sabbatical. I've come up with a couple ways to quantify it. Pictures and numbers. The numbers are the best way to wrap up the training I was able to do. The pictures below are from my many adventures over the last 8 weeks. It sucks to come back, but at the same time it was a great opportunity that most people never get. This is what I keep telling myself today anyway. So far it's working OK...

So here's sabbatical by the numbers:

Training:

Miles Swam - 39

Mile Biked - 1057

Miles Ran - 236

Amount spent at Starbucks - $226

Miles put on the Jeep - 3014 (mostly to and from Starbucks)

Pictures:

#1 - Murphy on one of our many adventures together...

#2 - Training in Penticton the month before the race with Scott. One of the few places I could live other then Portland

#3 - Chris V in Canada the day before the race. Chris is great to have around when you need to lighten things up.

#4 - The best post race meal to date! The Rusty burger (2 patties, double cheese, double bacon).

#5 - What better way to commemorate a shitty race then by getting a tattoo of it, and no it's not on my ass (but in hind sight...)

#6 - The hardtop hoist project. Much more time consuming then first planned, but well worth it!

Searching for that Silver Linning

The thing about Ironman is sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. Going into yesterday I was in the best shape I've ever been in both physically and mentally. Then on top of that the weather was perfect! Unfortunetly though the week leading up to the race I wasn't feeling right. Extreme fatigue and light headedness seemed to persist daily without ever getting better or worse. It wasn't until Saturday afternoon when things went downhill. It was likely the stress of the race made things worse. By Saturday evening I had a light grade fever and major aches and pains. I thought for sure I was going to wake up with a full blown cold or flu. Instead I woke up at about 2 am after a really hard sleep and soaked in sweat. I think the slight fever I had broke and I was actually feeling better. At 4 am when the alarm went off I felt a pretty good. So off to the race we went.

So fast forward to the race start... The swim was good. I found a spot towards the outside and in the very front. I normally wouldn't start in the front but no one else was stepping up. So I figured I would go for out. Right before the gun went off I turned around and there wasn't very many people behind me. The cannonn blew and I jumped in and went hard. Within seconds a wall of people washed over me. Not sure why they didn't start in front but I would rather get pushed out of the way then try to climb over people. The swim went by fast and wasn't too physical. My time was almost identical to AZ. I was very happy with that based on how Lake Stevens went.

On to the bike I was feeling pretty good. My HR was lower then usually out of T1 which has always been a big issue for me. About an hour in I started getting blurred vision just before the headache set in. It was a good one! Not sure what brought it on, but it hung around in my temples and eyes well past Richter (The first major climb). Shortly after the climb I took a little caffine gu to see if that would help and it did. The pain dulled a bit and became much more tollerable but never fully went away. Just before mile 60 I was cruising feeling good. It was looking like I was on track for about a 5:20 bike split until I heard that dreaded noise. The sound of 130 psi of air leaving your tire in less then 10 seconds. I quickly came to a stop and assesed the situation. I managed to stay pretty calm, but I knew this would have a major impact on my bike split. I quickly pulled the wheel off and went to work. One leeson learned here, make sure your valve extender on your spare is long enough for your deepest wheel. I didn't realize mine was too short until I got the tire on. So I had to pull it off and take the one off the flat tire. Unfotrunetly I had broke it when I ripped the flat tire off the wheel. With some tweaking and a little luck I was able to get it too work. So 8 minutes later I was up and rolling. Since I was on a downhill it felt like 500 people passed me while I was fixing it though. Needless to say I was a little pissed. My first instinct was "screw it, I'm going to push the rest of the bike as hard as I can". Then I did the math and realized I still had 52 miles to go. So I backed off a little but did keep a steady pace. My legs felt good, but my nutrition started to fail toward the end. I would take a drink of water or Infinite and it would come right back up.

Off the bike I actually felt pretty good. I laid off the nutrtion until mile one and things were going well. Mile 1 was a 7:45 and my HR was right on. This was the one! Things went well the first 5 miles. Then I started to slow a bit as the headwind really picked up. At times it was strong enough to almost blow my visor off. Just before the turn around the wheels came off. My stomache cramped and my jog turned into a walk, then a sloooow walk. This is when the emotions flood in. It's a mix of falling short of personal expetations, the bitter sweet of seeing all of your friends and team mates excel around you, and the months of prep that go into these races feeling wasted. Needless to say it was a long lonely 8 mile walk in the rain. But it gave me time to quit feeling sorry for myself and put things in perspective. I had thoughts of dropping out, but I'm sooo glad I didn't. It pretty much came down to finishing what I started. I thought of how Jen pushed through her race in AZ and was out there a hell of a lot longer then I was. I felt like I would be letting her down if I gave up. So I started trying to jog off and on as much as I could. As I passed the mile 25 marker I saw Jen and got a little choked up. Then there was Chris V with a A&W Chicken bucket on his head! This was exactly what I needed! He handed me the bucket and I put it on my head. The last mile is an out and back so it is packed with people. Needless to say when you have a chicken bucket on your head that says "Chubby Chicken" you get a lot of attention. These cheers pushed me to run the entire last mile.

So in the end it was a tough and somewhat dissapointing day, but it is what it is. Number 7 done!

BIG congrats to all of my Ironhead team mates that kicked ass out there!

Here's another random picture of me hanging with the locals in Levenworth on the way to Penticton:

Here we go

Lucky #7? Guess we'll find out soon enough! IMC starts in 16 hrs. Not too sure how it's going to go at this point. All week I have been feeling like a turd. Very tired, no energy. Not sure whats up. I am hoping it is just the taper, but I've never had this issue before. I figure if I was getting sick it would have hit me by now. So I am going to go out there tomorrow and give it everything I have. Hopefully I snap out of it once I jump into the water. I guess there always has to be something. After all, this is Ironman. Thanks to everyone that has wished me luck and supported me along the way! It's time to get it done.

Life's a beach

Well, after a tough couple weeks of training Murphy and I thought we would treat ourselves to a little R&R today. We woke up this morning and decided to take a little impromptu trip to the beach. We loaded up and headed out. We ended up at Delray Beach just north of Seaside. One of the few beaches in Oregon that you can still drive on. After much ball playing and hole digging we made a quick stop in Cannon Beach for salt water taffy and caramel corn before making the quick trip home. There are times when I am driving to work and I think to myself "I would sure love to pass the exit off hwy 26 to work and keep on going to the beach". Today was that day. These are the types of things I wanted to do on Sabbatical. So far so good!

Like I said, the last few weeks have been pretty good training. Last week was the last "big" one. A few notable highlights were my long run. It was 2 laps around Hagg Lake (~21 miles) after a 2800-ish yard open water swim with Christian. What a great place to run in the early morning during the week. Lots of hills and wildlife (4 deer and a coyote), and very few cars. The day before that was another 5 hour ride. I went into this ride with tired legs, but ended feeling pretty good. Then on Sunday morning bright and early I had an 11 mile run with 3x10min threshold intervals. I hate running early in the morning, then to have to do threshold repeats?!? I had been dreading this workout but it ended up going very well. I managed to finish up in time to make it to Salem for my Niece's 3 year old birthday party!

This week is still some good volume, but a little lighter on the interval side. I still have some threshold stuff and 5 swims scheduled though. Next week we head north! I am really looking forward to toeing the line for IMC! I don't think I have ever felt this prepared both mentally and physically. Now if I could just figure out how to not go back to work...

Blue Lake Oly Tri and Fishing Report

Yesterday was the Blue Lake Triathlon. This is the same course that the June race covers. This race is usually a good bench mark since it is a flat course and the conditions are usually pretty consistent from race to race. In June I went 2hrs & 7mins and change. My goal this time was to break 2hrs & 5mins, improve on my bike split and push the swim as hard as I could. Finally I was able to do all of the above. The only downside to this race was loosing 3rd place with less then a tenth of a mile to go. Chris Bell passed me (again) and surged hard enough that I couldn't stay with him. He is a strong runner and ended up beating me by 14 seconds. Oh well, not much I can about that. But this is the second race he has done this. Lesson learned, I need to push the bike extra hard when he is in the race. Here's the whole story:

Leading up to the race I have had some big weeks with some tough workouts. On Saturday before the race I was a little concerned because my legs were tired and heavy. With a couple easy workouts and a long ice bath that Jen forced me to take I was able to bounce back by Sunday.
Race morning we arrived at the venue early. After a warm up run with Grant F. (the overall winner) I suited up and headed to the water.
The swim started out good and I was off the front with the lead pack to the first buoy. Around the first buoy I lost the pack and ended up with no feet to draft on. I really tried to focus on my form and pushing as hard as I could. There were a few times I would let up a little, but I was able to catch myself more quickly and stay on track. After talking with others is likely the swim course was a little longer then it was in June. This race has the reputation for inconsistent swim courses. Oh well, ether way it was a PR, 24:17.
T1 was good, no issues. As usual Trevor was in out much quicker then I was and we headed out on the bike together. In the past I have always feared that while mounting my bike I would catch my crotch on the back of the seat. Well... guess what happened yesterday... Yep, the crotch of shorts got caught but my feet managed to clip in. Not good, especially with a hundred spectators standing around. Fortunately I unclipped my foot just before I fell over. So I didn't go down, but I'm sure I looked pretty darn stupid.
The bike was pretty much the same as June. The only difference was my HR was a little lower and my legs never really felt tired. At both turn arounds There was Trevor, on my ass. In the end this is likely the reason I pr'd the bike. I was a little frustrated actually because I didn't want to push as hard as I did. Mentally I think I was feeling a little lazy I guess. I'm glad he was there though, I needed that. In the end though he ended up beating my bike split by one second and taking the "fastest Ironhead Oly bike split" record. Well deserved though, he has been racing very well this year. My time was 57:20.
T2 - I sat down, as I usually do, to put on my socks. With numb feet I struggled a little get them on. It didn't help that Trevor was running out of T2 already. Crap! I got my shoe on and took off after him. I caught up quickly and surged ahead in an attempt to control the pace a little. Within the first half mile my feet warmed up and I clicked into a groove. This never happens this early! My legs felt like springs and I felt my stride relax and stretch out. What a great feeling, FINALLY! About a mile in I saw someone ahead and realized it was Dave Campbell. This guy is fast when he's having a good day. He started in the wave before me so I knew I had a minute on him if I could finish with him. I managed to get within 20 yrds, but could never completely catch up. My goal within the last mile changed to "just keep him in sight". As I stayed with him he begin to push. I think I negative split most of my miles thanks to him. As we passed the mile 6 marker I began to hear foot steps. I tried to push but my HR was maxed and my breathing and form began to fall apart. Chris passed and I tried to hang on but had nothing left. I did managed to stay within 30 seconds of Dave though so 4th was were I ended up. My run time was 39:53.

Ironheads kicked ass as usual. Grant "g-funk" Folske smoked the race and won overall. In the process of pushing me Trevor came in 3rd in our age group with a great race. Jason K, AJ, and Taylor also raced well out there. Congrats to Taylor on his first Oly distance. In the Sprint race Darrin Smith had a huge PR and Aleck once again dominated by defending his overall win from last year (when he kicked my ass in the swim and held me off on the bike and the run). Amazing how much he's improved over this last year! I'm anxious to see how he does at IM AZ in November. I have a feeling he is going to murder it!

Jen also raced the Olympic distance for the first time. After not feeling very good for the last week she toughed it out on race day and finished strong. She's really become a seasoned pro out there. I'm very proud of her toughness and strength.

On the fishing front... No "big" news to report, but I did catch my first fish! Size isn't supposed to matter right? I'm going to go with no this time. My fish wasn't very big in size, but he had a lot of fight! I caught him on the Clackamas last Monday with Rob P. my fishing mentor. Thursday we headed out to the Wilson and did some fishing there too. Great scenery, but not many fish that were hungry. The water was clear enough that you could see some of them though. Not sure if that is a good thing or not. I'm looking forward to getting back out there soon. The fall run of cut throat should be heading up the Wilson next month. I may have to take a sick day or two...

Week #3 - Almost half way...

Ahh, the end of another big week of training. 4 weeks until Canada. Last week ended up being just over 20 hrs and 15 workouts. This week ended up being 22 hrs in 14 workouts. Lots off biking and running over the last two weeks with a total of 435 miles on the bike and 89 miles on in the running shoes. For the most part the workouts have been feeling good. This coming week is a bit lighter and will allow for a little fishing. Next weekend is the Blue Lake Olympic tri. I'm anxious to see where my fitness is for this race after a light week. This will be my last race before IMC.

Other then that not much new. The sabbatical life is a good one. It does have me contemplating what I want to do career wise. Realistically I will likely stick with Intel for a while, but I think I will start to monitor the Nike postings and see if anything interesting pops up. I guess it never hurts to look.

In other news Jen and I made it out to see a movie last week. We saw Step Brothers with Will Ferrell. I would suggest saving this one for a rental. It would be perfect for a rainy day trainer ride. I think that's it for now. I hope to have an update soon with some fishing pics. I have yet to catch a fish on a fly rode. This could be the week! Stay tuned...

Tales From Penticton

Well, I've been in Penticton BC since Thursday. We rode the course on Saturday at a blistering pace (105 miles in 5hrs) then ran a total of 2hrs and 50 mins today. And did I mention the swimming? This has to be one of the best places on earth to swim. This morning was perfect! The water is perfect temp, calm, and clear and there are no sharks! I have one last swim tomorrow before I head back home on Tuesday. Overall it's been a really good trip. I've met some very cool and very fit folks here. The number of elite triathlete's in this town is amazing. We watched a "local" Olympic distance race this morning. Wow, these guys and girls are fast! But they know how to put on a race here. Prize money for the top 3 finishers and a really good announcer. It was the same guy that is known as the "voice of IM Canada". Overall a much different experience then say, a race at Blue Lake or Hagg Lake. I guess that's all for now!

Sabbatical - Week 1 Done

What a week! It started with spending a few hours at my Mom's house for her birthday. On Wednesday my Hard Top hoist was delivered by the UPS guy. Within 2hrs the top was off the Jeep and hanging from the ceiling of the garage.

Friday was spent at the Portland International Raceway with Rob P. We went to watch the Historic Car Races. The highlight was getting to ride in the passenger seat of a brand new BMW M3 for two laps around the track. It was $20 that was in support of a local charity. On the back side of the lap we hit 108 mph. It was amazing how fast it could take the turns. Rob was the VW R32 in front of us. Here are a couple pictures.

After that it was Bud Light and classic stock cars. I've always wanted to check these races out. It was a good day. I felt very manly!

Saturday was spent spectating at the Hagg Lake Triathlon where as usual the Ironheads kicked ass. It was fun to be out on the course and cheer people on. Sunday was my fly fishing class on the Clackamas river. No pun intended here, but I think I'm hooked. I didn't actually catch anything, but I had a few strikes, and that's enough to keep my coming back for more. It's cool to go do something new like that and notice things going on that have always been there but I've never noticed. For example when we first got there we had to check out what the fish were feeding on. This required us to flip over some rocks in the river and see what types of bugs were developing. Also, we watched what types of bugs were flying around above the water. Then the key is matching up a fly in your fly box to what is in the water. It reminds me of 8th grade science class.

Mixed in all of these activities there were of course a few workouts. Not too many this week because of Lake Steven last weekend, but there were a few. I did a 12 mile run on Friday morning before the car races and was able to avg a 7:30 pace with my HR in zone 1. My fitness is good right now. Next week I head to Penticton to train with Coach Scott on the IMC race course. I'm really looking forward to that. So, back to business! two heavy training weeks coming up. It's to focus more on resting betweens workouts. Of course I'll need to sneak in some fishing now and then... Fortunately the rivers are cold so its good for soaking the tired legs.

Lake Steven's

Lake Steven's Half Ironman was this last Sunday. We drove up with Rob and Erin early Saturday morning. We hit the expo... the expo was a booth to buy parking passes and a booth selling bike jerseys, that's it. We attended the mandatory meeting and picked up our packets. From there we headed out to the lake to get in a 30 min spin and drop off the bikes. As Erin and I were out riding my bike started having issues. It kept skipping between gears and the rear cassette was rattling. I assumed it was loose. When we got back I headed over to the local bike shop and had them take a look. Apparently I wasn't the only person with bike issues. The shop was SLAMMED. Total chaos! So I dropped it off and we went to get some lunch. I came back an hour later and it was more crowded then when I dropped it off. Even Sister Madonna (the 78 year old nun) was there trying to get her tires glued up. Fortunately for me my bike was fixed and ready to go. I took it for one last spin up and down the street before checking it in.
Sunday morning came early. We were up at 4 and to the race site by 5. I got everything setup and was ready to go by race start at 6:38. The water was warm and pretty clear. The swim start was a little crowded. You had to jump off a dock and tread water, but we were packed into a pretty small area. When the gun went off it took a few strokes to get some space. Once out I found the underwater rope that runs the length of the course. This was nice because you didn't have to look up to sight much. The down side was I kept running into to slower folks from the wave that started in front of me. Overall the swim felt good. I felt like I was actually racing it for the first half rather then just getting through it. After making the last turn I started to get tired and lost focus for a couple minutes. This definitely cost me some time. Once I realized and snapped out of it I picked it up again to the finish.
Through T1 and on to the bike was smooth, no issues. Once I got going on the bike I noticed my heart rate was still pretty high as it usually is out of the swim. I decided to focus on my watts and not to worry about my HR. As expected after about 20 mins it started to come down. I had heard this course was hilly, but wasn't sure exactly what to expect. There were a lot of short steep hills with a couple longer sustained climbs. Scott had given me power ranges to stay in when hitting the hills and this was key on this race. It was frustrating on the first lap as people would fly by me on the hills, but I always caught them on the flats. Usually once I passed them back that was the last I saw of them. The entire ride I kept coming up on team mate Jason K. I would get within 50 yards of him then we would hit a hill and he would take off again. This happened up until about mile 52 when I finally caught him. He passed me back right away and that would be the last time I would see him until the out and backs on the run. Overall the bike went very good. I got in all of my nutrition and my pacing allowed me to run better then I have in the past.
Off the bike my feet were numb and they hurt as I tried to run through T2. Once out on the run they warmed up quickly. The run went by really fast on this course. I had a bit of a side cramp for the first 3 miles, but it went away after I backed off the amount of water I was taking through the aid stations. At about mile 6 another team mate, Jake, caught me and passed me easily. I knew he was coming and I knew he is a much faster runner then I am, so I accepted it and encouraged him as he went by. Right after that another guy in my age group passed me as well. This sent me into a mini pity party. I was in a funk for about 2 miles before I got my second wind. I think I was between miles 8 and 9 when I decided to push it for a while and see what happens. At this point in the race I had not met any of my goals. I had not broken 2:30 on the ride, I had not swam under 32 mins, and I was likely not going to break 4:40 over all. The only remaining goal was a PR. I knew I needed to pick it up if I was going to do this. The last 4 miles felt outstanding. I pushed my heart rate into zone 5 and my legs wanted more. In the last 5k I managed to catch back up to Jake. This gave me that little extra boost I needed to push the last hill. I came in at 4:43:33. This was a 1 minute PR over Hula man last year. I think this course was much tougher though. Overall the race went very well for me. Except for the couple of little things I am pretty happy with how I executed my plan. As always though I wanted to go faster...
Props to the entire Ironheads team! Congrats to Kaytee as the overall female age group winner. Also congrats to Jake B on his 45 min pr, and Heather R with her 56 min PR! Also, thanks to Jake and Jason K for keeping me motivated out there. These events are so much more fun when you have that comradery and friendly competition. I am so lucky to be part of such a great group of people.

Free at last, free at last...

Well, off I go. I just finished packing my office (It's moving to a different area of the building while I'm out). My email inbox is down to two messages, it's typically over 30. I guess it's almost time to take the victory walk out the door. It still hasn't totally hit me that I don't have to think about work at all for 8 weeks. I think Sunday afternoon it will set in. I'm pretty focused on Lake Stevens HIM right now. I really want to have a good race. I'm ready for one. No excuses this time. I'm recovered, well rested, and feeling good. My swimming "feels" better. I think watching the Olympic trials has helped. The visual images in my head when I'm swimming of Michael Phelps hauling ass definitely make me feel faster. I hope to use this on Sunday during the race. That guy is a machine! I love watching good swimmers, it makes me want to become a better swimmer. I guess the same goes with the running and biking. I can't wait for the Olympics!

Ok, I'm outta here. I'll post a race report next week. Have a fun 4th of July!

Sabbatical: So close I can smell it...

And it smells gooood! Less then 4 days to go. I realized today that this will be the first summer I've had completely off (no school, no work) since 9th grade. My sophomore year of high school I started my first job and have been working ever since. This weekend will be a good kickoff too. We head to Seattle Saturday morning and I am racing the Lake Stevens Half Ironman on Sunday. I am really looking forward to this race! My workouts have been feeling great over the last two weeks so I'm thinking a PR is possible (So yes, I believe :)). The conditions are looking favorable so we'll see what happens.
The build to Canada is coming along. This last week was the biggest since March I think. It was capped off by a great long ride on Saturday with Kaytee and Jennifer W. We rode from Troutdale up into the Mt. Hood area. We climbed most of the way up to Lolo pass. Total climbing for the ride was ~6k feet in 83 miles. Here is a picture from where we turned around:

















Sunday was an 18 mile run broken up between the waterfront and Forest Park. Totals for the week looked like this:
Swim: 12900 yrds - 4 workouts
Bike: 143 miles - 2 workouts
Run - 55 miles - 6 workouts
Total - 18hrs 20 mins

Hot off the press

Here is the article I mentioned in my last post:
http://www.forestgrovenewstimes.com/sports/story.php?story_id=121435270709437100. Most o the facts are accurate. Only a couple little things are off. Now that I'm famous maybe I should start looking for an agent?!?

Too many factors!

So last week was another solid week of training. On Saturday I had another big brick workout. My last one was two weeks ago and I had crapped out on the run. After chatting with Scott about it we narrowed it down to not enough calories on the bike and probably not enough water. So I upped my malto intake on the bike and added in some gu on the run to see if that helped. So Saturday started with a ~1800 yrd swim in Hagg Lake. Then I rode 60 miles in 3 hrs followed by a 2 hr run. The run was supposed to be 2hrs 15 min but I had to cut it short. Once again I felt like crap. It was different this time though. I started out the run feeling good, but within 3 miles my HR was through the roof. It was about 85 degrees and felt very humid. Last time I did this it was only 70. So that was probably a big factor. As I continued on my run I started wheezing and was struggling to breath. Fortunately for me Jen offered to meet me half way through the run with more water since it was so warm. At this point I was out in rural Hillsboro in the middle of the big grass fields. I turned around and started to head for home and continued to feel worse. Jen had stopped a couple times on my route home to make sure I was feeling ok. At about 10 miles I was ready to quit when I met her near Athlete's Lounge. I had a mini meltdown and acted like a big baby for a second then sucked it up and continued on. I made it 14 miles total before calling it a day. I was disappointed in how the run went, but I didn't feel like I was buying myself anything by pushing those last two miles. Once home I noticed I was broken out in hives. So I am blaming this week's defeat on the heat and allergies. I think the nutrition was much better since I never really felt sick or hungry. It was just the breathing and the super high heart rate that kicked my ass. Yesterday was some Mt. biking up at Brown's Camp with some very strong Mt. Bikers. Normally I like to be pushed, but my legs wouldn't have it yesterday. I cut it short and headed home to rest up for this week.

Totals for the week:
15hrs 21 mins
swim - 10600 yrds - 4 workouts
Bike - 150 miles - 4 workouts
Run - 27.6 miles - 3 workouts


In other news... I have an interview with a journalist from the Forest Grove News-Times paper about triathlons today. Apparently there are plans in the works for Ironman Oregon and the paper is doing an article about it. They also want to do a campanion article about someone that participates in Ironman events. So my name was offered up. Should be interesting, I've never been interviewed before... I hope I don't say something stupid!! I think the article is coming out on Wednesday or Thursday of this week? Not sure about that but will keep you posted. Other then that nothing much new to report on. Sabbatical is just a week and a half away. Only one more Monday to go after today!!

Things that bug me...

There's really no point to this post. Just one of many things that I think about when I'm on a long ride or a run. This is what happens when you have way too much time by yourself to think. It's just a list of things in no particular order that get under my skin a little. It's not meant to insult anyone or call anyone out. So if you do things that are on this list don't be mad at me or offended, just write it off as me being a freak:

1. Morman kids riding bikes in suits. Why do they make these kids wear suits? It's bad enough they have to knock on people's doors and get yelled at and insulted. At least let them do it in some thing that wicks moisture.

2. Car culture/decorations: These include "baby on board" signs, those family stickers with each member represented by a stick figure, stuffed animals are Kleenex boxes in the rear window, and CD's or Dream Catchers hanging from the rearview mirror. I don't get it.

3. People that throw their cigarette butts on the ground. The fact that your smoking in the first place is bad enough, then you just throw your crap on the ground. This is one of things that usually results in me yelling at the person and or honking my horn like a crazy person.

4. People that are not courteous. This encompasses a lot of areas, from driving manners to holding the door for the person behind you. I think this is my biggest beef in life. I tend to form my opinions of people pretty quickly based on their manners.

5. Advertising your religious beliefs on the back of your car. Why?

6. People who leave there shopping carts in the middle of the parking lot. Walk your lazy ass over to the cart coral. There are exceptions to this of course, mom's with multiple kids and no coral close. But most of time it is laziness I think. This really gets me when the cart is actually touching my car. I'm afraid of what I might do if I actually caught someone putting that cart against my car.

7. Strangers who want to chat in the locker room or the bathroom. there is an etiquette here that needs to be followed. If I am naked or pee'ing and you don't know me please do not strike up a conversation with me. Along with that, guys in the locker room at the gym with only a shirt on, it's cool to wear pants.

8. Bees, I hate bees!

9. Cyclists with rearview mirrors. I'm sure there is a safety side to this, but I haven't figured it out yet. If a car is about to hit me I would rather not know. At least I won't tense up as much. I tried the mirror thing once and I spent more time trying to adjust it so I could see. I think that was more dangerous then actually turning my head when I need to make a left hand turn.

10. People who don't pick up their dog's poop. Again there are exceptions, like way off in thick bushes or weeds were no one will ever see it or step in it. This would not include my front yard! Or the park by my house where I step in your dog's poop all of the time because it's dark when I take my dog to play there.

11. Chap stick that has SPF 15. Why only 15? Why not 50? I don't really want a tan on lips. (This one came to me during IMAZ while on the bike. Obviously I lost focus for a little bit...)


Again, no real point, and just my opinion. Now that I've got that out of my system I'll start thinking up a list of things that are more positive. Now that's a challenge, it's so much easier to complain about stuff!

Hilly Swim Course?

Sooo... this past weekend was the Blue Lake Olympic race here in PDX. It is probably one of the most competitive races in the Portland Metro area. There is typically a strong showing from places as far away as eastern Washington and Idaho. Although not as competitive as last year there were still 3 guys under 2 hrs. I went into this race with one goal, that was to break the Ironheads Olympic distance bike record (58:06). The only reason I really focused on this was because I know my swim fitness isn't great right now and my running is still coming back. The bike has been feeling really good though. So I figured I would push the bike as hard as I could and see what happens. I really didn't feel like I had anything to loose since I could count at least 10 names I new in the pre-registered list that were faster then me. So I thought it would be a fun and potentially painful experiment. The race overall went pretty good. My swim felt faster then it was (I think the swim was a false flat). I thought for sure I was going to be under 24 mins, but I ended up at 25 and change. On to the bike, it took me a good 6 miles to get my HR under control. I started out pushing as hard as I could. Towards the middle I started to chicken out a bit. I realized how painful the run might actually be if I don't back off a little. So after the last turn around I eased up a little and cruised for couple miles. With about 5 miles to go I started to get a second wind so I took some nutrition and decided to push it again. I managed to keep my mph over 26 for the last 4 miles until I reached the park and prepared to dismount. The run started out rough as it usually does in these early season races. My feet get so numb on the bike they feel like bricks for the first mile of the run. Once the blood started to flow again I was able to settle in and keep a pretty consistent pace. Mile 4 to 5 I started to get tired, but I was able to keep the wheels from falling off. Had it not been for the pack of IH team mates running me down I would have likely let up those last couple of miles. But I knew that Jason K, Ryan J, and Trevor were all right behind me and running faster then me. So running scared is a good thing I guess. Fortunately for me the run was only 6 miles otherwise I would have gotten run down. So compared to last year I didn't PR as much as I had hoped. I think I was less then 2 minutes faster this year. Since my swim and run were slower this year only the bike was faster. There may be a balance somewhere in there. If I backed off on the bike a little maybe I'd more for the run? Or do I play to my strengths and try to push the bike as hard as I can and hold on for the run? Who knows...

So... As I've been driving around in the Jeep over the last week I keep asking myself "how the hell could I have gone this long without owning a Jeep". I LOVE everything about this vehicle. Even the things that most people would consider reasons not to buy it in the first place. It's funny because there are not very many people that would find the joy in such a basic (by today's standards) mode of transportation based on how much you have to spend. There is some satisfaction in knowing that at anytime I could swerve off the road and explore any trail I wanted too. Have I ever done that? Not since High school, and I got stuck in the mud. But the idea of it is cool. I think what it comes down to is DNA. I think the Jeep thing is ingrained in me. My sister has the same condition. Over the years we have gone to dealerships together and test driven Jeeps on many occasions just because. Here are some photos of the Jeeps that have influenced me the most:

Here are a couple of my baby pictures. I don't remember this Jeep, but apparently we spent a lot of weekends in it with the local Jeep club.






When I turned 15 my first car was a 1976 CJ7. It was a great car, but always had "issues":


In my mid twenties I bought this one from my sister, who had originally bought it from my aunt. It was a great Jeep and I have always regretting selling it:

So that's the story. My issues run deep, but at least there's a cure!!

Ramp up to IM Canada

With 11 weeks until IM Canada it is time to start the build. Last week was my biggest week since IM AZ with a total of 17 hrs of training. Up until this week my running and swimming had not been going very well. Then, all of a sudden early last week my legs came back. Not sure why, but all week they felt great. Yesterday was the biggest day of the week. I started the day with a 3600 yrd swim then did a 3 hr zone1/2 ride immediately followed by a 2 hr run. The swim and the bike felt great. I focused on getting in my nutrition on the bike to see how the run would feel based on my current plan. Something didn't go right. I felt good on the first half of the run, but on the way back started to bonk. I was out of nutrition by mile 11 and suffered the last 3 miles. Based on how I felt once I finished I think I got dehydrated. It was much warmer then I anticipated and it seemed humid. Calorie wise though I was able to take in 840 cals on the bike in 3 hrs and 323 on the run. I felt like I could have probably taken more especially with more water. So it's all about learning from those experiences and applying your findings. In the past I would have viewed yesterday as a set back and gotten discouraged. But now with what I have learned from Scott and those that I train with, I'm able to better analyze these situations and figure out how I can improve. Here's the totals for the week:
Bike - 4 rides - 180 miles
Run - 4 runs - 32 miles
Swim - 3 swims - 10200 yrds
Total - 17 hrs.


What's next... Including the Blue Lake Olympic race this coming Sunday this week is another 17 hrs. I am really looking forward to the race. After the Duck Bill race a couple weeks ago I am anxious to see if I can execute the swim and run a little better. Plus with 24 ( I think) Ironheads racing it should be a lot of fun.


Sabbatical countdown - 18 work days left. I am trying not to rub it in too much. I will really need to be conscious of this while I'm actually on sabbatical and posting updates. I know there are a lot of folks that check up on me while they are at work. I think there are even more that have jobs that don't allow them the time are means to surf the web, so they take time from their personal lives to read this. For that reason I will try not to boast too much. Based on the counter on the left side of the page I am feeling the love! I hope I can continue to keep you interested.

Opps, I did it again.

Last night I continued my life long quest for the "perfect" vehicle. I returned to my roots and bought another Jeep Wrangler. This one is a 4 door with fancy stuff like airbags, power windows and AC. Options that until last year were unheard of in a Wrangler. So far after 33 miles I couldn't be happier! Could this be the one? You never know, lucky #18 (that's how many cars I've had since I was 15 years old when I got my first Jeep). I do have to say though the GTI has been my favorite car up to this point. I think having that and the Jeep could be the perfect combination. We'll see. Fortunately Jennifer is a VERY patient and supportive spouse. Most would have left me by now! She's a keeper :) .


Just back from Boise on Monday morning. Went to be support crew and spectator of the new Boise 70.3 half Ironman. It was a great race and a fun weekend. I think I could get used to this spectating thing! Jen kicked ass as usual. The swim was REALLY cold and choppy. She made it through that and threw down a solid bike and run. It was fun to watch her over come things that used to be big obstacles. She's getting stronger every race.


The rest of the Ironheads had a strong showing as well. A couple age group placings and some Clearwater championship spots. Like I said, it was a lot of fun to watch!


After spectating all weekend I am ready to get out there and race some more! Blue Lake Olympic and Lake Steven's half IM are just around the corner. Fortunately I am starting to feel "normal" again. My legs are starting to get a little life back in them. I finally have a little bounce in my step again. The swimming is coming back as well. Once I take more then a few days off from swimming I tend to lose my feel for the water. Finally today I could actually grab on to it again and pull it through. I was starting to get a little worried if it was ever going to come back. This is great timing, hopefully I can keep it going through Blue Lake next weekend. Based on last year this is a very competitive race. Even with a significant PR it is likely I won't make top 10. Depending on who shows up top 20 may even be tough. But with 20 plus Ironheads racing it should be a lot of fun. I think that's it for now.

Out of my comfort zone

This last weekend I entered into a sport I know nothing about. I went to the local Fly Fishing shop and picked up a rod and reel. Now I know how those folks that come into the Tri shop and look around like they are completely lost. I had no idea what most of the items in that store were for. I promptly signed up for a two day class in June so I could hopefully get some idea what I was supposed to do with my new toys. I think it will be a good outlet this summer on those light training days leading up to Ironman Canada.

On Sunday I did a Olympic distance race in Eugene called the Duck Bill Thrill. It was put on by the U of O tri team. It was a small but very well run event. The course was great, but WOW the water was cold. I never think to bring a swim cap to races since I never swim in one when I train and they typically provide one at the race. Big mistake on my part! The water at best was low to mid 50's. I jumped in to warm up and my head started pounding. I returned to shore and had doubts about if I could do the full distance or not. Once into the race (2 lap swim) I was seeing stars and trying to ignore the shooting pains in my temples. By the second lap my head was numb, unfortunately so were my feet and my arches were starting to cramp. I tried to focus on my form and made, unfortunately much slower then I would have liked. When I checked my watch (30:14) I figured the course was a little long in addition to me being slow. T1 was pretty quick considering how cold and disoriented I was. Once on the bike I started to warm up. I quickly started catching all of those swimers that smoked me in the water. My HR quickly came up to zone 5 and it felt easy to and comfortable to hold it there. It seemed I always had someone in my sights and I think this helped me to push the entire bike. I ended up with the fastest split by almost 3 minutes. T2 was also quick, but I had zero feeling in my feet. As I started running out of T2 the same guy passed me that had passed me at the HF sprint ("shirtless guy"). He had a shirt on this time though. He was the first of 4 to pass me on the run. My legs were just not there. I did catch one guy though, every little bit helps! I ended up 8th overall and 3rd in my age group. I was 2nd until the last 0.2 of the run. As the guy passed me I got on his heels but could hang on. Very frustrating! But due to the size of the race I would have had to win my AG to qualify for Nationals, and he was over 3 minutes ahead. So, overall it was a good race, I clearly have some work to do to get my running and swimming back though.

Finally, a good workout!

After 5 days of crappy workouts last week I went into the weekend expecting the worst. On tap was the Reach the Beach 100 mile ride from Beaverton to Pacific City on Saturday and a 15 mile run on Sunday. My Thursday 1 hr. 15 min run turned into a 50 min run at an 8 min pace with my HR in zone 3/4. This kind of summed up the week with only a couple "good" points during various workouts since my little weight lifting mishap. Finally on Saturday it started coming together. The weather for the RTB ride was amazing! A little warm, but oh so nice. Felt strong from start to finish and never really felt tired. It seemed like we cruised it, only picking up the pace a couple times when the competitive side of me would take over. It took an 5 hrs. & 10 mins to do the ride with my HR avg in zone 2. Sunday was a an hour and 50 min run from PRC. I was also not looking forward to this run after my last run on Thursday, but it came together. 15 mile out and back up Terwilliger. It was a GREAT run! Warm, sunny, and already a distant memory as I look out the window this morning...

Also, we had to say goodbye to Garren, a good friend of ours, on Saturday as he makes a big move to Abu Dhabi in the UAE. It's an amazing opportunity and I am happy he took it! Jen and I are looking forward to making the trek over to see him next year and to check it out.

What else? Yesterday was our 12 year wedding anniversary. It's crazy how quick it's gone by. Who are those crazy kids?

Long Term and Short Term

As many know, I LOVE cars. Not just cars but vehicles in general. I've always been fascinated with everything from sports cars to 4x4's. At last count I have had 17 different vehicles since I was 15. I think the type of vehicle I appreciate the most is one that was made to serve a purpose. Whether that purpose was to fly down the road at crazy speeds or to climb over a pile of rocks, it doesn't matter. I think my loyalty to VW and Jeep are a result of that attraction to purpose. Unfortunately over the past few years both brands have made some questionable direction changes in an effort to stay relevant. But it's their history that keeps me coming back. Recently Chris B blogged about his dream car (http://chrisbracing.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-dream-car.html) and it caught my attention. I started investigating this company called Sportsmobile (http://www.sportsmobile.com). After checking out their site I found what could be the perfect vehicle for me. Surprisingly it's not a VW or a Jeep, but a Ford. I know... a Ford. But this is no ordinary ford. It is a rolling piece of purpose combined with freedom. Something you can drive anywhere in and live in if needed. This would be the perfect vehicle for traveling to races or road/camping trips. Even day to day it would be perfect. There has been more then one rainy day were it would have been nice to have somewhere to change after a wet run at Forest Park. It is a diesel so the gas mileage is decent. The only down side is it probably wouldn't fit in a parking garage. Other then that I'm sold. Oh ya, it's kind of expensive too. I still need to figure that part out. But when I do be sure to stop by and I'll make you some popcorn in my microwave and get you a beer from my fridge.

Until then I am going to have to go with Plan B. Still working out the details, but I hope to pull the trigger soon:

Frustrating week

So coming off of the race last weekend I was feeling pretty good. Not too sore. I was looking forward to a good week of training, getting myself back in the groove. I had accepted that I wouldn't be able to swim for a few days because of the tattoos, so I was happy to see that Scott had thrown in some strength training this month. I hit the gym on Tuesday at lunch and cranked out a good 50 mins of weights and core. By the end I was definitely tired and my legs were a bit wobbly. I haven't done squats or lunges in years! That evening I hit Fairmont and did 2 loops (~ 7 miles). By the end my legs felt like they run a marathon. It got worse from there. Even today I cannot walk down stairs without having a death grip in the hand rail. My quads, inner and outer, are beyond trashed. So essentially the only thing I've been able to do since then is light spins to and from work on my bike. Even that is risky since I can't get up out of the saddle or put my foot down unexpectedly. As you can probably tell by my tone I am a little frustrated. I am hoping today I will start to feel some improvement since it's been over 48 hrs. I decided not to ride to work today and will likely only do some light arm weights at lunch. If things don't feeling better soon I may have to seek some medical advice. I don't think it's normal to have muscle spasms and throbbing IT bands. I'm a little concerned it's more then just soreness... We'll see how they are doing tomorrow.

Other news: I've been threatening this for a while, but I think I'm there. No more Ironmans after this year for a while. I decided this yesterday when I was trying to plan out July while I'm on Sabbatical. I was trying to squeeze in a half Ironman in Washington, a 4 day trip to Alaska, and a few days in Canada for training. Scott pointed out the obvious that if I wanted to have a decent race in August I needed to not cram so much in. I think the Alaska trip is going to have to wait. This is VERY disappointing as I have always wanted to go there. I guess it's not going anywhere but I'm still being a baby about it. This is what has lead me to declare no Ironmans in 2009. I want to take fly fishing classes and maybe a sailing class. I would also like to try some bike racing and qualify for the Boston Marathon. So I'm not planning to sit on the couch and watch my ass grow, I still want to race triathlons. Just not full Ironmans. I think a year away will help me appreciate it again. I have done at least one per year since 2004. So that's where I'm at. I am looking forward to racing my guts out in Canada in August!!

Here are some pictures from the HF sprint last weekend:
http://www.backprint.com/go.asp?31822941

Goals - How to set them

I think I am finally learning something about Triathlon and competition in general, and that's how to set goals. This past Saturday was the HF sprint triathlon in Hillsboro. Last year at this race was the first time I had ever gotten an overall podium spot (I was 2nd). This year I knew 2nd would be a challenge since I was only 3 weeks from IM AZ and the competition I did know is really strong this year. As a goal I really wanted to finish in the top 3, but that's one of those things you don't really have much control over. If there are more then 2 people there on that day that are faster then you... you're screwed. So based on what I knew about the course and my current fitness level I decided my main focus would be to break an hour. From the Ironheads, Garren (defending champ) and Aleck were both racing. Both are much stronger swimmers then I am. We are all pretty tightly matched on the bike and the run. And that's how it played out. I did have a swim PR by 37 seconds, but I was still way behind. As expected I wasn't able to make up much time on the bike. On the run I was able to get close enough early on to see Garren and Aleck battling it out. About a half mile in as I'm enjoying the race going on in front of me I heard the dreaded sound of foot steps. I could tell who ever was coming up on me was coming fast. As he passed I knew that was it. You can always tell who the fast runners are in these events. I had passed this guy on the bike and thought to myself as I went by "Uh oh, he could be a runner". I guessed right. He took off and ended up catching Garren as well. So, like I said in my last post, you never know who's going to show up. As I approached the finish line I looked at my watch and realized I had 30 seconds left if I wanted to break an hour. I picked it up and was able to squeak in at 59:55. That last mile was painful! The Ironheads overall had a great showing. It's so much more fun to do these races with a dozen of your friends rather then hanging out by yourself not knowing anyone, like I used to do.

Tattoos - We did it! We went on Saturday after the race and got some ink. Jen was a trooper and went first. In honor of her two Ironman finishes she went with the M-dot:

Next it was my turn. I had Murphy's paw print done on my leg:

And I also had my old Rhino tattoo touched up. It had gotten pretty faded from too much sun over the last 8 years:

44.5 work days and counting

Sabbatical is just around the corner. It starts on July 3rd and ends on September 2nd. Now that IMAZ is well behind me and I don't need to plan a Kona trip (yet), I can focus on what I want to do for 8 weeks. As usual the summer is already starting to book up. Between races and vacations the weekends are getting full. That's one crappy thing about living here, most outdoor activates have to be crammed into a 4 month period. As it looks right now most of the 8 weeks will be spent training for IM Canada. It will be so nice to get up everyday and get my workouts in with only needing to worry about when to fit in a nap. I think I will also plan a few days up in Penticton to train with Scott on the course. Other then that the only other major adventure will hopefully be a trip to Alaska to do some fishing. Did I mention it's only 44.5 work days away?

On tap this weekend is the HF sprint triathlon. Not sure how that's going to play out yet. I have yet to have a "good" run since IM AZ. The bike and swim have been slowly returning to normal, but the run is just not there yet. Oh well. I like the event and it will be fun to race with some of the other Ironheads. If I'm going to get my ass handed to me I'd prefer it be from someone on the team... but you never know who else is going to show up.

Here's a pic from IM AZ that Melissa's sister took:

The week after

After I posted the "summary" from AZ I realized it really wasn't a summary. It was pretty long! For that reason I won't ramble on anymore about the race. It's done and in the history books. Now comes the fun of evaluating what I did and trying to improve were I can in Canada. Scott has suggested I go to a place in Seattle called Performance Medicine (http://www.seattleperformancemedicine.com/aboutus/index.html) to have some metabolic testing done to see how many calories my body is burning during these races. This will help me dial in my race nutrition better so I don't have as many energy drops during the race. I am shooting to do this in mid June.
The last week has been the typical post race week. The first week after is always tough for me. All of that focus for so many months, then BAM, it's all over. Especially when we come back to winter weather. I have all of this free time but I can't get outside to do anything!! So, needless to say the house and garage received a good cleaning this weekend and we made it to the bowling alley for a couple frames. Finally today I am feeling "normal" again. My legs have a little bounce in them and I'm not as tired. I'm planning to go for a run at lunch, my first since the race. Other then some tightness in my Achilles everything else feels good to go. Good to go for an EZ run anyway. Towards the end of the week I will start to introduce some very short intensity stuff back into my workouts. Emphasis is on short though. None of workouts planned are longer then an hour. I do have the option this weekend to extended my light ride to 2 hrs if I am feeling good. If the weather holds Jen and I may do the Monster Cookie ride in Salem on Saturday. 62 miles and the single speed and a big ass cookie! Sounds good to me...
Oh ya, one last update! Jen and I made an appointment with our tattoo guy. Yes, that's right, I have a tattoo guy. How cool am I? Anyway, we are set for May 3rd. Jen is getting an M dot and I am getting Murphy's paw print. I'll also be getting one of my other tat's touched up. It's gotten a little faded from the sun over the past few years. I'll post pictures once we get them.

IMAZ Race Photo's: http://www.asiorders.com/go.asp?31254479