Race Week

The week has finally come, N.O. 70.3 is upon us. I feel so ill prepared. My running has not come along with the heel issue and it has gotten only slightly better. Still hurts pretty bad after a long run or any kind of reasonably fast speed work. We'll see if it can hold up for 13.1 miles.

Last Wednesday we took a trip to New Orleans to swim the course. Forecast had thunderstorms and 25 mph winds, but we went anyway. The only saving grace was that the wind was out of the south. Got down there and it was perfect. The wind was blowing about 20, but since it was from the south the water just had a slight ripple. We ended up swimming 0.5 mile to the start and then swimming the 1.2 mile course. The water was actually too warm and my full sleeved wetsuit had me extremely warm. Every 5 minutes I would pull the neck down to let water in to cool me off. I could feel it coming out by my feet very warm. Ended up swimming around 38 minutes, which would be great come race day. Will be a little more crowded though, so I will be happy with 40 although not excited. Bad news is that some peeps from BR Tri went down Saturday and the wind was out of the north at about 20 mph and the waves were crashing to the top of the sea wall (3'-4'). A north wind or east wind will not be fun. The forecast for now has SW wind, which will be perfect for the swim.

Friday, I did my last longer brick before the race. Rode 40 miles in north Baton Rouge and then ran 5 miles. Went 19.2 on the bike and managed 8:50 pace on the run. That is not going to cut it for my goal. I need to hit around 19 on the bike and 9:00 pace on the run to have a chance at 5:45. The run is going to be the tough part...

Sunday, we loaded up Boggs' truck and 6 of us headed to Lake Charles for a quick "warm-up" race. It was a super short sprint of 500 meters/10 miles/2 miles. My buddy Jeremy was doing his first tri, which is the only reason I committed. The air temp was 40 at race time and the water temp was 66 due to the recent rain showers. Left my wetsuit at home so I wouldn't be tempted to swim in it. The swim was miserable and I only managed to go 9:11, which is only 1:50/100 m. Couldn't get my legs going on the bike and missed the 20 mph standard. Went 19.7. The one shining moment was my T2, 37 seconds. Second fastest T2 in the race. Executed the flying dismount perfectly, hustled in and racked my bike flawlessly, slipped on my shoes with my Yanks laces and hit the run course. Was happy with my run, especially considering my lack of speed work over the last 2 months. Managed 7:42's. Best of all, a fellow age grouper, Br Tri friend and caravan member got beat by my excellent transitions. We had the same swim time and run time, but he beat me on the bike by a full minute. However, my transitions were 2 minutes faster total. He passed me on the bike at mile 6, but I caught and passed him in T2 and never looked back. I knew he was lurking on the run, but I saved a little for the last 1/4 mile and kept him at bay. Got 5th in age group and 37 overall out of 119.

Doing low volume, speed work for this week. Swam 1,000 yds this afternoon and going to do a short 5k tomorrow at 8:00 pace. Going to swim another 1,000 yds on Wednesday with a short run and then bike about 15 miles on Thursday. Short run on Friday and then rest Saturday. Race day early on Sunday. Good luck to others doing the race and to my buddy from Houston doing the Lonestar 1/2 this weekend in Galveston. Wish they weren't the same weekend because I enjoyed Lonestar and was looking to do it again. Maybe next year.

Bricks 'R Us

Finally got a freakin' run in. After not having run for another week straight, I finally got my feet on the pavement yesterday. Went for my normal Thursday morning bike ride, but decided to start a little earlier so I could do a run after. With the time change, it was dark for the entire workout.

Started out with a 15 mile ride on my normal route. It was pretty windy, so I only averaged around 19.5 for the ride. I hate freakin' cross winds. Give me a headwind and tailwind any day over a cross wind. Felt like I was fighting the wind the whole ride. At least with a headwind, there is a point where you know you'll get a tailwind. Got off the bike and transitioned right into the run. I try to keep it under 3 minutes so that it is truly race conditions (No, I don't take 3 minutes for transitions in a race, matter of fact, my T2 times are normally under a minute so shut up).

Wanted to run for 30 minutes. Went out fairly easy to make sure the heel was feeling good. Picked it up on the way back in. Negative split the run by 5 seconds, woohoo...Guess I wasn't taking it as easy on the way out as I thought. Ended up going 3.6 miles for a 8:30 pace. Pretty decent for me for an easy run after a bike. Probably could have been in the 7:45 range if it was actually a race. However, the heel is still not good. Had some light pain in it the rest of the day and it felt sore after sitting at my desk all day not moving it.

Going to try and run 8 to 9 miles today and see how it holds up. Don't want to go into the half iron only having run a 10 miler 2 months before the race. If it doesn't do well, then I am going to just have to run a bunch of short runs for the next 3 weeks leading up to the race. That will make my race goal be very tough to meet. I need to be able to go sub 9 minute pace on the half marathon to have a shot at my "A" goal.

The Daily Grind

Back again after a long layoff from the Blog Nation. Have been too busy with other things, i.e. facebook, to come over here and post. There is at least a couple of people who read this occasionally to know how much or little I have been training. One of them reminded me that I actually have this thing here and that I needed to update it. I've taken some pictures while training, but they are all at work and I am at home at the moment. Maybe I'll post them tomorrow for two posts in a row, but I wouldn't hold my breath...

My training has been going okay. My swimming has been fine. I have been averaging around 4600-5800 yds per week spaced over 2 workouts. Monday and Wednesday are swim days. Monday is shorter in total volume (1800-2200), but I do a warm-up, then a long straight swim (1400-1800) followed by a cool down. Wednesday is longer (2800-3600) consisting of some shorter distance intervals to work on some speed. Still only averaging 1:40's on 100's, but that is good enough for me. I would be happy swimming 1:45 average for the 1.2 mile swim at the Half Iron.

Biking has been good, except for being cold. Hard to get motivated to ride my bike in the mornings when it is 35 degrees out, but I haven't missed a weekend ride yet. Been going 45-55 miles on my Sunday rides and doing a Thursday morning "speed" workout for around 15-20 miles. Sunday this past week was brutal. At 9 am the temp was 38, but there was a 20 mph wind. The wind chill was 29 and it was freakin' cold on the bike. On the way out, there was a section directly into the wind. I was doing 13 mph with a heart rate of 162 (almost 90% of MHR). Then I finally got to a section with the wind at my back and I was doing 27-28 mph with a heart rate of 150 (around 80% MHR). My bike is coming along and I have ridden the half iron course twice. Thinking I may be able to go around 19-19.5 mph for the race if the wind is light. The course could be tough though with any wind since it is pretty wide open through the marshes along the lake.

My run has been my weakest link. My weekly mileages have been 15, 12, 11, 11, 20, 5.5 and then looking at around 14 for this week. My run has been sufferin'. I finally got motivated and got up to the 20 mile mark, however that was a big mistake. That big increase in mileage killed my heel. I believe I have the beginning of Plantar Fasciitis, which is a very painful condition. My heel hurt a little after my 10 mile long run on the 20 mile week, but nothing I felt concerned about. Then last week I went on Tuesday to do my 5.5 miles of speedwork and that did my heel in. That night, I got up to use the restroom and had to literally crawl to the bathroom. My heel could not have any weight on it. I iced it and stretched it for the next two days and it finally starting feeling better Thursday afternoon. Decided to stay off of it until this Tuesday. Did 3 miles yesterday and then iced it. Did 3 miles this morning, but skipped the ice. It hurts a little bit this evening, but not too bad. Going to take it easy for the rest of this week (4 miler on Friday and 5 miler on Sunday) and see how it feels. May throw my long run back in next week and maybe some speedwork the next week.

My upcoming plans are pretty much focused on the New Orleans Half Ironman. I am doing a local race in Lake Charles the weekend before since it will be one of my best friends' first triathlon. It is 400 m, 10 miles and 2 miles, so it should be around an hour. Should be a good final tune-up the Sunday before the half iron. Plus I can work out any kinks with my new wetsuit in a race prior to the big race. Want to do the Fast Boy 5k the day before the sprint tri, but I am undecided. It will probably depend on how my heel is feeling.

I finally bit the bullet and bought a wetsuit since Lake Pontchartrain will be in the upper 60's for the race. That is a bit chilly even for me. Lonestar last year was around 70 and Ironstar was around 72 and I did them without one. This will be around 65-68, which could be a little problematic. I ended up getting an Xterra Vector Pro X2.

Also bought new tires, a chain, flybag for under the seat, new riding shirt, tail light and tubes for my bike. Bought a helmet for the wife so she can look "cute" while riding her bike.

New Orleans Half Ironman Course Ride

Made the trip down to New Orleans this morning to ride the New Orleans Half IM course with a bunch of peeps (about 15 of us) from Baton Rouge Tri. This was my second time to ride the course, so I already knew what to expect. Of course since it is south Louisiana, the only elevation changes are overpasses or bridges. There are three of those on the course. The Senator Ted Hinckley Bridge is the biggest. At the apex of the bridge there is some metal grating that gets very slippery when wet. It was wet this morning, so we had to walk it to avoid the chance of slipping out. On the way back in, the group of three I was with decided to ride it, and I tried to track as true as possible but could still feel my rear wheel getting squirrely. They are supposed to carpet it for the race so we don't have that problem. Two of the overpasses/bridges are within the first couple miles, which means they are also in the last couple of miles. There is one other small low bridge at mile 22/34 that shouldn't be an issue.

The course overall is very flat. When you leave the start, the first couple of miles is along the lake shore, then over the bridge and overpass. Then you have a few miles through some neighbor"hoods" along the levee.

Neighborhood on the course

The levee near the neighborhoods.

More levee and course.

You then get on Hwy 510 for about a mile and then on the service road for about a mile. The service road on the West side is pretty rough, but the one on the East side is great. Hopefully, they are using the one on the East side. After the service road is Chef Mentuer Highway. There is commercial business and gas stations until you get to mile 13ish. After that, it is all desolate except for some fishing camps along the marsh. The course if very low traffic and should be great for the race. However, if it is windy it is going to be miserable. Since it is out in the marsh, there is not a lot of trees or structure to break up the wind.

The first time I rode it, we had a 8 to 10 mph wind out of the west which meant tailwind on the way out and headwind on the way back in. We averaged 21.5 on the way out and 15 on the way back in. That sucks. Today, there was a light wind (4-5 mph) out of the NE so it was a little bit slower on the way out, but not that much of a difference. I went there intending to ride 80% heart rate for the entire ride, and I accomplished my goal. My average heart rate for the entire ride was 144 which is right at 80%. Every thirty minutes I did a 2 minute pick-up and the last 6-7 miles we rode at about 21 mph. I ended up averaging 17.8 for the 56 mile route. I want to get that to where I am close to 19 mph at 80% for the route, so we'll see how that goes. Would like to be able to keep it at 80% on the bike for the race so I can have some gas left in the tank for the run. When I finished today, I did a short 2 mile run at 9:20 pace just to start to get the feel of running off the bike. By the end of my training, I will increase that to 45 min to an hour of running after riding . The race is only 10 weeks away, so it is getting time to start getting serious.

Me trying to figure out what I am taking a picture of. What a dork!

Dork picture #2. The crooked helmet just frames the whole thing...

Year in Review

Wow, it has been almost a month since I have been here. That is just ridiculous. Of course, going on the family Christmas Tour does kind of kill any time that I have available during the month of December. I had 9 separate "events", parties and gatherings, during the 2 weeks leading up to Christmas. It was crazy. It went down like this:

Friday, December 13 - Office Christmas Party, held on the River Terrace at the Shaw Center overlooking the Mississippi River. Nice party and pretty low-key. Only about half the office showed with their spouses/significant others, so we had like 50 people.

The wife and I, looking spectacular.

Friday, December 19 - Christmas party for my dad's side of the family

Saturday, December 20 - Christmas Party for my wife's extended family

Sunday, December 21 - Wife's office party at Portobello's, had a great rib eye at this one

Monday, December 22 - Christmas Party for my mom's dad and his family, 6-8, then on to a birthday party for a married couple of ours who both have birthdays in late December, 9-11

Tuesday, December 23 - Christmas Eve Eve shopping with a bunch of guy friends, annual tradition to get out of the house 2 nights before Christmas and get any last minute gifts that we need

Wednesday, December 24 - Christmas Party for my mom's mom, same people basically from the party on Monday except for the grandparents, 3-6, presents with my parents at their house since they got my kids a trampoline to stay at their house for when the kids come over, 6-8

Thursday, December 25 - My parents and my mom's mom and step-dad over on Christmas day to see what my kids got for Christmas

That my friends is what is referred to as the "Christmas Tour". Exhausting and over rated. Next year, I think we are going to set one day up the weekend before Christmas and invite all family over to our house for different times of the day so it can all happen at once. I spend more in gas for those two weeks than I do in any other entire month.

So needless to say, training has taken a backseat at the end of 2008. I still tried and did the best I could, but I still managed to gain 8 pounds since the Half IM in November. I know how hard it was to lose those 8 pounds, and I am not looking forward to the next couple of weeks. Need to get on top of it though because New Orleans Half IM is just around the corner. Only 12 weeks to go. I have some lofty goals for that race (5:35) and for 2009, so I need to get started. Did only my second long run since November this morning, 9 miles. Did not feel good at all. Only went 9:15 pace, which is not going to cut it.

Being an engineer, I keep track of every single workout in a spreadsheet. So it is pretty easy to get my totals for the year. In 2008, I had the following stats:

Running - 852 miles (16.4 per week, 2.3 per day)

Biking - 2,509 miles (48.3 per week, includes 18 miles per each one hour spin class)

Swimming - 82.3 miles (1.6 per week which is 2800 yds per week)

Workout Days - did some type of exercise 242 days this year for an average of 4.7 days per week

I set PR's in all distances that I raced. Set a new 5k PR, 10k PR, sprint tri and half IM. Had a pretty successful year. Finally got below 200 pounds and stayed there until after my last race of the year. When I raced the half, I was 35 pounds lighter than I had been in May of 2007. 35 pounds in a year and a half is a great accomplishment considering I did not change my eating habits that much. I still eat a bunch. If I could just get disciplined on the food part, then I think I could drop another 10 to maybe around 185. Need to get back to 195 though before we start moving lower. Hard to do in South Louisiana though. Every meal has the potential to kill all the calories you burned training that day.

My goal for this year is to run 1,000 miles (19 miles per week), bike 3,000 miles (58 miles per week) and swim 100 miles (2 miles per week, 3500 yds). It is a lofty goal, but I think I can get there. Started off good so far. As of Sunday, I will have biked 110, ran 30 miles and swam 2.2 miles in the first 11 days of the year. Well on my way. Only 50 more weeks to go.

Iron Star Race Report

The morning started off with a chilly temp of 40 at race time. They had the race at the resort even though it was still under construction. Was in the first wave so I got to hit the water early. The water temp was 73-74, so it actually wasn't that bad for the handful of us without wetsuits. The first leg was straight into the sun. We spread out pretty good, so there wasn't much jostling for position. The long stretch parallel to the beach was nice except for the widely spaced small markers. Made it hard to sight, although somehow I managed to stay within 10 yards of them the whole way. Turn into the finish had the sun on your right which made it tough, but the shaded goggles (got a tip on the sun from a fellow BRTri guy who had done the race) made it bearable. Finished in around 39-40 min, which is just about right for me.

The first 20 miles on the bike through town and the national forest were nice. Hilly, but nice. The 5 mile chip seal portion just before the turnaround was bearable on the way out due to a slight tailwind. However, that made it terrible on the way back since it was now a moderate headwind which would continue for the remainder of the bike. Started to slow considerably around miles 32-35, which I thought was due to the hills, fatigue and the wind. However, I had been hydrating well and taking in enough fuel so I was kind of ticked. At about mile 40, I realized what the real problem was, a slow leaking rear tire that had finally made it to where I could feel the stem hitting the rim. I stopped and made the bad decision of just filling it up hoping it would hold for the last 16. 3 miles later I was stopped again changing the rear tube. Lost around 16 minutes to the 2 stops. Finished the bike around 3:20 I think, which had me really disappointed since I had been going so good until the flat.

The run starts off on the main road to the resort, but after mile 1 turns into a private neighborhood for the next 7 miles. It snaked through there with aid stations at every mile with some small rolling hills. Felt good for the first 8, until the run gets back on the highway for two miles. Those two miles had two nice sizable hills that just took it out of me. Ran the first 9 miles, but had to start the run/walk combo after that. Mile 12-12.5 was one last major hill. The final stretch into town (run was point to point) was flat, so I made myself run it in to finish on a high note. Finished the run in around 2:15. Went 6:18 overall. Would have loved to be sub 6 for my first half and felt like I could have easily made it without the rear tire issues. Let it get to me mentally some on the run once I realized there was no way I could make 6 with my pace.

The race was well run, lots of helpful volunteers, not too many people and a nice course. A little hillier then I would have liked for my first go at the distance, but it was a good experience. Can't wait for New Orleans. I know how hilly that will be...

Ironstar Half Iron

Finished, not nearly as fast as I wanted, 6:18, but I made it. Should have been under 6, but had a slow leaking rear tire that I had to stop twice to fix. Wasted 16 minutes simply in filling the tire up at the first stop and then actually changing it 3 miles later. Don't know how much time I wasted in riding on a low tire. Pretty sure it was more than 2 minutes though...Race report to come later this week.

Getting Closer

T minus 6 days and counting to the Ironstar Half Iron. After I go vote tomorrow morning, it is going to be a rest day from the taper. Five straight days of training have me ready for a day off. Swam and ran last Thursday, ran on Friday, and ran 10k on Saturday morning before Melissa went to work. Then I did a bike/run brick on Sunday consisting of a 31 mile bike and 30 minute run at half marathon pace -:45/mile (8:15). Then I swam 2100 yds this morning (in a sauna, I'll explain) and then ran 3 miles. Going to hit the trainer on Wednesday morning and do some short but fast runs this week. Taking Friday off from work so I can get prepared to leave on Saturday.

The sauna, otherwise known as the lap pool at my local Y. The new Aquatics director at the Y has some asinine reasoning that the pool should stay at 87 degrees during the winter. Something about the afternoon youth swim team complaining about the temperature of the water. Hello, what about the freakin' adults who pay their hard earned money to come to the pool at 5:00 am only to have to cut their swim short because they can no longer breath and swim since it is so freakin' hot in the pool. A pool should be kept at 80-82 degrees if you are going to be swimming laps in it, which is kind of the point of having a lap pool at the Y. If the kids can't handle it for 30 minutes in the afternoon, then they don't need to be swimming. I personally would like the pool to be 75 degrees, but understand that some people like it warm and will compromise at 82 degrees, but not 87. Forgot to fill out a complaint form, but rest assured I'll let them know about it this week. National swim organization says 79-82 is the optimum water temperature for competition swimming and the Chinese argued that it is actually 80.6 degrees which is what they kept the water temperature in the cube at the Olympics to promote world record times. Seems like they should know what they are talking about, but apparently they don't compared to the Aquatics director...

Looking forward to getting to Houston, watching LSU beat 'Bama, and then heading to the race on Sunday. Friends are taking me to lunch on Wednesday to wish me luck. Hoping my buddy who just completed Ironman Florida will come to offer some helpful tips from his experience this weekend.

Taper Time

Got my last long brick in today. Put in 3 hours on the bike followed by a 45 minute run. Ended up going somewhere around 55-56 miles and 5 miles. Rode the first hour on the trainer since time hasn't changed and it doesn't get riding light until 6:45. Needed to be finished by 9:45 so I got on the trainer around 5:45. Got off the trainer and got the bike outside and it was freakin' cold. Due to the fact that I had been riding the trainer indoors, I was sweaty and that made the first 20 minutes of the ride outside miserable. Couldn't get warm even with my cycling jacket on. Sun finally came out enough to knock the fog down and it got less miserable.

Finished the 3 hours and took off on the run. Two mistakes, 1. Didn't have enough fluids for the run and 2. Garmin ran out of battery at 3 mile mark. Ran the first 3 at about a 8:30 pace and finished up somewhere just over 5 miles for the 45 minutes. Felt pretty good and hope I can hold 9:00 pace for the entire 13.1 miles in 2 weeks.

Yesterday morning was my long run. It was supposed to be 12-13 miles, but I got derailed. Got up late, had bathroom issues before I left and had bathroom issues on the run. Found a port-o-potty to hit, so no front yard squats this time. Only got in 9.5 due to the fact that I had to be back at 6:55 so the wife could go to work.

Going to go ahead and put some goals for the Half Ironman in writing. 'A' Goal - 5:45, 'B' Goal - 6:00, 'C' Goal - Finish. I am pretty sure I can make 'B', but with my swim, 'A' is going to be tough. I think I can go right at 3:00 for the bike and around 2:05 on the run, which gives me 55 for the swim and transitions. That is definitely doable, but this will be my first half, so I don't want to get over confident. We'll see...

Garmin Forerunner 101

I am now the proud owner of a Garmin. I know, it is not the fanciest of the bunch, but it does what I need it to do. It allows me to run without mapping out a route every time and it gives me pace as I run, what else do you need. Have used in twice already and it was a great purchase. Got it barely used for $40 from a guy in our local BRTri group. Someone gave him a 301 so he no longer needed this one.

Starting to get nervous about the Half IM. Only 2.5 weeks to go for my first "long" triathlon. I know, it's not a full, but 6 hours of racing is long in my book. Doing one more long ride this weekend and then going to start tapering next week. Only problem that I have at the moment is a slight injury.

A couple of weeks ago I ran in the hills of Syracuse, NY and got a strange pain in my heel a few days later. I just blew it off as fatigue. Well, it has gotten worse. It started hurting worse after mountain biking last week and now it pretty much hurts 24/7. Especially in the morning and after I run. It has the classic symptoms of Plantar Fasciitis, but I hope not. It started hurting after running in hills, it hurts worst in the morning and it in my heel. Based on everything I have read, that progression fits the bill. I am praying that I just bruised it and all will be better with some icing. Did 7 miles today with 3 - 1 mile repeats at 7:00 pace. It is bearable during the run, but painful as soon as I get home and get back on my feet from the car. It's too close to the race to stay off of it for a couple of weeks, so I am just going to have to tough it out until after the race. If I had any readers, I could ask your advice...

Camping and Mountain Biking

Don't feel too much like posting (ran 12 this morning and bike 35 this afternoon, then ran sprints in the backyard with my 3 year old), but if I don't I'll miss the chance. Went camping and mountain biking at Lake Kincaid in Alexandria this past Wednesday thru Friday. Weather kind of sucked for camping, warm and rainy, but we had fun anyway. Got in about 30 miles on the mountain bike on Thursday and did a 1 mile open water swim while the wife read a book. Put in 10 miles Friday morning and headed home after lunch. Here are some pics:

View of the lake from one of the trails.

My bike taking a break on a bridge over part of the lake.

Contemplating the significance of Mountain Biking...

My riding partner, i.e. my wife, crossing another bridge.

Me and the chipmunk look (10-12 grapes shoved in my mouth).

Only three weeks left until my first half ironman. Training has not been going as planned due to interruptions like working out of town and camping, but hopefully this week will be better.

Hills Suck

Whenever a New Yorker describes a run on Map My Run as " Rolling Hills, Rolling To Flat", don't believe them. Ran this route this afternoon http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ny/syracuse/687065738. Maybe to a New Yorker it is rolling to flat, but to someone from Louisiana, it is freakin' steep. I lengthened it to about 5.2 and ran the thing at a blisterin' 10 min pace. That is 1:15/mile slower than my recent easy runs. Hills blow. Oh yeah, I'm in Syracuse, New York taking a training seminar on Pumping Systems Design, how exciting...Of course, it is better than being behind my desk and it is something that I will be using soon in my work.

Last Saturday night, my wife, a friend of hers and I all ran the Oktoberfest 3 miler at Mockler Beverage in Baton Rouge. I ran a 21:45 (7:15 pace) after having run 9 miles (8:50 pace) that morning. Felt like I could have been around 21 if I hadn't run that morning. Mel ran a 32:45 in the longest run she has ever done to date. I was proud of her. Her friend ran a 41 in her first race ever. Signed up last week for the Iron Star Half Ironman on November 9. I had intended for the New Orleans 1/2 Ironman to be my first half, but I just couldn't see throwing away all the training I had done for Holy Toledo, so I groveled to the wife and she was okay with me doing the half. It is going to be a "suicide" trip. Going to leave on Saturday, head to Houston, pick up my packet, crash at a friends place, do the race Sunday morning and then drive home that afternoon. All solo. We'll see, hopefully I don't regret the solo part.

Doing the Baton Rouge Bike Club Century ride this weekend with Reeb. We are doing the full Century. Longest ride I've ever done has been 70 miles, so we'll see. Longest Reeb has done is 65, so at least we'll be in the same boat. There are 5 SAG stops, so we should be good and we have 7 hours to do it. Don't see a problem since that is only a 14 mph average. Even with stops that should be doable.

Pics from the 3 Miler:

Austin kicking it in the kids 1/2 mile race.

Emilie doing her thing in the kids 1/2 mile race.

Melissa starting the race with a smile.

My wife Melissa's friend.

Me talkin' to a fellow BRTri member and looking like I'm on drugs...

Holy Toledo CANCELLED

Freakin' Hurricanes, the latest one has now gone and gotten my 'A' race for the year cancelled. Now what do I do. I've trained all this time and now nothing. One little sprint Tri to end the year is not going to do it for me. I'm currently in a serious mood of depression, looking kind of like this

Tried to scramble and find a half-iron to do the same weekend or maybe the one after, but there are only two. They are both more than 8 hours from the house and at least double the cost of Holy Toledo. One is in Austin, TX and the other one is in Tennessee. Tried to get another BRTri member to do the one in TN, but he couldn't commit. Now what do I do? I am about to go crazy. Our Tri season down here ends way too soon. Just when it starts to cool off, no more races. What is up with that? This weekend will be the last race in Louisiana for the year. What a bummer?

I think I'll go run over my bike now, put it out of its misery...