THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY of pepper spray.

We've been having problems with bears in NM recently, & I had a buddy ask about pepper spray. Although it wasn't triathlon related I felt it was good info & thought I'd share with my blooger peeps.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY of pepper spray.

good news, the public can carry it legally.

Beware, cans have been known to heat up & explode if left in cars. Once that happens you will NEVER be able to to get into your car without being contaminated. No amount of vacuuming will ever make it go away. EVER!!! (I didn't do this particular one. All the other warnings contained in this report, both Cindy & I experienced first hand. I don't know why she's still with me!)

There are thousands of places you can buy mace over the net. Just google pepper spray. Most of the companies are owned by 2 or 3 larger companies & all the smaller companies owned by the big 3 share patents, so don't worry to much about which one to buy. Essentially you get what you pay for. The more expensive ones are worth it, the less expensive ones are dangerous &/or won't work as well as they claim. The smaller companies being owned by bigger companies is a lot like SRAM owning & sharing patents with Zipp. Same thing.

The types of pepper sprays are OC, CN, & CS. There are also combinations of them such as OC/CS, CN/CS, etc. Don't worry about that. What matters is the SHU, more on that later.

They have different delivery systems: sprays, foams, gels, & fog.

Fog is designed to distribute a large quantity of mace over a widespread area. Fog delivery products primarily affect the respiratory system. Fog can be deployed to a large area. You don't have to score a direct hit to target. The good thing is it can be used effectively when running, when scared & unable to think, much less aim! It can be used effectively against multiple targets, hit entire rooms or groups of people-er- I mean dogs. The bad about the fog is it hits EVERYTHING! If you use it inside a home or car everyone & everything will get hit, & it'll float around a long time. Anytime anything moves it'll lift off & float around some more contaminating everything & everyone!

sprays, gels, & stream are designed for target-specific long-range deployments, with a minimal likelihood of cross- contamination. Their primary physical effect is on vision. Unlike fog, if you miss the target, it won't work on them!

Foams are easier to decontaminate from.

Buy one that has a dye. That way it's easy to point out which person, dog, or bear tried to harass you. It's harder to hide in plain sight when your bright pink or purple.

They will try & make one product sound more potent than others by saying it has a higher % of OC. The % of it doesn't matter. You measure how potent it is by it's scovile rating. The scovil rating measures the heat units. You will see it advertised as SHU (scovile heat units). The higher the number, the more potent it is!! 5,000-50,000 is what was used for years & it is entirely effective! No one will continue to try & do anything but cry & cough if they are hit with 5,000-50,000. 500,000 burns really bad!! Really really bad! They are now making stuff available to the public measuring as high as 2 million SHU. The 2 million & I are good buddies.

If you can find a place that sells prison or law enforcement grade, you could find it as high as 5 million!

The 2 million stuff is so potent that if you get hit you should only wash your clothes at a public laundry facility, the clothes washed the next couple times in that washing machine will burn you. when you dry the clothes hit w/ the 2 million stuff in the drier, the pepper spray will become airborne & the entire room will be hit.

If you wash & dry the clothes you were wearing with other clothes, the other clothes will be contaminated & they will burn you when next worn. If you love your spouse, don't wash or dry the contaminated stuff with your spouses clothes, especially their under clothes (sorry Cindy).

If you get sprayed, even an indirect contamination, & then you kiss a loved one hours later, even after showering, the area you kissed on them will burn...badly.

If you get contaminated, wash your self from the top down. & wash hanging upside down, or the water contaminated by the spray will move downwards, & you WILL CRY & WHEEP HYSTERICALLY!

Try & buy the OC that DOES NOT use alcohol as a propellant. If something gets hit by alcohol propelled mace & then gets near a heat source they will turn into a human torch. Ya, not that funny.

You can build up somewhat of an immunity to OC if frequently exposed.

OC is made from an oriental pepper plant & is edible.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask. OC & I have had a very close love/hate relationship for many years.

You know how every person has a few bad habits that their spouse just can't break them of? Well, if you ever hear me call Cindy "hot lips", it's because anytime I get exposed to OC I go home & kiss Cindy 1st thing through the door. (cue evil laugh). No matter how many times I've done this, & no matter how much trouble I get into I can't stop!!! It's gotten to the point that Cindy won't kiss me until she asks how my day went first.

Enjoy, & remember it's better when shared;-)

Have u kissed your local correctional officer lately? haha!

Raising my saddle height & eating cactus

Last week I rode my bike wearing cycling shorts. Normally I ride using a pair of triathlon shorts. The difference is the cycling shorts have a pad built into them for comfort, the tri shorts don't. I rode much better that day wearing the cycling shorts. Later that week I rode each way to see if it was really the shorts that made the difference, or if I just felt better on the day I 1st wore the cycling shorts. & each time I rode in the cycling shorts I rode faster at the same hear rate.

I felt the only real difference could be that the pad was lifting me up a bit higher, & the added height made me ride with more power & efficiency. I adjusted my saddle height, & I rode my favorite course at the same HR I normally do at half a mph faster!!! Amazing that raising the saddle height just 1/8 of an inch can make such a big difference!

Tonight I steamed veggies for dinner. I threw in as many vegetables that I have never ate, or hadn't ate in a long time. I've heard the more varied a persons diet is the healthier they are & the less likely they are to have any vitamin deficiencies.
I added broccoli, yellow squash, 1 jalapeno, 2 garlic cloves, yams, a large turnip, celery, & a prickly pear leaf. Yup, a prickly pear cactus leaf. Turns out they are very nutritious. Here's what I pulled off the net about them:

Nopales is the Spanish name for Prickly Pear Cactus pads. Prickly Pear Cactus are members of the Opuntia genus, and produce both nopales, a vegetable, and tuna, a fruit.

Native Americans used Nopales to poultice bruises and dress wounds. They also boiled and crushed the pads, then added the sticky juice to mortar or whitewash to increase adhesiveness.

Nopales have been more popular as a food source in Mexico for hundreds of years. Recently, they have gained increasing popularity in the United States as well.

As a vegetable, Nopales can be used in salads, casseroles, soups, grilled and prepared in a variety of other ways. Nopales are somewhat tart and have a green bean- or asparagus -like flavor.

Nopales are often compared to Okra, because of the sticky substance they release when cooked. This should be rinsed off before serving or before further preparation as an ingredient.

Nopales can be purchased year-round in Mexican markets and some grocery stores in the U.S. They can also easily be harvested from your own Prickly Pear Cactus growing on your property.


Nutritional Facts
Serving Size 1 cup raw (142g)
Calories 60 Calories from Fat 10
Amount Per Serving % daily value
Total Fat 1g 1%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 5mg 0%
Total Carbohydrates 14g 5%
Dietary Fiber 5g 20%
Sugars NA
Protein 1g
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 32%
Calcium 8%
Iron 2%
Here's a link that has the nutrients, how to prepare & cook it. Seems to be some really Delicious recipes.

http://www.desertusa.com/magdec97/eating/nopales.html

A dream ride!

Now that I'm getting lighter & am a better climber on the bike I'm finding all sorts of things I'd like to do. I doubt I'd have the money to take a trip to Colorado in August, but if my family & I could whip up the cash I'd sure love to do this event! Hmm, if we camped out this might be doable.

http://www.bluerivercentury.com/

unm test results

Today I got tested at the UNM physiology lab. I weighed 189.1 pounds. My body fat was 9.8%. Since Jan I lost 20 pounds of fat and gained 1.4 pounds of muscle.

On the bike I was able to push 429 watts giving me a power to weight ratio of 2.25 watts per pound of body weight. Last Jan I was tested at 410 watts at 208 pounds giving me a power to weight ratio of 1.98 watts per pound.

Apparently my training program is good & my body is responding great. I'm going to test again in a month to see how my body responds to my further weight loss while training hard! I'll post the results when I test!

half mile track intervals

Today was the 1st day of my current training plan that I increased my track intervals to half mile repeats. I LOVE half mile repeats. I find that since I'm doing less intervals than I was when sprinting 400 or 600's I'm able to stay more focused & push myself harder on each set. I really scraped the bottom today.

Usually when I increase my interval distances, my 1st workout performance of the new distance isn't great, I get fatigued quickly & struggle keeping the speed/intensity up the entire distance & for as many sprints as I'm needing to do. Today was the exception of the rule because I tore up the track today!!! I felt great & performed great!

Tomorrow I go to the UNM physiology lab to get my body fat & power to weight ratio tested. I'll let you know how the tests go.

I'd like to know what kind of voo-doo Sweat Caps put on thier products to make me lose so many of them! Where could all of them keep going? I love using them, & I must have dozens of those things lost all over my house.

Have we moved our rock?

For us to remove God in even one aspect of our life is removing God from His throne & putting ourselves on His throne. Those who live with out God's laws & influence in their lives are foolish.

Proverbs 2:28 says: to move an ancient boundary stone is to invite the curse of God.

This verse is talking about God's laws. Long ago peoples property was marked by boundary stones. The law was VERY clear to never move a boundary stone! When people were stealing land long ago they would move the stone by as little as half an inch a year. You may think, "half an inch a year, what's the point?".

Well, it may not mean much in the short term, but what would moving a boundary stone even a very small amount year after year mean for your children, or their children, or generations to come? Eventually it makes a huge impact in your life & the lives of others.

We have removed God's laws & influence from our society today little by little. We should not be willing to push away ANY of God's boundaries in our lives. Anything not built on the mighty rock of God will not stand! Have we moved our rock?

Racing like a rookie at the 2010 Santa Fe triathlon & it's race report

Today I had decent times, made a few rookie mistakes, & was blessed by God.

It was a run 1st, & my goal was to keep up with triathlete extrordinair Jamie Despenza... I failed. Dang he's fast! But the effort I put into trying to hang with him had me finish the 5K run in 22 minutes & change. Rookie mistake #1 of the day, I realized half way through the run I didn't have a good pre-race BM, yes, you read that right, & yes I'm putting this up on my blog. I post all my good & bad racing & training here. Perhaps someone else can learn from my mistakes, or have a good laugh.

I hopped on the bike feeling pretty good about my performance so far. I did a flying squirrel mount, clipped in, & tried peddling. My bike was was still in the biggest gear, I almost fell as I was trying to peddle & down shift! That was rookie mistake #2.

I had a good bike ride considering I'm a horrid hill climber & this course had a lot of long energy sapping hills. I finished the 20K bike in 40 minutes, knocking off 2 minutes from last years time. I did a pretty decent rolling dismount going into T-2. 3 steps into T-2 my rear tire popped. & that's where God was so gracious to me today, flatting just a few minutes earlier would have ruined my race! Thank you Lord!!!

Rookie mistake #3, I ran into the wrong bike rack lane. After I finally found where to rack my bike I ran to the pool through the longest transition area I've ever seen! It was as big as IMAZ's transition area!

Rookie mistake #4 was I tried diving into the pool with my goggles on. Apparently this is something a person needs to practice because my goggles were down around my lips when I resurfaced. After readjusting my goggles to protect my eyes rather than my tonsils I started swimming....hard! There was a triathlete 3 body lengths in front of me who was a better swimmer than I , & I've been getting pretty good at catching peoples slip stream & drafting off of them. I was able to catch him, it just about killed me, but I caught him. I was able to draft off him the entire swim, on the last 50 meters I tried passing him, once I got even with him I ran out of gas so I tried drifting into his lane & doing a little bump & grind. A little physical contact while swimming usually freaks people out enough that they slow down. Not this guy, without missing a stroke he thew a well placed elbow to my face. Wow, this guy was strong & poised. I was impressed. He not only pulled me along the entire 400 meters, but he also was a good full contact swimmer. We both hopped out of the pool & sprinted to the finish, he beat me by half a foot. While they were taking off our chips I saw on his leg that he was 61 years old. Wow again! I was schooled by a member of AARP!

A prayer said by a friend

Kris, a friend of mine sent a prayer to me last night via Face Book. He is only 16 years old, but his spiritual maturity is amazing. He was registered for the Santa Fe triathlon, and last night he found out at the last minute he wasn't going to be able to race. He was upset, but accepted it like a champ. I was touched. Here is what he wrote,
"God,
Do be with Mr Hanson. Help him with his bike, and allow this to be something you use with his heart. Draw Him to yourself through this. Let the Athlete part of this lifestyle not come before the training in ones spiritual heart, as I have been learning. God, please, He has done so much for me in helping me, and encouraging me. I wouldn't be an athlete without his help, through you. So, Lord? If you would will it, let his bike work just fine tomorrow. Let his strength be like that of Sampson. He didn't become a great athlete just working out, He was strong by your spirit. Give Mr Hanson that heart, too.
Thank you for not letting me do the race. Let Mr Hanson and I be able to do another one. Thank you!
In your name, Amen."

AN EXPLANATION OF POWER TO WEIGHT RATIO & IT'S APPLICATION TO TRIATHLON

It is safe to say that one of the biggest buzz words in triathlon today is POWER. One of the more common ways of utilizing an athletes power data is in determining their power to weight ratio (P/W) during efforts, particularly climbing.

I've been studying this theory a lot the last couple months because I've been dropping a lot of weight, while also trying to gain power. I thought I'd share what I've learned.

So, what is the Power-To-Weight Ratio (P/W)?

Power to weight ratio is a fraction based on 2 variables: POWER (measured in Watts) & Weight (measured in pounds). The reason in determining & tracking ones power to weight ratio is to maximize its value to a specific task i.e.. running & cycling; not quite as much in swimming because of the buoyancy of the water.

Theoretically, a triathlete with a higher power to weight ratio will ride faster & climb hills better compared to a person with a lower Power to weight ration. Similar advantages apply to running. Some research has found that a runner can gain %1 in running speed for every %1 reduction in body fat.

For most triathletes one of the most simple & cost effective ways to get faster is to explore ways to increase your power to weight ratio.

The power-to-weight ratio is the power a person generates, divided by their body weight. Here's why this is important: Success in the sport of triathlon relates to one's ability to generate the greatest force & aerobic power, in the most economical manner, to overcome the drag or resistance of water, wind, or terrain.

You improve you power to weight ratio by becoming lighter & maintaining or increasing muscular strength. Being "lean & mean" is all about your power to weight ratio.

Utilization of a riders power to weight ratio is most commonly found when assessing their climbing ability. Let us assume there are 2 triathletes cycling who are of equivalent abilities with identical bikes, & components. Both cyclists will be climbing the same hill side by side at exactly the same time, the same day, under exactly the same conditions.

Rider 1 weighs in at 200 pounds & has an average sustainable power on the climb of 450 watts. Rider 2 weighs 150 pounds & has an average sustainable power on the same climb of 380 watts. If you were to base your opinion of each cyclists climbing ability solely on their power, you would believe that rider 1 would be able to beat rider 2 to the top. Granted, rider 1's sustainable power is 70 watts GREATER than rider 2's. (%15); however, power is not the only variable that counts for dragging themselves up a climb. TOTAL weight (body, bike frame, components, wheels, etc) also plays a role.

When we account for each rider, their weight in addition to their climbing power, we find that the power to weight ratio of each is:
Rider 1=2.25 watts/LB
Rider 2=2.53 watts/lb.
So rider 2 will get to the top of the climb first, even though rider 1 can generate %15 more power.

It would be hard to get rider 1 to lose the 10+ pounds needed to increase his power to weight ratio to that of rider 2 without losing power, and losing power would completely negate the reason to lose the 10+ pounds! What I & many more experienced athletes than I have found is that starving ourselves to attain our ideal triathlon weight can be counter productive. Although we might lose weight, figuring out where the weight loss occurred is the real question. If I am losing LEAN MUSCLE MASS, I am lowering my power output by cannibalizing the muscle that is generating my POWER!

Truth be told, well trained athletes have far more control over gaining power than they do lowering their body weight. By focusing my energy through training to maximize POWER, which increases lean muscle mass & can decrease overall body weight, both power & weight are optimized.

IMPROVING MY POWER TO WEIGHT RATIO:

Here are a couple workouts that can be implemented into a triathletes training plan to help improve their power output, & with improved power comes improved speed & climbing.

1) Big gear training. These "on the bike" big gear intervals. Can be done on the road with a gradual climb or on the indoor trainer. You will push the big gears so that your average cadence is between 50-60 rpm, staying seated & concentrating on a smooth circular pedal stroke throughout the set. Intervals should last between 5-10 minutes, with recovery being half the interval time.

You can actually do big gear training for the run too. I learned this little trick from Barbara ("Barb") Metz Lindquist while at the USAT coaching seminar in 2006. Tie an old mountain bike tube around your hips/waist, tie a rope to the tube, and then tie the rope around an old car or truck tire. Then run & pull the tire while leaning forward at the ankles. The pressure of the tire pulling backwards on your hips will force you to pull your hips forward, which is proper run form, while also giving you the same benefits of big gear training for the run. A few hints for this run specific exercise,
A)keep your foot cadence high. Don't make your foot rpm's slower like you would if you were cycling.
B)DO NOT LEAN forward at the hips! That is poor running form! Practice leaning forward at the ankles & pulling your hips forward & lightly up as if you are stopping at the end of a pelvic thrust.
C)lower the duration of the intervals by half of what your doing for the bike.

2) Climbing. These are the crème-del-a-crem for triathletes looking to improve their P/W. These should be performed on long gradual climbs at cadence between 75-85 rpm. Stay seated. Recovery should last the time of the climb. Try & get your heart rate to 85-90% of your max effort, also called zone 5 if training by lactate threshold.

Again, you can do hill climbing for the run also, just make sure to lean forward at the ankles, & not the hips.

3) Weight lifting & core work. I'm going to go into more detail about weight lifting because weight lifting has received a bad rap by a lot of endurance triathletes, cyclists, & runners. Weight lifting increases muscle power in 2 ways: the more muscle you have the less effort it takes to produce a given power, & strength training trains your muscles to reproduce energy quickly so they don't tire as fast & can recover from short bouts of high intensity movements, like climbing or passing another triathlete. Energy production is achieved deep down in the muscle fibers, where the stores of glycogen, enzymes that increase the speed of muscular contraction, & stored creatine phosphocreatine are all increased because of strength training.
Increasing muscular strength increases muscular endurance. When you have more muscle to draw on it takes longer to wear out. I.E., if you find that you sometimes reach muscular fatigue before you reach cardiovascular fatigue, then you should increase your muscular strength so that you can have more in reserve. Endurance training decreases cardiovascular fatigue; strength training increases muscular endurance, which in turn decreases muscular fatigue.

From what I have researched, the optimal body fat % for triathletes is %4-10 for men, %10-15 for women. If your body is way out of these ranges you have the greatest opportunity for improvement.

If your going to try & drop body weight to increase you power to weight ratio:

-lose the weight slowly, eat small frequent meals, & avoid low protein, low fat, or low carb diets. Moderation is the key.

-Get your body composition checked every 4-8 weeks. If your losing lean mass you need to adjust your diet The most common way to get your body composition tested is the caliper measurement method. For this you must have the same person check you for consistent measurements. Accuracy (hence consistency) is based on the experience/skill of the tester, & measurements taken in the exact same location. A good tester will have the ability to compensate for various skin thickness & pliability. A good option for most triathletes is to find an experienced tester that uses calipers.

Water weighing measurement method, which is the dunk tank. This method tends to be the standard that all other measurement tools are compared to.

It's going to take time to make changes to your body composition; be patient. Some triathletes seek guidance from a sport dietitian for determining how much you should lose while maintaining energy levels to train well. A professional can provide some insight on how much weight you can realistically lose to assist you in reaching your goals.

Decreasing your body fat while maintaining lean mass, and the energy to carry out triathlon training, will take some planning. Most feel that decreasing your calories by 200-300 per day is a conservative, but smart, approach to fat reduction.

Remember that the quality of food matters. A serious triathlete will meet daily carbohydrate needs
with a variety of nutrient-rich foods. Avoid more processed foods. Protein should come from low saturated fat meats or plant sources such as soy beans or other legumes. Healthy fats from olive oil, flaxseed, nuts and avocados are a few good options. Avoid high sugar/calorie beverages (fruit juice blends, sodas, sports drinks) at and between meals. Go with low-calorie beverages to meet your hydration needs. Reserve the sports drinks and bars for use during training.

I have found I get MUCH BETTER results at building strength & losing fat when I take a protein supplement, multi vitamin, vitamin E, vitamin C, fish oil, & glutamine immediately before bed, as soon as I wake up, & immediately after workouts. Prevents your body from cannibalizing it's muscle stores.

The Silverman Half Iron & my 2 biggest weaknesses

In 2006 I attempted my 1st Ironman distance triathlon at the Silverman. I didn't make the final bike time cut off. I was pulled from the course at mile 92 of the 112 mile course. DNF. Did Not Finish. Those 3 words still haunt me. Out of almost 70 multisport races the Silverman is still my only DNF. Last year I registered for the Silverman half & was going to get revenge on that course. My wife & I ended up pregnant unexpectedly & a few weeks before the Silverman she had a C section, so I ended up not being able to get my revenge race.

Early this spring I had emailed the Silverman race director and told him of the bad things that had happened to me with this race & asked if he would roll my registration over to this year so I could get revenge. I never heard back from him so I assumed that was a no. Yesterday I received an email from the Silverman and they told me they are giving me a free slot to the Silverman Half, so it looks like I will be able to exact revenge from that course after all! (thanks Silverman RD! Just another example of God working miracles in my life!)

Now that I'm registered for the Silverman it brings to light my 2 biggest problems as an athlete.

#1) I've always been a much bigger athlete than all the people I usually race against. On flat to semi-flat courses I am able to finish with & often in front of those skinny guys. But on hilly courses my weight is a major issue! My weight is my biggest problem, which makes me suck at hills. I REALLY suck at hills, which is why I DNF'd the Silverman in 2006. But then again I tried to race it at 246 pounds!

My #2 biggest problem is lack of focus. I have big time problems staying focused. I've always been great at rarely missing training days. My type of problem with focus has to do with me setting a great goal, one that makes perfect sense, & then in no time I end up changing goals. That's the biggest reason I miss having a coach. I'd have a 2 hour zone 2 bike workout planned, & I'd ask my coach if I could ride from my house to Albuquerque via Highway 14, a 5 to 5.5 hour bike ride. My old coach Pete Alfino would get pissed off, tell me NO, & then tell me I needed to stay focused & stick to the plan! Great advise, which I need to hear more frequently. I'm constantly finding new & exciting goals before I accomplish the old one. Sometimes it means I'm switching A races mid training season, sometimes it means I get over zealous about a training day & do WAY more than I was scheduled. My lack of focus right now is making me constantly change my goal weight. Every week or two I change what my goal weight is, when I need to get there, how I'm going to do it, etc.

I'm very good at justifying my actions. 2 days ago my goal was to get to 188 pounds and maintain there until November. I got to 188 pounds yesterday, & I've already decided I'm going to switch my goal weight. Yes, I have a very good reason, I always do. My reasoning now is that I'll be competing at the Silverman half Iron, which is an incredibly mountainous course, & the only way I can do well on a course with that much climbing is if I get down to 175 pounds.... Yup, that's my new goal, to get to 175 pounds by November 1st. I'm 6 foot and have a big frame- a HUGE frame compared to other triathletes. I know 175 is probably to low for my body type. So rather than trying to get there blindly & risk ruining my race & possibly my health I'm going to get my body fat & power to weight ratio tested at the UNM physiology lab every 4 weeks. The minute I see my power to weight ratio go down I'll try & maintain the weight I am then. See how I switched my goal, am making a bad decision, & am justifying it very well?

If any of you out there are reading this & are willing, perhaps you can help keep me focused. I always post everything about my training & racing both good & bad on my blog. If you see me change my goal weight again, get on my case like you were my great, yet former coach Pete Alfino. Please help keep me focused. I need to learn to stay focused!

UNM physiology lab testing/sports specific training update

I have an appointment next week to go to the UNM physiology lab & get some tests done. I'll be getting my bike power to weight ratio & my body fat percentage tested.

I did this testing back in January of this year, & in January 2007. The previous 2 times I was tested I had my max VO-2, max heart rate, Ventilatory Threshold, & max watts tested. This time to save some green backs I'll only be getting my power to weight ratio & my body fat percentage tested.

I had decided to start getting tested regularly because I was planning on trying to get to as low of a body weight as I possibly could since light is fast in triathlon. It's important for me to get as light as possible without losing so much weight that I start to lose a lot of strength. The test I'm having done will measure my power to weight ratio. As long as my power to weight ratio continues to go up it means my body is happy & healthy with the weight loss, I'm still getting faster, & I can continue to lose more weight. Test results showing I'm doing well with my weight loss, & can continue to lose more weight would be:
-my body weight stays the same & my max power goes up.
-Or if my body weight drops & my max power stays the same
-the best scenario would be if I lost weight & my max power went up.

In 2004, I weighed 227 & my max watts was 399 making my power to weight ratio of 1.757 watts per pound of body weight. In Jan 2010 I weighed in at 207 pounds & my max watts went up to 410 giving me a pwer to weight ratio of 1.980 watts per pound of body weight!

The body fat testing I went through in January of this year showed I was at 18.4% body fat at 207 pounds. Right now I'm weighing in at approximately 188 pounds.

A couple posts ago I talked about sports specific training. More specifically that I was going to stop trail running & start doing all of my running on asphalt, because that's what I race on. My theory was sound because in 3 weeks my 4.1 mile zone 2 heart rate controlled run on asphalt went from 46 minutes to 39 minutes. To knock off 7 minutes in 3 weeks is a huge!

While playing around on the web I found that a couple years ago my blog made the list of the top 50 triathlon blogs. I was ranked 16th. Now I'm ranked 30th. Here's the link:

Top 50 Blogs in: triathlon - NetworkedBlogs.com

I'll be racing this weekend in the Santa Fe triathlon. The race start is 6 miles from my house, so I'll be racing to defend my home turf! There are usually some pretty fast hombre's that show up to this race, last year I finished in 1 hour 12 minutes 59 seconds & only took 9th place out of 14 in the 30-34 age group, 45th out of 280. This year I'm hoping to make top 3 in the 35-39 age group, top %3-5 overall! Whish my luck!

As soon as I can I'll post my Santa Fe triathlon race results & my UNM test results.

Peace!

Amazing grace!

Earlier this year I dedicated myself to spend less of my spare time reading, talking, & obsessing about triathlon & spend more time with God, studying His word, praying, having fellowship, etc. In return it seems God has decided to bless me in the one thing that I'd been allowing to take too much time & attention away from Him. This year has been BY FAR my best year of triathlon racing, yet I'm training an average of 5 to 6 hours a week less. I'm faster than I've ever been, I'm lighter than I've ever been, & a couple months ago I got my 1st sponsor, Frankie Flats bicycle repair shop! I am very excited about the opportunity to have a sponsor, especially one as wonderful as Frankie Flats! It's a great opportunity, one that I'm FULLY aware would be a dream come true for a lot of athletes who are much faster than me. But here I was getting the sponsorship!

Last year I qualified for the Halfmax National Championships for the 2nd year in a row. But it was looking like I wasn't going to be able to race it. The registration dead line was fast approaching & there was simply no way I was going to be able to come up with the money to register. We have 5 people living off my 1 income, my wife is a stay at home Mom, we have 3 kids under the age of 5. My wife just started going back to school so we had to pay for books & tuition, & 1st & foremost we tithe to our church every pay day. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed, but I'm a Christian & family man 1st, so I was willing to accept that this year I'd be missing my big national event. Then yesterday another miracle happened! I got word that I was approved to get sponsored by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)! I should be getting my 1st check from AFSCME soon & it'll be enough to cover the majority of my race registration fee! God is very good to me! All I had to do was put Him 1st & the rewards just keep piling in! I'm speechless! I can't believe I am now sponsored by 2 companies! Thank you Frankie Flats & AFSCME! & most of all, thank you Lord.