So, here's what I did starting January 1st:

Bike: 69h 29m 58s - 1358.54 Mi
Run: 40h 57m 32s - 218.13 Mi
Swim: 44h 39m 39s - 124348.4 Yd
Strength: 16h 10m
Spinning Class: 16h 45m

and here's what it got me:

MALE AGE GROUP: 25 - 29
PLACE O'ALL NAME TIME
2 13 Bill Shearer 47:27

Woo hoo! Hardware!

This coming weekend will be different. The horses show up to the Heatwave, and I'll be put back in my place. I do feel confident that I'm going to shatter my time from last year though, and that's what really matters to me.

Hello High School Graduation

I weighed in at 155 this morning before my swim. That is as low as I've been since I graduated high school. It only took me three years to get to 205. Then I wrangled myself back down to 175 by the time I finished grad school. Then, after my knee surgery I was at 185. Then 175 for last years tri season. Sooooo.... goal one is accomplished. The mid 150's for the upcoming season. I feel light and faster (not fast by any means, but faster).

Finally ran into another endurance swim this morning. Got 3350 yards in. Almost two miles so you don't have to do the math. I actually was looking forward to this after Monday, which had a speed work swim in the morning, followed by another speed work swim after work.

Also, I'm feeling pretty recovered from the century ride and 5k this past weekend, so I think I'm up for a little bit of strenght training tomorrow. Back to the 5:30am body pump class at the YMCA we go.

Has it been a month?

Geez. I actually completely forgot to post some stuff here. I've been logging all my stuff on beginnertriathlete.com and have just ignored this blog, which is supposed to be my personal journal for the year leading up to the New Orleans 70.3. Anyway, I guess it's not too bad since race day is now 356 days a way. Pretty much a year right?

Where do I stand as of now? Where here is how March turned out:

Bike: 13h 58m 32s - 259.25 Mi
Run: 7h 47m 08s - 42.92 Mi
Swim: 10h 45m 20s - 27800 Yd
Strength: 5h 50m
Spinning Class: 3h 45m

Eh... I followed the plan from beg. triathlete. Kind of a weak running month though. Not much biking either, though four spin classes helped. April is off to a good start with this so far:

Bike: 8h 03m 22s - 105 Mi
Run: 7h 08m 37s - 37.89 Mi
Swim: 4h 55m - 12825 Yd
Strength: 1h 25m
Spinning Class: 2h 00m

So I've almost matched the running time from March in half the month. The bike is being helped along by a 100 mile ride I did Saturday at the Natchez Trace Century Ride. Also knocked out a 5K at Run From the Sun that night. Then I gorged on pizza and beer.

The training this month has worn on me, probably because I'm running a lot more. It may not seem like much to some more advanced runners, but as bad as I am and as much as I hate it, it's pretty good. However, I'm finding myself sadistically starting to enjoy putting the shoes to the asphalt.

Oh, and Mooch got a face lift in the form of Vittoria Rubino Pro tires. Love 'em.

Race Day

Did my first bike only race today. It was a 40km Individual Time Trial on the Natchez Trace, and holy shit was it windy. Like a 10-12 mph difference on flat road wind. It was a brutal 20km out, and one hell of a fun 20km in. I didn't do to bad either. 1:11:08. That's about 21mph, so I'm fairly happy.

I also managed to get a 1500 yard swim in today. That's actually not a big swim for me, but I did swim a 500 in 7minutes, which is good for my ability at the moment. I also weighed in at 161 pounds before the swim. Every drop in weight for me now is a new low since second semester of my freshmen year in college.

Oh, I'm doing this weight loss thing not because I think I'm fat, but because I want to "race light." In other words, 20 pounds less stress on my knees while running. 20 pounds less to haul around on a bike. 20 pounds less to pull through the water.

Weekly totals (Sunday - Saturday):

6700 yards in the pool
52 miles on the bike
13 miles ran
130 minutes of strength training
60 minutes of spin

I put in just under an 11 hour week, so I'm happy.

And for the year:

Bike: 34h 15m 26s - 700.05 Mi
Run: 15h 11m 08s - 88.33 Mi
Swim: 16h 54m 20s - 46900 Yd
Strength: 10h 10m
Spinning Class: 7h 00m

Why I don't do Duathlons

Daaammmnnn.... And I thought the bike to the run was a hard transition.

Yesterday I did an hour run. A nice, easy, slow pace somewhere around 11 minutes a mile. Oh yeah, I'm EXTREMELY slow. A combination of being bow legged, pigeon toed, and a four hour surgery on my right knee in May of 2005 have sort of handicapped my running. Anyway, I have a 10k personal best of just over 9:30 a mile, so this actually was a VERY slow pace for me. Anyway, I got on the bike which was hooked up to the trainer and H O L Y S H E E T!!!

I averaged 15mph for thirty minutes. Do what? I can normally hop on the trainer and EASILY crank out 20-21, and if I really want to work, and hour at 26-28 is attainable. It was brutal. My legs just wouldn't turn the cranks.

As for today, I managed to get in a 2000 yard swim. Did a 300 warmup, then a ladder. That would be 100, 200, 300, 400, 300, 200, 100. Then a 100 cool down. I sprinted the 100s and swam a 1:15 and a 1:18. These are in yards by the way. Also, before I swam, I did a 40 minute run. 5 min warm up and cool down sandwiched around a 30 min run at 10 min/mile on the treadmill.

So, 10 days into March I've biked 55 miles, ran 18, swam 7200 yards, done an hour of weights, and an hour of spin class. Pretty light actually as I took an easy week before starting this training plan for the Heatwave Triathlon. Even now that it has started, I have a bike race this weekend, so I don't want to kill myself this week.

So far for the year I'm at 655 miles on the bike, 84 miles run, 42k yards in the pool, 8 hours of weights, six hours of spin class, and my weight has gone from 175 to 163 without any decrease in energy. I feel like I'm off to a good start

Time for a change

I'm going to do a half Iron Man.

New Orleans. April 5, 2009. Heads up big easy. A bow legged, pale, slow, short guy who loves Abita is headed your way. Yeah, like that'll shock you. Look for near the back, ok.

To recap. Half marathons in December, January, and February. Did a 10k in there as well. In February of 2007 I plodded through New Olreans and finished a marathon. I've got two 62 mile (metric centuries) rides under my spandex, and I did three tris last year. One mini sprint, a .5/24.5/6.2, and a .5/20/4. I've already done the distances for each discipline in the half Iron Man. Now it's all about getting this tri thing down and putting them together effeciently. Oh, and I'm going to have fun doing it. I'll even enjoy the really shitty days when I feel like I want to break down and go eat half of the local Taco Bell inventory. The good days are only made sweeter by going through bad ones. So I'm going to grin and grind it out.

Let's see, though. Vital and not so vital info to begin this little quest:

1. Getting married on November 15th. (pssst... that's vital, really impotant, and I can't wait)
2. Weight is 163. Down from a 175 "racing" weight last year.
3. I still hate running. I just don't really, really, really hate it anymore.
4. My knee has healed perfectly. It's all in my head, It's all in my head, It's all in my head. (Run faster you jackass!)
5. I'm just posting some stuff to announce to all my readers (pretty much just myself) that I'm changing directions with this blog. Afterall, I'm the one that needs convincing that I can do this.
6. This is really just my personal journal of stuff I'll be going through. I keep a log at beginnertriathlete.com (thank you, thank you, thank you for that site), but this site here is strictly for me to bitch, moan, feel elated, have good days, have bad days, and share with anyone who isn't a member of BT. You probably won't get my daily training logs, but you can keep up with my sanity.

Dear self,

It's not like this is a full Iron Man. Lighten up.



Reply to self,

It feels like it to me, and who knows, maybe one day.

Running season coming to an end!

I have one last half marathon down in Pensacola this weekend, and then it's time to prep for the tri season. Actually, I've been doing that for a month and a half. After the MS Blues Half Marathon, the farthest I've run continuously has been a 10k. While I did set a PR, I don't think only doing a 10k is quality half mary training. Oh, well. The course is flat and I just want to get it over with. So, I biked almost 500 miles on my trainer in Janurary, and I'm already over seven miles in the pool for February. It's not like I won't have the endurance for a half mary, I just wont have the legs. Well, maybe the rest will have revitalized the legs and I'll burn it up.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

It should be fun either way. At least it's a trip to the beach.

In cycling news, the Amgen Tour of Claifornia is getting started this weekend, too. It'll be nice to have some road racing back on the tube, especially since football seaon is now a thing of the past.

Been too long since the last post, and I can't blame it on anything other than laziness. Mid-March marks the beginning of my training plan for the Heatwave triathlon in Ridgeland, MS. I may use this blog as an update on how it's going. Who knows.

And in beer news. Terrapin has opened up it's new brewery and it is tourable. Gotta get there sometime and check it out. If not for the Rye Pale alone.

The finish line in Memphis

Perfect day for running, and I somehow found a way to finish with a pack of ladies (always do).

St. Jude Half-Marathon

Race report link: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=97660

Comments on the run:

A bit hillier than I remember Memphis being. Any steep hills were really
just some short risers, so they didn't last that long. The entire course was
rolling, for the most part. Long steady inclines followed by a long steady
decline. I had trained in my neighborhood, which may be the flattest place
on earth, so it was a challenging for me, but not unbearable by any means.
The route was great. The weather was perfect so running down Riverside
Drive, you had a great view of the Mississippi River and the I-40 bridge.

There were people everywhere downtown cheering for you, bands and
other performers were all over the place (big thanks to the belly dancers at
mile 11). We ran through some neighborhoods and it looked like some of the
people had decided to set up their own entertainment for you in their front
yards. It was pretty cool to run down Poplar, which is a very busy main road
heading east out of downtown. We had two lanes to run in, so traffice was
pretty much at a stand still, but most of the motorist were hanging out of
their cars cheering you on. The only spot were there were really no
spectators was a cut through road in Overton Park, and it was kind of nice
having about a mile of quiet, tree lined path to sort of gather your thoughts for the final push.

A very enjoyable but challenging run for me.

I've got some pics of the finish at Autozone park that I'll put up when I remember to.

More from San Destin

I finally ordered some of those pics that the photogs take at the events. So now I got some action photos. This is me on the bike, having a good day. My split was a PR this day. The run? Not so much, but I did finish.

I just finished the St. Jude half marathon in Memphis this past weekend, too. No pics of the course, which was awesome, but I'll have some of the finish area in Autozone Park and a race report up soon.

New kicks

Turns out I own the 'Best Buy' of the fall line of running shoes according to Runners World. I don't have a link or anything. I'm just trusting the info from the Mizuno website.


This is the Wave Precision 8. Haven't even run in them yet. I did a twelve miler in the old Wave 7 Monday afternoon, and they felt like flat tires after mile ten. I definitely stretched them out a bit too long. I trained for and ran in the Sandestin Triathon in them, then had been training for the Memphis half marathon in them. So, they had some serious miles on them.


Therefore, it was off to Fleet Feet yesterday to pick some new kicks up, and this is what they had. Much like white bar type makes a bike (for me anyway), the red laces kick ass on this shoe. Hey, I'm slow, so I at least have to look good.

Ok, so that's not exactly veloporn, but this is. It's the '08 Felt DA and it's got a sticker price that's closing in on ten grand.

Random Long Time Gone Post

Well the season is almost over. The tri and bike season is long since over actually. Sandestin was my last triathlon, and it's dark before I leave work now, so the biking is now pretty much a spin class or the trainer. All that's left now is a half marathon in Memphis in about three weeks. Ofcourse, the '08 season starts out quickly with a half marathon in Jackson, MS on January 8th.

Oh, and by season, I in no way mean to imply that I am actually competing in this stuff. I am not a triathlete, I'm a guy who does triathlons. I'm am not a runner, I'm a guy who runs so he can finish triathlons.

Anyway, I've pretty much decided the main goal for '08 is the half ironman in Austin, TX. Hey, a buddy up and ran the Chicago Marathon just a few months after I ran New Orleans, so it's time to one up again.

Till then, see you on the trainer, watching the Grizz, and pedaling to the Editors.

Oh, and holy crap did Abita do right with this one:

New Stuff from Masi

Cafe Racer Solo

Masi/Haro is expanding their line of bikes. Tim Jackson (Masiguy) has been giving a couple of sneak peeks at what will be landing at a LBS near you. I really love the new commuter bike above. It's too bad that biking down Hwy 471 in the morning would be suicide. I would ride this thing anywhere.

Unexpected Metric

Went to a great organized ride on the Natchez Trace this past weekend. It was the Cyclists Curing Cancer ride, put on by the Baptist Healthplex in Clinton, MS. The proceeds are going to a serenity garden for cancer patients and their families. It's always great getting to do something as fun as riding a bike while helping a great cause at the same time. Cycling is more than just a great workout sometimes.


Well, I went expecting to do 50 miles. This was going to be pretty tough since for two months I had done triathlon training rides. Basically laying on the aerobars and hammering as hard as I could for 20-30 miles. I also wanted to get back to my house in time to catch the start of the Mississippi State and Auburn game. Well, to quote the LBS owner, if it has two balls and it's on two wheels, it's gonna race. We went the first 25miles at .5mph lower than my personal best. I was ready to cry uncle and turn around. Unfortunately, we had caught up with a guy I work with.


He said, "Come on, it's only six more out and back, then back in from here. Let's do the metric." Well, I couldn't get upstaged by a guy I see at work every day, so I went for it. Turns out, I was kicking some ass. I ended up pulling him and a few others to about the 55 mile mark, and I was turning at a great pace for me. I could have even rode off and left them, but I was all about being the stud that yanked the wheel suckers along.


Then my legs fell off. Everbody was sucking wind. No one could pull. We were fighting a hellacious head wind. Mortorcycles and cars were whizzing by, pissed at the group that looked like a bunch of drunk bikers struggling on flat ground. To top it off, I got in my car, turned on the radio, and found out I had missed MSU scoring the first thirteen points against Auburn.

Well, I got home, cracked a beer, turned on the game. My legs were throbbing, I was still breathing hard, and it was then I realized how much freaking fun I had. Even when it breaks you down into a whimpering puppy, riding a bike is exactly what Bobke said it is (see the quote at the top of the page).


Two other things made the day great:


and:

Sandestin Tri

See those two flags. The red and the purple one. The red means the water isn't safe for swimmers. So ofcourse, we swam in it. The purple on means "sea pests present." In other words, jellyfish are all over the damn place. I only got stung five times. Face, shoulder, back, chest, and ankle. Good times.

I did finish in under two hours, which was my goal. You'll notice down below the clock says 2:02 when I'm crossing, but our wave started five minutes after the first one. Here are some random pics. I had a great time. Great race, good location, just too damn many jellyfish.

Jellyfish suck.

Details to follow.

Finally reading Lance's book.

Don't ask me why it took so long for me to pick it up. You don't even have to be a cyclist to want to learn his story, but being a cyclist, I'm almost ashamed I haven't read it. I'm about half way through it right now, and I hope to finish it this weekend. I've got a tri down in Sandestin this weekend, so Friday night before the race will be good for a ton of pasta and some inspirational reading. If you feel like checking it out, here it is:



It was written before he won his last two Tours. Here, he's tied with Merckx, which at the point I'm at in the book, seems very appropriate. Also, check out Lance's foundation. Not everyone can win bike races, but everyone can help the fight against cancer.

http://www.livestrong.org/site/c.khLXK1PxHmF/b.2660611/k.BCED/Home.htm

A nod to Boston.

I had a blast in Boston about two weeks ago. Caught three Red Sox games. Ate some lobster, clams, and chowder. Drank a lot of beer. So, in appreciation, Harpoon Brewery gets a nod for their IPA. I think I had one at every meal, including breakfast. Also had one of their UFOs (Unfiltered Offering), which is a Hefeweizen. I'm not a huge fan of the wheats, but it was quite good.

Bonus points for having cycling jerseys:

Tour day Frantz revisited

For some reason, I was scrolling though Jim Caple's old columns and started reading some of his Tour stuff. For the record, he's one of the few columnists at ESPN that I read because he will write about cycling, and soccer, and other great sports that are tough to follow in the States.

Anyway, I found the following pretty funny:

By the way, Rasmussen bears an uncanny resemblance to Lance Armstrong except the resemblance is to when the seven-time champ was in the hospital undergoing brain surgery for cancer. With his shaved head and sunken eye sockets, Rasmussen looks so gaunt even Mary-Kate Olsen would tell him to grab an extra power food bar in the feed zone

and....

My favorite shot of the Tour, meanwhile, is this one from Stage 9 when a dog wandered onto the road right in front of a T-Mobile rider. Amazingly, the dog not only walked away from the collision but just signed a three-year deal with Michael Vick.

and his thoughts on Bob Roll, who definitely is the best announcer in sports...

Versus announcer Bob Roll continues to be the most entertaining analyst in sports. I enjoyed his humor and strong opinions ("Yes, there will be a Tour of America race … just as soon as we run out of gasoline."), but he jumped to a new level when Al Trautwig asked him to name his favorite Van Gogh painting and he immediately replied, "The Potato Eaters." He then proceeded to educate viewers that Van Gogh painted "The Potato Eaters" (a truly gloomy, depressing painting) when he still lived in the Netherlands and had yet to develop the colorful style which would bring him lasting fame. I'm sorry, but you just don't get this kind of information from Joe Morgan.

There are no bad bicycles,

Just bad bicycle owners. - Stuart O'Grady in his latest Velo-news rant.

I thought that was a fitting way to label the dopers.

Anyway, I swim with the sharks (hopefully not) in less than two weeks in Sandestin. Really looking forward to this triathlon. It's been a while since I did my last one. The 100+ degree head and 100% humidity is making training a bitch, so this one might be hellacious. I've got all my miles for it, though. The .5 mile swim and and 20 mile bike are no sweat. I've went through some more IT band crap, so I had to take a month off from running. I only got up to four miles last night (and I've run a marathon before. How quick did I crash back to earth?), and I don't want to think about the bike/run transition right now. The first time I did it I almost keeled over dead.

Oh well. Advil and gallons of water are my best friends right now. At least until August 25th.