Merry Christmas

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

My computer died, well the hard drive died. But now I'm back with a fresh install and I am working to get all of my stuff back in place.

I am going to take a few days and travel.
We packing up the family truckster and we are going to Wally World or something like that.
I'm bringing my running stuff, and I hope to find a few new runs.
Gona spend some time with the rug rats, hold my wife’s hand and tell them all that I love them.
And I just might eat some pie.

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

-The MacDonalds

I am enjoying the Holidays:

Like I’ve posted earlier, I’ve been kicking back, and just enjoying the Holidays.

Post marathon, my running has slowed down to about 10 miles per week, and I am feeling a little guilty.
My hiatus from pool has ended and I’ve been swimming 3-4 times per week.
The Felt has been getting some time on the road, the weather down here has been crazy warm, today was 77.

I figure I’ve got three weeks of half loafing half training left on my recharge.

I’m going spend some quality time with the family, eat a little pie, drink a few Sam Adams. I suggest you do the same.

Love each other people, you only get one shot at life so make it count.

If I see ya in the pie line I’ll wave.

-Brian

I'm back

Google had locked my blog thinking it was SPAM.

More to come.

-B

Back in the pool:

Dear friend where have you been? Or Where was I, oh that’s right, I was doing that marathon training thing.

Well, either way I’m back!

I really missed swimming these last few months and I’m glad to be back.
Walking back in the pool I got a lot of strange looks, I imagine the folks that run the pool must have thought I drowned or moved to the moon. I used to swim Monday thru Thursday and then all of a sudden I’m gone.

The worst thing about missing the pools was the guys I swim with got so much faster while I was away, LOL.

I swan Tuesday and Wednesday and I plan on swimming Thursday and Friday.
Today I swam 950 meters today and I felt pretty good, just a good steady pace swim with a few pickups at the end.

I am trying to work back up to and surpass my pre marathon training days; I would like to be swimming 1600 meters a day. I’ve got to be able to swim 2000+ meters at IM 70.3 FLA! Although I am still looking for a HIM training plan.

So, I’m pack in the pool, and I am on the bike training two nights a week and I’m doing a 1-2 hour ride outside on the weekends. So now I need to fit in running somewhere in my schedule. I think I might run Monday, Friday and Sunday. And I’ll take a day off whenever I need it.

I’m still looking at HIM (Half IronMan) training plans, I have found a few, but I really need to study them all and find one that I can live with.

On my very high heart rate, I’ve been to the doctors and had a thyroid scan and some blood work and yup my thyroid is over active. So I am going to meet with my doctor sometime next week and talk about treatment.

I’ve been doing some internet research on thyroid treatment and it looks like it wouldn’t affect my training.

Next up:I’ve been thinking I might need to do another long run. I can’t keep myself from looking at the race calendars and thinking I just might….

So, that’s all for now, if I see ya at the pool I’ll wave.

-Brian

Weekend run and ride:

Well it’s the weekend and I am not training for anything so I am just fooling around, just getting in some junk miles.
I ran the Chickamauga marathon a few weeks ago and I have been feeling kind of burnt out, so I have been spending some time on my new bike. I figure the weathers been perfect for riding and hey I should take advantage of it while I can. Running has been second fiddle to riding for the last few weeks, and I’ve been a reenergized.

Today was a quick one hour ride, I would have gone longer but I promised the family I would take them to the North Point Mall to go to the American Girl store. Tomorrow is a six mile run, and then I’m taking the family to see the Nutcracker and the Fox Theater.

My plan is to take it easy (still swimming, riding and running) until early January, then it time to ramp up for 70.3 FLA. So for now its time to recharge the batteries and spend some time with the family that loves me.

The older I get the harder it is for me to slowdown and truly feel the sprit of Christmas.
So this year I am really making an effort to smell the roses and be there for my family.

Merry Christmas to all and please slow down a bit and really enjoy the season.

-Brian

Quick spin around the blocks...

I've been in a training class all week and today we got out a little early!
I rushed home, the weather was just so nice, grabbed the bike and set of on one of my journeys. Well I’m not really sure of I can call it a journey because it didn’t take all day. So I going to change my mind and call it a leg and lung buster ride. I’ve spent much of the last 2 -3 months running and I have been neglecting the bike and I paid the price today.

My ride started with a quick look @ www.MapMyRide.com to find a route. I have knack to picking the route with the most and highest hills, either running or riding I am on the hills. I hope to race in the Mid-West someday…. So on the bike, the first 10 miles were a great, I was able to hold an average speed of 19+ and stay mostly in the aero position. Now this did have a bit of downhill so I have to credit part of it to gravity. During the second 10 miles I was able to hold an average speed of 17+, but I was starting to fade. The last 5 were painful, but I love pain and it felt good to ride again so I still had a smile from ear to ear.

If felt like it was 70+ degrees out, I just wore bike shorts and jersey and felt fine.

My new bike was great, I love ridding this thing. I need to adjust the max swing stop on the front derailleur because I was a little tough to get it into the big ring. Everything else was fine, smooth shifts and quite breaks, even the traffic was good.

I stopped off at a bike shop in Roswell, Ga. and they had my bike in stock for $250 more than I paid at www.GoTriSports.com. If you want a Felt B12 check out Go Tri Sports and ask for Alfred Olivetti, he will hook you up.

Next up: Swimming at lunch, I would like to get in about 30 minutes in the pool tomorrow.

Felt B12 Review:

Ok, I got me new Felt B12 Triathlon bike two weeks ago and now that I have some miles on it, I feel like I can give an initial review.

I could not make it back to the shop where I purchased it so I had them ship it. Once I got my bike I had to take everything apart and see how it works. I know, but I am a little crazy, I worked in a shop in another life. I put the wrench to a few in my days so I felt it was not big deal to give it the once over.

First things first, unpack it. Luckily the wheels where in great shape, my method for checking the wheels is to grab pairs of spokes and give them a squeeze to stretch and seat them. After of spending a few minutes working them I felt the spoke tension and checked for trueness and they where fine. The wheels are laced 20 radial in the front and 24 cross 2 for the rear. Now that the wheels are set I mounted them and got the bike in my trainer to use it as a stand. So from here I got everything squared away I started the bike fitting process.
I got the saddle height worked out; I kept raising the height until my leg was straight while my shoe heal was on the pedal spindle, and then backed it down 5mm. For me this is the most efficient position and I do not get any hip rocking. Next up was front to back position of the saddle, for this I got on the bike, sat on saddle and then put the crank at 90 degrees, then I used a level on the outside of the crank arm and then plumbed the level, then move the saddle forward or backward until my kneecap is about 3cm in front of the plumb line. For me this works, and I do recommend you get fitted by a pro, well worth the money.
So now that I have my saddle height and front to back position it was time to get my cockpit worked out. For now, I went for comfort, I need to get used to the aero position and over the next few months I will work out the details, so more to come on that.
At this point all that was left to do was fine tuning of the breaks and derailleurs, and getting a wrench on everything and checking tightness.
Now the fun part, a nice 25 mile ride.

Now that I have 100 miles on it and I have been all over the bike with a wrench I can give you my opinion of the Felt B12 Triathlon bike.
Let me start with the frame, this thing is tight, everything about it impresses me. The engineers at felt thought of it all. This frame is very aero and super stiff at the BB, I could not get it to flex, yet the ride quality was super, after 25 miles I was ready to run.

Wheels, I could not really find any info on the wheelset other than they where a new product for Felt. The first thing I did was to take the front hub apart, I know crazy talk, but I need to know how it works, how to keep it in perfect condition and how to fix it.
The front hub uses two sealed NMB type bearings, I love this, no cones to adjust, sealed from the elements, and very easy to find replacements/upgraded bearings. I have not pulled apart the rear, but I will update this when I have. The rims are nice and stiff, I pulled the rubber and could not find any marking that would tell me who made them. They use Ritchy rim tape, so pretty light, but if you’re a WW(weight weenie) you could spend a few and shave a few. Sports are no name, meaning I could not see a moniker imposed anywhere, now that’s not to say they are not to notch, time will tell. The nipples are the standard chromed brass. As a whole they are a fine wheel set and should do fine.
Front and rear derailleurs are Shimano’s new Ultrega SL. This is a new product so only time will tell, but I can say they shifted fine, even under my crushing of the cranks. The breaks are another mystery OEM product so again time will tell, but I can say the adjusted very easily seamed to be good quality, but I am not too sure about the weight. The cranks a BB are the FSA Gossamer PRO MegaExo, and the cranks arms are hollow. I am sold on the cranks, the rings are real nice, I am still breaking them in but the shifting has been great. Not too sure on the cassette and freehub, I thought I felt the hub get goofy a few times but I think it just needs some miles to break it in.
The cockpit is the best, I really like the base bar, this bar is the tubular type with bar tape on the entire bar, this way you do have a few positions to keep you fresh. For me in the hilly side of Atlanta climbing is a fact of life and I need to be able to move around on the bars. Now I know most of the high end bike do not use this type of bar because of weight and drag, but I think for a everyday bike it is not a wise choice. The clip-ons are Profile T2, super adjustable and stiff. Break levers are Tektro RX4.1, what impressed me about them is they have minimal side to side movement. I demoed a few other bikes and the levers killed it, I hate slop. Shifters are the standard Shimano DA 10 speed, and very crisp. The only gripe I have in the sifters is the front has not adjuster barrel, but even this is not a big deal because it’s not an indexes shifter.
Felts used DA cables for the shifter and Felt’s own brand for the breaks. All cables are internal for better aerodynamics. I do have a problem with the about of cable housing they left in the cockpit, they are much too long, and to shorten them might be a project because of the internal routing. I would ask your shop to shorten them, this way it would be more aero and lighter to boot.

The fork is real nice, it’s a full carbon fork, meaning the 1 inch steering tube is carbon as apposed to many that use metal. The fork drop-outs are full carbon with a metal laminate to protect the carbon from the hub. The rear drop-outs are carbon with adjuster set screws so that you can move the rim in or out to get the tire as close to the seat tube as possible.

If I had to rate the Felt B12 I would have to give it a perfect 10 out of 10.


If you have any questions, drop me a line.

-See ya on the road.

Good luck to all the runners.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I am truly thankful for all I have.

Good luck during tomorrows run, then eat drink and be merry.

I am hosting dinner this year, so I have busy day ahead of me, but I will still get my run.

Tomorrow is the first ever “Tribble Mill Turkey Trot”, I am assured first place, as I am the only runner. LOL

I hold my glass hign to you and your PR’s

-Brian

Pictures of the 2008 Felt b12

Today I got 25 miles, it was nice 65 and sunny. I have NOT ridden in about two months because of marathon training. This was my first 25 miles since summer and this bike was fast, I had an avg. speed of 16.5, while I wouldn't consider this fast, but 16.5 in some tall rollers isn't too bad
(I got to find somewhere flat to ride).
When I got home my legs where rubber and boy did that feel good, I love my new bike!

Here are a few pictures of my new ride, Felt B12.
When I was trying to research this bike I could only find stock photos, so I wanted to put up a few different angles. Crank shot, but the thing you can't see is that the rear brake is behind the cranks.
It looks like pad adjustments/replacement is a bit tricky.
Real nice cranks, the crank arms are hollow, nice touch.

Here is a another shot and you can just make out the brake.

Here is the brake from the other side.

Close up of the rear brake.

Standard shot.

If anyone is looking of any info let me know.

-Brian

Felt B12 maiden voyage:

Here she is.

After a quick 15 miles, I can say this was the right choice.

More to come.

-Brian

New Felt B12

I got my bike last night! This moring I am going over the entire thing and just checking it out.

Next up, test ride!

-b

Felt B12

I love bikes, if there is one thing I can get all geeked up about, its bikes.
This year its my time to buy what a TRI bike and it’s taken me countless hours / days of research, may trips to the bike shops, and I am loving every minute of it. I don’t know about you, but give me some shiny metal or some black carbon and I get all types of crazy thought in my head. I want to ride cross country or ride to work or ride … it goes on and on.
I am currently riding a ‘05’ Schwinn road bike with some clip on aero bars, and it hasn’t been all bad, but I really want get stronger and faster on the bike and I need fresher legs for the run.
I have worked my up in price so that I could consider a carbon frame, and this where you can go nuts. For me this is a big chunk of change and I really want to make sure I spent of correctly. It would be so easy to make a mistake, I could get the wrong side and then it game over, or I could buy an over priced bike from one of the big brands company, nothing against them, but I want an bike from a best of breed tri company.
I had narrowed it down to a few, I like the Cervelo P2C, Orbea ORA, Kouta K-Factor and the Felt B12. Every one of these bikes is a real tri machine and worth every penny asked.
But the wife said I could only get one, and I was just happy that we could agree one.
Choosing one out of the four is just about impossible. The Cervelo, what a bike, this model won IM Kona, sleek slippery carbon and killer looks. The Orbea, wow what a frame and groupo package, Orbea is really a nice bike, Kouta, the K-Factor is sweet ride, but for me the bike the makes me want to ride around the world is the Felt B12. This bike is new for 08, it’s the same frame shape as their B2 but with different carbon and a different part mix. This brand FELT really rocks, I know many people that ride Felts and everyone of them say it’s the best bike. I chose the Felt B12 for many reasons but here are a few in no peculiar order:
1) I trust the brand.
2) I like the carbon.
3) I think Felt has the correct geometry.
4) I love the groupo.
5) Nice wheel set.
6) It rides nice.
7) It was the best bike for my budget
8) It a proven winner.
9) It looks like a mad rocket.
10) I think it will improve my riding.

I love bikes.
Thank you my wife for letting me be a kid in a candy shop!

I bought my new ride at Go Tri Sports, this place is just awsome, please give them a TRI.

You are not going to find a better shop and staff anywhere.

I know they have the new Felt B12 instock so go on down for a visit or call them at 843.842.4786, and when you do ask for Alfred Olivetti, this is the person I worked, Alfred had in-depth knowledge of all the product I wanted and he gave me the best price I could find.

So if you're on a budget like me this is the place to shop.

http://www.gotrisports.com

So what do I do now!?!?:

My ‘A’ race is over and Holidays are fast approaching and I can feel myself getting fatter.

I need to find a goal, that dangling carrot to keep me on the straight and narrow. I need to find a race. That sounds familiar, I am such a nut, and I need to find some race to keep me honest. This last marathon didn’t kill me; maybe I could try another, wow that would be cool. If would need to find one soon and come up with a plan. Maybe if I could find one that would run over the winter, some time in January or February. I would need a new plan, one that would have me running 3 or 4 times per week. I still need to swim and bike, I have a half Ironman in May and I can not afford to neglect my triathlon training.

I really need to run this be the spousal unit, I might need to wait a week or two before I bring it up. I have been a little selfish with my training, 4 hour long runs and recovery kind of ruin most of a day. I have to weigh the effects on the family and make sure it’s fair to all involved. Now, I know what I am about to say is probably not correct, but I think at my current level I would not need to train as much as I did to Chickamauga. I think that if I could run 5 miles on Tuesday and Thursday, 7 on Saturday and maybe alternate between 10, 14 and 16 miles on Sundays, this might be enough. The Tuesday and Thursday runs could be done at lunch so they would not affect my family duties. The other weekday lunch hours would be spent in the pool working to improve my weakest of the three disciplines.

I loved running, walking and crawling my marathon. I am proud of myself, this was a challenge, one that I never in my live thought I could do, and it has made me a better man, husband and father. I set off on my journey some 18 weeks ago as a novice marathon runner. Since then I have run when it was 105 degrees out and when it was 35 degrees out, I’ve run through rain, I’ve been chased my dogs, I’ve been run off the road by divers talking of their cell phone, I’ve been yelled at by drivers on cell phones, I’ve run during the day and at night, I’ve run 10 miles in the dark and didn’t get home until 10PM, I’ve run a lot and learned so much about myself.

Now after my marathon, I stand a little taller knowing that I can do anything, it only takes work hard and mental toughness and well, it takes all that and your wife’s OK.

I hope that you will someday have the joy of training for and running a marathon, it will change your life it you let it.

-Brian

P.S. I just got of the phone with my endocrinologist and I am going to see her on the 21st.

The Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon is in the books:

Hey,

Here is the quick and dirty race report.

The race started off just about 7:40, it was a bit cold, I’m guessing but I would say about 40 degrees or so. I wore a long-sleeved tech over a short-sleeved shirt encase it got warm I could ditch the LS
I ate a Clif bar, banana and 20 oz of Gatorade this would give me about 450 calories and a good place to start.

On the run: The Chickamauga Battlefield in northern Georgia is known because it’s the site of the second bloodiest battle ever fought on US, it was fought September 19-20, 1863 and involved more than 150,000 soldiers. I did not really get a chance to see it in detail, but during the run, we ran past many cannons and countless monuments. So the route took us into the park, did two loops inside the park, and then back to the start. The hills by themselves weren’t too bad, but combined with the distance they provided some real challenges. I can only think of one or two places that I thought where steep. My training runs where on bigger and longer hills, so the hills in the park were fine. I made my first loop with out any issues, the sun was out and it was just warm enough, the leave where just about 50-60 of peak colore and a few where falling, it was quite picturesque. The mood on the pack I that I ran with was great, everyone was laughing and having a great time. By my second loop I was just about by myself, I had a few in front and a few in back. This is the way I like it, I am a bit of a loner on tough runs. Don’t get me wrong, I love running with people, but I really needed to focus on my form and make my miles. At about mile 16 I started getting heart palpitations; yep I inherited them from my Mothers side of the family. Doctors have told me that it is ok, it’s just a bit of a misfire and that I would be ok. When it happened I kind of shock me, and it freaks me out. Now the palpitations by themselves aren’t too bad, but along with them I was getting heart rate spikes. I would get a palpitation then my HR would rocket up to 210 and once 230. This is a problem because isn’t the max HR 220? needless to say I was worried. On my training runs I experienced it once or twice on my longer runs. The times that I have had this thing it been at mile 15 or better. I am thinking it might be from dehydration and fatigue. I was really working my nutrition, water stops were approx 2 miles apart, and it each stop it was drinking two cups of water and I and every other stop I shot a GU gel. Anyway I am going to make an appointment with my doctor Monday. Ok back to mile 16, when I got my palpitations and soaring HR I would stop and walk and within 10 seconds my HR would start to drop. So for mile from mile 16ish to the end, I had to run walk it. At times I could run minutes and others maybe 1 minute and then I would have to walk. Towards the end, miles 20-26, I had to walk more and run less and it took longer for my HR to fall back to normal, and it was killing me. The real painful part was that I had the energy to run, I was feeling pretty good and I wanted to run, but it felt like I was going to die so I walked. All summer, well for 18 weeks I ran and rested and got some legs, and it was bummer that I could not run it all with my normal walk breaks. So the extra walking added about 30 and maybe 40 minutes to my total time, but believe me when I tell you, I had the time of my life today, well just below my kids being born and my wedding. It was awesome, I learned a lot about myself on my training runs and marathon.

I was shooting for a time around 5:15, this was the time I really thought I could make it.
With the extra time spend walking I completed my run in somewhere around 5:55ish.
Anything over six hours would have gotten me a DNF so I was running/walking as fast as I could. At the end of the race you ran up and took a left onto the street in front of the church and the race organizers had a person on the corner so the could read your bib number and radio it up the finish line. When I could see the spotter I hollered up to him “Can I make 6!” he laughed at me and said “You got it”, so I poured it on and just make the DNF cut-off with a few minutes to spare. The race organizers do a cool thing, if this is your first marathon and when you cross the finish they give you a duplicate of your race number framed, really cool. When I crossed I got mine and I saw in the box there were about 10 frames still in the box, so I am thinking 10 or so first timers didn’t show or the DNF’ed. I think everyone after me DNF’ed, too bad, they really should go a little longer with the time. I think I saw part results with times over the six hour mark.

My goal was to complete a marathon, and I did!

So when’s the next race…..

I’ll post a few pic when I have some time.

Tomorrow is Marathon day.

Atlast its here, and I'm ready to go, all I need now is some sleep.
Good luck to all my fellow runners, lets have a good race.

-b

Week 18 of my Chickamauga Marathon training:

Well, it’s finally here, week 18.
I’ve got two more days until my race and I am getting a little nervous.
I have had the beginning of a cold for the last three days, and I thought for sure I was going to be sick for my race. I have using ZiCam for about 5 days and I am sure it helped.

If know a few people have been reading my blog are also going to be running the Chickamauga, please drop me a line if you want to meet up.

Email me @ try2tri@gmail.com


The weather forecast for Saturday looks good, maybe a little cool at the start but no rain.

See you race day.

-Brian

Taper, The New England Patriots and Sam Adams

It’s been real busy few weeks. I work in the IT world and we just had a huge upgrade and it’s been keeping somewhat busy. But the all the regular work that got put on the back burner is now upfront.
My little on turned 5 (I guess not so little anymore) and my Dad, Mom and Grand Mother in from out of town. And the old “this, that and the other thing”.
Things are slowing down for me, the Patriots play the Colts this weekend so I am going to get my runs in and just kick back, watch the game and drink a few Sam Adams.

I am getting psyched for my marathon next week, just 7 days away…
Got some butterflies in the stomach, I know I’m ready, its just nerves. The event I have been training for these 18 long weeks is almost here and it’s felling a little weird.

So, I am doing fine, trying to rest up a bit and enjoy the taper.

-Brian

Week 15 is in the books.

Well this week I start my taper, I thought I would never make it, but its here at last.Yesterday was my last real long run, 20 miles, and it kicked my butt. I got a real late start and it was 82 degrees out at the start and dark when I got back home. I was tired, dirty and a little dehydrated by the end. I got lost, crashed and twisted my ankle and when I asked for directions they laughed at me, they said “Son, you a long way from home, hop in and I will drive you home”, and when I said, thanks, but no thanks, they thought I was crazy. I got myself into this; I will get myself out, but thank you for the offer. My course was a hilly one, much hillier that the marathon course, but I am ready to run the Mt Everest Marathon, kidding, but the hills on the stretch were killer, and because I got lost I got to run them twice. JI thought I was going to crack, I was tired, lonely and lost, it was getting dark and I thought about calling my wife and asking for a ride. I was filled with self-doubt, I didn’t think I had it in me, I was a looser… I never made the call; I thought about my form, drank as much water as I could, shot a gel and dug deep. It was dark with about 5 miles to go, I was beat, and the last 5 miles are on some long rollers and it’s mostly uphill. This was my worst long run yet, the last few miles I was doing a drunken shuffle, and my legs were toast. A N D - I - L O V E D – E V E R Y - M O M E N T – OF - I T.Really, I am not crazy, well maybe a little, I love this felling, I was in pain, my feet felt like they were going to explode, my quads were gone, my groin was tight and my calves and hams felt like someone peeled them off the bone. At this point I started learning things about myself, this is where I learned I was strong and true to myself. It would have been so easy to quit, at times I wanted to quit, but I stayed strong. Sure I had to walk some, I really had nothing left in the tank, but that doesn’t matter, I did what I set off to do.During my taper: I can get all my weekday runs in at lunch and my weekend long runs aren’t so long, I really need to spend some time with the family and catch up a bit, I have been spending too much time away. I need to lay on the floor with the kids and watch a little Sponge Bob.

Run long and taper,

-Brian

Week 15 of marathon training:

This is week 15, it’s hard to believe I’ve mad it this far, I have to say the time just flew by. I am feeling pretty good; I made all but one run last week. I had to work all day Sunday so I ran my long run on Saturday and worked on Sunday. My run on Saturday was extended to 13.1 so I could participate in the Phedippidations World Wide Half Marathon Challenge. I was invited to run with a nice bunch of fellow runners in downtown Atlanta, but I had to decline. I was really wish I could have made it, but with working on Sunday and trying to balance running and family time, family always wins out, and we had a real nice time picking pumpkins. So I ran my own route and did pretty good, I ran the 13.1 in 2 hours and 22 minutes, I was pretty happy considering I picked a real hilly course.

So this week:
Monday off
Tuesday 5 miles
Wednesday 8 miles
Thursday 5 miles
Friday off
Saturday 5 miles
Sunday 20 miles

Sunday is another 20 miler and my last for this marathon training program. I have to say I love the long runs, I mean the time I spend running a 20 miler, 4 hours + gives me time to really think out any issues I might have.

Goals for the week:
Let my family know I love them and spend some real quality time with them.
Get my runs in and finish strong.
Work on my pre race dinner, breakfast, run nutrition and hydrations.
Make a real effort to keep my form the entire time.
Stretch out, I am getting tight and I need to loosen up.
Save water and use less electricity.

Remember:
You can go through life with and do nothing or everything it’s your choice.

Things that don’t make since:
I have been following a story of a young girl who has brain cancer. She is just a little girl, so innocent and to have sure adversity, it just doesn’t make any since.
I plan on running my marathon in honor of her and the battle she is fighting. I am raising money for her trust fund and cancer research.

But tonight I learned that she lost her fight.

I’ve spent many hours training for my race, time away from my family. I have worked crazy hours and haven’t seen my kids for an entire day. I have been self absorbed in my little world; I’ve spent many hours sitting on the couch of doom watching football hoping my kids would not interrupt. How selfish I have become, hoping my kids would leave me alone to watch a football game. Don’t get me wrong, I do a lot with my family, but when I see a family that has had a loved one taken away I feel awful when I take my family for granted.

Please get off the couch, huge you wife, husband, kids, mom, dad and anyone in your life, let them know you love them.

Live Strong,

-Brian

IronMan Kona:

Today is IronMan Kona, you can watch it online: http://ironmanlive.com/

I wish you all the best of luck.

-Brian

There but for the grace of God go I:

You are born, you live your life and you die.
Not much you can do about the start or the end.
But the time between the bookends, this, my friends is up to you.

I’ve been reading a blog about a very young girl and she has cancer of the brain; she is under going treatment, but she is in bad shape. And for some reason (I’m human) I just can’t get over it.

Now I really don’t want to sound like I am preaching, but….
When I am feeling low, and like things aren’t going my way I kiss my kids and pray to God to help this poor child. It really puts thing in perspective.

I’ve never meet this young girl or her family, but as a parent, as a man I feel for this family. I can not even comment the fear they must be feeling and my prayers and thoughts are with them.

There but for the grace of God go I.

I’ve been a lazy self-centered man who only worried about things in my small, small world. But when I heard this story I could not sit idly by, how in this great day and age can this disease named cancer be causing such havoc in our sons, daughters, sisters, bothers, mothers and fathers. I know we have made great strides in research and treatment, but we can do more, I know we can.

This is not going to happen all by itself, we can not just think the government is going to do it for us. We the people of this fine planet are going to have to do it, and this means we all have to get involved. We all have jobs to do, some of use will do research, some of us will work with patents, some of use will do things that raise awareness and collect funds to pay for this research. Who can tell me that they do not know anyone who has had cancer; it has touched all of our lives. A cure, and preventative measure is out their, it only takes time and money, the time is the hard part; some of us do not have it, the money, that’s the easy part.

Please think about this young girl and her Mom, Dad and Brothers, keep them in your prayers, because of they need it.

Now this is how we can help out, I need you to get out your checkbooks and really get involved, it’s only money and you’ll make more, so be a hero.

In order to assist the Family with some of the growing medical expenses from Elli’s illness, the “Elli Ruth Benefit Fund” has been created in conjunction with Provident Bank.
Donations, payable to the “Elli Ruth Benefit Fund”, should be mailed to the following address:

Elli Ruth Benefit Fund
c/o John Wojtowicz
3297 St. George’s Ct.
Hampstead , MD 21074

I’m not a Scientist, and I ‘m not a Doctor, I’m just a regular guy, so my role in this battle is to raise awareness, money and pray for a cure.

Please donate.

-Brian

Weather update:

The weather this morning is/was just incredible; it was 54 degrees outside, and I don’t think it’s been that cool since March. I have been running a 5 mile loop at lunch and the midday heat has always been an issue, but today is going to feel great!

Legs are a little heavy, and I am a little tired this morning, I got up a little too early. I am trying to eat well and stretch out a bit, because today is going to be an awesome run!

-Brian

This Sunday, I ran 20 miles:

20 miles takes me a long time to run, and while I'm running my mind is getting clearer.
These miles removed the litter that used to clutter my mind, the synapses are rebuilding, all cylinders are firing, and things seem simpler. All things are possible; training for this marathon has been the best thing I have ever done. I have (re)learned that I can do anything, if I give it 100% and stay true to the plan.

Running makes me happy.
I am proud of my abilities.
I like to make new runners, I want others the feel the same way I do.
During long runs, think about my past life (fast food, Marlboro’s and body by Budweiser), and I feel I’ve earned the moniker “runner”.
When people find out I ran 20 miles, they can’t believe it, I tell them to reset their cars trip odometer and see what it takes to get to 20.
I just want to run more and more.
I like to push myself both mentally and physically, the results have been awesome.

Run people, just run.

I encourage everyone to train and run long distances; it will change your life.

Ok, enough of the mushy stuff.

So this is week 14, only 4 to go to race day.
Monday off –beer and pasta (got to carbo load)
Tuesday 5 miles
Wednesday 8 miles
Thursday 5 miles
Friday should be off, but I am going to run 5
Saturday 13
Sunday Working, big upgrade to do.

This is a rest week, 35 miles….

Wish me luck.

-Brian

Long, Long, really long run.

My first 20 miler is in the books.
I had to walk a bit, but I'm feeling good!

More on this run later.

Brian

This is where the fun starts:

This is week 18 of my Chickamauga Marathon training program.

My marathon training as been both good and bad, I’ve misses a few runs and I’ve been feeling bad about it. I know it’s ok to miss a few runs, its not the end of the world, but when I say I am going to do something and I don’t it haunts me. But on the other side, I’ve been pretty tired and felling a bit run down, and the hardest part of my training is coming up, and a little time off now will help me in the long run. So I really haven’t been beating myself up too much, and all-in-all I am feeling good about myself and my try at a marathon, in-fact I recommend it.

So, week 13, hard to believe 12 weeks have gone by so quickly.
Monday Masters swimming
Tuesday 5 miles
Wednesday 8 miles
Thursday 5 miles
Friday bike 20 miles
Saturday 5 miles
Sunday 20 miles!
Totaling a weekly running mileage of 43!

Positive thought for the week:
1) Can’t wait for the race/event, it been almost 13 weeks and only a few more weeks to go.
2) The weather is been really nice, and it’s only getting better (it’s Georgia and its been hot).
3) My body and mind has been holding up.
4) Running warm-ups with the kids.
5) I am having fun.

If you going to run the Chickamauga let me know how you’re doing, shoot me an email or post a message here.

-Brian

Next up the Kaiser Permanente Corporate Run/Walk:

Thursday September 27 is the Kaiser Permanente Corporate Run/Walk, and man I’m stoked!
Our company has 130 runners and walkers this year, this has to be a record for us. My department IST has just about 30 participating, and I know that’s a record, last year were might have had 10. So this year when the notification came out with the date (about 8 weeks ago), I started campaigning to see if I could roundup 30 team members. I am counting the 10 of us that ran/walked last year, so I needed 20. So my plan was to make some new runners, pretty cool I thought, get someone else into the sport that saved my life (it might of saved my life), but I love to run. Out of the twenty or so that were added about 5 were total new to running, and a few more had run before, you know “back in the day”, so they were all getting back into it or into to it. I set up a few training plans for the newbie’s and we did Tuesday after work runs at a park located close to the office. We had some hot weather, we had a couple of 100 degree days, and I was shocked that people showed up to run. Runners are a strange breed; I don’t think non runners get it, so lucky for us we do.

So the race, it’s a 5k on some rolling hills nothing to sick, so I am hoping to run fast!
This race has some real cool vibes, first off, the starting line is at the 1996 Olympic torch and under the Olympic rings, and runs out though downtown Atlanta, last year I felt like I was an Olympian. Being part of the 15,000-20,000 runner pack, running though downtown Atlanta is just electric.

-Brian

Week 11 is in the books:

Wow, week 11 was tough, lots of miles and we had some real warm weather.

During my 18 mile run at mile 12 I came upon a fork in the road, I had 6 miles ahead or I could bail and take the short route 2 miles back home.

So far my run was long, hilly and hot, and I knew the remaining 6 was going to be hard on me, it was going to test my body and spirit. So many times I thought of taking the short route, the easy way, I wanted a cup of coffee; I wanted air conditioning and something to eat. This long and hilly run was starting to take its toll on me; I was getting weak both physically and mentally. It was getting harder to keep my previously cheerfully attitude, and I was certain I was going to fail.
But something happened, I came to the fork in the road, and I started to cross over in the direction of long, 6 more miles to go direction. I was confused, I though my mind and body had it worked it all out; all of us were going to take the short route home, get a cup of coffee and be done with the running thing. As I made the turn and started to think I’m going to get my 18 miles in, holy crap. Something great just happened, the mind is strong! My body was begging my mind to stop and go home, but thankfully my mind stayed its course and did not give in.

I ran 18 miles Sunday; this run may have broken down my body but it built-up my mind. Sure I’m a little sore and my Achilles tendon is/was a sore but my head is back on track.

-Brian

18 Miler:

My 1 8 miler is in the books.
I would like to say is was easy, but it wasn't.
Thanks to everyone who gave me advice and inspiration, you all help me on my run.

-Brian

Weekend long runs and mental fortitude:

This is going to be my longest weekend to date in my Marathon training program.
On Saturday I have to run 8, ok no big deal 8 is like an average medium run for me now, heck I ran 9 last night in the dark.
But the real run is on Sunday, this is the run that has been waking me up in the middle of the night. Just thinking of this run makes me sweaty any my stomach starts to knot up. This is the 18 miler! 18 miles will be the furthest I have ever run and I am starting to freak out. I’ve been doubting my running abilities and my great idea of running a marathon and just feeling a little overwhelmed with the idea of running 26.2. What was I thinking? What if I fail and never finish the race, plus I’m sure everyone else is faster and more experienced. I am going to feel foolish when the gun goes off and everyone smokes me. Why did I sign up? It sounded so cool; yeah I was going to run a marathon. Just plain crazy talk.
Come on man snap out of it, this is an epic journey filled with highs and lows and I am just in a bit of a low, I can get past this little bump. I knew I was going to have lows, this was expected. I have to dig deep and get over my excuses; I know I can do this, this crazy thing, this thing that has been running (pun intended) my life for the last 11 weeks. 18 miles, that’s easy. I am going to kick its ass, 18 miles, Sunday is going to be a blast, I love running. Yeah, that’s right, I love running, I’ve been training hard, and my body has been getting stronger. What the hell was I worried about. It’s all coming back to me now, I LOVE RUNNING!

When I see you on the road, I’ll wave,
-Brian

Team Hoyt:

The best story ever told.

Week 11 of Chickamauga Marathon training.

Hard to believe I made it this far.
This week is my longest mileage week for the entire program, 44 miles.
So it works out like
Cross Monday
5 Tuesday
8 Wednesday
5 Thursday
Rest Friday
8 Saturday
18 Sunday

Yeah, Sunday is going to be fun, I need to find a new loop(s).

I am feeling much better this week, my cold is just about gone. That cold really slowed me down and running was the last thing on my mind, well that’s a lie, I thought about it a lot, and felt like a looser about not running. But that was last week, and it’s gone, and all I can do it take on day, one mile at a time.

New Swim Drills:

This might kill me:
ANAEROBIC SETS 1 set at a time
Reps x Distance Set Rest Between Reps
10 x 25 Sprints 15 - 25 secs on wall
20 x 25 Sprints 20 - 30 secs on wal
10 x 50 Sprints 20 - 45 secs on wall
10 x 25 Breath Sets 30 - 60 secs on wall
4 x 100 Every other lap - sprint 30 - 60 secs on wall
10 Animal Sets 0
10 x 25 Pulls - high intensity 15 - 45 secs on wall
10 x 25 Kicks - high intensity 15 - 45 secs on wall
Total 2400 Meters.

40 Years, boy I had fun.

Today is my big 40!
I am going to run 8, shower and maybe nap, and go eat a very large steak and drink a Sam Adams.
Happy b-day to all.
;)
-Brian

Some photos from one of my long runs, a 14 miler.
The weather was nice for running but not so good for taking pictures.
It started to rain aroud the halfway point so the camera did not come out after that.

My run started out my front door, and I ran up to Tribble Mill Park, I hit some trails and ran back.
I had a blast, I found a quite trail just off the road and took it into the park, I had no idea where it when, I just took it. :)
-b

Week 10 of training for the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon:

Training this week has been hard, on Sunday night I started to get a soar throat, and by late morning Monday I was driving back home after leaving work sick. I stopped on the way home and got some Zicam, I purchased the ‘Oral Mist’ and have been taking it for two days now. I love the product and think it works well.
This has been a real bummer on my training, I have congestion in my head and lungs and the thought of running is exhausting. Last week I missed a few miles because of ankle pain, and as soon as I healed up from that now I’m sick, what a pain. On the bright side, I love the bright side, I have had time to heal up the mussels and the small aches and pains are gone. I missed my Tuesday run of 4 miles, and tonight I have a 8 miler, that’s going to kill me.
So my week is this:
Mon Cross / Nothing slept all day
Tue 4 miles / Nothing slept all day
Wed 8 miles / Short swim at lunch 1000 meters, and I hope I can run tonight.
Thu 4 miles
Fri Off
Sat 8 miles
Sun 17 miles.
For a weekly total of 41 miles.
Wish me luck, I am going to need it.

-Brian

Ford IronMan Florida 70.3, "Tested, he will be." -Yoda

Alright, it been 24 hours and its starting to settle in, I am in for the ride of my life.
Wow, I am going to race Ford IronMan Florida 70.3, "Tested, he will be." -Yoda

Man I am psyched, when can I start, this is renewing my commitment to myself to rip life of its hinges. I’ve been busy, working, making money, paying the mortgage, raising kids (I love that job), head down with blinders on, I have spent much time not paying attention to life, shrouded in commitments. Well that’s all changing, sure I still have to pay the mortgage, and go to the office, and I am at peace with it, I love what I do for a living and I set up auto bill pay for the mortgage, but from now on, heads up blinders off.

I have about 250 days before my race, and I am trying to come up with a timeline.
Thinks on my list, not in any peculiar order:
Finnish my marathon
Rest up, I am going to need to be injury free before I start.
Find a plan.
Find a mentor.
Open water swim a bunch.
Buy a wetsuit (race water will be too warm), but I need it to train.
Nutrition, really get into it.
Become a morning person.
Drop another 15 lbs.
Spend as much time as I can with the family.

Last but not least:
Enjoy the journey, that what its all about.

-b

Florida 70.3 Half IronMan:

As I write this post my body is now coming back from a paralysis.
I clicked the go button on the signup form for Florida 70.3 Half IronMan, and I went numb.

1.2 miles swim
56.0 mile bike ride
13.1 mile run

More to come on this subject.

I am going to bed early.

-b

Wish me luck....

Week 9 of Marathon Training:

This week is my light week of a three week set, using Hal Higdon's Intermediate Plan I. Luckily it’s my light week because my ankle has kept me from running…. A few weeks back I signed up for masters swimming, and for the last few days while I haven’t been running I have been doing swim drills. I think the swimming is harder that the running, I can’t wait to get back on the road. Actually, I’ve been feeling pretty darn good, and the time off (3 days) has allowed my to ankle to heal, as well as my legs, I am feeling strong and renewed. I will be running tonight, I missed a 4 and 5 miler, and I got a 4 to do tonight, so I might make it a 7 or not, I will have to see how I feel.

This weekend runs are 7 on Saturday and an 11 on Sunday, I think I am going to have to flip them because I am the On-Call this week and I have work to do this Sunday AM. After I am done on Sunday we are taking the kids to our local water park, this will be our last trip for the year as they close for the year after this weekend, so sad.

So let me know how your training is going, it's been a long hot summer, Im sure you have something to say.

-b

Week 8 of Chickamauga Marathon training is the books:

Well I did it, I am at the halfway point of my training for the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon, 230 miles are in the logbook, and 330 to go!

In the coming weeks the miles are starting to creep up, the new few weeks are totaling 41, 44, 36, 43 and on and on, so my September and October are going to be some long months.

I am holding up reasonable well, although I do have some pain on my left foot. After this weeks long run (15) miles, my ankle started bothering me. I know that’s a big problem, but I think it will heal itself with some rest. The pain is coming from the Tibia / Talus area in the front of my foot. Because of the Labor Day holiday my Master Swimming was moved from Monday to Tuesday. So today I am going to swim tonight and taking today off from running to help rest my ankle. I just made it to the coffee pod and back, and my ankle feels better than it yesterday.

The weekend has been a little crazy, I ran 7 on Saturday and then we went to 6 flags, I ran 15 on Sunday then we went to Stone Mountain and walked allover, and then when I got home I mowed the lawn for 50 minutes, my body was hurting pretty bad. I have been neglecting the lawn and shrubs and I needed to spend some quality time with the lawn mower. I saw a post onetime that called the condition of my lawn “Triathletes Lawn”, guess I am not the only one with tall grass.

I am still thinking about signing up for 70.3 Florida, but I am still a little scared….

Next post(s):
I took a few pictures durring my long run and I want to post them up to share this sights.
I am swapping out my regular light bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs, you can read all about them at http://www.onebillionbulbs.com/, please go to this site and read all about it. I am going to swap out a bunch tonight.

Low impact, on the body and the planet.

-B

Long runs for this weekend:

This is the Labor Day weekend, and I have been going back and forth about my long run. I got a 15 miler to do this weekend, and I usually run them on Sundays, but It looks like we might be going to 6 Flags, and I don’t want to do both on the same day. So my options are:
1) Swap my Saturday 7 miler for Sundays 15 miler.
2) I could take Sunday off and run my 15 on Monday.
3) I could Cowboy up and just run them!

Not sure what to do.

Week 8 of my training for Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon:

Week 8, almost at the halfway point.
At almost the halfway point I am feeling good about my training and I feel like I will be ready to run my race. My only worry now is my speed, I am not as fast at I need to be, I want to run a sub five hour marathon. Now sub –five isn’t fast by any means but it’s a goal I should be able to reach.
So this week I have the following runs planed:
Tues 4 miles
Wed 7 miles
Thur 4 miles
Sat 7 miles
Sun 15 miles
My Sunday long run of 15 will be broken into two loops, this way I can stop back and reload my water and nutrition.

Things I need to do:
1) Stretch more, my mussels are getting sore and tight.
2) Drink more water.
3) Get more sleep

So that’s my week, I got a 7 miler tonight, note sure if I will run in the tread or on the street, either way I can’t get going until 08:00 pm.

Keep the rubber side down,

-b

Week 7 of marathon training is in the books:

Man this was a huge week for me. I ran 43.5 miles, and my feet feel like flapjacks.
All kidding aside this was probable the most miles I ever run in a week, and it felt good. Today, Sunday was a 14 miler, so I planned a double loop so I could stop back at the house and reload my water bottles.

Today I tried to match race conditions as closely as I could. I followed my planned nutrition, I ate one banana in the morning and two Rolaids, washed it down with about 8 ounces of water. Then on the road, I drank 4 large bottles of 75% Gatorade 25% water drinking every four minutes or so, this way my stomach can handle the calories, and if my stomach started to shutdown I would know it sooner than later. I also had three GU brand gels, I had `espresso love` with caffeine, boy do I love the taste, but more importantly my body loves it too. I also ate another banana when I stopped back at the house.

My pace was very consistent mile to mile so I felt pretty good about that. The only thing I was somewhat unhappy with was my per mile pace, I only managed to average 12:23, and at that rate I would run a 5:24 marathon. I got to get this down a bunch. I feel that I can get this down to 11:15/30, so I need to take a minute off this. Pulling a minute off this pace, I must be crazy, I am and I freely admit it, but I held back a little, I wasn’t sure I could make the distance, so I padded it. Next week I have to run 15 miles for my long run, and I am going to hit it a little harder and really work on the pace. I also plan on taking better care of my self this week, this means betting to bed earlier, eating better, stretching more, and watching what I eat, I think I can lose two pounds this week and get a little lighter. I got to ramp up the water and green tea intake this week and really flush out the body. And it can only get cooler out, right…. The warm weather has got to be taking 15 seconds from me, I know it is.

So my run was cool, I felt good, just minor soreness, my Achilles pain was all but gone. The weather was pretty good, somewhere around 75-80 degrees and humid, but that’s loads better then the 85-90 it has been. I choose a loop that I really hadn’t run much so it felt new. My two loops shared the same roads for about 3 miles, but when I ran the common mileage, I ran them in different directions. The fist loop was a little hilly, it had one long grade then went on for about 1.5 miles, and I should of run it the other direction, and worked on running downhill. That sounds funny, working on my descents, but running downhill is my weakness, I run them too slow, and the load on my legs kills, I know should be able to make some time on them. The actual marathon course does have some hills, mostly rollers, so I need to get better on the hills. The rest of the run was quite, the flats were flat, and it was overcast, so the sun was not an issue. My nutrition was good, and my stomach was fine the entire way.

I had some good tunes on the iPod, I downloaded some real good music from the bands Drunks Don’t Lie, AC/DC, Beastie Boys, Tom Petty and so on, so I rocked the whole way. Please don't judge, but I love to run to some a$$ kicking tunes. I wonder of anyone has done a study on music and running, I am sure someone has, but I wonder of they measured performance and volume. For me volume has lots to do with my running, crank it up tunes, and the legs crank up. I am going to have to do some research.

So in a nutshell, I had a real nice week, I made all my miles and then some, and it can only get cooler out right?

-Brian

P.s.: I signed up for Masters swimming, and Monday night is my first night. More to come on that Tuesday morning.

Goals and the Master Plan:

I have some current goals, and I need some new ones.
My goal that’s on the horizon is the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon in northwest Georgia, Saturday November 10th this is my next `A` race. This my first marathon and I am about a third of the way though my training, and loving every minute of it, even the running on a tread, and even though I bitch and moan about it, I’m still loving it. So this marathon thing that I am doing, its part of my master plan. My new love is triathlon, I have done two this season, and if I could manage the time I would of done one every weekend. The marathon is doing many good things for me, I am getting in better shape, I’m learning mental toughness, I am losing a few lbs, and every step that I take is getting me closer to my stretch goal.

Stretch Goals:
Ok, its time for Show ‘n Tell, my next mid-range goal, my `A` race if you will for next season, is to train for and compete / complete a Half Ironman, yeah I said it, a Half Ironman. I’ve been doing so good, eating right, training right, sleeping enough, taking days off, working my nutrition, and I don’t want to regress, I need a that next goal. This is going to be my dangling carrot, this is going to drive me all off-season, and my marathon is just the foundation for my next journey.

Need to do:
I need to pick a race, I have a few options.
NA Sports puts on the Florida Half Ironman 70.3, this looks like a flat and fast course, registration is still open, and its at Walt Disney World, so I could take the family and spend a few days having fun, this is if I can walk afterwards.
Georgia Multisports Productions puts on The Coliseum Health System's Rock 'N RollMan Half Iron Triathlon, in Macon Georgia in early June. I did the sprint this year, and they put on a great race.
I have also found http://www.trifind.com/iron-h.html to be a good resource to locate races.

So in the next few weeks I got to pick a race and signup.

Almost forgot to add, I signed up for a Master swimming program. The pool that I have been training at just started the program. I signed up last night and I got to talk to the coach and he said that so far everyone who signed up was training for triathlon. So I am happy about that, can’t wait for Monday.

-B

My wife asked me, why do you run?
After about a minute of pondering the question, I said, because I feel like a superhero when I run. The 6 year-old in me blurted out the answer before the much older man that I am now got a chance, but the more I think about my answer the more I really think its the truth.

I can remember a sunny day running around in the backyard just zooming with my hands held out, leaning into the turns, jumping over obstacles and running just as fast as I could. I was a superhero. It’s funny, but I can still see my Mom looking at the through the window at me, I can still smell the flowers and the heat of the day, and I can still hear the music that was on the radio. The movie that plays in my head is now somewhat overexposed, bleached out at the edges and with every year that goes by it gets fainter and fainter. But when I run, I am that 6 year-old boy running around in the backyard, I get a warm feeling, and every once in awhile I will put my arms out and soar, because I am still that superhero.

-b

Marathon training update:
I am in week 7 of 18 of my training for the Chickamauga Marathon.
So far things are going fine, I have had the some soreness but for the most part it has been temporary. My biggest threat has been my Achilles tendons, I have had soreness on both down where it attaches to the heel bone. So I have been stretching and massaging it and doing long warm-ups before I run.

The mileage is ramping up this week to a total of 36, so my week looks like:
Monday Cross, but I ran to make up for last week, ran 5.2
Tuesday Should be 4, but I ran 5.5 to make up for last week.
Wednesday 7, I’m going to run this tonight, should be fun.
Thursday 4
Friday OFF
Saturday 7
Sunday 14

Lately the heat has been a real problem, we are 10-15 degrees above our normal temperature and it’s been killing my runs. This is my second summer in GA, and the heat is kicking my butt and m window for running outside is small, and much of my runs have been in the dark of night. In New England it can get very hot during the days, but it would always cool down over night. Here in GA, the AM temp has been just about 80 and real humid.

Ok, ok enough of my rant about the heat, I figure am going to be a much stronger runner for all miles and the heat fatigue. Give me a 65 degree day, and I know I’m going to be a much faster runner for the pain of this summer.

I can remember pouring hot water into my water bottle before a run in the frosty New England winter and hoping for a 100 degree day, so I got my wish.

-b

Emily and her first TRI, Iron Kids.

Emily and her first TRI, Iron Kids:
(Picture to come)
Wow, My Daughter Emily 8yrs competes in her first TRI.
August 19, 2007 was a great day, full of trepidation, smiles and esteem building that will last a lifetime.
I am so happy for her, because today she learned she can do anything, and that’s a life lesson that she will use over and over again.

Emily has been watching me train and race and said to me more than once that she would like to race. I thought how cool is that, my Daughter wants to race, and then I started to think to myself, why. Does she really want to race or does she want to please me. I really didn’t want her to race for the wrong reasons, she should race for herself and not for anyone else.
I found IronKids.com, Sara Lee sponsors 6 kids’ triathlons a season and it just so happens one of the races is just 20 minutes from the house. I talked to the family about it and Emily said she wanted to do it.

Emily’s Training:
Over the summer Emily has been taking swimming lessons at our local YMCA and she has been doing fine. We also have a 25 meter pool in out neighborhood so she is no stranger to water. Now that does not mean she can swim 100 meters freestyle easily, she mostly mixes it up swimming underwater, backstroke, and anything else that would get her to the end. We practices a few time in the pool, very low key, I did not want to put her in the position of having to please me. After a few times swimming 100 meters, I knew she could make the distance, so that was it.
Her bike was fine, we rode a few times and I knew the distance wasn’t an issue.
Emily’s running is good, we have done a few kids races so I knew she could do it.

Emily’s Race:
The day started like most race mornings, got to Transition and got set up. Iron Kids really did a great job on this, on the bike rack they placed a duplicate race number (bib) on the rack so you knew exactly where your bike went. We set up and I went over with her how to lay it out and in what order she needed to get things done in. You could see that many of the kids racing had parents that raced, chalk marks in the pavement at the end of the bike racks, tidy gear, it was cool. Ok T is set up off to the pool, this was the hard part. The pool was 6 lanes and the kid were to start 2 per lane, but for some reason they were starting them on per. First went the older kids (Seniors) ages 11-14, they had to swim 200 meters. This took a long time, and on top of that every so often they would take a break to let the racers on the cycle leg finish so the bike leg would be safer, and I am all for it. The swim started at 08:00 starting with the older kids and going down to the younger kids. Emily didn’t get into the pool until 10:45, but at this point the kids were swimming 2 per lane so it was going faster. It was hard for the kids to wait so long, and for the younger siblings to wait, it was getting hot. The swim was fine, on her last lap I ran out of the pool area and got into position just outside the transition area and waited. Here she comes! Some of the older kids that had already finished lined up on either side of the path to the transition and joined hands to make a human tunnel and when a racer came down the screamed and yelled to “Good job!”, “Go!”, “You can do it!” and it was just awesome. I cried when I saw my Emily run threw the tunnel of well wishers, I might be making more of it than it was, but it was true sport, and it was good hearted kids showing true sportsmanship.
So, into T1, this is where Iron Kids was real good, transition was laid out with number on the bike racks and they had staff that would see the kid’s number marking and lead the kids to their bike. Emily hit T1 fast, got out in the bike in about 2-3 minutes, not bad for a newbie kid. She road her three laps quickly and by the look on her face she was having fun. Back to transition for T2, and she was lead to her rack, she racked her bike and out the other end for the run. Now this was cool, the run mat was at the end of the transition and they had a water stop next to the mat. Emily blasted out of T2 grabs a water, drinks half and pours the other half over her head chucks the cup all while running, I though to myself wow she looks like a pro. I ran around to catch up with her on the run, and she was past the halfway point and running up a long grade and I could see that she had a side stitch. This is where I could see the lack of real training and heat where taking a toll on her, but this is part of triathlon, getting past the pain and pushing yourself. I though to myself this is what she needed, she need to fight through something hard and see that she can do it. She saw me as I stood their cheering her on, and I could see a smile take the place of the pain, and I could see that walk turn to a run. It was a downhill run to the finish, and finish she did, she is my hero.

Thoughts:
This is my opinion, so take it or leave it, but I believe triathlon builds kids both physically and mentally.
It worth the effort to expose your kids to as many things as you can, and let them decide if they like it or not.
Please do not mandate that your child do anything but get good grades and eat their vegetables.
Let them decide if they want to race or not.
And if nothing else, let then know you love them.

A proud dad,

-B

P.s.: I can not believe I forgot to add that we got to see the awesome Sara Mclarty.

Sara helped run the Iron Kids Atlanta/Dacula Georgia and did a great job. I heard many kids say that they wanted to be Sara including mine.

Sara is going on a world tour to train and race for an Olympic spot, and we wish her the best of luck!

Please check out Sara's blog at http://www.saramclarty.blogspot.com/

Go Sara!

-B

New shoes:

I bought a new pair of Brooks Radius 7s, and I love them.

Now the cool part, I’ve been running for a few years now, and I have bought many pairs of running shoes. I’ve had most major brands, but I have bought them on recommendations of fellow runners. And I bought them because of something I’ve read, and I even bought a pair because the looked cool, what a joke.
Now that I have started marathon training it is so important to stay injury free, I knew what I had to do. I needed to get a professional opinion and so many people recommended the

Big Peach Running Company (BPRC). (Note: that is not me on the tread) I don’t get into the city (Atlanta) much unless I am with the wife and kids, and we are usually going to the Zoo or to see a show, so a 90 minutes stop to a running store is out of the question. And I knew I needed to go to the BPRC by myself, I did not want distractions, enough said. So, I needed to have my oil changed in the car, so I packed my bike and dropped the car off, and off on the bike I went.

First impressions of the store were:
I found a place that has everything I needed to run. No more having to buy things unseen off the net, or settling for something that is sub par, or some junk that the Big Box stores sell because theirs more profit in it. I found my place for running gear.
So I road down maybe 5 miles and it was hot outside 100 degrees out, no kidding 100. I showed up to the store sweating and with my bike. They let me bring my bike in the store so it would be safe, thank you. I got inside and started looking around, I saw they had plenty of nutrition to choose from. I like GU brand gels and they are hard to find, and they have them, so already I was pleased. They had lots of hydration belts, they had lots of cool shiny object, and they had stuff that took batteries. All kidding aside they have the stuff you need.

Ok, to the main event, my new shoes.
After browsing a bit, and cooling down, I was still dripping sweat. I told the sales person that I wanted to get fitted for a pair of new running shoes. So we started talking about what kind of running I was doing, and I said I was training to run a marathon and I had just started adding some miles to my running. At the same time the sales person had me stand on a measuring device that pressure sensitive and connected to a plasma monitor. Now this thing was worth the trip to the store alone. On the display is showed my shoe size, my width, my arch height and it showed is color where I was putting my weight, the display looked like a thermal image of the bottom of my foot. So we continued of conversation about my running and I told the fitter that I had some Achilles tendonitis down around my heel and I thought it was because ill fitting shoes and my running style (style, not sure what to call what I do). So with this knowledge the fitter put me in a very neutral shoe and had me get on a treadmill and while I was running he captured it on video. After a few moments he stopped me and then he analyzed the video frame by frame. At the same time he was showing me what was going on and explained to me in easy to understand language in what categories I fell into. So with all of my information in hand he went into the back storage room and came out with 4 options for me to try. I tried a Nike, Mizuno, Asics and a pair of Brooks. After a few minutes in each I would record my thoughts mentally and tried on the next pair. With each pair the fitter would tell how they should fit and technically each pair would do for me. I am a super geek I wanted to hear it all. In all the Brooks felt the best, and after a few days and just 14 miles I can say I got a good pair.

I paid the same price I would have paid at a Big Box store, but the service I received was so much better. So, please go buy a pair of shoes from a trained fitter and support your local running shop.

Alright, what a love fest. I do not gain any financially benefit from this post. This just my opinion and I hope you gain some knowledge from it. Now, I do not want to discourage any financially benefits….

So checkout the Big Peach Running Store, and get professionally fitted.

-B

iPod and the Nike+ Plus gadget:

Ok, I confess I am a geek, if you can plug it in or it takes batteries I want it.
I just purchased the Nike+ iPod gizmo and man is it cool. I had to play around with the calibration a bit, but so far (7 or 8 miles) it been pretty accurate. I love toys, and I love running so put them together and man its like PB&J, it’s like bacon and pancakes, pancakes, I love pancakes.

So far this week I got all miles in and I am feeling pretty good. I have been making a real effort to stretch out each morning and during the day. I’ve been watching what I put in my mouth and taking in some high quality carbs and protein post workout. Everything I have been reading and listening too suggests eating as soon as you can or within the first 20 minutes to aid recovery. Recover, I am just now understanding what this really means, and how important it really is.

So this is my mission, to find some Yoga videos and few books on nutrition and research ways I can maximize my recovery. And get more sleep.

-Brian