Mmmmmm... Dinner

Nothing like a little decadence to celebrate your birthday. My parents have come to know a gentleman who owns a really really excellent restaurant in Denver called Mel's Bar and Grill. I've eaten there quite a few times, but this time, decided I wanted to try something new. There are quite a few Mel "alumni" who have gone on to start or work at other restaurants in the area. One of the head chef's from Mel's started a new restaurant ( 2 actually, but you can only eat at one at a time ), where we had dinner tonight. I decided that rather than go with a single course, we were going to have the 'Tasting Menu'. 5 courses, and 5 wines. Here's what we had:

1st Course:

Duck prosciutio w/ figs crostini & piave cheese
Prosecco (sp? an italian sparkling wine )

2nd Course:

Grillled halibut with sauteed grapes and pine nuts, truffle butter sauce
Malavasia Bianca (sp) wine

3rd Course:
Spinach ravioli stuffed with cauliflower, potato, fontina cheese, served w/ a chunky tomato sauce
Dolcetto wine

4th Course:
Veal tenderloins, seared, served w/ smoked tomato veal reduction sauce, fontina fonduta
Chianti Classico wine

5th Course:
Flourless Chocolate/Hazelnut Torte
Ice Wine

Apologies for messing up the names/appelations of the wines, I'm a bit too satiated to care anyway. :) For all the gourmands out there, if you're ever in Denver, I cannot recommend enough eating at Mel's, Mizuna, or Luca D'Italia if you have the opportunity. And by all means, go for the Tasting Menu ( it changes nightly, but is always esquisite ).

Rocky Mountain High

Okay, not a huge John Denver fan, but the title is appropriate as I'm in Denver for the next few days. I flew out yesterday morning to visit my parents for a little vacation. Flight was nice, no problems, and United keeps putting me in economy plus seats, which is very nice, as I don't like having to suck my knees up into my chest. Flight was too short for an inflight movie, so I brought my own, "Empire Strikes Back" on DVD fresh from the newly released original Star Wars trilogy. ( Yep, I know I'm a geek, you don't have to tell me ).

I'm doing a tri on Sunday, the Fall Chill. I'm doing the Olympic distance, and hopefully just maybe, I might get one of the slots for the Escape from Alcatraz tri in San Francisco next summer. I flew with my bike ( I'd meant to ship it ahead, but work conspired to keep me from getting that done ahead of time, so I had to bring on the plane ).

Flying with a bike requires disassembling your bike, packing it into a special padded and hardsided box ( so it can't be destroyed by the throwers... I mean baggage handlers ). Wheels come off, seat comes off, handlebars come off, pedals come off. So, I had to reasseble the bike upon arrival. Did that yesterday afternoon, and then of course, need to test things out to make sure it's all adjusted properly, so I went on a short little 12 mile jaunt with my parents around the Cherry Creek Resevoir. I have to say, the bike trails around my house in Illinois are pretty scenic, but Denver has them beat hands down. Nothing fell off the bike during the ride, so it's safe to say that the reassembly went well.

Wore my HRM to see how the elevation would affect me. Turns out not much at all. Averaged 12 mph on the ride ( went slow for my parents sake ) and my HR averaged 108. Normally during a tri, that would be ~168. Getting up to around 20mph for a few stretches in the middle and HR only climbed to about 150. This is pretty dead flat terrain out here, just like the course will be for the race on Sunday, so I'm thinking this bodes well for having a good bike leg of the race. Hopefully a better run leg too, since there won't be any hills to brutalize me there either. The field is much smaller, so hopefully this means I can turn a better swim as well, since I won't have to play dodge the other swimmers as much.

In other news, today is my birthday, so I'm taking it easy, enjoying a day of rest sitting out in the sun and reading a book. Probably go for a bit of walk later, so I do *something* semi-active today, then out to dinner with my parents tonight. Other than that, nothing much special planned. Though I guess, as hectic as work has been lately, "nothing" *is* kinda special in it's own way. :)

TriHawks

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

I went out to watch my boss race this weekend. He races 600cc supersport semi-pro. There's a great local track about an hour from my house, where he races a couple times a year. Always a good time to go watch the races, plus because I know him, I get to be defacto pit-crew, which is kinda fun. He did pretty well over the weekend, about 7 races total, and took home 3rd place in his last race of the day on Saturday, out of a field of a little over 30. Not too shabby. It still amazes me how much they lean the bikes. Take a gander at this shot, he's racer number 47 ( in front, of course ), and how far over the bike is leaned. He's probably going about 75mph in this picture:



Trihawk

The other big purpose for this weekend, is the Wegman Benefit fund. Since most ins. companies refuse to cover medical costs for anyone injured racing motorcycles ( since it is inherently dangerous, blah, blah, blah ) it's pretty easy for a lot of the guys if they get injured to get swamped in medical bills. The Wegman Benefit, is a NFP organization that provides assistance to injured racers, to help cover medical expenses that insurance won't pay for. Once a year, they come out on one of the race weekends at the race track, and hold a charity auction to raise money for the fund.

Since I know a few racers, the guy that founded the Wegman fund, and have been at various times involved with designing the website for the fund, I've gone to the auction the last few years. Picked up a few things there, as all sorts of stuff gets donated to the auction. I've got over the years: numerous t-shirts, tickets to Cubs games, two pairs of snowshoes, various coffee mugs and other trinkets from pro race teams.

I got one thing at the auction this year. About 20 years ago, my boss was involved with working on a team of engineers who created a 3 wheeled car called the Trihawk. It's a little two seater car, two front wheels, one rear wheel, an open top, and a roll cage. It's a open front suspension, and powered by a little dynamo of a souped up motorcycle engine. There were only a few ever made, and a few years ago, my boss tracked one down, and bought it from the owner. It's near original condition, and perfectly drivable. It is even street legal, and he'll drive it to work from time to time.

Anyway, I digress. He donated a few track rides in the Trihawk to the auction. Normally, the only way to get on the track, is to be a racer, and get out there on your bike. It's not a super big track, so there's not a lot of room, but the Trihawk is not a very large vehicle, so it was okay. Long story short, I was one of the winning bidders, so the next day I got to put on a helmet, strap into the passengers seat, and hang on as he whipped the Trihawk around the motorcycle course. It's not as fast as a race motorcycle, but we hit 90mph+ at some points on the track.



Pain

I posted last week about my tri up at Lake Geneva, and how the hills kicked my butt. I got back race proofs today, from the official event photographer. There definitely is a marked differece in my expression on the run this time, from my previous races. Gone is my normal smile. I posted them up on my website, click the image below for more. This particular shot is about mile 5 1/2, so I'm about a 1/2 mile from the finish, and was really hurtin' at this point.

It's Alive! ( Well, *I* am anyway )

Was feeling much better yesterday after work. I still have some congestion and slight cough now as the crud clears out of my system, but the good news is that I think I've finally kicked it. Hopefully I really have this time, and it's not another trick.

Went to the gym last night, so I got back in my first post-race workout. Just did core strength weights and then a nice 3 mile run. Achilles/calf is sore again today, so crap about that. I thought it was finally getting better, but I guess not. I'm really going to have to take care of this after my final tri next weekend. Probably will end up biting the bullet and going to an ortho doctor. I almost went to see one earlier, but then it felt like it was getting better. I've been icing daily, and stretching 2-3 times a day. I'm just afraid a doc will tell me not to run, so I'm not going until after my next race. It's not painful when I run, oddly enough, just the day after.

This weekend should be fun. My boss races motorcycles in the AMA 600cc supersport class. He's got a race this weekend at a track that's about an hour from my house, so I will be heading out there with a bunch of friends from work to hang out at the track, watch him race, act as pit crew, and generally cause as much trouble as we can without getting kicked out. :)

Will be taking it easy on training, probably sticking with swimming and some light biking for my workouts leading up to my tri next Sunday. Want to let Achilles rest as much as possible. Also, need to ship my bike on Monday or Tuesday to Colorado. I'm buying a hardshell case for travelling with my bike, as I figured out it'll save me money if I use it only twice ever in my life, as opposed to renting one. The crappy thing is how much airlines charge to carry a bike box. On United, it is $80.00 *each* way! Shipping it via DHL ground ( delivery in 3 days ) costs $25.00. Guess which one I'll be doing. :) I don't really understand why, since you can fly with skis ( which are much more awkward/oversized, IMHO ) for no additional charge.

United claims this is because it requires special care and handling, and that's what the fee goes for. Right. I know people who work for United on the ramps, handling luggage. My ass they give it any special care or handling. I just wish they'd be honest and say "We charge that much because we feel like it." Trying to pass off a BS justification only makes me irritated. Anyway, it matters not, as I'll be shipping it instead of flying with it.

Be good, and enjoy your weekends! :)

Evil Germs

Being sick sucks. It started last Friday with a little tickle in my throat. Saturday during my race, it was a fairly annoying congestion and sore throat ( made it hard/unappetizing to drink/eat ). Sunday, I started the day with a hot shower, and dayquil, and felt fine. Just a few sniffles. Okay, I figured it was just a minor little cold.

Monday morning rolled around, feeling significantly better. Yay! Took the day off from training, as I figured I could use a day of rest, plus I didn't want to stress my body while I was getting over being sick, as I've got another race coming up on the 26th, and I want to make sure I'm well for that one, as it's my last race of this season, and I want to end on a positive note. Tuesday comes, and I'm feeling not so hot again. Take some more dayquil, and am feeling better. My bowling league is starting up that night, so I go to that after work, figuring that'll be my exercise for the day, planning to still take it easy until I"m sure that I'm over the cold. I ended up doing awsome at bowling, considering I haven't bowled since May, use house balls, and don't have any kind of hook. My games were 140, 167, and 164. Ended up with the second highest average on our team, which I was not expecting. Of course, I've now screwed my handicap for the rest of the season if I can't bowl like that again.

Early to bed on Tuesday, doing everything I can to make sure I get better quickly. Wake up on Wednesday, feeling moderately well. A bit more congestion than before, but otherwise not too bad. About mid-day on Wednesday I just started feeling like death warmed over. I swear that my brain was trying to escape my head through my eye sockets. Not a super fun feeling. Somehow I survived the drive home. Got in the house, and just laid down on my dining room floor as I couldn't bear to move any further. I laid there for about 15 minutes until Taetum got too annoying with licking my face. Managed to get up, take her outside so she could do her 'business', came back in, went up to bedroom, turned off all the lights and crawled in bed for a few hours.

Woke up hungry a few hours later and feeling a lot better again. No idea what it was that hit me like that, but I don't want to go through that again. It sucked bigtime. I think it may have been something related to the storm front moving through, the congestion from my cold, a wee bit of stress from work, and general bad luck.

Feeling better today, and hopefully still will be after work, so that I can go workout. I feel like such a slacker as I've not been to the gym or done any training since my race last Saturday. I do need to rest every now and then though, and I'm not going to work too hard, since I've got another race in a week and a half that I want to be in peak form for.

That's all for now. :)

Iron Frank

Having been fully infected with the Tri bug ( it's not curable, and nor do I want it cured! ), I decided that finishing an Olympic distance tri wasn't enough for one weekend. I needed *more*! Then I found out that Ironman Wisconsin was being held in Madison, WI on Sunday, Sept 12th, the day after my race on the 11th. They had a notice out on the site saying that they were in need of volunteers to work the course. So I signed up to do it.

I got up early on Sunday morning, took Taetum for a quick walk, tossed some stuff in a backpack ( food, water, sweatshirt ) and hopped in the car. Drove and hour and half north to Madison. I managed to not get too lost in Madison, found the free parking area, and hoofed it a mile to where I was assigned to report.

That turned out to be aid station #4 on the run. For those who aren't familiar with an Ironman race, it is a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bikeride, followed by a 26 mile run ( a marathon ). The top professional athletes are simply insane machines who can churn through that in around 9 hours, start to finish. Because the run has a loop in the middle, the runners that passed us were either on mile 5 or mile 18 of their runs. Behind them were the 2.4 mile swim and the 112 mile bike.

The aid station for an Ironman is a completely different animal than for a shorter distance race. At a shorter distance race, you've got water and gatorade, and *maybe* some kind of clif bar or energy gel. We had: Water, Gatorade, Defizzed coke, Chicken broth, cups of ice, sponges soaked in icewater, orange slices, bananas, grapes, pretzels, gu energy gel, a full-time doctor, and about 12-20 volunteers like me to manage all of the above and get it to the athletes. Repeat every mile, and you get an idea of the support that goes into one of these races.

I ended up staying past my allotted time, because seeing all these people complete this was simply an awe inspiring sight. From the leaders who came by around 1pm on their first lap setting a blistering pace, to the woman who ran past with a grimace on her face and a prosthetic left foot and no sign of slowing down, to an old man named Frank. I have no idea how old he was, but there he was, coming past for the second time around 9pm, with three hours left before they close the course and 8 miles to go before the finish, taking some chicken broth and thanking *us* for coming out and volunteering.

As it got later, the course got darker, the runners got fewer, but none of them were going to quit. Some were lost in their thoughts, taking their mind somewhere else while their body kept putting one foot in front of the other. Others were jovial, knowing that there was simply no way they were not going to finish and rejoicing in their accomplishment.

Frank finished by the way, with a half hour to spare, and took first place in his age group: Males 75-79 years old. 1908th out of 1973 overall finishers:

1908 16:27:17 FARRAR, FRANK BRITTON SD USA 1/1 M75-79

Hills, Hills, Everywhere

So, today I got brutalized by a hill. The reports of the race were not exaggerated. The hills on the run were insane. They just kept coming and coming and coming. By the time I hit the 2 mile point, and was up over the hills, my legs were gone. I knew I had 70 minutes to do the 10k to break the 3 hour mark for the race. On fresh legs, I can run a sub-50 minute 10k, but this was neither fresh legs, nor flat.

Dug in, dropped into my zone, and just kept putting one foot in front of the other. Managed to choke down some water/gatorade at the water stops. Finished a Gu energy gell at mile 3 as a little pickme up. Passed the 4 mile mark, grabbed some water, and promptly got a wicked cramp. Had to walk for about a minute until it subsided. Then picked up running again. Decided at that point, no more water stops, just get home. Dug in again, and just plowed on.

The big hill was no fun going down, as due to the steepness, it blasted my knees. Fortunately, they are a in pretty good shape so they were able to take it. Just kept turnover high so I wasn't hitting too hard. Picked up the pace the last mile and ran it about 8min and change, which is how I pulled off my time.

Here's the breakdown:

Swim 1500m: 25:51
Transition 1: 2:08
Bike 40 km: 1:20:12
Transition 2: 1:03
Run 10 km: 1:01:09

Total Time: 2:50:21

And now that that's done, I'm going to go take a well deserved rest.

Do, or do not

There is no try

Okay, we are t minus 21 hours from the start of my first Olympic distance triathlon. That is 1500meters swim, 40km bike, and 10k run. It's being held at Lake Geneva, WI; which is about an hour from my house.

So this morning I'm taking the day off from work, and am getting all my gear together for the race.

Checklist:
Polar HRM
Bike
Helmet
Sunglasses
Tri-shorts
Tri-singlet
Wrightsocks ( lucky race pair )
Running shoes
Bike shoes
Goggles
Wetsuit
Floor pump
Spare tube
CO2 quick inflator
Tire levers
Allen wrenches
2 water bottles
Case of bottled water
Accelerade
Endurox R4
Gu
Clif Bars
Towels for transition
Advil, vitamin supplements, icy hot
Change of clothes for post-race

I don't think I'm forgetting anything, but I'm paranoid. :)

Race will be done ( if all goes well ) by about 9:30 AM. It's a 6:30 AM start, and I hope to finish in about 3 hours ( or less! ).

Time to pack up the car and head out!

Labor Day Weekend

Saturday

Got up at stupid o'clock to drive a friend to the airport. Had some really wicked fog on the drive, and we're talking evil fog, as in can't see the front bumper thick. So I slowed down to about 65 or so from the 85 I was going. ;) Made it to the airport in plenty of time, and by the time I'd turned around and headed home, the fog had all burned off.

Had to work today at noon, so didn't do much else. Enjoyed some time inbetween the airport run and work by lazing about on the couch with Taetum.

Sunday

Today was a beautiful day. Sunny all day long. I had plans to drive up to Lake Geneva in WI to meet up with 2 other people who are doing the Lake Geneva Tri next week. Our plan was to test the water with a little Open Water Swim (OWS) and then head out to ride the Olympic course. I got there are bit early, so I was forced to louge around Lake Geneva beach for about an hour enjoying the sun.

They arrived, and we struck out for our swim. Ended up that we swam for about 35 minutes, at a semi-easy pace, so I figure we did approx. 1500m. No problem for me there. I was the fastest of the three of us. Muahahaha. I was the only one without a wetsuit, as well, since mine hasn't shown up yet. Granted, one of the people I was swimming with is a mother of 2, in her 40's and is doing the 1/2 Ironman race next week. So, put it all in context, and she could whip my butt. Water temp was pretty nice, low to mid 70's, which is just how I like it.

After the swim, we dashed to the parking lot, for a quick ( hah! ) T1 with car. Okay, so not really a T1, but sort of, since we all swam and biked in our tri suits/shorts. The ride was pretty uneventful. We had a map, and each turn was spray painted and clearly marked on the ride itself, so no problems there. A couple big hills let me open up for the first time on the new bike. First time I've hit 45mph on a bike before. Wheeeeeeeeeeee! I think this is going to be addictive. Speed is fun. I got a good feel for the course, I know where the wind will be bad, where the rough pavement is, where the blind turns are, when to open up on the downhills, etc. Averaged about 18mph for the three of us on the ride over the ~26mile course. That's the time I had targetted for the race itself, and I think I'll be able to do better on race day.

My only worry is the run. My achilles has been bothering me in both legs. The bike course is a *bit* hilly, so it'll take some more leg than I'm used to, but nothing I can't handle. The run is called 'challenging'. Which I'm told is a euphamism for "steep hill, that will hurt you and make you cry for your mommy".

Still, I think I'm in good shape to finish sub 3 hours. The swim I expect in ~25minutes ( or less ), bike in ~1:30 ( or less ), and run in ~1:00 ( or less ). Leaves me about 5 minutes for transitions, which is more than I should need. If I break 3, I'll be really happy. If I don't, I'll still be happy to finish it. The hills are something we'll have to see how I do on race day. And if I don't break 3 hours here, the tri I'm doing at the end of the month in Boulder, CO is a lot flatter.

Monday

Hmmm, the highlight of my day today was making chicken creole for dinner. Ohhh, and lounging about with Taetum. It was a rainy bleary day, so it was a great day for doing nothing. Read a bit, cleaned a bit, did some laundry, watched tv, and cooked. Feel recharged and going into my tri this coming weekend a lot more relaxed than my past two.

Brick a Brac

Brick

So tonight, I did the brick workout that I was supposed to do last night. Had a bit of anxious energy and such to workout so I really pushed it hard. Maybe not exactly the best thing to do 9 days before my race, but hey. Posted one of my best times yet on the bike. Rode 16.8 miles total. Averaged 18.5 mph. Hit up over 26mph for a 5 mile stretch, so definitely getting the hang of the new bike how to go stupid fast on it. Finished that, swapped out bike shoes for running shoes, changed over to a running singlet and headed out for my run part of the brick.

Ran 2.8 mile loop around by my house. Decided to push it, since I was only doing about 3 miles, and see how fast i could do it. Ended up total time of 22 minutes. So that put me slightly under 8 min / mile! First time I've broke 8 mins on a run > 1 mile. So felt really good about that. Good long cooldown walk and lots of strectching ensued after. Then, an ice bath for the legs, so I keep 'em from getting sore. Warm shower, and evening of chill.

a Brac

I'm pissed at my cat. Apparently he's pissed at me too. Or at least pissed at my gym bag. As I came home from work to find that he'd pissed *in* my gym bag. Grrrrrrrr. Not much else to do except let him know I was upset over it, and carry on. Why do cats do that. It's not like my bag smells like other cats, it only goes to the gym with me and sits in a locker.

Why

Still no answer to that question, not that I really expected one. Feeling better today, not as overwhelmed with the sense of helplessness I felt last night. So, thanks to those who shared their sentiments, and helped me keep my chin up.

Why

...do bad things happen to good people?

Without going into personal details, consider the following:

Fryns syndrome

Definition: Fryns syndrome is a rare congenital disorder characterized by dysmorphic facial features (coarse face with microphtalmia, hypertelorism, facial hair growth, cloudy corneas, broad and flat nasal bridge, cleft lip and/or palate, microretrognathia, and low set ears), diaphragmatic hernia, distal limb hypoplasia and pulmonary hypoplasia.


This claimed the life of the 9 day old son of my friends.

There is no good detection method. There is no real treatment. It is genetic, with a 25% recurrance rate.

How the hell do you face something like that?


Midnight, our sons and daughters
Were cut down and taken from us
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat


In the wind we hear their laughter
In the rain we see their tears
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat


Night hangs like a prisoner
Stretched over black and blue
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat


In the trees our sons stand naked
Through the walls our daughters cry
See their tears in the rainfall

Hump Day

Work Collides with Play

Well, tonight work collided with play. Nothing big, just had plans to do a "brick" workout after work. A brick is where you do two workouts right in a row, just like you would in a triathlon. Usually, it is a bike/run brick, as that is the hardest on the body ( and thus takes the most practice ). That is what I had planned for today. I was all set to do it, all packed up, ready to boogie out of work, when the phone rings. Something has come up that means I don't get to leave for another 2 hours. There goes all the daylight, so now I can't do my brick. Bargh. I'll get over it, and I'll do it tomorrow.

Icy Hot

I love my Icy Hot. I think I pushed the running too hard this summer. Calves are starting to be sore more often now. I think I'll need to take some time off from running and let things recover a bit. I should probably bite the bullet and go see an orthopedic doctor. Until then, mmmmm, pass the menthol goodness.

Hero

Went to see Hero on Monday with a couple guys from work. The movie was absolutely astounding from a visual standpoint, as well as from a story standpoint. If you get the chance to see this on a big screen, it will be well worth it. Cinematography similar to what Ridley Scott is known for, with breathtaking scenes of natural settings, usually from afar.