A Code Geek's Tail

Waffler

2009-11-23T16:24:00.003-05:00

Sometimes, I don't know if I'm up, down, left, right, right side up, or wrong side in between. I'm OK with that. What I do know is that I have an unrelenting drive and focus on providing for my family, helping them achieve their goals, and realizing their potential.

Oh, and I'm going to Ironman :-)

I was a little nervous about signing up, not sure if it was the right thing to do or not. Now, it just feels right...

I don't ask questions

2009-11-16T09:18:00.004-05:00

I said to Sam when he called to check on my availability for Sunday games. I had volunteered to referee the Cherokee Impact Academy Cup. For those of you who aren't familiar with soccer in the State of Georgia, the Academy is made up of children younger than 13 who want to play traveling soccer. The focus is more on skills and touches on the ball, then who wins or loses.

Sam thought it rather funny that I was reffing U-9 on Saturday and U-10 on Sunday. I explained to Sam that I was volunteering at one of the clubs in my county. I was supporting my community, and it didn't really matter what I was asked to do. I would do it. I would even help him out at the end of the day and do a couple of adult games.

Saturday, the games went fine. They were about the quality I expected. Nine year old kids are very enthusiastic, but not very skillful, and most of the Academy teams at this tournament were C or D level at best. Again, none of this mattered. My sole and entire purpose for being there was to make sure these kids had fun, and that was what I did.

Sunday rolls around, and I'm moving up to U-10 girls. I actually had the pleasure of reffing one really good Academy game. Let's call it a gem. The pint sized female soccer players were fast, they were furious. They had skillz. Those are the kinds of games that are just so much fun. Towards the end of my shift, the assignor came over and wanted offer me a deal. I could trade the two lines I had for one center. Uh oh.... I didn't realize I had lines to do. I failed to read the entire schedule that I had confirmed.

I felt so bad. I had to get back to my game, leaving the assignor under the impression that I had to leave at 1 PM. During the half time of my game, I went back to the referee tent and told her that I could do one of three things. I could leave at 1 PM and leave her short handed. I could totally write off the adult games and do the games she had scheduled me for, or I could do the 3:30 PM center (final!) that she wanted me to do. The assignor was adamantly opposed to my missing the adult games. I explained to her that I had committed to her first. It was my job to make her life easier, NOT HARDER!

In the end, we compromised. I took the 3:30 PM center and prayed that the game didn't go into overtime, allowing me to make it to my 5:00 PM adult game on time. I tried every thing I could to make sure the game didn't end in a tie. I didn't cheat or anything. Nor did I favor one team over the other.

In the middle of the second half, the goalie for the Cherokee Impact saved the ball, and a little guy on the opposing team ran up and kicked him in the side. This was clearly an infringement on the Laws of the Game. I chose not to blow the foul. The keeper had the ball, and having them do a goal kick from the six yard block would have penalized his team, I felt. Punting the ball from the top of the box was an advantage.

Evidently, the boy's father did not understand this. The pot bellied bearded good ole boy was hollering at me from the side lines and pointing his finger at me. I yelled at him to go back to his seat, and to tell the truth, that's the last I heard from him. I have very selective hearing. In the mean time, the keeper was standing there with crocodile tears in his eyes. I took the ball from him and asked him if he was OK. His coach came on the field to comfort him, and I explained that I was not going to take the ball out of his hands. The boy's mother showed up behind the goal and explained to me that the boy had a "history", and had been scared on his face by cleats in a prior game.

Oh Dear GAWD... I thought. Everything I do is for the players, but I have to put everything in the context of this game at this time. I can't help it that the child is mentally (and physically) scarred, and there is no way I could possibly know this. Eventually, the goalie recovered, and we got the game restarted. I called a penalty for the Cherokee team less than a minute later. It was well deserved. Unfortunately, they missed the kick, and the game ended in a tie. The over time also ended in a tie, neither team was able to score. I was resigned to the fact that I would be late for my adult game. After kicks from the mark, the visiting team was declared the winner, and I hauled booty from the field. On the way out, I got my yearly hug from the Cherokee assignor, and all was well in the land of Football.

I showed up for my adult game 15 minutes late, but the game had only been in progress five minutes. I got the muddy side of the field. For the second game, I ran the center, and I was so tired. It really was a disservice to the players for me to be there. I vowed to never do this again. I came home Sunday night tired, wasted, worthless. Waking up Monday morning was not much better. It took everything I had to be productive at work. I managed.

This year, I came to soccer with a new attitude. It paid off, for a while. Up until this week, my adult and youth games have gone very well, and I have received tons of compliments. This past week, everything has turned sour, and this has me thinking. I know its not entirely my fault. There's a certain prejudice against soccer officials that we all have to deal with.

However, I have come to the realization that my game is stagnant. It has reached a certain level, and hung there, much like triathlon. It also made me realize that if I want to get better at officiating on the pitch and triathlon that good enough is no longer an option. I need to pay more attention to detail and do the little things that make me a better person, a better triathlete, and a better official. The path isn't cloudy at all. No. Not at all. It's crystal clear. I just have to decide to walk the walk.

After work on Monday, I came home and helped Dee Dee finish dinner. I was so exhausted. Dee Dee wanted me to go to soccer practice with her. I offered to take Matthew myself. I would nap in the car while Matthew practiced. It wouldn't be the first time. Being the uber loving and supportive spouse that Dee Dee is, she declined. She took Matthew to practice. I, on the other hand, crashed on the couch at 8 PM, woke up long enough to climb in the bed, and slept for 10.5 hours.

I just don't understand why Dee Dee loves me. The ways of women are a mystery.

I don't ask questions...

Wes

Ebbing and Flowing

2009-11-12T20:29:00.003-05:00

Marathon training just hasn't been happening. One of the things that always suffers during tri season is my time on the pitch.

I love to referee games, until the adults REALLY piss me off, and then I only half love it. Until a couple of days. Then I love it. Again.

Every Sunday has been pretty filled with games. Getting in a long run has been almost impossible. Well, throw in lack of motivation, and it IS impossible. But I'm OK with that. I estimate I run 12-16 miles on a given Sunday. My last tournament is before Thanksgiving. After that, I may just try a slow 16 to 18 miler and see how I feel. If it ain't happenin, it ain't happenin, and I'm OK with that.

If I'm to do a May half Ironman, then tri training is going to kick back off again all too soon, and I'll be back out there, swimming, biking, and running, cause that's what I do.

P.S. I ripped my toe nail off. I lost my first toenail from reffing. I find that amusing ;-)

The Hard Ones are Ultimately the Easiest

2009-11-11T13:06:00.002-05:00

First off, happy Veteran's Day! I would like to personally thank all of the men and women, past and present, that have served in the armed forces and protect the freedom I enjoy every day. I {heart} you! and I never forget!!

My blogging and Facebooking is taking a hit on this new contract. I'm scared to death to log onto Facebook from the office network. I've got a feeling that they have internet software that watches my every move, and I'm sure social networking sites are a no-no hear. Mustn't get fired all ready! LOL... I'm so far behind on my blog reading and posting.

Despite being extremely busy, things are moving along at Chez Chaotic. Dee Dee's prospects for permanent employment are moving along nicely, and I am on a short term contract. Darling Dee Dee managed to convince the extremely nice people at Eagleman that she needed a charity slot for the race. It would be her first half ironman and all. Being the generous folks that they are, they coughed up two slots. One for her, and one for me. How cool is that?

After discussing it with Dee Dee, I've decided not to accept my slot to Eagleman. This was a very tough thing for me to do. Eagleman is a great course, and I really have a hard time justifying going all that way and not racing. The other side of the coin... I know that I will enjoy the trip, watching the race, and sherpa-ing Dee Dee through her first half Ironman. Ultimately, Dee Dee came first, as is appropriate.

The fallout from all of this is that Ironman Arizona is back on. I'm going to try and register, and if its a go, I'm going for it next year. I want to do an Ironman every two years right now, until my kids graduate from high school. I'm excited! We'll see how it turns out!!

Thanks for tuning into this episode of "How Wes' World Turns" :-)

Caio!

Wes

But for the Grace of God

2009-10-30T11:07:00.002-04:00

When I got the news, I pushed the unimportant things aside. As much as I've enjoyed blogging, it's just seemed like such a distraction. As I was poking around on Facebook last night, a friend contemplated giving up blogging entirely. She felt like she just didn't have anything to say. I realized as I followed the conversation, that its not that we don't have anything to say. It's just, does anybody want to hear it? This made me realize (reaffirm) that ultimately, this is a tool for me, about me.

I've been going through the process. When you find a job that you love to do, with people you love to work with, it's hard to let go. Ultimately, though, money rules, and money has no emotion. No sensitivity.

Why is that the job you want the least is the one that pursues you the hardest? LOL... I interviewed at some big name companies. I have to sit there and answer questions for people that, while appropriate, really have no bearing on my ability to do the job. I often find myself wondering why I do not have this person's or that person's job. I am more skilled and knowledgeable then they are, yet I have to sit here, acting like I am enthusiastic and aggressive for every opportunity out there under the sun, no matter how mundane it really is.

More often than not, the company that pursues me hardest wins. I'm just easy like that. I like to be wanted, because I give so much in return. I fully realize that this might not be the best strategy, but its been working out OK so far.

I'm starting a ninety day contract on Monday, and I'm hoping this will hold me over, allow me to take a deep breath, and find a company that I really like and want to work for, for a long time.

My family is counting on me. Once more into the breach...

Wes

A Fool's Goal

2009-10-14T11:44:00.005-04:00

The off season features the return of a commodity that many age group triathletes find themselves in short supply.

Time.

Along with greater amounts of time comes greater amounts of reflection.

You guys knew you were in trouble. Right? :-)

Basically, what it boils down to, is this. My failure to meet my sub-6 goal at Augusta stems from three sources. Two of which should be fairly obvious. The other one, not so obvious. Let's go through each one of them. I know. You can't wait.

Back before the High Falls Olympic, I was hitting the strength training pretty hard. I was only going once, maybe twice a week, but I was pushing some pretty heavy weights. I had discussed this with my coach. She had scheduled me for strength maintenance on my plan. In my foolishness, I hit the weights hard. I felt the burn in my muscles.

At High Falls Olympic, I caught myself. I told coach that I was not doing anymore strength training because it was causing my muscles to cramp. What led me to this decision? I was cramping in my thighs. I haven't cramped in my thighs since the West Point Olympic back in my first year of triathlon.

The second foolish decision was really two and three together. Coach sez to take two salt tabs per hour when its hot and you are racing and training, and we all the axiom, "Nothing new on race day!" Well, I never ever trained with salt tabs. I tried them last year, and I did not care for them. They upset my stomach a bit. I decided to go with PowerGel Electrolyte water for Ironman Florida last year, and it worked out OK. I finished. This year, at Augusta, I left my PowerGel packets at home. They are not easy to find. Dani was kind enough to give me some of her Propel packets, and I used that to fuel my water.

When I ride my bike, I alternate between Gatorade Tiger and enhanced water. I like the taste of Tiger. Not too sweet. Not too salty. I can drink it for an Iron distance event. Unfortunately, when I got to the Propel, I hated it. It tasted nasty, and I forced myself to drink the first bottle. The second bottle of Tiger didn't go down so well after that. Rather than drink my fourth bottle (the one with Propel), I opted to pick up a bottle of Gatorade at the bottle exchange and managed to sip that into transition.

If you read my race report, you know that less than a half mile in, I cramped up on the run, in my thighs. The rest is history.

So lessons learned... Moving on... and all that jazz. Liz tells me not to beat myself up. She knows. Of course, she knows. She sees it all the time in her athletes. We are all different, yet we do the same shiz. It's just, and here's the kicker, from my perspective, it takes a certain amount of effort, and commitment, to train an athlete and train for a half Ironman distance race. That deserves a healthy amount of respect. More, evidently, than I was willing to give.

That, in a nutshell, is why I am not doing Ironman next year. I am going to take next year and put into practice everything that I have been taught and do it over and over again until I get it right. For me, its no longer about going the distance. It's about, going the distance well, and who knows. Somewhere, along that line, off in the distance, there just might be a sub-6 half iron performance...

What Up Now?

2009-10-09T13:58:00.004-04:00

It's almost been two weeks since the half Ironman. I am in a typical place. My heart doesn't want this year to be over. My body wants this year to be over. My mind is torn between two lovers.

I guess one of the good things about not having October and November races is that I don't have to struggle to find time and get games to referee. I pulled a full load last Sunday, one 90 minute line, then two 90 minute centers, all adults. It made for a long day. My legs held up surprisingly well, although they were pretty sore the next day.

Wednesday, I managed to ease back into running. Nothing structured, mind you. I thought thirty minutes at whatever pace I could take was a good idea. I managed almost two and a half miles, but I walked a lot of the hills and was happy with that. I told myself that time and HR really just have no meaning right now, and they won't for a while. Competitiveness, even with myself, is out!

My legs felt really good Thursday. I decided to sneak in another run during Matthew's soccer practice. Again, nothing spectacular, but I felt like adding an extra mile mile or so. I ran in my Zoots. They need more mileage. It probably wasn't a great idea, as they have very little padding.

On the triathlon front, I am reading my book on nutrition. I really want to focus on an endurance athlete's diet, geared to the 175lb person, and work hard on getting my weight down closer to where it should. Baby steps first!! First order of business is focusing on daily hydration. According to the manual, I need to drink 8 oz of water per hour all day long, more when I exercise. I've got a lot to learn.

After I finish reading my nutrition book, its back to strength training with Tri Power. The workouts and periodization outlined in this book should help me through the winter training months.

Dee Dee has chosen her first Ironman 70.3!! The winner? Ironman Branson 70.3! It looks like, come September of next year, Dee Dee and I will be making a little trip to Mizzou. Never been there, and I'm really looking forward to it.

As for myself, I'm looking at the Rev3 triathlon in Knoxville in May, Callaway Gardens in June, maybe Chattanooga again this year, and wrapping up the year at Ironman Miami 70.3, if I can get registered in time.

That's the tentative plan for next year. Nothing like a little excitement to keep on motivated!

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Wes

Afterthoughts of Augusta

2009-10-05T12:04:00.003-04:00

Well... I've been kind of putting this one off. My race experience at Augusta was tinged with disappointment. I guess its only fair, since my two prior races went so splendidly. Still... I would have liked to end my year on a high note. Unlike two years ago, I have no plans to jump feet first into my redemption. My tri season is over, and we'll just leave it at that.

Over all, at the end of the day, Augusta was a most positive race experience. With the help of the current, I totally slaughtered the swim. It has left me wondering what kind of half IM swim time I could turn in without a current. I guess we'll have to wait until next year to find out.

I was very very pleased with my performance on the bike. I hit the first 10-15 miles hard, and it is here, I believe, that I dashed my hopes for a sub-6 performance. High zone 3 and zone 4 just took too much out of my legs, and I knew it. Yet, I chose to do it anyways. Yea, you can't say I didn't have it coming. I do remember feeling very pleased with myself as I walked bow legged across the timing mat and realizing I had broken three hours.

I'm not going to comment too much about the run, other to say that I am satisfied that I gave it my all. I very well could have ended up in the medical tent.

Which leaves us with...

I'm not ready to do another Ironman. I refuse to do another Ironman until I've mastered the half Iron distance. I feel like running is such a weakness. I feel like there are things that my coach has been trying to teach me that I just haven't grasped yet, no, refused to grasp. I will not devote the time and training to a full Ironman until I have beaten some sense into myself.

Planning is in full swing for next year. I am still looking at doing the First Light marathon in Mobile on January 10, 2010. My goal here would be keeping active through the winter and an even paced effort for 26.2 miles. I am also looking at doing 2, maybe 3 half Ironmans next year. Dee Dee wants to do a half Ironman next year too, so some of this depends on what she would like to do.

There you have it. In a nutshell... Augusta was another great learning experience for me. Learn me something and I am a better man. I just might be back next year. We shall see...

Wes

Wonderful!!

2009-10-02T13:30:00.004-04:00

Every once in a while, I get the distinct pleasure of trying out products and posting a review on my blog. Some of the products I pay for, others are pro bono. Recently, I was contacted by the great people over at POM Wonderful. They sent me a shipment of the juice to try and hopefully write about.

I will be the first one to admit that I do not like dark colored juices, even though they are rumored to be better for you. I mainly stick to OJ, and that's about it. No way, I thought, am I going to drink this stuff. I'll give it to Dee Dee and ask her for an opinion.

Well, fast forward a little bit... I'm coming back in from a sweaty week day run, and I grab one of these little bottles from the refrigerator. I pop the top, take a couple of sips and think. This shiz is good. I ended up drinking the entire bottle. I liked the taste! I couldn't tell if the juice is naturally fizzy or if its carbonated. I don't like carbonation in anything except my beer and tonic water. I also decided it didn't matter.

Who woulda thunk they could get so much juice out of the seeds (?!) of a pomegranate? The health benefits are listed out on their web site, and they include: cardio vascular, prostrate, and erectile health . That last one is for us fellas. I don't know about you, but I need me a case of this stuff ;-)

Checking out the price of this stuff in the store... It's fairly expensive as far as juice goes, and at 160 calories per serving, it's kinda up there. I don't think the calories are that big a deal since its entirely 100% juice. Yes. I looked. I was thinking you could stretch the calories and expense by mixing it with something else... A smoothie maybe?!

Thanks for sending me the freebies, POM Wonderful! I still got 2-3 bottles left, but they won't last long. I spoke to Dee Dee about them as well. She already knew everything, and she lurves it too :-)

Wes

Over the Top

2009-10-01T10:45:00.005-04:00

I haven't been tagged in a long time, and my hiney has been puckering in anticipation!! Thanks Jess!!! :-)

Answer the following questions with only 1 word answers...

1. Where is your cell phone? desk
2.Your hair? short
3. Your mother? bestest
4. Your father? bestest

5. Your favorite food? everything

6. Your dream last night? blank
7. Your favorite drink? Beer!!
8. Your dream/goal? sub-6
9. What room are you in? office
10. Your hobby? triathlon
11. Your fear? surviving

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? racing
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something you aren't? recovered
15. Muffins? Yes
16. Wish list item? 310XT
17. Where did you grow up? Mobile
18. Last thing you did? breathed
19. What are you wearing? Work-casual
20. Your TV? perfect
21. Your pets? dogs
22. Your friends? BESTEST!
23. Your life? good
24. Your mood? excellent
25. Missing someone? leeeetle
26. Vehicle? Scion
27. Something you're not wearing? underwear... jk! necklace
28. Your favorite store?tri-stores
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? now
31. Last time you cried? Sunday :-(
32. Your best friend? only one?!? uh-uh...
33. One place that I go over and over? bathroom
34. One person who emails me regularly?assignors
35. Favorite place to eat? home

If you want to consider yourself tagged, you are tagged! First six to accept in the comments are IT! :-)

Jaggad around the Edges

2009-09-28T14:13:00.012-04:00

An Ironman Augusta 70.3 Race Report

Friday night, I didn't sleep so good. Dee Dee and I drove to the Alabama state line to watch Jimmy's football game. Bremmen GA is a quaint little town, and I love them. They are truly what America is all about. I was just teasin with Dee Dee about somebody playing a banjo on the porch.

The stadium was packed. It was prom night, and it looked like the entire town turned out for the celebration, complete with fireworks. Unfortunately, Jimmy's team lost. We snuck out before the fireworks, and despite one wrong turn (bad news is dem parts), we made it out onto the road in good time. When we got back to the house, Remember the Titans was on TV. Having come from a football game, I got wrapped up in the movie and ended up watching it until it went off at 1:45 AM. I set the alarm for 9 AM and soon fell asleep.

I didn't sleep well at all. I woke up to my mind going 90 mph. I was excited about this race, and the big day was here. My body was rested when I got up Saturday. My mind was a bit fried. Not a great combination when visiting the bank to discuss their over draft charges. They charged my son seventy dollars for a fifty cent over draft and a four dollar over draft, and all they would give back was eighteen dollars. We paid the fee, and for the honor of that transaction, closed our account. Please don't do business with banks that charge over draft fees. It basically amounts to loaning money without permission. It's immoral thievery.

Now that I was angry, it was time to go home and pack. I pretty much had everything put together in no time. I'm old school with this now. Unfortunately, I am also absent minded. I left the house without my Fig Newtons and my electrolyte water. We said good bye to the kids and drove down to Augusta. The trip was painless. We stopped at Subway for some lunch, and I focused on eating healthy. We found the host hotel without any parking and managed to score a decent parking spot. We mosied on over to the pre-race meeting, arriving at 2:15 PM. The next meeting wasn't until 3 PM, so Dee Dee and I decided to check out the expo. We met Paul there, working the expo with his wife. They have a framing business for finish line photos. They really do some awesome stuff. You guys should check them out.

We decided to head back to the meeting room at 2:30 PM, and boy was I glad we did. The line was already starting to get long. They let us in and we grabbed a spot close to the front, not realizing that would put us to the back of the line at registration. Needless to say, registration at this particular race was a cluster. It took almost 45 minutes to get registered and get my race packet. Thankfully for us, our friends Kevin and Cathy stood in line to get us a parking pass, or there would have been more waiting. We browsed the expo some more before leaving, but really, there isn't anything new I need at this juncture in my triathlon career.

Off to transition to check in the bike. A lot of people were parking in the field before the turn off by the river. I took a chance and drove my car as far down the road as I could get and manage to park about a quarter mile from transition. I was very happy when I got to transition and discovered I had scored an end spot. Things were moving along splendidly. After racking the bike, we drove to the hotel to check in. Dee Dee wanted to change her clothes for dinner. We were meeting Kevin, Cathy, Molly, and Dani at Carrabbas at 6:30 PM.

When we pulled into the parking lot, I let out and "uh oh". LOL... It was a mess. Kevin had called earlier and gotten us on the list. I checked in at the list taker stand then went outside to find a seat. Kevin and Cathy showed up shortly, followed by Dani and Molly.

Waiting for dinner...

This was the first time that I had met Molly, and that, in itself, was special. We had some great conversation while we waited for a table to open up. Periodically, one of us would go back inside to check on our status. Finally, it was my turn. I went in and the lady couldn't find out name on the list at all! Eventually, she found us on a list she had put away and apologized. She thought that we had left. She gave us the table that was open right then and there, and we were off to dinner. This poor restaurant was snowed under, and it took us an hour after that to get our food. On this night, at this race, I wasn't prepared to let anything bother me. We took it all in stride.

After dinner, we said our goodbyes and drove back to the hotel. I quickly settled in and fell asleep around 10:30-ish or so. I had set my alarm clock for 5 AM. In retrospect, I probably could have slept a little later, but again, no worries. I work up at 1:30 AM again, and I think it was close to 2:30 AM before I fell back to sleep. I woke up a few minutes before the alarm clock. Got out of bed, and shut everything off.

Dee Dee and I ate our breakfast together then headed over to the race site. Our parking spot was a block or two north of the host hotel. We walked to the bus pickup. I gave Dee Dee a kiss good bye and got on the bus. I would meet her later at the swim start. The bus dropped us off right outside transition. It took me probably 15 minutes or so to get setup. I took my time. I managed to borrow someone's pump to check my tires, and everything was good to go. I grabbed my wet suit, swim cap, and goggles, and headed to the bus pickup that would take me to the swim start.

The actual swim start was a quarter mile or so southeast of the hotel, and 1.2 miles (duh!) from transition. I got there about 6:30-ish and began my walk to the river. I picked up Dee Dee along the way and said good morning to Molly who was waiting on Dani. I visited the port-a-potties then made my way down to the swim start proper.

Dee Dee trying to keep me warm! Body heat = good :-)

I opted not to stand in my "corral". Rather, I sat along the fountain near the swim start, so I could see everything that was going on.

A thoughtful moment...

Dani is ready to get her race on!

She smoked it!

The pros went off first, then the para-triathletes, then the age groupers started. My wave wasn't scheduled to go off until 1 hour and 24 minutes after the race started. At 8:15 AM, I ate a power bar. At 8:30 AM, I put on my wet suit and made my way to the swim start. My group had just gotten into the queue. I was at the back of the pack, but I wasn't really worried about it. When it was our turn to start, we made our way down the bridge and onto the floating dock.

Walking along the dock. I am third from the left.

Because I was in the back, I ended up closest to shore. I jumped into the water and was briefly shocked by the cold. Getting used to the water temperature is critical for a successful swim start. There was a four minute break between waves, and it went by very fast. The horn sounded, and our wave got under way.

There was a 10 yard buffer zone around the dock. Most of the triathletes hung onto the doc. Myself and a few others treaded water out at the starting line. When the horn sounded, I took off and quickly found myself in open water. Up ahead, a bridge loomed. A couple of kayaks ran interference along the inside to keep us from smacking our head on the trusses. I picked my head up to sight at one point, and I heard the kayaker yelling at me. He didn't want me to run into the back of his boat. LOL... I made my adjustments and quickly took off swimming again.

The river itself was fine. I found myself on an inside track, loosing some benefit from the current, but having plenty of open water in which to swim. I frequently saw the bottom and swam through a few weedy areas, but it was no big deal. I kept thinking when I saw the boat docks ahead that I would soon be done. It got a bit frustrating when the swim exit did not magically appear. I kept my head down and kept swimming, even picking up the pace a bit. The curve of the river meant that I was on a straight line for the swim exit. I hit the boat ramp a bit early and struggled through the muddly river bottom to make my way up. This was tiring more than anything else.

Dee Dee is an excellent photog. She catches me popping my head out of the water.

As I ran up the ramp, I reached behind me and unzipped my wet suit and pulled it half way down. I saw Dee Dee on the ramp cheering, and Molly was there at the top of the ramp, cheering me on.

Molly did some good camera work too! She is impressed with my grimace! :-)

I ran down the swim in entrance to the back of transition. They had a few wet suit strippers there. Fortunately for me, one freed up right as I arrived. I threw myself on my back, and she ripped my wet suit off in a snap. My right calf immediately cramped, and I made face. She asked me if I was OK, and I told her that it was just cramp. I'd be fine.

My transition spot was right there next to the wet suit strippers. I threw my wet suit down and proceeded to put on my HRM, my watch, my shoes, helmet, etc. Being so close to the swim in meant that I had to woggle my way across transition to the bike exit. I climb on board Aerowyn and begin spinning down the road. Just before I exited Riverfront Drive and out onto the bike course, I hear this voice.

Liz says to stick with the plan!

Acknowledging coach's instructions!

Sorry, I had to laugh. Molly had told me that Liz gave her things to say to me on different parts of the course. I raised my hand to acknowledge her then got back to riding. I had done some analysis of the bike course and watched the video. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I knew exactly what to expect.

The first seventeen miles or so are relatively flat. This is the best time to get your heart rate under control after the swim. My heart rate was showing 160. I maintained a fast by high cadence to bring my HR down. It dribbled down into the mid-fifties in about 5 minutes or so. I hit a few rollers after that, which caused it to jump back up to 160. After about 7-10 miles, it dropped into the 150-153 range, just the spot I wanted to keep it in until the end of the race. Up ahead, the first hill loomed at mile 17. In my past races, I usually spun lightly but furiously up the hills, and as a result, I got passed a lot. At this race, I decided to give the hills a bit more effort. I pedaled strongly up the hill, trying to stay in the big ring, but shifting down when I needed to to maintain my cadence. My heart rate climbed up into Zone 4 as a result.

Once over the hill, it was back to flat with a few rollers. Quite a few South Carolinians were out in their yards cheering for us. I will not forget the lady sitting in her SUV in the gasoline parking lot. She was just clapping and cheering and screaming GO GO GO...

My ride across the first plateau was uneventful. I actually got to pass a bunch of people from prior waves, and got passed by only a handful. You can hear the whirl of disk wheels as speedier cyclists over take you. At one point, near one of the left hand turns, a pickup truck with police lights went whirling by. Up ahead, a cyclist was down in the road with his neck in a brace. After making the left hand turn, an ambulance went flying by.

About half way through, I ate my Fig Newtons, which were doing their best to fall apart on me. We hit some sweet down hills and picked up some super speed. I joked with a guy as I passed him that we should go back and do that one again. As we traveled through one of the little towns, I saw a triathlete on the side of the road holding his wrist. He said, "Watch out for that hole!" as I went past him. "What hole?" I thought.

By now, I was beginning to feel the affects of my ride. I really wanted to break 3 hours on this ride and show my coach that I can improve and our training had made me stronger. I realized fully that this was probably irrational. I very well might blow myself out on the bike, but it was a risk that I was willing to take. How am I to know my limits if I never press them?

Hitting high Zone 3 was really a struggle at this point. I knew that there was one last major climb at mile 38 or so, then it was rolling until the final downward ride beginning at mile 46. I kept checking my time on my watch. I had averaged 20 mph for the first hour and a half or so, but the hills had taken there toll. The down hill on the last 10 miles was deceptive. The grade wasn't quite what it appeared on the map, but at least there wasn't a lot of rollers. I was more than ready to get off my bike as I pulled up to transition. I looked at my watch and saw 2:59 and hustled my ass across the timing mat with 12 seconds to spare. Mission accomplished.

I hobbled precariously to my spot in transition. Again, the bike-in was all the way on the other side of transition. As I racked my bike, I stabbed my knee with something, either the bottle cage or the chain ring. I felt it dig deep into my knee, and as I glanced down, I saw a river of blood running down my leg.

Holy crap, I thought to myself. Ain't this the most wonderful thing...

I tried to staunch the flow of blood with my fingers to no avail. I didn't feel a thing, and I knew that lack of pain would not trigger my clotting mechanism. I picked up my wet towel from beneath my gear and dabbed the hole. Slowly, I felt the burn, and the bleeding slowed down. When it was no longer gushing, I gave up and began to put on my shoes. I figured the blood would clot soon, and I wasn't really worried about it. Fortunately for me, it didn't take long to get my run gear, and the run out exit was right next to my spot. I walked down the exit chute, resetting my Garmin, and out on the run I go...

Down Riverfront Drive, I ran. As I made the turn out onto the race course proper, I was seized by a cramp in my left thigh. This is great, I thought. If I cramped up this early, I was going to have a really hard day meeting my goal. After walking for a couple of hundred yards, the thigh felt well enough to run. Within a couple of minutes, I felt much better.

The first three miles of the run course, I was supposed to get my legs back under me. By mile three, it was apparent that I had no legs left. I switched to a run 3 minutes walk 1 minute routine, and that carried me through the first half of the race. Every time my HR climbed above 160, I got dizzy and my legs started to tingle. Add to this the cramp that was happening in my left shin, and I was not a happy camper. As I ran past the Ramada Inn on Greene Street, Molly yelled out to me. "Liz said you had a smokin fast bike!" I managed a smile for her, but didn't have the mental faculty for much else.

One of the few times I was actually running :-(

Near the half way point, I ran into Kevin. He was feeling nauseous, but was determined to finish the race on his terms. Somewhere, during the start of the second half of the race, my left calf threatened to cramp on me. I knew for a fact that if that muscle cramped, I was done for. Basically, the rest of my run boiled down to running for 1 minute, fighting off the cramps, running for the remainder of the 3 minutes, then walking my 1 minute.

The 12 mile marker was the most beautiful sight in the world. I made the right onto 12th street and knew that my race was almost over. I just hoped the finish line wasn't farther down than I though it was. The final aide station on Jones Street had a hose, and I let the kid wash me down, and it felt good. I plodded a long, past the Marriott. I saw the cones ahead and drifted into the right hand lane. I made the right hand turn into the finish line and the chute was lined with people.

I got nothing left. The shuffle is the best I can do...

There was not going be any finish line sprint for me on this day. I barely had enough left in me to finish running to the timing mat. As soon as I cross the mat, I was done for.

What it looks like to kick your own ass for 6 hours!

The pain was shooting up my legs. It was all I could do to walk up to the kid passing out water then on to the volunteers taking off the chips. I stood in front of this old lady, waiting for her to take off my chip, as she proceeded to ignore me. With a curse, I finally gave up waiting and reached down to take off my own chip, only to give up in disgust a few seconds later. I turned to a kind gentleman next to her, and he was kind enough to take my chip off for me.

I saw Dani and Molly to the left of the finish chute. They were shouting for me. I walked over and gave them high fives. I asked Dani how she had done, and she told me well. She was being modest. She had a PR and a great race. Congratulations, Dani! I made my way to the street that runs behind the park, then back along the side walk towards the food and beverages. I was still sipping on my water, but I felt really really bad. I sat down on the stone wall there and tried to collect my wits. Dee Dee found me. As I was sitting there, the pain and effort I had put in finally caught up to me and all I wanted to do was cry. Dee Dee saw this and gave this big ole nasty, sunburned, sweaty, salty, bloody body a hug and made everything better.

Dee Dee went to stand in line for my pre-race bag while I found some shade. I joined her when it was my turn in line. I was so glad to my swollen feet out of my shoes and into my sandals. The bus to take the athletes back to transition for their bikes showed up, and I hopped aboard. I promised to meet Dee Dee at the Marriott. Just as the bus pulled up to Riverfront Drive, I had to get off quick. I felt like I was going to barf. Fortunately for me, it was just the gag reflex for my running nose. As soon as I cleared my throat out, I felt better.

The walk down Riverfront Drive to transition was painfully long. I was so tempted to go back down the boat ramp and cool off in the river for a bit, but I knew that if I took too long, Dee Dee would start worrying about me. I found my spot in transition and sat down to pack up my wet suit. This was the time my left calf decided to cramp, and boy was it bad. I let out a blood curdling scream and laid down flat on my back. You could see the cramp moving up and down the inside of my left leg. Another triathlete ran over and straightened my leg out and pointed my toes towards my chest. Slowly but surely, the cramp went away. When the guy reached down and started to massage my calf, that started the screams all over again, and the honeymoon was over. I begged him to stop.

The cramp settled down. I thanked my rescuer and another triathlete that came over and gave me electrolyte water. I packed up my bike and walked it down Riverfront Road until it cleared up enough for me to ride. I wasn't sure I would be able to ride my bike back to the Marriott, but somehow, I managed. As I turned down the road to the Marriott, I heard a car horn pooping at me. It was Dee Dee. She was just getting ready to come look for me. We packed up the car and drove over to Cathy and Kevin's hotel. They had graciously offered to let me take a shower after the race, and it was oh so good. I could not thank them enough.

Let me stop here and say a few kind words about Dee Dee. Not only did she wake up when I did and chase me all over the race course, she was there to hold my hand after the race, help me pack, and make sure that I got home safely. She is the bestest sherpa ever.

I did my best to stay awake and keep Dee Dee company on the way home. I even had a few beers when we stopped off for refueling. I succeeded. It was good to be home.

Final thoughts on Augusta later!! Thanks to all of you for your support, both on my blog and Facebook. I'll say it again. The triathlete/running community is the best ever!!

Swim: 26:46

T1: 4:19

Bike: 2:59:48

T2: 3:41

Run: 2:32:28

Total: 6:07:02

Wes

Thoughts of Augusta

2009-09-24T11:47:00.003-04:00

It's almost go time. This is my "A" race of the year. Big "A" race. Callaway was an "A" race too, but its short enough that if you sneeze, you'll miss it :-)

I am ready. My body is slim, trim, beaten into shape. I am stronger than last year. Stronger than Ironman. Plus, I gotz my hair cut!

This race is huge. 3400+ athletes. There are three waves in my age group. That's waves M-L-C for you young people (that's mid life crisis). ROFL...

I have been doing these zippy little workouts, but I am ready to wind it down. I feel so sore when I wake up in the morning, but when I get into the workout, I am kicking arse, which is the way it should be.

Dee Dee and I will be making the trip down Saturday. I want to arrive around lunch time to avoid having to rush to do anything. It's about a two hour drive from Atlanta. Driving over should be a no brainer.

There will be tons and tons of bloggie peeps at this race. Some who will be spectating, and some who will be tuning up for their first Iron distance race. I can't wait to see everybody! It's almost more fun than racing!!

This is a super special race for me. I honestly didn't think that this year would be all that exciting for me. It being an "off" year and all. Thanks to Dee Dee and my coach, I have the opportunity to chase my dream of going sub-6. A special mwah!! to both of you (extra special for Dee Dee).

My race plans? Remember the scene from Lord of the Rings. Gandalf tells Aragorn before the Battle of Helms Deep.

"Look for my coming, at second light on the fifth day. At dawn, look to the east."

and in my own words...

Look for me at the end of the fifth hour in the med tent! Sub-6 or death...

SPARTA!!!! :-)

Wes

Watching Over Me

2009-09-21T10:09:00.003-04:00

In case you haven't heard. It's raining here. We go through 2 to 3 years of drought, then in two weeks, we totally make up for it. Somethings wrong with this picture. It has been raining non-stop for four or five days, and off and on for two weeks.

I ended up bagging my ride Wednesday because of it. The thought of riding on the trainer was unappetizing. I managed to get my swim on Thursday. I {heart} my gyms indoor pool. Since soccer practice was cancelled, I got to go to Jimmy's football game in Gwinnett County. The game started off OK, but by the end of the first quarter, we were in lightning delay. This was followed up by the monsoon rains. Being football and all, once the lightning passed, they were out there in the mud and rain, playing. I'm sure the kids had a good time, but it was a mess.

The scheduled run on Friday didn't go off either. I signed up to ref a few games of soccer this weekend, and I didn't want to over do it this close to my race. My youngest son, Matthew, managed to squeeze in his soccer match early Saturday morning, between thunderstorms. I think his was one of the only games played over the weekend. All of my soccer games were canceled.

There was a break in the clouds Saturday afternoon just long enough for me to get my brick in. The workout called for slightly faster than HIM pacing. I did 20+ miles on the Silver Comet, followed by 3.26 miles at a 9:12 pace run off. The extra rest was paying off and I felt really good. I held 20+ mph for the first hour of my ride. If I can just do that in Augusta, I'll be a happy camper.

Sunday morning, I met a friend at 8 AM at Red Top Mountain for an open water swim. We wanted to get one swim in with the wet suit before Augusta. This would actually be the third time the suit got wet this year, and one of those was a soaking in the tub! Saturday night, my friend pinged me on Google Talk to make sure I was still coming. I was like, Dude! HTFU!!! We are triathletes, we don't get to pick the weather we race in. Let's just do it.

Once again, Mother Nature smiled on us. We suited up in a drizzle and really only got hit by monsoon type rains for about ten minutes of our swim, but really. What the hell? We were already wet so who cares? We tootled around for about thirty minutes. Reminded our shoulder muscles what resistance felt like in a wet suit, then got the hell outta there. Just in time for the real thunderstorms to show up.

I can't help but think that God is watching over me. The weather broke so that I might get my training in, yet it forced the cancellation of all my soccer matches. Just sose, you know, I couldn't do anything stooopid and ruin my race. It's almost like somebody wants me to go sub-6. Right? Now, all I have to do is my part.

and I will...

Capitulation

2009-09-16T11:28:00.002-04:00

Last night, I surrendered. It doesn't come easy to me. This giving up, but that is what I did.

After my race on Saturday, I had a long bike ride on Sunday. Liz said that I could do three hours if I wanted, but 2.5 hours was OK. I wasn't really happy with my long ride from Monday. There to fore, I decided to give the three hours a go and see if I could hit 56 miles again.

On the way out, it was apparent that my legs were less than a hundred percent, which was to be expected. I kept it Zone 1 for a while, crept up into Zone 2, then held it steady there. For a brief period of time, I allowed my HR to creep into Zone 3, and no. That group of triathletes I blew past from the Atlanta Tri Club had nothing to do with it. When I ran out of steam near the turn around, they re-passed me like I was standing still.

The way back was mostly steady Zone 2. I didn't quite negative split the ride, coming in about 3 minutes over, but I was happy with that. I made it to Jimmy's soccer game on time then got to spend dinner with my father and step-mother who were in town for the weekend.

Monday was special. With all the soccer tournaments, I've had to take my rest day on the weekend and use Monday to make it up. Having Monday off this week was just awesome.

I waited until the end of the day Tuesday to do my long run of the week. The plan was to spend the first thirty minutes building from Zone 1 to Zone 2, then 45 minutes building from Zone 2 to Zone 3, then everything I got for the last 15.

Everything was fine through the first part of the workout. I ran down the hill and over to Hobgood Park where its relatively flat. When I started to ramp up in to Zone 3, my legs really started hurting. After four loops of the park, I got really really bored and decided to take a different tack. I ran down to the entrance of my hood, up the hill on the other side and onto the flat mile stretch of road where I do my bike intervals. Was able to hold Zone 3 for the full two miles out and back. By the time I got back, my legs felt like I was at the end of the run in a half Ironman! I still had two miles to get home, and two big hills to tackle to boot.

I held Zone 3 to the base of the hill, about 1.5 miles from home, then used a combination of run/walk to finish up the run. I walked into the house, sat down in my chair, and surrendered. I was a beaten man. These last two to three weeks have really kicked my ass. Taking on soccer matches to ref was probably not a good idea, but a man does what a man has to do.

Physically, my body is exhausted, but I know it will recover strong and be ready for race day. Mentally, I am glad these long training days are a thing of the past. I am ready to get this race done and over with. Not to fear. This is not a negative attitude. Just relief and a sense of "it's time to get on with it".

Bring on the taper. Let's get'er done...

Hidden In the Numbers

2009-09-14T09:47:00.008-04:00

A Hot Lips Hustle 5K Race Report

ALL ABOARD (THE SMILE TRAIN)!!!

{queue Ozzy}

I look forward to this race every year. It was, after all, my first, and I think that as long as I live in Georgia, and this race goes off, I will be there.

Sleeping until 6:15-ish on race morning is awesome. I didn't sleep all that great, but not too shabby either. I jumped up, got dressed, and headed downstairs to eat my breakfast. Dee Dee mosied down the stairs fifteen minutes later. I was actin all cool and stuff, totally peeved that she wasn't taking this oresomest race day serzly...

Out the door by 6:50 AM. We ARE RUNNING LATE. I hate running late. It's get me all nervous and irritated, and I'm not talkin IBS here. Lucky for me, my time estimation skillz are lacking, and arrived at the race site ROT (right on time). As we are pulling into the parking lot, Dee Dee sez, There's Sarah's car!

Coolio! Ms. Sarah would be joining us today! We were a bit early. I nabbed a good parking spot, specially designed for a quick exit. Dee Dee and I wandered over to the tables to pick up our race numbers. Sarah found us, and we spent a few minutes chit chatting. We all got "hot lips" tattoos. The girls put theirs on their cheeks. I opted to put mine in the "Ironman" spot on the back of my left calf.

The race course for the HLH heads across Sandy Plains and down Ebeneezer for 1.55 miles before turning around and heading back. The nice thing about this is that you can warm up by running down Sandy Plans. My warm consisted of thirty minutes with some pick ups in there to get the muscles firing. As I ran, marveled at the coolness of the air and the ease with which I was breathing. I knew it was going to be a fabulous day. On the way back to the church, I passed Sarah on her warm up. I had a few minutes left on mine, so I ran back out to meet her then ran her back in. We found Dee Dee and another friend, Jenn, who was there to do her first 5K. We had about 8 minutes to the race start. I fired up the Garmin and watched it vainly try to locate the satellites. With just a few minutes to race start, it finally locked on. I said good bye to the girls and moved up towards the front of the pack.

The race announcer counted off the time, and we were off. Nothing fancy here. No starting gun. No chips. Just a bunch of people out to have some fun. My strategy for this race was pretty simple. Build to the first mile, then give it everything I got. The problem with this strategy is that the out portion of the race is a net downhill, not much mind you, but down hill, and it can be deceiving. I glanced at my Garmin 205 every once in a while to make sure I wasn't blowing myself out. I was a bit concerned to see an 8 minute pace, but like I said, I was going down hill slightly. I held back and watched my pace clime to 8:20, then 8:45. I smiled and held the effort there.

I doubt my face expressed my concern when I crossed the first mile marker in 8:20. That was a bit fast. I was shooting for something more like a nine minute first mile. The problem was, I felt wonderful. I opened up. As I poured on the speed, I kept waiting and waiting for that heaving "I can't breath" feeling to come. I glanced at the Garmin again and saw a 7:15 pace and was taken aback.

This is almost too easy, I thought to myself.

At the turn around, I was not fooling myself. I knew that the return trip was net up hill and I was going to have to push. Several times as I struggled, my pace dropped to nine minute miles, but as soon as I crested the hill, I picked it back up again. I resisted the urge to walk. My legs felt strong. My lungs were working just fine. Push!! I gently reminded myself that coach wanted me to toss my cookies. I, however, wanted to make sure I did it after the race and not during. :-)

As I ran past the school, I knew the end was near. This year, the race got smart, and they moved the finish line on this side of Sandy Plains. The police officers directing traffic did not have to stop the cars for the runners to finish. Very smart! I kicked it up and ran hard to the finish, crossing in 25:35. Not a PR for me, but fabulous effort. The race went so smoothly. I almost couldn't believe it was over.

I grabbed a gatorade and went back to the finish line to cheer in the chicas. Jenn came in first. She looked awesome and had a great time for her first 5K. Jenn was followed by Sarah. Sarah was using the race as a TT for her coach, and I could see the great effort she was making on her face as she ran to the finish line. I lurved it!! Congratulations on your PR Sarah! You nailed it...

Sarah, Dee Dee, Jenn

We hung around after the race for a little while, cooling down, eating a few snacks, and talking. It was great to get to hang out and not have to rush off. After the awards ceremony started, we said our good byes and slipped away.

When we got home, I plugged the Garmin in and downloaded my data from the race. I was curious to see how well I had executed our race plan. During the first few minutes of the race, my HR climbed into the 168 to 171 range. This roughly corresponds to the very bottom of Zone 4 for me. I held it there until the first mile marker. After kicking it in, my HR climbed into the 177-182 range, which I held for the next 17.5 minutes. That's comfortably in Zone 5b for me. This just floored me. I just didn't feel like I was working that hard.

I am very very pleased with this race effort. While I didn't PR, my RPE and heart rate numbers show that I am learning something from this speed work I have been performing. When Wes learns something, Wes is a happy camper! and back to back awesome races is nothing to sneeze at either!

Congratulations to Jenn for finishing her first 5K! We now have something in common :-) and anytime I can help bring a smile to a child's face, its a win-win situation for everybody!

Wes

Remembering 9/11

2009-09-11T10:18:00.003-04:00

I am surprised that the wounds are still so raw and painful.

The pictures of The Jumpers makes my blood run cold.

Revenge is mine, sayeth the Lord.

Dear Lord, let me be the tool of thine hand...

I am your worst enemy.

I never forget.

Reaffirmations

2009-09-08T14:54:00.002-04:00

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. It pretty much means the summer time fun is over around here, and it's time to get ready for all. Labor Day in Atlanta means one thing for this family. Soccer! The Atlanta Cup is held every year on this weekend, and most years, over 700 teams come to play.

My oldest, Jimmy, was playing in the tournament, and I signed up to referee at his venue in between games. Anytime I sign up to ref a tournament, I have to juggle my training schedule around. I feel obligated to do this myself and never really ask coach for help.

Friday night, Dee Dee was up and down all night, and I slept like crap. The games Saturday went fine, but I wasn't all that pleased with my performance in the center (I had one center and two lines). I managed to sneak off to the gym later that night and get my swim on: 2700 yards in a little over 52 minutes. I was cruising, despite the sore legs. I slept really well Saturday night (duh!) and was back at the fields for Jimmy's 8 AM start. After Jimmy won his game, I had two more matches to ref, one line and one center. I could just tell something was off, and my experience here this weekend just left a bad taste in my mouth. Managing a match with 19 year olds is never easy, but it wasn't really about them, it was me.

The rest of Sunday was rest and recovery. I had a nice long nap, ate dinner, then went to bed. I actually slept in till 7 AM on Monday. I'm still wondering when I'm actually going to get to sleep in. The first wave in my age group doesn't go off until 8:45 AM at Augusta. Maybe I'll sleep in on race day :-) Anywho, I was out on the bike by 9 AM for my race simulation brick. I rode 56 miles in a little over 3 hours on very tired legs, followed up by spinning my legs out easy for a mile or so. I was very happy with this. My 45 minute run afterwards was blah, but this was expected. My legs had had enough for the weekend.

I think, next year, I will need to choose one or the other. I'm getting too old to do both ;-) hahaha! Truthfully, its true. My body is reaffirming this as it is the respect I have for both the half iron and iron distance races. These past two weeks have restored a healthy respect for all that is Iron and what it takes to get there.

At the last minute, I decided to toss my Grip Removable Chamois in the mix for my ride. This experience, too, reaffirmed that this little jewel is the best thing since sliced bread. My hiney lurves it :-)

Have a great week, y'all!

Wes

Letting Go

2009-09-03T14:45:00.002-04:00

Most people go to the assignors class with a club for which to actually... assign. Not I. I am an assignor at large. A king without a castle. I went because I wanted to broaden my horizon and learn how to schedule games.

We executed a few skits where we acted out confrontational issues assignors face doing their job. I had to handle an irate coach. When the skit was finished, I was commended on my ability to disarm the coach with what my instructor said was brutal honesty. Those of you who know me here and in real life know that there are two things you can count on with me. I do what I say I am going to do, and I am honest to a fault.

I've been questioned about what I write on this blog and Facebook. My openness is blunt and startling to some people. The way I see it, even with this information, you have no power over me. Don't get me wrong. I lurve you all, but that doesn't give you any power over me. It is my choice. Being honest.

In past blog posts, I've talked about my brush with alcoholism and obesity. Week after week, year after year, I would drink a bottle of gin over a couple of days, smoke a few packs of cigarettes, repeat till I got sick. I let myself go. As soon as I was feeling better, I would repeat the cycle. I got larger and larger. Drunker and drunker. Until one day, I didn't get sick anymore, and the cycle was broken.

That's when the acid reflux started. I knew there was something wrong. My throat didn't heal. For the next five years, I battled reflux on a daily, no, an hourly basis. My nose ran constantly. I was constantly having to clear my throat. Some of my employers moved me into a closet so I wouldn't disturb the other people. I went from bad, to worse, to manageable.

Finally, finally(!), it happened. More than five years later, I got sick again. Yea, that's right. What ever was wrong with my throat seemed to protect me from strep, flu, colds, everything. I hadn't been sick in five plus years. Once I got to feeling better, I noticed that I was no longer refluxing at night. My nose still runs, but much of the time, it is almost normal. I'm not ready to celebrate yet. I've been through all this before. This time just feels different. I'm hoping, and praying, that I've finally beat this, and its not going to be with me for the rest of my life. I wouldn't wish this experience on my worst enemy.

One of the pluses of this whole experience and being a triathlete is that I have finally let go of the drinking. I still have a beer every now and then, but its been three months (or more) since I've had a mixed drink. In case you don't follow me on Facebook, Dee Dee and I went out last night and really tied one on. I just needed to get totally smashed, and I almost succeeded. Dee Dee had a good time. She was worshiping the porcelain goddess this morning.

Do I look at this as a step backwards? The short answer is no. Everybody needs to blow off stress and rebalance their life. I needed this time to right a few things in my mind. Sometimes, the only way to hold onto something is to let it go.

Being honest.

Wes

On The Eigth Day

2009-08-26T10:52:00.002-04:00

I blogged, and it was good...

I rolled off the Fall Creek Falls Olympic into my heaviest training week of the year. Invariably, if you don't tell Liz that such and such is an "A" race, you train right through it. She's really good at keeping the eye on the prize. Your prize. Your goals.

With soccer season in full swing, I have/had three weekends of soccer tournaments in a row, all of which, I am reffing. I needed to move my training schedule around to accommodate a weekend in Auburn, Alabama. Necessity found me back in the pool Monday night. It wasn't so bad. Swimming three days in a row was tiring, but my body handled it. I followed this up with an easy recovery ride on Tuesday, and a short run on Wednesday, in preparation for my half-epic bike training ride on Thursday.

The plan called for four hours. I jiggled some stuff around at work, which allowed me to come in at noon. I hit the road at 7 AM sharp. Pulled my twenty minute intervals with ten minutes rest, and after the second one, found myself 37 miles from home. Not worry, I thought. (can you hear me laughing?) On the way back, my body slowly disintegrated, until at mile 17, I was an amorphous blob of toast. Somehow, I found the energy to finish those last 17 miles. There's only one way to get home, right? I felt sick to my stomach driving home, and wondered if I would make it alive. I did, and it took a full two hours of drinking and eating before I felt normal again.

Friday, I was back in the pool for a long endurance type swim. The pool always feels wonderful on my legs. Then, it was off to Auburn for the tournament. I actually drove down Saturday morning. I stayed at the fields all day and got in a good bit of running. There was a day, long long ago, where I would have worked out on top of my referee-ing. Not so much anymore. After two days of reffing, my legs were really hurting.

Busy, busy, busy... Leading into a recovery week... Booyah! Leading into another soccer tournament (I only have four games all weekend, and most of those are the younger kids).

Good luck to all my peeps racing Iron this weekend! I'll be watching.

Wes

Destination Tennessee!

2009-08-18T09:00:00.013-04:00

A Fall Creek Falls Olympic Race Report

Bear with me, my friends... I had such a great time at this race. I'm liable to spew forth a rather lenghthy detailed race report :-D

When I signed up for this race some months ago, Dee Dee's employment situation was in flux. She had a job, but she hated it. I didn't know if she was going to be able to make the trip with me or not. One thing led to another. Dee Dee quit that job and found a temporary position, even as she explores other, more promising, challenges. The net result... She could make the trip to Tennessee with me for the race.

Fall Creek Falls is located about an hour or so north of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the middle of no wheres, and this is a good thing. It's beautiful. I got up early Saturday morning for my open water swim. I met the Concourse Tri Club at Red Top Mountain and swam for about thirty five minutes. The turn out was good, and it was really nice having the opportunity to swim with other triathletes. I hustled home and picked up Dee Dee before heading over to watch Jimmy's scrimmage at the high school. He is playing football (and soccer) for the second time in his life. They have him starting as a running back and outside line backer. My son! {pumps chest} Dee Dee and I enjoyed watching Jimmy's intra squad scrimmage. He had over 100 combined yards for the day. Not to shabby for a second timer.

We drove back to the house and packed up the car for our trip north. I had had Aerowyn tuned up prior to the trip. I was basically taking the clothes on my back, while Dee Dee had a small bag. By 1:30 PM, we were on the road. The trip up was enjoyable. Once we passed through Chattanooga, we were on the bike route for the Oly distance tri they have there each year. I enjoyed showing Dee Dee all the big hills on this bike course. Once north of Chattanooga, we split off onto Hwy 111 and traveled last thirty miles or so to Fall Creek Falls State Park. With the help of our GPS, we had no problems locating the race site. Since we arrived about an hour early, we wandered down to the docks to look at the swim site.

Evidently, they don't allow people to swim in this lake. The first thing Dee Dee says is, "What's that smell?" LOL... I had no idea, and since I can't smell anything anyways, I wasn't worried about it. It looked like a typical lake, rather pretty. The buoys were already out, and it didn't look all that difficult. You could see the entire swim course from the docks. I was just curious to see how far it was from the docks back to transition. I knew it was going to affect my time, and I wanted to know so I "knew" what to expect time wise. The odometer on my car said it was about 0.25 miles, which meant about and extra 3-4 minutes in transition for me.

Back at transition, Dee Dee and I checked with registration and was able to get my race packet early. That was very nice of them and very cool. It allowed us to head up to the falls to see the sights. Fall Creek Fall was spectacular. It reminded me so much of the waterfalls that we saw in Hawaii.

Dee Dee didn't think it was such a good idea, but I wanted to hike down to the bottom of the falls. I told her that we could do "just this one", and as long as we took it easy, I would be fine. The hike down was quite the challenge. Sure footing was a necessity! At times, we just weren't sure which way was best, but we managed. The view from the bottom of the falls was spectacular too! We asked a nice young couple there to take our picture.

It looks like we are standing in the falls, but they are actually over 100 yards away. I climbed down to the pool to soak my legs. The water was cold, not as cold as Hawaii, but refreshing none the less. The footing in the pool was treacherous, and I had to use all my skillz to keep myself from falling and going under.

Physically, the return climb was more challenging, although it was easier to find our way up then it was down. Even though I took my time, I was definitely feeling it in my quads by the time we reached the landing. Dee Dee and I took off in the car on the rest of the circuit. We went to the top of a ravine where buzzards supposedly fly by, and we saw another fall, although we didn't try to climd down to the base of that one. By the end of the day, I was getting hungry and tired. I thought it best to knock it off and get back to the hotel.

Originally, I had intended to come to the hotel first, then got to packet pick up in the morning. With Dee Dee along, it got reversed. We mixed a little sight seeing with our race prep. We plugged the coordinates of the hotel into the GPS and took off for Dayton, TN. Several times, the GPS tried to send us down dirt roads and roads that had a dead end. After getting frustrated, I went back the way we came and turned a 35 mile trip into a 51 mile trip. At least I didn't get lost. We made it to the hotel by 8:15 PM or so, got checked in, then went in search of food. The only Italian place in town, besides a Pizza Hut, was a Mexican-Italian place down the road. We passed it on the way by, but mananged to track it down.

Wouldn't you know, we were in luck. It was karaoke night. I don't know if you've ever heard country folk sing karaoke, but let me tell you. It was interesting. Good news was, the food was actually pretty good. We snacked on chips and salsa, then for desert, we had calzones. It hit the spot. We went back to the hotel room and watched TV for about an hour before lights out.

As usual, I slept OK. Not great. Just OK. With the hours difference, I was able to sleep in until 5:45 AM. We packed up in a hurry and got on the road. We were taking Hwy 30 back to the park. This was a bit different than the original route. Going through the mountains and the valleys on a little two lane road was quite an experience. Of course, there was no traffic at the butt crack of dawn on a Sunday, so no worries there. The GPS only led us astray once, but that's what I get for not buying a subscription to the maps.

We got to the park just after 6 AM local time. We scored a primo parking spot, and I got setup and body marked in short order. I spent the rest of the time chatting with Dee Dee and walking back and forth to check on my transition spot. Nobody messed with my stuff. LOL... While the race director made the pre-race briefing, I put on sun screen. Yes, I am getting smart in my old age. After the announcements were over, we made our way down to the dock for the swim start. The first wave of young bucks got into the water. The second wave gathered by the dock, and my wave behind them. The RD made a few more brief announcements, then the horn sounded and the race got under way.

As the second wave got into the water, I made my way to the front of our group. I wanted to get a cushy spot hanging onto the dock at the front. The horn sounded again, and I jumped non-chalantly into the water and made my way to the dock. One guy beat me there, and I saw another guy struggling to get to there as well. I made room in front of me so he could hang on. When the RD announced one minute to our start time, the middle guy moved to the front of the line. That put me in second. The alarm sounded for the third time, and we were off.

I followed the lead guy out around the dock and made my way to the right for some instant open water. I quickly found myself all alone and settled into my rythm. I'm cruising along thinking, wow! I love to swim :-) Then, I start to get short of breath, and I can feel the effects of being sick. I'm struggling to stay outside but not drift too far to the right. When I breath on my right side only during races, I tend to drift to the right. By the time I reached the first turn buoy, I'm cussing, sh!*, I got to swim 1500 meters.

What was needed here was a "big boy" talk. I knew swimming 1500 meters was no problem for me, even if I did swim 2000 meters the day before. My arms weren't really tired at all. I just needed a quick talking to in order to get back on track. Don't be fooled though. This was the furthest open water swim I had ever done without a wet suit and/or a swimsafe belt.

Once I made the first turn, I tried harder to swim to the inside and stay on track with the buoys. I always have slow swim times when I let myself stray too far outside. Of course, the problem with being on the inside is more traffic. I started to pass through the meat of the wave in front of me. Passing people and dodging breast strokers takes more energy, and I do not like it. Buttttt... It's a necessary evil.

The waves started to hit me in the face as I turned down the back stretch. Several times, I swallowed a mouth full of lake water, to keep myself hydrated of course. This caused the gunky stuff in my nose to kick off my gag reflex, and I had to pause. Once I cleared the mess, it was heads down and more swimming. About half way down the back stretch, I got chicked. I love being chicked, because they are fine athletes. I tried to latch onto her feet to no avail. Evidently, I still suck at drafting.

I made the left hand turn back to the dock, and I'm working hard. About half way, I pick up a swimmer on my left side. He is matching me stroke for stroke. I ignore him and keep my pace steady. After a couple of minutes of this, he falls off, and I am once again alone. I peek my head out of the water and see that the doc is getting closer. Within twenty yards of the dock, I find the muddy bottom and come to my feet. I thrash my way to the carpet and climb the boat ramp. Off to the left, I see Dee Dee working her magic with the camera.

Up ahead and to the right is the shoe drop off. I put my shoes underneath a tree and went right to them. I slipped them onto my feet without any clumsiness and began the slow, up hill jog back to transition. I alternated walking and jogging until I caught me breath, then broke into a steady jog. I ran into transition and made a right at the garbage can, just like Dee Dee said and found my bike. I slipped no my watch and HRM, my race belt and helmet. I slid my tri shoes on and walked out of transition on the grass. I didn't hear the beep of the timing mat when I went across. I thought maybe it was broken and we would not be getting any transition times. I was wrong. At the street, I mounted Aerowyn, pressed start on my watch, and started peddling.

The bike route made a left out of transition, followed quickly by short right, then another quick right onto the main road. The nice thing about this section is that it was downhill. It made for an easy recovery after the swim. I looked down at my watch. My heart rate was up near 160. I settled into a slow easy spin and waited for it to come down.

After the short down hill, the rolling hills began. The further I got out on the course, the more and more it seemed to be going up hill. I didn't mind. I felt strong, and I was, quite frankly, looking forward to the downhill on the way back. Once my heart rate settled, I tried to keep it in the 150 to 156 range. This roughly corresponds to the top of Zone 3/bottom of Zone 4. So, zone 3 or on the down hills and straight aways, and Zone 4 climbing the hills. It worked like a charm.

It was roughly nine miles down Hwy 284 to the water tower. We made a right there, and it was mostly downhill for the next three miles to the turn around. It was here that I was chased by a furry wiener dog. I almost busted a gut laughing. He gave up after twenty feet or so. Evidently, the second place triathlete was not so lucky. He was doing 25+ mph coming down a hill when a dog ran out in front of him. The poor guy was upended from his bike, ripped his tri outfit to shreds, and left him with some serious road rash on his shoulder and down his back. He was going to be OK. The dog was killed, as was the bike. This was totally not cool!!

On this stretch of road, I saw the first place triathlete pass me going in the other direction. I made the turn around and took my first gel. My hydration and nutrtion was very sloppy this race. I only drank one 20 oz bottle of electrolyte water and one gel on the bike. I should have easily doubled this amount. On the way back, the downhills never really materialized. There were long stretches of downhill where I really managed to pick up some steam, but almost always, there was another up hill to tackle. I played leap frog with some guy riding a blue Cannondale. I would pass him on the down hills and straight aways. He would pass me on the up hills. Funny though, he didn't look like he was working as hard as I was.

The sign to the park indicated that the ride was almost over. There was a nice down hill stretch then back up the hill to transition. I saw Dee Dee there again, doing her thang... After the left and the second quick left, I managed to get out of my shoes before reaching the dismount line. I crossed the timing mat and ran my bike into transition. T2 was definitely a lot faster then T1. No quarter mile jog of which to speak :-) I was in and out of there in a little over a minute.

Right outside the transition area, I darted into a port-a-potty. I wasn't sure if my tummy was acting up or not. I decided not to take a chance. Fortunately for me, I was fine. I was in and out of there in a jiffy.

The run exit out of transition was downhill to a left hand turn, then downhill to the dam. Dee Dee was waiting for me at the left hand turn, and I blew her a kiss to thank her for being there.

The run across the dam was entirely in the sun light. This was just about the only spot on the entire run that was totally exposed. After crossing the dam, we made a right hand turn onto a bike trail that took us through the woods. The first part of this section was down hill, then the rolling parts began. The short up hills really sapped my strength, and I felt it. I walked the up hills a lot more than I wanted to. It made me realize just how much I need to work on my mental strength.

I took Gatorade and/or water at every aid station. They had five(!!) aid stations on the course, and it was awesome. At the three mile mark, I took my gel on the run. I was delighted to see a long downhill section here, and I picked up my pace. At the bottom of the hill, we made a left hand turn behind the hotel and onto a trail along the lake. The cool wind blowing off the lake here was just awesome. I lurved it. I was pretty much running by myself now, but I could see a few people up ahead in the distance. I started to chase them down.

The first guy, I passed near the four mile aid station. The second guy, I passed near the five mile marker. I took some personal satisfaction in this. Not only was he ten years younger than I was, but he was the guy I had played leap frog with on the bike! hahahaha!

This particular trail ended at the base of the dam. I ran up onto the dam and made the right hand turn back towards transition. I knew that once I crossed the dam, it was uphill back to the finish line. Half way across, I met up with a tri-chica going in the other direction. I clapped for her, gave her a high five, and told her she looked great. That won me a smile.

The up hill proved challenging, and I felt a cramp coming on in my right thigh and right hamstring. I kept hoping and praying and fighting to keep them at bay. I reached the shade at the top of the hill and made the right hand turn towards the finish line. My right quad chose this moment to start seizing up, and I grimaced. I had to keep my leg partially straight as I ran back to the transition area. I wondered what the spectators thought of me. At last, I made the final right hand turn. I was a bit out of it though. I was running down the wrong set of cones, back into the transition area. I smiled and hopped into the correct lane. I was able to pick up the pace, but opted not to sprint as I usually do. My leg held together, and I was entirely pleased to see 2:57:?? on the clock. I crossed the finish line with a smile. I forgot to raise my arms in victory, but I was happy.

This time the cramps hit me hard. I walked about ten yards before I doubled over in pain. Dee Dee was right there with a bottle of water and a cold towel. I wrapped the cold tower around my thigh. In a few minutes, I felt well enough to begin the process of walking it off. I found my way to the hoses and managed to clean myself. The water was so cold but oh so refreshing. It was nice to wash the sweat, grime, and lake water off of my body.

My legs recovered quickly. Dee Dee and I got into line for the post race food. They had a nice cook out for the athletes and spectators. I ate a hot dog, potato salad, a banana, some grapes, and a pickle. Let's not forget the pickle. We sat in the shade together, enjoying the experience of not having to rush off and leave. After an hour or so, we packed the car and began the short trip back to Atlanta.

On the way home, I had Dee Dee text coach and tell her that this was my best Olympic race ever. When she asked me what my time was, I responded.

Does it matter?

Of course, I care about my time, but in the grand scheme of things, it didn't really matter. It was my best Olympic race ever, and I loved every minute of it. My official times were as follows:

Swim: 25:45 (1:43/100M)

T1: 5:15

Bike: 1:16:47 (18.52 mph avg)

T2: 1:23

Run: 1:02:43 (about 10 min pace)

Total: 2:51:50

This was a hair's breadth from an Olympic PR for me, on a much tougher course. Without the long run into T1, I know I would have PRed easy. That thought alone is enough.

Now, it's time to focus. Augusta 70.3 is on the horizon.

Wes

Han't a Clue

2009-08-14T12:56:00.003-04:00

At first, I thought it was a cold, while secretly hoping it was a bad case of reflux. It's kind of hard to tell when you dayum nose runs and sabotages your body on a daily basis. After a couple of days, it became apparent it was worse. I had the whine flu. Maybe the swine flu?! I dunno. I didn't go to the doctor.

After Sunday, and Monday, AND TUESDAY off, I ran Wednesday and then biked for twenty minutes. My body enjoyed the endorphins. It might have even helped. Thursday, I woke up feeling groggy, head not quite pounding, and enjoyed working from home. By the end of the day, I was feeling well enough to do my 45 minute bike and 15 minute run off. I even rode in the rain. It was nice and cool.

Today? I am feeling better. Almost human. My nose is doing its thing. My head is mostly clear. That means... The RACE IS ON :-)

LOL...

Dee Dee and I are headed to the Fall Creek Falls Olympic on Saturday (the race is Sunday). I'm still not sure if I am going to officially "race" it. We'll just have to wait and see how I feel Sunday morning.

Which brings us to the topic of today's post...

I was reading Alan Couzen's blog about what it takes to be a top age group triathlete. He said it takes thousands and thousands of hours to be a sub-15 hour Ironman, and the earlier you start, the better. He also said that it takes years and years to improve one's performance across the spectrum of Ironman training, in order to achieve that coveted sub-11 and sub-10 hour Ironman finishes.

This is a generality. I know that. I probably trained fewer than 500 hours for Ironman Florida, and certainly fewer than 1500 hours over my lifetime of triathlon. Yet, I turned in a sub-14 hour Ironman on my first attempt.

You have no idea how good a sub-14 hour Ironman is...

My coach told me this after I crossed the line, but it is only now that I am beginning to understand. We reach a point in our training where progress is no longer measured in leaps and bounds. As Jen Harrison said, "It takes a long time. This whole thing is a process." It takes committment, and patience, and a love and passion for what you are doing.

I kinda snuck this race in on coach. I thought we had discussed it, but evidently, I left her out of the loop. With me being sick and all, I don't really feel the need for an organized race plan. I think I am going to focus on a few things.

1. The technical aspects (good form, no dead spots, etc)

2. Negative splitting each discipline

3. Having fun

With the last one being the most important of them all. Life is hard enough. It's just a whole lot harder if you never have any fun, ya know?

Have a great weekend, everybody!! I'll see you on Monday.

Wes

The Magic Mile

2009-08-09T17:55:00.006-04:00

Jeff Galloway has this thing he calls the "Magic Mile". From this time, he can accurately guesstimate what you would run another given distance in. The calculator over at McMillan's web site uses the same principles. It's just a little more sophisticated. Key in your time for a known distance, and not only does the calculator estimate all given race distances, it suggests paces for different run times and different lengths, even speed and tempo work.

Evidently, in endurance circles, it is customary to throw in some all out efforts during rest week to see where one "is at". I was on to coach. She's not foolin me... LOL... She snuck in 10x100 all out every 3 minutes, rather than a 10x100 time trial. A rose by any other name... What we were really excited for though was the weekend run test. I got to go to the track, warm up, then do an all out mile, a magic mile. I don't know if you'd noticed or not, but I've been sandbagging my ref tests for the last couple of years. I hadn't tried an all out mile in over three years. This did sound like fun.

With rest week in full force, it felt like a taper. I even slept like crap the night before AND got up at 5:30 AM in the morning. I needed to make it to a referee class by 9 AM, and I just didn't want to do this test in the heat of the afternoon. Boling Park was still dark as I pulled in the parking lot. The gravel path was lit up by lights, which surprised me a little, as there was a rodeo in town. The hum of the generators added an earie quality to the dawn. I parked my car by the baseball field and hiked up the hill to the track. I didn't really want to start in the dark, but I also wanted to get to my class on time.

I started running around the track in the darkness. I do my best to follow coach's advice, especially when it invovles walking :-) I warmed up easy, reigning myself in several times when my pace dropped below 9 minute miles. The bleachers I remembered from last time where still there at the end of the back straight away, covering up lanes 3-6. As daylight approached, I watched a few other runners pull into the park, although none of them joined me on the track. No one would be there to witness my pain, this day.

During the last four minutes of my warm up, I ran back to the gravel trail to hit up the port-a-potty. That's what a race mentality does to you. You have to think fast to go fast, and it scares the crap right out of you. Either you take this stuff serzly, or you don't, and if you don't, then you just might as well stay in bed. I jogged back up to the track and mentally steeled myself for what was to come. Next up on the agenda was 5x(50m hard, 50m easy). I made the mistake of glancing down at my Garmin during one of the sprints. "Good Lord", I thought to myself. To hit my dream time, I would have to maintain that pace for a mile. I timed it so that I could walk the back straight away to the bleachers and the starting line. In the blink of an eye, the sky turned from slightly dark, to slightly lightened.

On my left wrist, I reset the screen on my Garmin. All I wanted to see was time and average pace. On my right wrist, I set the Forerunner 50 to time only. Time would prove that neither mattered. With a sigh, I pressed start on the Forerunner, then the Garmin, and shot off the line around the first turn. The rush of adrenaline hit me and I felt like I was flying. My breathing was strong, my pace was strong. This was living.

Around the second turn, the reality of what I was doing settled in and I found my steady pace. My breathing was labored. I passed my starting point and made the turn before I remember to check my pace. The Garmin said 1:40. Holy crap, that was too fast, a 6:40 pace or something like that. As I turned down the front straight away, my nose decided to gunk up air intake, and I perceptably slowed down. My body so wanted to stop, to clear out the foul evil junk in my wind pipe, and walk a little. My mind almost gave in, but I fought it off. I cleared my throat and picked back up the pace. As I rounded turn two, I thought to myself, "I am not going to die. Work harder."

Lap three was an act of perseverance. I could feel my form breaking down, and when that happens, you slow down. I fought hard to keep good form, trusting that my body would carry me through. All I wanted to do was get through that third lap, cause I could do ANYTHING for 400 meters. As I passed the starting point, my body was screaming at me, but I would not let it stop. Around the turn, down the straight away, I went. I looked at my watch. I had 40 seconds to go 200 meters to come in under 7 minutes. (This is actually part of the referee test, and I can do 35 seconds or so when I'm fresh). I tried to push harder, but it just wasn't happening. I could feel my body giving up as I rounded that last turn, and my body slowed down of its own volition. This was not acceptable. I demanded my body pick up the pace, to finish strong, and I sprinted the last 40 meters to the finish line, and damn near collapsed.

Beeeeeeeep, went the Garmin, 7:19. It was spot on.

I reached down and pressed stop on the Forerunner 50. Coach wanted an accurate HR reading, and so did I. I walked about 200 meters before settling into an easy jog. By the time I had gone around the track once, it was like I had never even run a mile. My legs are so strong these days. I cut the cool down short by 5 minutes so I could leave early. When I got home, I loaded the data from my Garmin and the Forerunner into Training Center. My heart rate started at 137 and did nothing but climb until it reached 183 by the end of the run. It fluctuated a few times by one heart beat, but for the most part, was in a continual upward pattern. My max HR was 184, and the average was 176. On my run test at the beginning of this season, my max HR was 180 and the average was 175, but my pace was 8:32, over a minute slower.

Is this some kind of improvement? I think so, although I don't believe I could have held this pace for 20 minutes. I have been eating healthy, not drinking, getting plenty of rest, and I think it shows.

After showering, I headed off to my class, which went well. I am now an official assigner for the US Soccer Federation, although I have no one for whom to assign. I did manage to pick something up in class though. Either my body is just worn down, or somebody gave me the ick. For the first time in longer than I can remember, I am sick. Hopefully, its just a bad case of reflux, but it doesn't feel like it. I'm off to bed until this thing blows over.

Oh, and that magic mile, that's a 4 second PR over my magic mile test back in 2006 :-) Yea, I'm a numbers guy...

Wes

Goin Jalopy

2009-08-05T15:43:00.003-04:00

I am in a rest week this week, and I'm already feeling "rested" cause I only did half a long ride on Sunday, and no brick.

but I like it...

Rest week does not involve a cut back in swimming on Team ELF. Although to be fair, her ladyship does say to make anything easy or cut anything short that you want. I did cut my swim short yesteday, by 50 yards. Cause I left my workout at home and had to do it from memory, and memory said do a 200 yard cool down instead of a 250.

It was an ACCIDENT. OK?

Then I went and spent the big bucks getting Aerowyn re-outfitted. I asked Coach Sunday night if I needed to replace the tire if it had a puncture. She recommended yes. As much as I valued coach's wisdom, I did NOT want to spend $65.00 on a new Michelin Pro Race 3 tire. I asked the guys at the bike shop, and they said the same thing. Great minds, people, great minds. Lucky for me, or unlucky, depending on your perspective, they were out of dark blue. I left the bike shop with a new air canister doo-hickey, a pump, and two tubes. Spending this much money makes me NOT HAPPY.

After my evening strength workout, I came home and proceeded to make Aerowyn workout ready. Dee Dee helped me change the tire (good practice). I decided to just put the Michelin Lithion tire I had bought for IM FL on to tide me over till September. I tried to attach the pump to the water bottle holder like it said, but ended up having to take it off and just put the pump there. Aerowyn is sporting 3 bottle holders and 1 aero bottle holder now, instead of 4 bottle holders. I suppose this is OK for training. Besides. She looks really sexy with mismatched tires anyways.

Aerowyn is training ready, and I am ready for this rest week! Coach thinks its funny that she gave me a magic mile test on Saturday. I'm ready to go for it. My (old age) PR is 7:23. I think I can beat that :-)

Wes

These are my Mountains

2009-08-03T16:34:00.003-04:00

Dee Dee and I managed to sneak away for the weekend to Panama City Beach. She had mentioned a while back that this was a good weekend to get away. We decided early on in the week to just "go for it". Sometimes, you gotta just do things for the sake of doing, and just damn the consequences. It doesn't matter how far it is. What the consequences are. Just get'er done.

We drove up Friday night with Matthew in tow, and three bikes on the bike rack, arriving at Venture Out around 10 PM local time. My father was just overly enthusiastic about us staying in his place. He went out of his way to make sure everything was smooth and comfortable. He wanted us to make the most out of our weekend.

Panama City Beach is extremely hot this time of year. It's not so much the heat though, as it is the humidity. We climbed out of bed around 7:30 AM local time to get in an hour and a half bike ride. You could cut the air with a knife as we left the complex. Lucky for us, the skies were partly cloudy and the road mostly deserted. This was to be Dee Dee's first ride since Iron Girl Atlanta, and I didn't want to work her over. We rode at Dee Dee pace.

Our path followed Thomas Drive along the beach for four miles, where we made a left and continued along The Boardwalk, site of IM Florida. At the Walmart, we made a left down Front Beach Road on the bike route for the Ironman. The wind was blowing and snapping in our face. I had encouraged Dee Dee to push it a little bit, which would just about equal my easy pace. About the time we turned around, you could tell she was pushing it a bit too hard. We stopped just past the PCB pier and gathered our wits before setting back. We had a nice tail wind, and the sun peeked out from behind the clouds every once in a while.

About the time we made it back, Dee Dee's left arm seized up and she could barely hold onto her bike. Not sure what was up with that, but she recovered fairly quickly after we got home. I was really proud of her for hanging on for 22 miles for her first ride in a month. We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the beach, swimming in the gulf, stuffing our faces, and then soaking the pool to end our day. We ended up going out for dinner that night and ended up paying way too much money for the worst seafood ever. I won't name names, but if you want to avoid this craptastic place, drop me a line.

I knew that Sunday was going to be a busy day for me. I needed to do a 3.5 hour brick, and I really didn't want to take anytime away from my family to do it. I sat the alarm for 6:30 EDT, which was 5:30 AM local time. I didn't actually get out of the house until 6 AM, but that was OK with me. The sun was up by then. I made my way long the same route that Dee Dee and I had followed the day before. I rode past our turn around point, past the right turn on Hwy 79 for the IM Florida route, and kept following Front Beach Road, further and further west.

Front Beach Road finally made a dead end into Highway 98. I was a little worried that this high way would be too busy to bike on. It had been years and years and years since I had been on this section of 98. As a child, I just remembered it being the highway we took from Mobile to PCB, fast and furious. Now a days, nobody rides on 98 from Mobile due to the commercialization along the beach. I was pleasantly surprised to find bike lanes and a 45 mph speed limit. After crossing the bridge at Inlent Cove, I saw a sign that said "Scenic Route - 30 A" and some beach or another. I thought, "Beaches!" and made the left hand turn.

The scenery went from Florida country to manicured lawn in the blink of an eye. Not only that, there was a bike/running trail and this was some kind of fitness mecca. There were quite a few people running and biking, despite the windy, rainy weather.

I followed 30-A for some minutes, when finally, I decided I'd had enough of the dayum wind blowing in my face. It was five minutes early, but I could make up the extra minutes with the wind at my back!! I turned around and started back the way I came.

That's when I heard the first thump. I kept riding. Thump, thump, thump... Uh oh, I thought. I looked back, and sho nuf, my tire was flat. My legs had been feeling pretty crappy, and with the wind and rain, I was not in a great mood, and now this. I stopped on the bike path, took my tire off and couldn't find the doo-hickey for the air cannister. How the hell was I supposed to inflate my tire without my doo-hickey? Now, I was really just pissed.

About that time, it started to rain again, and along came a man and his wife on their bikes. They were kind enough to stop and help me fix my tire. He had a pump and a doo-hickey. We opted to use the pump. After getting the tire back on, they took off, and so did I. Less than a minute later.... Ssssssssssss.... The tire went flat again. Good Lord! I thought. This time, I got out the cell phone and called Dee Dee to come pick me up.

While I waited, I took the tire off again, and found th piece of glass that eluded me on my first search. I put the new tube in and waited. Another couple came by and offered me their pump. While I was pumping up the tire again, some runners came by and asked if we needed help. That was when I ripped the stem off. ROFL... It just wasn't my day. I thanked them and sent them on their way. Dee Dee was over half way there. I just decided to start walking until I met her. I think ten people stopped and asked me if I needed help, including one guy in a truck that rented bikes. It was nice to be broken down in such a friendly community.

Eventually, Dee Dee pulled up, and we threw the bike on the back of the SUV and returned home, via motorized vehicle. It isn't at all the way I wanted to enjoy my long ride in PCB, but stuff happens eh?

After my no PR weekend last week, and this awesomely sucktastic weekend of training, the mood was set. I was off reading Stef's blog at lunch. It's really nice to have someone who is honest about their struggles, honest with themselves and kind enough to share. I wrote in her comments that we all struggle. I struggle. I wrote this out of my heart, not realizing the sheer truth of what I said until I read it over and over again. I'm going to go back out there. I will swim again, run again, ride again, and not because I want to win a race. Not because I want to reach some arbitrary time goal (I gotz goals), but because these are my mountains to climb. And when I reach the top of the mountain, I feel... indescribable.

Wes

Iron Girl Atlanta on NBC

2009-07-30T11:35:00.002-04:00

Yea, I'm doing them a favor, cause Iron Girl Atlanta is one of my all time favorite sherpa-ing events. So sue me :-)

It's going to be on NBC this Sunday from 2-3 PM EST.