My Birthday

Today is my 40th birthday! I am ok with that number, I have never felt better. 40 is the new 30 these days. I weighed in at my 11th grade wrestling weight this morning of 155#. I can't believe how hard it was to maintain back then. Poor Poor Diet! Now, I make much better choices of what goes into my body. Last week Lenny, our Corp. Trn Mgr put on a demo with his Vita Mix 5200 - Green smoothies and healthy soup. I can't wait till the office kitchen has it's own Vita Mixer.





Lately I have been attempting to get my bike legs under me for the upcoming Rev3

Below, Phelps AKA @DavidADawson shows off his new STEED! Its fast, he's fast and I will not see him during the race.

Here he is again sucking my wheel like a pro!

Last Sunday, I raced a 10mi running event in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. The first race in 30 years and touted as the last race ever. The only reason they are having the race is Cades Cove Loop was resurfaced and has been closed for the last couple months. The race was great, I spotted 28 deer and 2 Black Bear. Results were ok, only thing consistent about this race was you were either going up steep hills or down one. Tore my legs apart by mile 10.

This is Brandon Bruce, I have rode with him in a couple of events last year. He is about 6'7 and he is a stud. Listen to this he completed a 508 mile solo Time trial in 35 hours and 7 mins.

Check it out HERE By the way, he also beat me in this running race. Oh, by the way, he finished 6th overall! Yes that is sick! check out the results HERE

As we parked for the race, some friends appeared

My Olivia, showing off an Easter Egg

Last victory as a 35-39 ag. Today I join the ranks of the Masters!

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Where and Why

I have been horrible in keeping up on my blog, I will be honest Twitter is so much easier on a daily routine.

So today, I will update you on what I have been working on. I have been running and I mean a lot of running for me. To bring you up to speed on last years totals here they are:



Run Bike Swim


740 mi 2,732mi 87,000m





Onto the current training. I am in week 16/18 of marathon training. So far this month I have ran 83 mi.
The longest running event I have ever raced is a half marathon. My Pr is 1:41, so the extra mileage should really develop my leg strength. I started out with very low goals. You know, finish! But, soon after I began the 18 week program, I got the bright idea, I might have an outside shot at qualifying for Boston with a 3:20:59. After a couple weeks of that thought and some very painful Race pace runs, I gave up on that idea. Now, I am back to running strong, smiling a lot and setting a solid first Mary type number. Happy to be sub 4hr thrilled to under 3:45



Sat. was my last 20mi run for the training plan. I was lucky enough that it was also the day Anthony Famiglietti (nickname: Fam) came to speak at Earthfare about eating like an Olympian. So as soon as I finished, I threw on some dry clothes and ran into the store. Can you believe it, I had to stand for the next 80 mins or so. I found his talk to be really helpful. It is really close to the program Justin, my 6 yr old is about to start. I would love to share with all of you the nutrition secrets he spoke about but then, well they wouldn't be secrets anymore. I wouldn't have the advantage. Maybe someday, when you turn 40 I will share. Until then us old farts need some help. Thats for Dynamite Dawson! The human Tri machine

Check out some of Anthony's PR's

Distance
Time
Year
Place
1500 Meters
3:35.83
2004
Rieti
Mile
3:55.71
2006
New York
3000 Meter Steeplechase
8:17.34
2008
Beijing
5000 Meters
13:11.93
2007
Walnut
10,000 Meters
27:37.74
2006
Stanford

Are you kidding me? Most of you couldn't ride a bike and keep up with this guy!
When he spoke about running for 10k without a nutrition let down I was all ears. He runs at one speed, all out!
Now I will point out, I have about 13 years and 30 lbs on him. Without this disadvantage, I am sure I could whoop him. HAHA


The really cool thing that was amazing was after his talk, he made it a point to look the two young cross country runners in the eyes and somehow mentally burn into there brains not to make the same nutrition mistakes that he had. He had a similar message I have spoken to Pat Summit about, success at the highest levels never comes without extreme hard work. How hard you work in the end will be the difference in being a champion. Fem stressed to the two youths about working out and also the work you put into your body. (Proper Nutrition)
The funny thing is, I was nervous about going to hear him, and he also said, this was the most nervous he has been in years.
By the way, notice the Mt Union Football shirt I am wearing. Congrats to Pierre Garcon of the Indy Colts for having a killer game on Sunday. He is a DIII Mt. Union College Alum. Mad skills for a DIII player. Sphere: Related Content

LiveStrong Philly

What a week! After a long hard week of work, I took Friday to drive to Philadelphia. The LiveStrong Challenge 2009

The team I was part of raised over $275,000 yes 197 team members. This is only the Philly ride, Team Fatty has a team at each ride this year. I believe the total so far is over 700k raised by our team. Our team alone raised close to 9% of the total take. Yes 197 individuals vs 6, 300 others.


It doesn't hurt when your leader kicks in some great giveaways.


It all started with Ray ray baking this double thick delicious cake for all of Team Fatty to carb up on Sat. afternoon. He carries a big knife in his car in case anyone is wondering.



The Team gathered but no Philly Jen so we waited. Then out of the elevator Elden shows up. He says a few words and he cuts the cake. It was quite evident Susan took care of this task in the past. His pieces were about 6" by 6". Luckily Ray Ray baked enough for 400 team members.



Yes, I had to get a pic with the man himself. I would like to make a note of something, Eldon claims to weigh around my weight. I am sorry when I stood next to him I was noticeably larger, well taller. This only means he carries his weight differently. It will make sense, just hold on



The morning of the ride, the team assembles at the 100mi corral. Eldon gets onto his soap box and begins to flex his thighs!!! Yes, I think in this picture he is calling himself the God of Thunder Thighs. Now you see where he carries his weight. The problem for me was that they are all muscle




The team was lead by no other than Philly Jen, she kept taking these funny pictures. I think she is a closet comedian. She swore no more open mouth pictures. Thanks for all you did!!!

Here you see Michael and me wondering how we would stay awake for the 12 hr drive home.

Something looks dunlaped over in this pic.


Here is E.G. I met him, but he won't remember. He was too busy talking to the Nissan booth girls! Oh E.G. you made a Buckeye Alum very sad.
He was one solid man, but I think this was his first cycling experience. I never saw him again.

The ride was great, we went out fast and hard. It started uphill and didn't stop. The 70 mi ride climbed 5,105 ft. The LAF messed this one up. I rode with the lead pack for about 25 miles. Fatty was in that pack, it seems living at 5,000 ft and riding up to 8,000ft give one super human strength at sea level. Oh those HUGE muscular thighs didn't hurt. Also in this group was College (Lance's Famous Friend) and Chris Carmichael former Olympian and Lance's coach. There calf's were the size of my thighs.
I new I was going to turn at the 70 mile cut, so no need to kill myself getting there. At mile 30 i began to have some calf cramps. This was very odd , I don't ever recall cramping before mi 85. I had taken my salts before the ride, since I was only doing the 70mi course, i didn't bring any with. I stopped at the 35 mi rest and saw the Pizza kitchen workers making PB & J's. They fed me the night before. At that stop there were 3 other riders. I am assuming split from the front group. I filled one bottle and hit headed out. I wish had the time to do the 100mi but work called. The next 35 miles were solo, as hard as my cramping legs, thighs and calf's would take me. The best part of the ride were by far the last 20 miles. This is were the 45 mi route joined. I was able to ride with many survivors. This by far was the best part. Each one gave me a little more energy to push on. I finished in 3:55








This little Devil was waiting at the top of one of the hills.
Also I would like to give a shout out to the Chick who dropped me on mile 30, Good luck in KONA. Yes, she qualified at the Rhode Island Half with a 4:43 or something. Her calfs were sculpted and she was strong. Just out on a training ride she said.
One more shout out to the guy that threw is chain on the hill at mile 29. That was a smooth landing. He was climbing a 18 percent grade and tried to drop to the bottom ring. In a split second, he was doing the TURTLE on the hill. He popped up hoping no one saw. Man he was Pissed. Sphere: Related Content

English Mountain Challange

Today was the first day I rode just to ride. Until now my year has been all about training for triathlons. Today I rode in the English mountain Challenge. Most of you have no idea this ride exists but for us in Knoxville, the past 4 yrs this ride is viewed as the hardest around.

Before I get started describing my day, I must tell you I chose to complete the metric century rather than the 109mi century. The entire group of guys I ride with were only doing the metric. I was glad, because while I have been putting in miles, I have no long rides over 60 miles on my legs this year.

At the beginning of the ride, it was a who's who among Knoxville cyclists. Many cat 1 riders and also two world class riders for their age group. Kent Bostick and Dirk Pohlman. Click on their name and read about their respective accomplishments.

Now to the ride, it started like any other ride, on big bunch. Our group just kept moving up until we were in the 3rd group. Dumb me looked down at my cassette during a section and there was a slowdown. I ran into the rider in front of me and almost went down. I must say, it was a great save. I teamed up with a local rider who knew the route and we moved up to the 2nd group. Very soon, we found ourselves in the gap between the 2nd and 1st group. We took turns pulling and after about 6miles we joined the first group. I sucked wheel until the rest stop before the mountain at mile 38. I knew i did not want to race up the hill. The next 4 miles were all over 10%grade with many sections topping 20%. I left the rest stop after a couple of other riders. They had a nice gap and I was not about to close. I rode the hill at 6mph at 10 degree and 4mph at anything over. The last section is a 1/4 mi at 22%. I had passed one rider and caught another by the top. He and I descended a very sketchy downhill. About half way down, I came across a section that had many tree limbs laying on the rode. He blew by them, I could not. It just wasn't safe for others. I stopped and cleared the rode and finished going down. At the bottom there were 3 more riders stopped. I didn't know why, I had plenty of water and was fully recovered from the climb. I decided to push on and go the distance. So I was alone from mile 38 to 63. I felt good but expected to be swallowed up by the pack.
Not to be this day, I pulled in third to finish and felt so good not to have to run afterwards. the whole experience made me feel great about cycling. It is so enjoyable when it is your only event.

5,000 ft of climbing in 63miles in 3:30

just an FYI the entire 38 miles leading up to the climb were uphill. 3,800 ft in 38miles. Kent and Dirk continued on for the century as I am sure there were other studs who followed. On this day, I am glad to have chose the metric. Sphere: Related Content

St. Croix Flop

My experience at the St. Croix 70.3 was real short. I did learn a valuable lesson in this race. Remember this was only my second ever tri. After 6 months of solid training, I really felt prepared to finish in the 5:30-5:40 range.

Now with the story, only I think I will tell it through pictures in reverse order.
Our last night we watch the sunset at the"Hole off the Wall" local bar and grill just to the right of the world famous 13,200 ft dive destination "The Wall." I did some snorkeling here and it was amazing for 100yds off shore.


Before we went to dinner we spent one last night at the beach.

On Friday, we hiked about 4miles to some amazing tide pools. Hit them at low tide, which for this island is tough to find.

View from the tide pools

At the end of the hike, we came to a bald that gave us some of the most amazing views.

can you say peaceful retreat, without children. Jenn and I did some serious self medicating

We took a snorkel trip to an amazing Buck Island. We had a cook out with the crew on a small deserted beach. This grandpa came for a snack.

It was hard staying here "The Carambola"

My only glimpse of my favorite blogger

the first one to tell me her name and her bikes nickname you win a $20 Pilot Gift card.

I found myself too embarrassed at my result to attend the post party to meet the pros.

Sorry Vinnie, I let the valley down with that performance.

Big Beard snorkel trip

Botanical gardens, furnace built 1830

Whim plantation tour

Breakfast at the Carambola, Amazing view

Now for the fun story, this is the start of the fun. To begin the race you jump in and swim to the island. Everyone gets over there by 6:15 for a 6:30 pro men's start.

Swim felt great and I was ready to hit the waters. I felt relaxed and very confident in my ability to have a good day.

I had spent the previous six days preparing on the island for every aspect of this race. I was ready to slay this course. Slay as much as a second time triathlete could.

My age group has 65 swimmers, without thinking I line up right in the middle of the pack, the gun goes off and I am sprinting into the water. I dive in and land all over the swimmer in front of me. I begin to take strokes. Well, I attempt to start swimming. You see, I am on top of a guy and there is a guy on top of me. I try to move right to the outside of the course and no luck/no way.

I tell myself, just calm down it will all settle in a little bit. at the second I get kicked or hit in the head. I am not sure, went by too fast. My right eye was half full of salt water. I am a little shook up at this point. I continue to swim. Finally it begins to loosen up and I flip over and fix my goggle. I turn back over and am very anaerobic. I get kicked this time for sure and am now in complete panic. Why am I here, this is not like practice, fuck,fuck,fuck are all this I remember going through my mind. I sight and i am just passing the second set of entry gates to the course. My mind your ok, my mind says turn left and swim to the island and compose yourself. The dip shit i am, I listen. As I stand up and watch the 65 guys I am competing against swim away, my mind really shut down. I was there to compete not just to finish with some lame ass time. This is what I am now telling myself. This might have been the root cause, too much pressure put on myself. Either way one thing is for sure, I am not an Half Ironman.

Set up and ready to go

Special thanks go out to both sets of Grandparents for taking care of the children.

Jennifer, Happy 15th Anniversary

Married 15 together 24

I love you

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Online Again

5k race tonight, should be a hilly coarse around a golf resort. I want to run it, I am sure it will preview part of the run in the 70.3

Now if I can just remember to get a picture when standing next to some of these pros and celebs.

Did I mention I swam with Sister Maddonna!

My birthday present, my very own hammock. I am so glad I brought this along. This is how most of my afternoons are spent. I have to remember to reapply that sunscreen stuff. Notice the fine Ohio State colors. How did I manage to find such an object in all the Orange of Knoxville?

Buckeye Nation Baby!

Today, I woke up again around 5am thinking about this swim. Can't seem to get it out of my head. Oh well, maybe I will try some Cruzan rum tonight.

Here are some pictures from the first couple of days.

Flying in, we both felt like little kids seeing Christmas gifts for the first time.

Here is the view from our first room. Yes, that is where I have been swimming. I see lots of fish, conch and even a ray or two.

Looking left off our balcony

The first sight out our door! can you believe my luck!

Bad shot, but on top of that hill with a 360 degree view is a mamoth castle.

Up for a sunrise ride one morning


I promised some video of the bike route. Here are two of the first 1/4 of the ride. This will be the easiest part of the ride, all down wind and only a little climbing.

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First Five In St. croix

No pictures today, I am blogging from the resort computer. I have taken many great pics for you to dream over.
We have been here for five days and I am officially lite red.
Sun is hot and the wind, well lets just say it doesn't ever stop. I have managed to ride most of the course, the first day I set up the bike and headed out for a loop around the east end of the island. It is mile 37 - 50 of the race. 1,000 ft of climbing at 19 mph ave. I felt good, but hot. Water will be a key in this race. I must force myself to stay hydrated.
The next day I braved the waters of the Divi. The winds blow in from this side and the water is way rough. I jumped in and like a fool began to swim straight out into the blue waters headed for the reef. It looked to be about 300m-400m out. About half way, the little devil popped up on my shoulder and told me I would not make it. He was right, I turned around and headed back toward shore. I kept looking for the pool side to grab. NO LUCK
When I got back in Jennifer said that I looked like I knew what I was doing. Ha ha ha
The next day, the wind was blowing hard, so i set out with the wind and the thoughts I would ride west along the course until the main hwy and then turn around and get in about 1.5 hr ride.
The time was the only thing that turned out the way i planned. I turned left out of the resort and headed up to Grassy Point Hill. Unbelievable views, I have pics and video just wait. The the fun began, I rode with the wind at about 27-28 mph for the next 12 miles. Loads of fun! I turned around and headed back, directly into a 30mph steady head wind. This is the way the race take you, and I was only going 17-18 mph. I got back at the resort in 1:20 and 19mph ave.
Today was the practice swim day. Surprise, i was the only one in a wet suit. I am so glad I have it, I would never have made it with out it. A 1.25 mi course laid out in the ocean is huge. Now I know why they usually make you swim a course twice. I could barley see the end buoys. I had Phil's butterfly's, my butterfly's and someone else's running around in my gut.
Jennifer came with me to be the official race Sherpa and she zipped me up. I was worried about this because Dawson seems to have such troubles with this at swim practice. Without much prep, it was time to start jumping in. I started my watch and jumped. I told myself just swim buoy to buoy. I had no idea how hard it was to go straight when there are no lane lines. I am sure if you had me on gps, I swam 1.5 mi. When we reached the turn around point, I was really relieved to be wearing the suit. I took many rests along the way, I even flipped to my back a couple of times and did the Clothier. I kept telling myself, You will finish! I had to, there was only a couple of small boats watching all of the swimmers. One seemed to hand around me, not sure why. On the return back, I found my stride. I had a woman to my right and I decided to just follow close to her and I would follow her lead. bad mistake. After about 100m I stopped to spot and we were way off course. We looked at each other and I shouted out GOD DAMN IT!
We were swimming against the current now and it seemed like I was standing still. I just kept taking about 15 strokes and then spot. it seemed like I repeated this 20 times. Finally, I reached the shore.
I did do one thing right during this swim, I managed to keep my cardio in the aerobic state the entire time. Never once did I push my self to the danger zone of the bonk in the middle of the ocean. Smart don't you think?
Oh, I did learn one other thing, don't drink so much salt water, it doesn't agree with my stomach. Would be real embarrassing to brown out at this race.

One really cool thing happened, I swam with Sister Madonna!

How many of you can say that! No shit, I didn't take a picture and I could kick myself.
I hooked up with Vinnie Monseau after the swim and met his wife. They were nice and offered some more advice. He went down on the bike at St. Anthony's last Sunday and got to the run and did a 32min 10k. 5:18 / mi pace. He lost by 11 seconds! Bummer

Tomorrow, I am doing a 5k that I should get smoked in, and have a blast doing it because it doesn't take place in the water.
As I sit here, my body still feels like it is rocking with the current. No shit, I am serious!
Oh well, no problem mon, as they say on the island. Sphere: Related Content

March Training Recap

March's Training Reward

Training in March was a little more balanced than February.
Swim - 18,000 m
Bike - 441mi
Run - 51.5mi

YTD
Swim - 58,250yds and meters (not perfect)
Bike - 1066mi
Run - 169mi

With only 2 1/2 weeks of hard training until the St. Croix 70.3

Hard to believe it is coming so fast. I am starting to finalize all the little things. You know, how will I get my bike there, clip on areo bars installed and now I am training in my wet suit. Yes, I am wearing a wet suit for this swim. I have never swam in open water let alone the ocean. The only thing I give up is my spot in Kona. Of course I would have to post a time around 4:45

I notice as the event gets closer, I am beginning to worry about injury and over training. I also, because of being a rookie, sometimes doubt my preparation. In two weeks I am planning on a sprint tri. here in Knoxville. Phelps, is looking strong for this event. I have also caught word that Davis Tarwater and Eric Bell are putting together a dream team. I guess they will finish in close to 37min. The event is 400m swim , 6mi bike and 5k run. I hope to finish under 50 mins.

Off to run 10k

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Riding Season In Knoxville

VELO FRIENDS!!!

MTD Stats

10 days without a day off and 16 workouts

Swim - 8,900

Run - 24.5

Cycle - 138

The weather here in Knoxville has been great! With the time change, the riding season officially begins. This week the local bike shop (CBC) I sometimes ride with, began there Tuesday/Thursday rides. Above is the crew from work that rides at lunch. As you can see some have been in hibernation for the past 3 months. Time to shave!

We had a great recovery ride this week, notice how we let Big B pill us down Neyland Dr.

We do this as repeat around 25-30 mph depending how the wind blows. On this day, I did not get to pull. Oh damn, I did say recovery!

I couldn't resist getting a picture of the rider AKA Phelps and his support of Susan and team Fatty. If you are wondering what I am talking about, check out this page. If you are willing to help fight the battle against cancer with me, click here. Currently 3 Velo Friends are making the trip to Philly in Aug. to battle cancer and ride for Susan!

I am so pumped because this week, The Fat Cyclist has convinced twin six to make a sleeveless version of the Team fatty Jersey. Most of you know, I wanted to wear something in the half ironman that supported Susan and her families fight. I now will get that chance without having to make up my own version. I do have one reservation and that is the jersey color. I left fatty a comment yesterday and I must have been only one of many who shared the same concern. He wrote a great post today about this very issue. I am still hoping for a light colored sleeveless version. Until then, I will sport the black version and conduct my own tests.

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