Cool Company

Check out this company, we need more like this

http://www.ecologicdesigns.com/ Sphere: Related Content

What Is Next

I have had a rough day, I have been running on empty all day.



The longer I travel on this journey, the more I question my training and prep. I think it is time, no I know it is time to get a coach.



Now that I know this, where do I find one. Knoxville is not a hot bed of triathletes. The best and only pro I know is in Australia training. Sure there are many online training services, but I would feel more comfortable working with someone I could see and who could see me.



options here

http://www.markallenonline.com/

http://www.multisports.com/

http://www.tri-ecoach.com/

http://trismarter.com/

as you can see this is a big decision

Help me please. Let me know you thoughts on a coach or nutritionist.

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Added feature

Today will be a short one, I added a new feature to the bottom of each post. You now can share the post with 8 different applications. Cool, I can now forward my posts to all of my Twitter followers. Sphere: Related Content

Pictures of last yrs Cheohala Challenge

I stumbled across these in my truck. I have been looking for them since last June.

114 miles , 10,000 ft of climbing

Epic Mountain Classic that takes you across the "Tail of the Dragon" a very famous motorcycle ride. 116 curves in 11 miles! We do this ride two times each year with a reverse version in October. Come and Join us?

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Catch Up

MTD summary

swim - 13150 m

Run - 61mi

cycle - 175mi



Oh the second year in a row that February has been tough on the numbers. Every year I have a week in Orlando for work. You would think it would be easy to get in some great mileage. No So!

Ok, I managed to run 3 out of 4 days, but only 5, 3 and 4 miles. TIME - how to find more of it?



This is a funny thing, because my main job these days is just that, looking for ways to make a retail company more efficient. labor is 59% of our expenses at 220mm.



Time to catch up, I need to really step up the training for the next 7 weeks. I really need to log some serious miles on my bike. I need some long steady distance rides.



I did find myself in a 5k run his past weekend for work. 41 runners, and I get beat by my brother-in-law "The Gazelle" as we in the family refer to him. He posted 19:53 and I followed at 20:12

I felt a little bad after that effort. My ave heart rate was 174 bpm my max is 182 that's a 95.6%
I think I need to work on my breathing :)

Enough of this lousy rant, its time to go back to the gym. Sphere: Related Content

Wednesday Blues

I found this blog today and this post is perfect. So perfect, I had to share it with you.
I feel this way after 5 workouts by Wednesday. Smelly, sore and beat down.

Now is the time when certain things start to play through my head... mainly - "quit, you're tired... you're old, no one seems to care much anymore anyways." WHAT? Where is this crazy talk coming from and who is this other person living inside my skin that would think so negatively?Do you ever feel this way?Exhausted - beat down - unable to think straight?Well stop it already!This is the moment when you have to dig deep. Find just that one little piece of inspiration and hold it closely to your heart. Kind of like a good-luck penny I suppose.

What's yours? What inspires you? What gives you hope and motivates you?Whatever it is - it belongs to you! And you own it. I think that this place that you're in, you know, the one where you just want to give in because it's starting to get a little hard (perhaps physically, maybe even mentally) is the determining factor as to what will happen next and the person that you are.

I tell my own kids this all the time. Go ahead and quit when it gets hard, but if you decide to stick with it and grit your teeth and push through - you'll come out even stronger than you went in and that's the difference between just being good and being the best!Every moment is a learning opportunity. I love that.

There's so much to learn. We should never stop learning - we should always strive to be better... even if that means working through the tough times to get to that point.You can do it! And actually - luck has nothing to do with it. Sphere: Related Content

Knoxville - Favorite

Check out this band video, a local band from Knoxville that is on the edge of breaking into the big time.


You can check there space out here.

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Solid week of workouts

The week in recap:

Run 20mi

Cycle 85

swim 5,300 yds

ok I missed a swim due to nice weather on Monday and Friday. I had to ride instead.

The best thing about the week was the uptick in running miles. I completed my long run on Sun. 7 mi and then put in two 5 mi runs under 40mins. I separated these by a 3 mi recovery day. I hope I am doing the right thing to get better running.

To ease my mental worries about running, I have ask a budding pro triathlete here in Knoxville, Eric Bell, for some running assistance. He is about ot leave for a months training to Australia. He spent his college career running for UT. He is fast. Yesterday he did a training run 12 miles at 7:00min pace. Holy shit, I wish my legs had that kind of running endurance.

I also stopped by one of my favorite outdoor shops Riversports of Knoxville and spoke to Ironwoman Laura Jones about running and the mental aspect of the Ironman. She also is willing to help me with some training. It is getting down to crunch time. In my estimate, I only have about 8-9 weeks left of hard training before I start the taper. The mental game for me is how much better will I feel after the taper? I also need to log some serious cycling miles before then.

I need to get to the Foothills Parkway once per week to build my climbing legs. The bike course in St Croix is supposed to be hard. In my mind, this is great for me. We climb almost every ride in Knoxville. nothing is flat here. yesterday I rode 45 with over 4,000 ft of climbing. Today I recover.

Happy valentines day to my wife and family and all followers. I would know more of you if you would click and mark that you follow the blog on the right hand side of the page.

had to show everyone this picture, NO it is not me!

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Big Decision Time

run 7th - 7mi @ 8:30 pace

10- 5 mi

11th - 3mi

swim 10th - 2,600

11th - 2,750

Bike 9th - 21mi @ 20mph pace

It is getting to be that time where decisions have to be made about the half ironman I am doing. I need you help with a few of them.

1st there is the decision of how to ship my bike to St. croix. Options are, ship via FedEx/ups type shipper or check with the airline. I am leaning checking the bike with the airline. We only have one connection in Atlanta, then it is only a short flight to St. Croix. Does anyone have a container they prefer?

2nd, I am thinking of taking my jersey and putting a WIN SUSAN logo on it. Something simple in design. I would like to see your shirt designs for me? Send me your designs and we will vote on the shirt I wear.

3rd, It is time to decide, do I go hairless or not? Sounds silly, but I am thinking about taking this step. There seems to be an argument for both sides! Once again, I am looking for your thoughts.

I thought I would give a short training update. I have been feeling good the past 3 weeks. no real injuries and all three sports are coming along. I do however find myself in need of some running coaching. I run a race pace 5k at around 22min. I need to get faster for the shorter distance tri's in the area. I need to be able to post 19-20 min 5k. Any thoughts? I am running a half marathon 3/21 and plan to run at 8 min/mi pace.

Also, something interesting happened yesterday. I was looking up last years results in St. Croix and the guy who finished 3rd in my age group, is an old freind. His father and my father grew up together on the same street in Weirton, Wv. Turns out he has been completing in triathlons for over a decade, and is very good. He won the top us amature last year in Soma. I am trying to track down his contact info, looks like he has completed the 70.3 in st Croix the past 3 years. never finishing below 20th overall. Sure would be nice to have someone I know there to run it with.

lastly, I thought I would share some pics that were sent to me this weekend.

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Valentines Dinner Plans

If you need another reason to get put into the doghouse, here is a plan for valentines night.


If it were wrestling, this would be the pay-per-view event of the decade…men in tights facing off against each other, grudge matches, switched teams, pride and glory.

But, being cycling, it’ll be edited down and (fortunately) FREE on Versus. What am I talking about? Well, if you haven’t heard, here’s the release:

The 2009 Amgen Tour of California will assemble the best-ever collection of the world’s top cyclists when America’s most important road race begins February 14, in Sacramento. Featuring a field that includes seven-time Tour de France Champion Lance Armstrong and two-time defending Amgen Tour of California Champion Levi Leipheimer (both racing for Astana), the 136 rider peloton also is expected to include 2006 Giro d’Italia Champion Ivan Basso (leader of team Liquigas); 2008 Olympic Champion in the time trial Fabian Cancellara(Saxo Bank); 2006 Amgen Tour of California Champion Floyd Landis (Ouch presented by Maxxis); 2005 World Champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step); three-time World Champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank); two-time United States National Champion George Hincapie (Team Columbia); and the top American performer in the 2008 Tour de France Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream). Other anticipated participants include, 2008 Tour de France Champion Carlos Sastre (Cervélo TestTeam); four-time Norwegian National Champion Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam); 2008 U.S. Professional Champion and Olympic Gold Medal Winner Tyler Hamilton (Rock Racing); Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia), widely considered to be the world’s best sprinter; 2008 Best Young Rider in the Amgen Tour of California Robert Gesink (Rabobank); and 2008 Tour de France Best Young Rider Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank).

Coverage starts at 5pm EST on Feb 14. Hey sweetie, guess what we’re doing during Valentines dinner? Sphere: Related Content

DANCE DADDY DANCE

week 1 of Feb.

Bike - 86mi

Swim - 2,500y

Run - 21 mi

Bad week for swimming, I missed two workouts. Still got 9 workouts in but feel bad about swimming.

This past weekend was an especially busy one for the family. Both boys were in there ens of season basketball tournaments. Olivia, had a game also and then her and I were scheduled to go to the daddy daughter dance.

The daddy daughter dance, I know you all are oohing and awing right now. This is at least the fourth time we have gone. This time, we were going out to dinner with a group of dads and then off to the dance. Olivia was very excited and even bought a new dress and purse.

Dinner was at Rafferty's in Knoxville. My first time there, not bad at all.

The Dance was at Cokesbury Methodist, a Friends church. Really first class dance. The thing is, after 4-5 times a veteran daddy dance dad, I thought I knew it all. But at this dance I picked up a lot of advice I just have to share.

First as you see below in the picture of these two dads. Wearing the correct size pants to store all the needed Daddy essentials is #1 on the list. These dads carried 1 set of heels, camera, sweater, wallet, tickets, purse and camcorder. Thank goodness it was a warm night.

Next, I spotted the dancing king, This man has moves like I have never seen before. Notice in the beginning of the video the cool attitude he displays. Then all of a sudden he jumps into the dance, not to get too close to the action, but just enough to tell his girl, Daddy's got moves!!!

Then, #1 lesson learned at the daddy daughter dance, you can dance too much and too hard. This man had his heart rate up to the 170 range. Come to think of it, this type of sweat on a date could never be a good thing. All you single guys, this is also for you.

Last but not least, the biggest lesson learned is that once daughters turn 9, they really are too cool to dance with there dads anymore. it wasn't till close to the end before Olivia cam up to me and said, "daddy lets dance". We gad danced earlier in the night, but then it was girlfriend time. It is good to know, there is always a dance for dad.

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Are You Kidding ME!

I don't blame the player, because I would take the car. GM executives should be fired for this decision. Share holders should be upset and demand better decisions be made at the top. Lavish offices layers of management in the big 3 is enough to make one vomit!!!

Hey Obama, what industry doesn't deserve a bail out?

GM Awards MVP Car on the Sly
Posted Feb 3rd 2009 9:45 PM by Will Brinson (author feed)Filed Under: AZ Cardinals, Steelers, NFL Fans, NFL Awards, NFL Media Watch, Super Bowl
The MVP of the Super Bowl traditionally receives the Cadillac of their choice. It's a grand, post-game spectacle, really, because General Motors loves the attention and PR.This year, however, there was no such pomp for Santonio Holmes. Was it because the car company needed several billion dollars from taxpayers to stay afloat and decided giving away free cars to rich athletes was a bad idea? Or was it because the company simply didn't want anyone to know that's exactly how they were spending their money?
Holmes picked out Cadillac's most expensive model Monday as his reward for winning the MVP: the Escalade Hybrid Platinum with an $85,200 sticker price, according to Cadillac spokeswoman Joanne Krell. There was no mention of Cadillac or of Holmes winning the car at the news conference. It was at the request of Cadillac, commissioner Roger Goodell told the Daily News Monday. When asked if Cadillac asked not to be mentioned, he said, "Yes." Wow. It certainly comes off as a little awkward. After all, no portion of the taxpayers' nearly $10 billion should be going directly into Holmes' garage. It is worth noting, however, that Cadillac and GMC purposely stayed away, citing the decision not to "actively participate" based on the current economic climate.Additionally, Krell mentioned that the company had to "live up to the contract we negotiated," implying that they were still required to give the MVP a car, even though it makes horrible fiscal sense. That being said, it's kind of hard to imagine Cadillac breaking the contract with the NFL -- any legal tit-for-tat that ensued would end up costing everyone way more than $83,000. The good news is that apparently GM at least learned to stop flaunting their expenses to the public. And that, um, it's a hybrid. Sphere: Related Content