Life on a train

Some days this makes more sense. Sometimes, you need to take a look around you. I hope this makes sense. Props to KGC for providing the conversion from the *.ppt to *.mov. Thanks! Did you know what "clarity" means? Check it out!

You'll never get it

Swimming in Heaven

Okay, I know that I need to finish my "novel" recap of Ironman Oceanside. I'm almost finished. But I just had to write about my newest training tool. When we were at Oceanside we ran into a couple of guys from H2O Audio. They were about to release their newest product, the iSH2 waterproof headset for the iPod shuffle. So of course I ordered one for me and one for Tri-Rich the first opportunity I had. It is awesome. Anyone that swims, I highly recommend it. I know that there is a swim MP3 player out there that works on bone conduction. I've never tried it so I really can't compare. All I know is mine ROCKS! Lap swimming will never be the same. My hour in the pool tonight was over before I knew it. I probably need to do a better job in selecting the proper music as I noticed that I would swim a bit too fast with some of the songs I was listening to. Anyhow, there you have it. Now if only a new Tri bike could be as easy and cheap. Oh, one thing to note, when I swim I remove the plastic neckband and clip it directly to my swim goggles. Cool, eh?

Saturday night at the Tox Box

Arriving at ESA. I still call it the Delta Center.


The Bear came by and covered us with silly string. You can see the Bear in the background walking on the railing.


Of course the Jazz pounded the Nuggets. We really enjoyed sitting so close to the floor.



Outside, after the game,drinking Powerade and posing in front of the statue of John Stockton.

CottonMan

I think we are now familiar with "M-dot"and other Ironman names and call signs. Well, I'd like to introduce you to CottonMan. Like Ironman but more fluffy. Soft, even cuddly. Cottonman was the name given to Blaine by my boys. The four of us enjoyed a crushing of the McNuggets by our Jazz. We really enjoyed the game (sitting on row 7 certainly didn't hurt either).

On your mark, get set, go!

So HOW could I possibly sum up one of the craziest, funnest, hardest, painful, joyful, longest race in my life. It was plan madness and I loved every minute (well, almost every minute). I woke up around 4:30 and couldn't go back to sleep. Same yummy breakfast and then it was over to the transition area. As you can see, it was still dark when we started. I want to give a MAJOR shout out to our biggest fan and supporter, Sharla. I know if you look up "cool chick" on wikipedia you'll find her there. Just remember "Boys, what is the MOST important decision you will ever make in your life?"

So, as we got closer to the Start/Finish line, you could hear the music and the buzz was buzzing. It was so cool! We found our bike rack location, unloaded the bikes and then went to body marking. Everything was going very smoothly. Lots of volunteers and everything well organized. Soon it was time to lather up on the Body Glide and move into position. I think we were in wave #7.

Sharla snapped this photo just before we went into the water. I really couldn't believe we were there about to compete in our first Ironman race. It was SO exciting. The music, the announcer, the crowd. Quite the experience. It was soon our turn to get into the water. With only 3 minutes between waves there really wasn't much time. It was cold but I was okay. Next thing I knew we were off and swimming. If you've never had the experience, believe me, it is an experience. There's a reason that they refer to this as the washing machine. People kicking and climbing all over each other. The water was cold and I had a HARD time keeping my face in the water and breathing. So you just adapt and do the best you can. It took me a few hundred yard before I settled down and got into my rhythm. I was just feeling good about everything when the swells started. As long as I didn't think about it I was okay but it did make me feel just a tad bit woozy. The next thing I knew it was time to turn around. The swim back went really well and the next thing I knew I was crawling out of the water. The wetsuit came off SO nicely and I was soon running out the shoot with my bike. Wow! This was awesome!

Did I say how awesome this was? So the bike... 56 miles of riding heaven. I was pretty sure that I was out of the water before Tri-Rich. I didn't know just how long I had but I figured that he'd catch me at around mile 40. I was pretty dang close. About mile 39 miles here comes Mr. Cervelo. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The first 25 miles or so was completely awesome. I was cruising right along, passing most people. I wanted to make sure that I was getting plenty of fluids and nutrition. I was doing pretty good. But a couple of LARGE hills and a stiff wind in the face, the back 20 miles started kicking my butt. I said goodbye to Mr 518 and he rode off to keep up with all of the other rocket bikes. At some point I started realizing that my VW Bug cannot keep up with all of the Audis, TL, Beamers, and other speedy bikes. No problem, I was having fun and heading back. But then I was facing another small problem. The conscious effort to stay hydrated now presenting the need to pee. Hmmm. As long as I sat upright I was okay but in tuck position it got more and more uncomfortable. At mile 53 I couldn't take it any longer and I pulled off to the side of the road and watered the pretty spring flowers. The pros just simply pee down the side of the bike while riding. I'm not quite there yet. Urine on the legs and bike? I think not.

The bike was over. Coming back into the harbor area was so cool. Loud music, tons of people cheering me on (okay so they were probably cheering a few others on too). Next, get off the bike, park it, and put on the running shoes. It was now 2/3's over. I couldn't believe it. Now just a simple 13.1 mile run. No problem.

13.1 FREAKIN miles. No problem. Yeah, whatever. Had I EVER run 13.1 miles before? Nope. I certainly had good intentions to do that distance at least a couple of times before the race but it just never happened. Oh well, I knew I was going to be just fine. So check out those socks! Yes, those are the same GAY socks that I said I would never wear. I'm glad I did. I really like them. Probably not during training and certainly not for shorter distances but I could definitely tell that they were helping me mostly with the cramping.

I couldn't think of a more beautiful place to run. The day was absolutely gorgeous. With the beach and the waves, it was hard to keep running. My body was saying "hey, just go lay down on the warm sand" and "come play in the waves". I did pretty well for the first several miles but then I realized that 13 miles is a LONG freakin' way. Thank goodness I ran into Tri-Rich. He was coming back on one of the legs as I was going out. He told me that he'd wait. What a buddy! So with TR it made the last few miles much more enjoyable. We talked about all of the training that we had done. How, only 10 months before, Rich didn't even have a bike. Now we were about to be Ironmen. How cool was that. I wouldn't have been in Oceanside without my buddy. We were going to finish together.

Okay, #550 you can do it. "Left foot, left foot, right foot, right. feet in the morning, feet at night". At this point, my body from the waist down was more or less numb. I really couldn't feel anything. I just wanted this to be over. Could I have run 26.2 miles? At this point I seriously doubt it. I have much more training to do. Thank goodness for pretzels. When the finish line came into view, I couldn't believe it!

So maybe some of you are thinking, "What the #$@%?" This is a picture of Rich and I rolling across the finish line. If you don't know why, then you need to take a few minutes and watch the story about Jon Blais. "It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for." Way to go, Tri-Rich and Tri-Jeff. You did it!

Again, just wanted to give one last shout out to our greatest fan. Thanks for all of the support! Now, when this picture was taken, I was more or less dead. I just wanted to lay down. Thinking about doing a full Ironman was the LAST thing on my mind. No Gatorade. No Gu. No Ensure. No protein bars. Ice cream! Yeah, a giant bowl of ice cream! Now, as I sit here remembering the event, I can't wait for the next one. Where will it be? We don't know yet, but I can't wait.

T-minus 1 day

Final day of preparation. Same yummy breakfast. We put our numbers on helmets, bikes, and bags. The weather was just fabulous. It was time to relax and enjoy the beach. Of course that meant making sure the wetsuit was in proper working order. I highly recommend the De Soto First Wave. It is a 2 piece (bibjohn and pullover). Very comfortable. I could have played ALL freakin day long. The waves were decent and I was like a kid in a candy shop. I knew that I had a big race the next day so I tried taking it easy. We finished the day with another stop at the Ironman village and more pasta and a final check of all the gear and nutrition. All that was left was a good night sleep. SO EXCITED!!!

T-minus 2 days

Okay, after taking some crap from my landlord, I continue my recollection of Ironman, California. On Thursday, Tri-Rich and I decided to go for a bike ride. My breakfast was habit. A big bowl of oatmeal, a banana, a protein bar, a cup of yogurt, and some Bolthouse juice. Anyhow, we started riding around, checking out the bikes, and realizing that we had to make a number of minor adjustments. We even stopped by a local bike shop which was lots of fun. Bike shops are just plain dangerous. Impossible to go in without spending money :)

Finally, we Tri-Rich and I found a nice bike trail and rode for about 12 miles or so. Great riding, beautiful scenery. We decided to turn around and head back. Sorry no pics of the bike ride. We saw a few other riders out stretching their legs.

After the ride we decided to get our registration packet. That was really cool. They put a wristband on with our number and weighed us. Yes, the wristband is STILL ON (after 3 weeks). We watched a video and asked a few questions about the race. So many volunteers.

Afterwards, we headed over to the Ironman village. This place was REALLY cool. All sorts of gadgets, shoes, bikes, wheels, training gear, suppliments, you name it. If it had anything to do with triathlons, it was there. By FAR the highlight was testing out the new P3C Cervelo. Wow! That is a nice bike. I took it for a test ride for about 5 miles or so and was in heaven.

Later that night we picked up Rich's family at the airport. It was really cool that we had their support.

Ironman in a nutshell

Okay, before this all gets away from me (it has already been over a week) I need to take a few minutes to write and post a few pictures. I think I have generally talked to and shown pictures to most of the significant people in my life. If I have missed you then you probably not very significant (jk). Probably the first thing to start off is to say what an incredible experience it was. It wasn't a day after the event that I was already thinking about what was next.

Rich and I left Tuesday night driving half way from cold Utah to sunny California. We spent the night at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas. Nice room, nice hotel. Although we didn't get a shot of us leaving, this picture will have to do.


Before leaving Sin City, Tri-Rich had to take me to his favorite breakfast place, Blueberry Hill Family Restaurant. Mmm, Mmm, Good. Now there are 2 good things that came out of 1966. Stop on in next time you're there.

Breaking up the trip into 2 drives was a great idea because before I knew it we were pulling into Oceanside. Watching movies like Dan In Real Life and BTTF certainly helped as well.

Oceanside greeted us with open arms. Lots of sun, sand, and everything that comes with it


We decided to test out the run course and see how our legs and lungs would hold up. It felt SO good to run. I cannot tell you how good it felt. I was ready and I was loving it Can you tell?


Of course, after the run, I had to leave my mark in the sand


Tri-Rich was NOT happy at ALL about the temperature of the water. It was C-O-L-D. It's a good thing for wetsuits

After changing and eating a nice bowl of pasta we walked around the transition area and where the swim would start. There was a pretty strict rule that you couldn't get in any practice swims. Who would want to? Save it for race day. Just do it!


As our first day in Oceanside was ending, I found what I was looking for. The excitement was building

Pain

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever." - Lance Armstrong

The sky is falling...The end is near

I really cannot believe we are heading in this direction. My favorite quote: "I'm hoping that it becomes a trend. I'm hoping that it catches on." YIKES!

Steal My Sunshine

Don't let anyone ever try and steal your sunshine. Heard this little ditty on the radio this morning. Enjoy the video and if you want the lyrics you can have them too.