On a roll or Righted the ship

My training has been great for the last 2 months. I've been consistent with all 3 triathlon disciplines, core work, strength training, diet, & for the first time in years I'm even getting the sleep needed for proper recovery. My cycling which has been consistently strong all year has gotten just a tad bit stronger, my swimming is at an all time best, & my running has finally started to improve again.

All things seem to be lining up for a great race in Oklahoma city on Sept 19th. That's going to be one of the most important races I've competed in. It's the Halfmax National Championships. It's a race that an athlete has to qualify for. I qualified last year in Boulder Colorado at the 5430 long course triathlon with a personal best Half Iron time of 5hrs 36 minutes. I'll be weighing on race day about the same as I did at last years 5430, approximately 200-204 pounds.

Last year @ the 5430 my swimming was poor, my biking was good, & my running was exceptional. Like I said earlier my swimming & biking is better this year comparatively, but my running isn't up to where it was. I'm hoping the improvement in the first 2 disciplines will even out the lack of running speed & endurance.

I have 2 goals for the Redman Halfmax Championships. The first is to finish under 5hrs 45 minutes. The next goal, which will be much harder to accomplish, but is doable if I stick to the race plan set up by my coach Pete Alfino, is to set a new Half Iron PR of under 5 hrs 36 minutes & 27 seconds. Whish me luck!

As most people know in ultra endurance athletics body weight is VERY IMPORTANT for success. Paying meticulous attention to calories in/calories out is vital! Since early June when I signed up for dietpower I've been kicking tail! I've lost 21 pounds & I believe maintaining a consistent racing weight around weight of 185 for all of next season is attainable for the first time in my triathlon career.

Simply put everyone who is watching their diet has a bad day on occasion. If a person cuts out all the fun foods it's inevitable they're destined to fail eventually. One piece of pizza or any kind of junk food while trying to cut weight is just fine & is actually a good thing to break up the monotony a bit. But because I'm an all or nothing, OCD kind of guy when I have a bad day & temporarily fall off the wagon it can take awhile to regain control & focus. A long while indeed.

This morning I had a bad time with the diet. I got home after a long shift & was very tired. Fatigue is a trigger for over eating for me. Because I work at nights I was missing my babies & wife, which is another trigger for my emotional eating. To top it off I had a bit of an argument with a family member the night before, & BAM! A diet implosion this morning when I got off from work. I ended up going to sleep having downed 1900 calories while watching a Net Flix movie. Ugh.

Once I woke up I decided it was a new day & opportunity. So I decided to jump back on the proverbial wagon. I ate 3/4 cup cottage cheese & 3/4 cup grapes with coffee, & set off to burn off those extra calories. I went on a 1hr 35 minute bike ride consisting of a warm up, 3X12 minutes at high zone 4 with 5 minutes active recovery, then hopped off the bike & went on a 2 mile run. From my workout I ended up burning 1900 calories & earned enough extra calories that I was able to negate my early morning feast & was even able add a small taste snack to the usual meal I take to work! Current weight 206.2. Ah, the wonderful life of a Multisport athlete! How very sweet it is!

How to cross I-25 on a bicycle

On a post earlier this month I was complaining how hard it is to ride a bicycle from the Journal Rail Runner stop over I-25. A fellow triathlete & Clydesdale was kind enough to answer my question. I'm excited about trying it, but am starting to ramp down my training for the Redman triathlon in September. So unfortunately I won't be able to do the ride from the Journal Rail Runner to my house until after Sept 19th. Here's his response, & thanks again Kurt!

The easier way would be going east on the bike trail to the North diversion trail, go south and it goes under I-25. Then from there, there are many bike paths to get up to the canyon.

Weekly weight

This week I spent completing my annual training for work. Annual training is always a bit rough for me because I work nights & sleep days. Annual training is 7:00am-5:30pm which leaves my sleep schedule in chaos. By the time I get out of class I'm exhausted & pinched for time to get in my daily workouts. Stress & fatigue usually sends me straight to the refrigerator looking to stuff my face. But amazingly I held to the diet all week. I missed one strength & one swim. Bit all else went well! Current weight is 207.6.

There's 35 days left until my A race, the Halfmax National Championships in Oklahoma city. At this point I'm feeling dang good on my bike & swims. & I'm feeling like I'm doing the best running I've done all year. Feels like I'll be having a great race. Even better than I originally was hoping for.

This Sunday will be my sons 2nd B-day party. We'll be having it at a park in Albuquerque & inviting all of his little friends. It's things like this which makes life so grand.

The Chili Harvest triathlon race report

The Chili Harvest triathlon was, as usual AWESOME! This is always a well put on race. & I feel this year they surpassed their usual greatness. The only down side to this race is how rough the road is. This road is so rough that my bike computer popped completely off myo bike. But I'm not even complaining about that, if every race I do is flat, has no turns, & has great roads I'd get bored with triathlon really quickly. I just consider this the Paris- Rubeigh Grand Tour of triathlons. On a side note this race gave out CO-2 applicators & shirts made of special water wicking material. Not to mention great finishing prizes.

This race was really important for my South West Challenge Series standings I'm well ahead of the next placed Clydesdale, but this is my last South West Series race for the year because I have a child on the way.

During the swim I felt really good & felt like I was having a great swim. 3/4's of the way through the swim a lady in her fifties passed me doing the back stroke. Yes, I'm serious. I wasn't sure if she was a bad Mamma Jamma or if I was swimming much slower than I felt. I ended up finishing the 400 meter swim in 7 minutes 16 seconds.

I had an average T-1 of 1 min 34 seconds.

There were a lot of turns, bumps, & climbs on the bike so I didn't feel like I was going all that fast. I just never felt like I could build up that much momentum. But my finishing time was a surprising 36 minutes 16 seconds, which averaged my bike time to 20.9 MPH. Pretty good for a Clydesdale I think.

My T-2 time would have been great, but I dropped my race belt & had to turn around to pick it up & had to try put it on a second time losing precious seconds. I ended up having a 53 second T-2.

My run was decent. Comparatively to previous years I was slow. But this year I've been struggling with my running. I finished the 5K run in 24 minutes 15 seconds which averaged to 7 minutes 45 seconds per mile.

My finishing time was 1 hr 10 min. I finished 1st place Clydesdale 40 & under, & 46th out of 350 overall. Most importantly my triathlon club The New Mexico Outlaws won the state club championships for a fourth straight year. We are the only team to have won more than 3 years in a row!

The awards ceremony was held promptly. The placing & times of all placing athletes were announced. & there were GREAT prizes for anyone finishing 1st place in their division. They gave out a half gallon jug & a gift certificate to get filled at a local micro-brewery.

Cycling over I-25 in Albuqurque

I'm very blessed living here in Northern New Mexico. The Albuquerque & Santa Fe area is very conducive to running & cycling. There are great running & cycling trails in & around Albuquerque. Santa Fe has great areas to bike outside the city limits, yet God help you if you try to bike inside them.

Now that the New Mexico Rail Runner is open, my favorite weekend activity is to take my bike on the Rail Runner from the Santa Fe 599 stop to the Albuquerque Journal stop West of I-25 on Paseo Del Norte. I then ride my bike from the Journal stop to Paseo Del Norte, then Tramway to Route 66, then north on Highway 14. It's approximately a 70 mile ride from the Rail Runner to my house. The Rail Runner is a dream come true for cyclists & triathletes-well, a dream come true mostly. Has anyone else realized it's a nightmare to get from one side of I-25 to the other on a bicycle?

The overpass of Paseo Del Norte has no bike path & it's a nightmare to ride on that street in traffic. On Paseo Del Norte there's not even a side walk going East bound. Not that a side walk would help, it's illegal for cyclists to ride on sidewalks. Now, I'm not complaining about that particular law I agree cyclists shouldn't ride on sidewalks. But where does that leave us who ride rather than drive to get from one side of I-25 to another? Alameda & San Antonio don't have bike paths to allow safe passage over or under I-25 either. Where does the transportation department expect us on 2 wheels to cross without causing cycling deaths & vehicular road rage? Is there a great crossing I don't know of? If not is there a movement to get something done? If there's not yet a group pushing for a crossing, & anyone else agrees that there needs to be one please tell me. Feel free to email me if your not comfortable posting comments on my blog.

Chili Harvest Triathlon

I'm packing for the Chile Harvest Triathlon which will be held tomorrow in Soccorro NM. The Chili Fest is the state club championships. I'll be racing for the NM Outlaws who are state champions for the last 3 straight years. This year we're having some tough competition from the Las Alamos Triatomics & Endurance Endeavors.

The state club championships will be my last race of the year for the SW Challenge series. Right now I'm ahead of the SW Challenge Series in the Clydesdale open division, I have a total of 66 points. My 2 closest competition has 46 & 34 points. I'm well ahead, but each of them knows I have a baby due soon & am unable to race the rest of the year- except for the Redman, which isn't part of the series. There are 9 races left in the series after this weekend. Plenty of races to surpass my measly 66 points. But I'm still hoping to wrap up the series & win my division for the third straight year if I can finish tomorrow in first place. If I can do that I'll have 76 points Which would still allow plenty of time for my competition to overcome:(

In 2006 I finished the Chile Harvest triathlon with a poor performance- yet still setting a PR with a time of 1 hr 27 minutes.

I'll be showing up at the race start this year weighing 207! I'm about 20 pounds lighter than I was when I PR'd this race in 2006. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to be a few seconds faster on the swim, I'm expecting to average over 18 mph on the bike this year which will be an increase of 5.5 mph from '06!!!! & I think I'll be about 1 minute faster on the run. All things considered I'm hoping to finish no slower than 1 hour 15 minutes which will knock off 12 minutes from my PR. Keep your finger crossed, because I really need the series points!

As I said earlier I'm weighing in at 207. I'm 7 pounds from my goal weight of 200 by the Redman half Iron on Sept 19th. & I'm 22 pounds from my ultimate goal of 185 which is the weight I'd like to try & maintain & race at all next season.

This month I had a great month of training. I thought I had hit a 600 mile month, but when I doubled checked my #'s I realized I missed it by 21 miles.

Swim 16404 yards
Bike 578.5 miles
Run 72.25 miles

Still going strong

This whole week I've been on a high. I finally had a good race this weekend at the Santa Fe Triathlon. I averaged over 20 miles an hour on the bike & had one of my top 3 swims ever. I'm sure a lot of my performance had to do with me finally completing all of my scheduled workouts. I was swamped with family obligations this summer and missed a bunch of workouts, but even when I did have the time to train I missed more than my fair share. A lot of that had to do with burnout from training for Ironman Arizona last year. I believe I'm back in full swing now!

I believe the other aspect of my increased speed is my diet. Before I was following Weight Watchers, which I don't believe is a great diet for endurance athletes. Most of the week I burn well over 1000 calories a day working out. On WW I only replaced half of what I burned, which left me at a huge deficit, which not only prevented me from getting the nutrients & calories needed to recover, but also left me furiously hungry all the time. Coniquently I was constantly falling off the diet wagon. All that yo-yo dieting was frustrating to me.

On my new diet regimen I'm rarely ever hungry. When I am hungry I do a quick swim, bike, or run at an easy pace to earn some extra calories. Since I get to eat %100 of the calories I burn it's very easy & worth while to do extra exercising.

Because it's so rewarding to workout extra, I've been doing a lot of zone 1 training on my indoor trainer while watching the Tour De France. It's very easy for me to lose track of time watching the Tour. Normally an hour on the trainer a couple times a week is all I can tolerate. While watching this epic bike race I'm putting in an hour and a half to two hours a day at least four times a week on top of my scheduled workouts. So far this month I've racked up 470 cycling miles. I'm hoping to hit my first 600 mile month without missing any of my scheduled running or swimming. I'll need to average a bit over 17 miles a day the rest of the month, but since this entire week is a recovery week I may miss my goal by just a bit.

My weight this morning was 213.6. I l'm down another 2 pounds this week, 14 pounds lost total while using dietpower. 28 pounds to go.

Thanks for tuning in!

2nd annual Santa Fe Triathlon

Today was the 2009 Santa Fe triathlon. This race was only 5 miles from my house, & used the same course I usually train on a daily basis. I can't come close to explaining how nice it was not having to deal with leaving a hotel, loading the car, & finding a race sight in an area I'm unfamiliar with. This was the most stress free race I've competed in all 6 years that I've been doing triathlons.

The race was extremely well ran. The only knock against it was they were a little unprepared for as many triathletes as they had. They should of had more bike racks. Everything else went off without a hitch. As a matter of a fact the results were posted online by 11 am!

The race was a 5 K Run/ 12.8 mile Bike/ 400 meter pool swim. The race start was packed! There were probably 350-400. I wasn't expecting that many to show. There were even more at this race than there was at the Milkman triathlon which was the Rocky Mountain championships.

Up until this year the run had been my forte. But this year I've been running like dog pooh. I started out this run feeling decent for a change. I really liked the way the run course was set up. It was %100 closed to traffic, the majority of it was on a bike/run trail, & it had a 90 degree turn around at the 2.5 mile mark. I like U turns on the run portion of a triathlon so I can see how much of a lead or deficit I have on my competition. I finished the run in 24:58. Unfortunately I was a good 10-15 seconds slower in T-1 today which is usually where I dominate.

I got on the bike & felt great immediately! From the very start of the bike I was hammering & passed a ton of people, but more importantly not a single person passed me. My combined finishing time of the bike & T-1 was a blazing fast 40 minutes 1 second . My great performance on the bike came as a complete & total surprise. This was a pretty hilly course, & saying I don't climb well is an understatement. & the last 2.5 weeks I've been training very very hard & entered this race with no taper or rest at all.

I had a great swim. Perhaps the reason I did so well was this is the pool I swim in daily. Home territory for me. I grabbed a lady's slip stream & drafted off her the entire 400 meter swim. I've tried drafting in the water before & had never been able to keep on their feet. Today I drafted perfectly! Finished the swim & T-2 in a combined time of 8 minutes flat.

Total race time was 1 hr 12 minutes 59 seconds. Unfortunately there was no Clydesdale division today, so I raced in the 30-34 AG & placed 9th. Like I'd said in earlier blog posts my ultimate goal is to race all of next year weighing under 200 pounds. As of this morning I'm 214. Today's race made me realize the ONLY way I'll be competitive as an age grouper is to race at between 180-190 pounds. I completed 2 races last year at 192 pounds, & boy was I fast! At the Jay Benson which was the same distance as today's race I finished in 1:04. I completed the Buffman & Squeaky Olympic distance triathlon in 2:40:57. I was definitely competitive in my AG at 192. At 180 I might even start placing top 3. Ah, the dreams of triathlon & the aspirations of SPEED!

Thanks for tuning in!

Goal 1 down 2 to go!

Today was a great day. This morning I weighed in at 215, which was my short term goal. Next goal is to be at or below 205 by the Halfmax National Championships on Sept 19th. Goal after that is 180-185 by New Years day! Ultimate goal is to compete all next year between 180-190 pounds. 12 pound down, 30 more to go!

I went on a 38 mile bike & a 2 mile run with with a buddy of mine. He's a former pro cyclist. He threw a beat down on the bike this morning.

After our ride he put on my new triathlon saddle onto my bike. It's at least a half pound lighter, not to mention it's dang perdy! I'll be trying it out on Sundays Santa Fe triathlon.

I'm excited about the Santa Fe triathlon this Saturday. I'm 12 pounds lighter than I was on my last race, plus I have a lighter & really fast looking seat. & you know how important appearances are. If you look fast, you must be fast!

The Santa Fe triathlon is all of 5 miles from my house. I'll be racing on my home territory. This will be my 10th race of the South West Challenge Series this year. So far I'm in 1st place in the open Clydesdale division with 78.25 points.

I'll keep you updated on how the battle with the bulge & my triathlon endeavors are going. Thanks for tuning in!

warning very very graphic pics, & more losses

This week has been an awesome week! My wife's B-day was celebrated this week. At the party I had to much cake & pizza. I was 1100 calories over to be exact. On dietpower, my new found dieting program, I am able to easily do a quick workout to earn extra calories. I got home, rode my indoor trainer trainer while watching the Tour De France. 1 hr 38 minutes & not only was I able to earn enough calories to negate my excess calories, but I had earned 200 calories more than I'd needed. Speaking of indoor training miles I've been logging a ton of indoor trainer miles on top of what my coach has assigned. Another successful day & successful week in the books! Current weight is 216. I'm down 11 & have 31 more pounds to go.

At work we call new employees fish. Partially they're called fish because they are wet behind the ears, but also because more often than not it's the rookies who either don't have the experience or common sense to avoid getting stabbed. So they are usually the ones flopping around the the floor like a fish out of water with holes poked in them from an inmate.

My oldest friend works at another facility & sent these pics to me, they are of a rookie who was a really big guy. He saw an inmate with a shank & rather than wait for proper back up or calling for the tower to open fire he decided his size, strength, & aggression would be able to overwhelm the skinny, yet armed inmate. Apparently that didn't work out so well for him.

One of the things I've learned from 14 years working in a prison is no matter how hot it is, bring a jacket with a liner, hoodie sweat shirts, and at least a few t-shirts, along with our mandatory uniforms. I wear all these into the pods, cell blocks, or dorms when I have my spidey sense tell me to be on my toes. There's been more than one time that this has saved me from earning extra holes to breath from, literally & figuratively, just like a fish.

Thanks for tuning in.

Continued weight loss!

A friend of mine named Sandra is an endurance athlete very similar to me- only she's a faster cyclist. She too struggles with her weight. it sucks having to struggle with weight when your an endurance athlete because low body weight is so very important to our speed and endurance. It has to do with our power to weight ratio on the bike & the height to power ratio on the run.

Sandra showed me a computer program called dietpower. It's AMAZING! I've been making great gains for the 2.5 weeks I've been on it & haven't fallen off the wagon once since starting the program. I was until recently doing weight watchers online. I found out that on WW I was hungry all the time. Like I've said a 100 times I'm an all or nothing kind of a guy. Once I fall off the wagon for one meal I may not gain control for days or even weeks. I believe the reason I was so hungry on WW was that I was only able to eat half the calories I earned from my workout. Being a long distance triathlete, it's fairly common for me to burn 4500 calories on a long day of training. Out of the 4500 I burned I'd only be able to eat 2250. In my opinion that left me at such a large deficit that not only was I STARVING, but even worse was that I wasn't getting enough calories or nutrients to recover from a hard days training.

Another thing than Sandra & I have in common is we've both turned to blogging to stay motivated, show our recent weight & athletic gains & losses, to share our battle, & perhaps to even help others who also have our issues with the battle of the bulge. Her blog isn't public or I'd share the sight with my peeps, but I'm very excited to watch her adventure.

I weighed in @ 218 this morning, down from 225 a little less than 3 weeks ago. I'm hoping to be approximately 205 by the Halfmax National Championships race on Sept 19th. I'm a fast triathlete at that weight. My long term goal is to be @ 185 pounds by Nov 10th. The lightest I've been since mid school was 188 pounds in May of last year. I think I'll be able to get to that weight using my new Diet Power. But more importantly I think I'll be able to maintain that weight this time.

On to the Tour De France!!! I'm a bit behind, stage 5 was today yet I just finished watching stage 4 on TiVo. Stage 4 was the team time trial. Stage 4 was the most exciting stage I've ever seen!!!!! & this Tour is turning out to be the most exciting Tour I've ever watched. I'm going to try to watch all of stage 5 today before I go into work. For those not watching YOU ARE MISSING OUT BIG TIME!

Peace peeps!

Good deed and the Tour

Today I celebrated the 4th of July with a 3 hr 20 minute brick workout with my best friend. We started at the Smiths @ Tramway & Central. We rode up into the mountains & after a 30 minute warm up we did 5X12 minutes in zone 3 with 3 minute rest intervals. We turned around 3 miles from Chilile. We ended up finishing 42.6 miles on the bike then completed off with a 20 minute run.

On the tail end of the ride I decided to ride past Smiths to get an extra 15 minutes of riding in. I didn't need to do this, but I made a last minute decision. 15 minutes past Smiths we turned our bikes around & we attempted to head back to our vehicles, but before we could we heard someone yelling in a near panicked voice "hey! Hey you on the bike! Help!"

I stopped my bike & looked around. I could still hear the voice yelling for me to help, but I couldn't see anyone. I approached some bushes on the side of a house & lying there on the ground was a little old lady who had fallen & was unable to get up on her own. When I reached down to help her up I realized just how old she was. Very elderly & frail. Apparently she'd been there awhile because her face was red & flushed from the heat & she had defecated herself. I told her I was going to call 911, but she got really mad & told me no! She gave me a number she wanted to call. Apparently it was the house we were outside of. After I told the person who answered what the situation was a 20 something year old kid came out of the house to help her in. I was pissed off because he left her there outside so long. He never checked on her or heard her yells. He should of been more aware.

The good deed having been done, we headed back to our vehicles to finish off the 3 hr bike ride with a quick 20 minute run.

Once we finished our days workout I headed to my in-laws house to catch the last 46 minutes of the Tour De France. I heard on Verses that Lance Armstrong is lighter at the beginning of this Tour than any of the 7 he had been victorious in. Sounds like a great start!!!

I wasn't sure- I don't think anyone outside of team Astana is sure who will be their team leader this year. At the end of the day Alberto Cantador took 2nd place, Andreas Kloden took 4th, Levi Leipheimer took 6th & Lance Armstrong took 10th place. I don't know if that means Lance will be a domastique for Contador or the other way around, but I know that if 4 of the top 10 riders of stage 1 are team Astana, that boads well for them. Either way I'll be watching EVERY day, each & every minute of the Tour this year to find out.

God bless.

Triathlon related things, me, & mine

This weekend I'm scheduled & have paid the registration fee for the Farmington Freedom Days Olympic distance triathlon. I've always wanted to do this triathlon & this year my schedule allows for it. Unfortunately I had a financial choice to make. Race, or upgrade my DirecTV to get the cheapest channel package that has the Tour De France. Unfortunately I can't afford to do both right now.

Like any good endurance athlete I have chosen the Tour. Especially since I have TiVo! I think this is best for me- at least that's what I'm telling myself- because I'll get a ton of base miles on my indoor bike trainer watching Lance Armstrong win another Tour. Plus I'm way ahead in the South West Challenge Series so missing one race shouldn't hurt my standings much- hopefully.

I don't know what I'm more excited about, watching Lance ride again, or the possibility of watching another American winning a French cycling race. In general the French really dislike American cyclists, yet in the last decade Americans have won more Tour De France races than all other countries combined! Gotta love it. I sure get a kick out of it!

My daughter has started riding what she & I refer to as her "big girl bicycle". She started riding it a few weeks ago. She's already a great runner & an awe inspiring swimmer for her age (4 years old this Sept). Now that she's nailing the bike riding I'm thinking she'll be finishing her first triathlon next year. The Jay Benson triathlon in May has a kids mini-triathlon. It's on Mothers day. I'm not sure if my wife will be excited or filled with dread watching another family member become a full fledged triathlete;)

I have found an amazing tool for triathletes. It's called Powerdiet.com It's a web site designed to provide a nearly perfect diet for athletes. On day 1 of being on this program I enter my current weight, the goal weight I'm wanting to achieve, & the date I want to achieve it on. Each day I enter my weight & the program finds my metabolic rate so that the sight knows exactly how many calories each day I need to be at a deficit to reach my goal weight on time. I also enter the time & intensity of my workouts each day & Power diet automatically adjusts to allow more calories. Power Diet doesn't estimate calories based off an average person like Weight Watchers Online, it figures out exactly what my calorie needs are daily. No guess work on my part at all.

The other thing I like about Power Diet is, as I enter the foods I eat the program shows me exactly how much total fat, protein, carbohydrates, & 33 of the major nutrients I've eaten. If I haven't eaten enough of anyone of those the site tells me & makes suggestions on what foods to eat that has what I'm lacking. Perfect tool for endurance athletes.

current weight: 218.8

Hope you all enjoy your 4th of July. Peace!

Gut check at the Gallup triathlon

On June 13th 2009 I competed in the 3rd annual Gallup triathlon. I'd completed in this race 2 years ago on it's inaugural year, but had 2 flat tires a mile from the end of the bike. I ran the last mile of my bike that day so I could finish, but since I had to run the last mile I had a poor finishing time. I showed up this year hoping to redeem myself.
Now first off I absolutely love this triathlon. The only knock against it is that it's an indoor pool swim. I had a GREAT swim, finishing in 6 minutes 26 seconds & recording the 7th fastest swim of the day. The bike leg is pretty difficult. It's a very hilly out & back 12.2 miler. On the first half of the bike I was SCREAMING FAST! I was averaging almost 20 miles an hour, which for a mountainous course like that is very very fast. By the turn around portion of the bike I had passed a bunch of athletes I'd never even come close to finishing near. I knew I was having one of the best races of my life! At the half way point I heard the tell-tale & dreaded pst-pst-pst of another flat tire. This year I was racing on tubular tires which are much more difficult to puncture so I didn't race with a spare. With no spare tire it was pointless to finish because I'd have to push my bike the remaining 6 miles, but there's not an ounce of quit in this body. Not one ounce! I'd rather die attempting to finish a triathlon than say the course was stronger than me. So I started the long run back to the bike finish. Once I got to the end of the bike leg I was still needing to finish the 3.2 mile run. Even with the great times I put up in the swim & the 1st half of the bike there were 2 things that were certain-
1) I'd be finishing in dead last place today.
2) I'd finish. I've never been the best at anything I've done, but I've rarely seen anyone else who has the determination level that I do. 10 years ago while working as a correctional officer I got jumped unexpectedly by an inmate. He was much stronger & faster than me, plus he had the element of surprise. I'd be lying if I dint say he beat the snot out of me. The next day I showed up to work despite having loose teeth, & having lips that were so badly split & swollen they looked like hamburger, one of my eyes was almost swollen shut, & one of my ears was swollen with what could have ended up as cauliflower ear, yet I still worked an entire shift in that same cell block. At the beginning of my shift my supervisor told me to go to the hospital or home, but I refused. I don't quit, not for any reason. Period. No matter what the odds or the conditions, I do my best. I couldn't control if I had a flat. But I COULD control if the flat sent me home having not given my all. By the end of the run my bike cleats were nothing but nubs. Replacing the cleats would be costly, & my wife & I don't have much spare cash. I knew that when I started running with my bike & in my cycling shoes, but I didn't care. I had one goal in mind. Finishing. & finish I did. The bike ended up taking me two hours eleven minutes. When I started the run I assumed the race director would have pulled all the volunteers who would tell me which way to go at each turn. But even after all that time they were there clapping & showing their support. That the RD kept the volunteers out there that long is rare in triathlons & another reason why this race is worth doing. I was having a very fast run. If there was anyone left on the course I was determined to catch them. Of course there wasn't anyone left running but me, but I didn't drop my effort level one iota. I ran just as hard as I would have if I was winning. At the 2 mile mark of the run it dawned on me that it was only 2 weeks from the anniversary of my Step Dad's death. He was an amazing man & he taught me much about life. He had told me many things that if I applied to my life would make me successful. The one thing he never had to tell me was to be strong. To never give up regardless of how big or small the task at hand, & to fight for what I love & believe in. He never had to tell me that because he lived it. He was a shining example of how powerful a man could be & how deep of a well of strength a man who refuses to give up could call upon. He never had to tell me this because he showed me by example how to be strong each & every day of his life, even on his last. As I ran I realized that he was the only other person who would have continued to race on even though it was pointless to do so. He wouldn't have quit, & I didn't quit. As I ran my eyes flowed over with tears and they fell to mix with the sweat of strain, yet I continued to run with all my strength. At that moment I was no longer just running for myself. I was running as a tribute to the way he lived his life, & even to the way he died. With inner strength, pride, & perseverance. I never saw him quit at anything. Ever. As I ran I realized that if God was allowing my Dad to watch my performance from heaven, he'd be proud. I ran that day for all I was worth. I finished in last place, but I didn't finish alone. Bob Foster's example was there to lead the way.

Milkman triathlon race report

Today June 6th 2009 was the Milkman triathlon in Dexter NM. This years Milkman triathlon was a very important race because it was a qualifier for the National triathlon championships & gave 11.125 points for the overall winner in each age group for the South West Challenge series.

It was a 500 meter open water swim in lake Van. I'd heard horror stories about how nasty the water is here, honestly I didn't think it was that bad. No worse of water to race in than Storie lake outside Las Vegas NM or Buffalo Springs lake outside Lubbock TX. Definantly better than Tempe Lake in AZ!

I felt great the first half of the swim & felt really fast. Not sure why but on the 2nd half I slowed way down & ended up with an average 500 meter swim time of 10:31.

I had a decent 1st transition of 1 minute 8 seconds. I was in a poor spot, 3rd farthest bike rack from the entrance & exit of transition.

The bike a 20 kilometer (12.4 mile) out & back. The bike was on an incredibly rough road! I was very surprised by just how rough this road was. When I had pumped my tires I didn't fill them up as high as normal to avoid bounce back.

The bike started with a slight uphill. I'm a poor hill climber so this was no good for my overall time. I was looking foreword to the 2nd half of the bike because I'm really good on down hills. Unfortunantely there was a really strong head wind on the way back so I had an equally poor return trip. I really hammered the bike today, but for some reason I had a poor time. I ended with a 37:36 bike split.

My T-2 was really fast. I only took 46 seconds to get off my bike, into the transition area, out of my cycling gear, into my run gear, & out onto the run course.

The first 2.5 miles of my run was really poor. Not sure why, but it was. I was able to get my run legs back & pick up my pace on the last part of the run leg. I was able to start reeling in some of the triathletes who had passed me, but with only 3/4 of a mile left I wasn't able to undo much of the damage done.

My total race time was 1 hr 16 minutes 37 seconds. I finished on the podium 3rd place Clydesdale out of 10. 63rd overall. Honestly one of my worse race performances of the year, but a bad day racing is still better than a good day doing anything else;)

Thanks for tuning in.

Nearly had charges placed on me for murder

A couple months ago I was at work enjoying a rare quiet night. My shift commander came to me & asked if I'd go on an emergency medical transport. I know better than to volunteer for anything. I've especially learned to avoid volunteering for anything with the term "emergency" in it. My commander begged & pleaded for awhile. I work a non-pull post, which means I can go if I want to, but by union contract he can't make me leave my post for another one without my consent. Eventually my shift supervisor told me if I'd do this for him he'd consider it a personal favor & he'd owe me one. A person can never be owed to many favors in a dangerous place like a super max prison.



So I agreed, but made sure my shift supervisor knew he owed me BIG TIME. About that time the inmate was loaded into the ambulance, I got in also & we headed to the hospital. The inmate was bleeding profusely from his nose. I'm not talking a normal nose bleed here. There was so much blood gushing out of his nose that there was blood pouring off each side of the gurney & was creating small streams of it that was flowing to one side of the ambulance or the other as the vehicle went around turns. A few minutes from the hospital the inmate flat lined & the EMT's had to resuscitate him.



As soon as we got to the hospital we were rushed into a room, a doctor came in & cut the inmate from the back of his neck to the front of his forehead with a scalpel. Then quick as can be he picked up an industrial saw looking tool & sawed the inmates skull open. He then jams a miniature jaws of life looking instrument into the freshly sawed skull & splits this guys head wide open! This whole process of cracking his head open & exposing his brains to me took no longer than 10 seconds. Needless to say I was not expecting that for the treatment of a bloody nose. I have learned to handle blood & gore relatively well, the good Lord knows I've seen enough of it working at a prison for almost a decade & a half. But the sound the saw made on his head, & the wet sucking- crunching sound of his head getting pulled apart wasn't something I was prepared for. A little warning of what the Doctors were going to do would of been appreciated. When the top of his head was split open & his brains were exposed there was an orange sized tumor found that had split open. That was where the massive bleeding was coming from. The Dr saw the tumor that had split apart & said, "there's nothing I can do for him". He then stood there for a bit & stared at his watch as the inmates vitals dropped rather quickly. Once the inmate flat lined a 2nd time in less than 10 minutes the Dr proclaimed the time of death & he & the nurses turned & exited the room calmly as if everything was hunky dorey. Nothing felt hunkey dorey to me! & things sure as heck wasn't hunkey dorey for the inmate!



So there I am in a private emergency room staring at a fellows head gaping open & a cracked tumor hanging out of his brains. The room was utterly quiet, but I could still hear the saw & cracking noise of his head echoing over & over again. I decided to call my Shift Commander partly because that's prison policy, & partly so that I could hear something other than the gruesome noises replaying in my mind. When I got my Captain on the phone I advised him "the inmate died, may I come back to the facility? I don't think the inmate is an escape risk any more." There was no response from my Captain, & then my Captain started to giggle, the giggle turned to a chuckle, which quickly escalated to full blown side splitting laughter. I then started to laugh too. I laughed so hard tears were streaming from my eyes. While I was laughing a lady came into the room & looked at the inmates medical file thingy, looked at the inmate, then looked back at me while I was still laughing & gawked at me in obvious shock & horror. As she was watching me in undisguised disgust my shift Commander told me I had to stay with the inmate until the morgue collected the body. I then hung up the phone & the lady who had entered the room ran out & yelled at the nearest nurse "has the state police been called yet? This is a cover up!" I thought, "this should be interesting. There must have been a serious screw up if she's wanting to call the sate Police on her own staff. & that's when I put her nasty stare at me & her statement together.... She thought I was the one who had done this to the inmate! I threw my hands in the air & told her " I assure you, his head fully in tact when we got here. The Doctor did that" "BullS$!t" she replied. "There's nothing in his file but a time of death!" At that point she picked up a phone & called the state police. While she was making her phone call I was trying to describe the Doctor to the nurses so they could find him & clear this mess up. Problem was I only saw his back side & even then I was mostly watching the inmates head getting cracked open. So much for my training to take in all our surroundings & all details & to remember the description of everyone in any situations we encounter eh? The only description I could give was he had dark blond hair with a clean cut, he was short, & had on blue scrubs. That description was about as worthless as tits on a boar & did nothing to convince any of the large group of medical staff that was forming & watching the corrections officer who killed the inmate that I was not a ruthless murderer. I was even looking for either of the 2 nurses who was there at the time of surgery. It seemed to me like every nurse in the hospital had come to stare at me except those 2! Great, just great.



After what felt like a decade, but was probably only about 5 minutes the Dr who had performed the skull cracking walked into the room that the inmate was in & started to fill out the medical file for the inmate. I ran over to him & explained in as calm of a voice as I could muster what had transpired. He cleared up the situation. But not until he had a hard long laugh at my expense. I believe his long hard laugh at me was as inappropriate as mine was in regards to the dead inmates escape risk. Funny how some things come full circle & bite ya in the butt when ya least expect it.

Anyhow, on to family affairs.....

My wife & I had to trade in our car now that baby #3 is on the way. We can't fit 3 car seats into the one we have now. We were trying to just sell it outright so we could be a one vehicle family, but we were almost $5000 upside down on it. Consequently we had to trade our car in for a minivan. We were able to find a used minivan in great shape for a great deal, lowing our payment-even though we had to add the $5000 we were upside down onto the price of the new van.

This new minivan has a key less key. May not seem that big of a deal to others, but to me it's better than great! I work in a super maximum prison. In my 13.5 years of service I've had 2 of my fellow officers stabbed by inmates using a set of keys. Not much chance of getting stabbed with this new type of key. I'm really looking foreword to all cars having key less keys soon. Any way at all to increase the safety level of the prison I get excited about.

My weight this morning was 217. I have 17 more pounds to lose & 14 weeks to do it until my A race. The Halfmax national triathlon championships held September 19th

Bumper stickers

Back when my wife & I found out we were expecting baby #2 I owned a pick up truck I was in love with. I had to sell it because we couldn't fit all 4 of us in it. I was broken hearted, my wife made me feel better by telling me I could put any bumper stickers I wanted onto any of our future vehicles.

I really love bumper stickers. I express my loves, passions, & who I am on the back of my vehicles. My wife offered this because I started out with just a Clydesdale bumper sticker on the back of my truck. She had no idea how far I'd take it, but it's to late to back out now, a deals a deal. Now I have stickers with almost every distance triathlon I've completed. My wife is to the point she's asking I stop & add no new ones. But. I don't have plans to stop anytime soon;)

I'll also be adding an Xterra bumper sticker once I complete the Xterra triathlon I'm planning on in 2010. Who knows what's next! Right now I'm in the process of finding a Star Wars bumper sticker because I revel in my nerdiness:) Here are some of the Star Wars bumper stickers I've found so far. Just a few though....hehe.

I'm not sure if posting via my phone will allow the uploading of pictures onto my blog. If so, this is a picture of my triathlon machine thus far.... Ok ok, it's a minivan. But it sounds more dignified to call it a triathlon machine.

1. "My other car is a Podracer"
2. "My son and my money go to the Imperial Academy"
3. "My slave is a Mos Espa Elementary Honor Student"
4. "Honk if you love the Emperor"
5. "My Sith Apprentice kicked your Honor Students butt!"
6. "Guns don't kill people. Stormtroopers do."
7. "Boomers no killen outsiders; meccaneks do."
8. "My other podracer is a Rolls Royce."
9. "Poodoo Happens."
10. "Honk if the Force is with you."
11. "Midichlorian Baby On Board."
12. "My Padawan is an honor student at Coruscant Elementary."
13. "How's my driving? Call 1-800-JEDI-I-AM."
14. "I won the Mos Espa Boonta Eve pod race and all I got was this lousy bumper sticker!"
15. "NO WANNA WANGA MY BUTT!!!!"
16. "Impeach Windu"
17. "Sidious is coming - look busy"
18. "Honor Student at Yoda Grammar School, Am I"
19. "Lightsaber don't kill people. Sith do"
20. "Sidious and Maul 99"
21. "I'd rather be Bullseyeing Wamprats"
22. "I brake for Hutts"
23. "Get any closer and I'll flick half a Sith on your windshield."
24. "Horn Broken...Watch For Double Lightsaber."
25. "No Yoda No Peace..Know Yoda Know Peace."
26. "Have you hugged your Sith Lord today?"
27. SITH HAPPENS
28. This landspeeder protected by Blastech.
29. They can have my lightsaber when they pry it from my COLD DEAD HAND
30. Jedi On Board
31. If you can read this my hyperdrive is broken.
32. "Don't blame me, I voted for Chancellor Valorum"
33. "Look twice and save a life - speeder bikes are everywhere"
34. "Free Naboo"
35. "Chosen One on Board"
36. Hold on to your Republic credits boys, the Jedi shall rise again.
37. Bantha, it's what's for dinner.
38. Visit scenic Beggar's Canyon.
39. So many Ewoks, so few recipes.
40. Page's Commandos, when it absolutely has to be destroyed overnite.
41. Jedi On Board -great pick Obi-Wannabe
42. SITH HAPPENS
43. "There's always a bigger fish"
44. "Saber Mom"
45. "If you can read this, you are in tractor range."
46. Rogue Suadron: When you care enough to send the very best.
47. When the last B-wing is flown to the recycling center, the pilot will return to base
in a Y-WING!
48. No Hyperdrive.
49. This speeder protected by a Wookie. Touch at your own risk.
50. "Pardon my flying, I was just charging the weapons."
51. "Welcome to Mos Eisley. Now go home!"
52. "My child made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs."
53. "Blasters don't kill people nearly as well as proton torpedoes do."
54. "I'm a Star Wars fan honk if you", and then has a picture of R2-D2.
55. "Your focus determines your reality."
56. "Send a droid."
57. "Yousa follow me now, okeeday?"
58. Be mindful of the future...but not at the expense of the moment.
59. "My Master is a Toydarian Trader."
60. "Missing your ewok, try looking under my bumper."
61. "Proud parent of a S.I.T.H. graduate."
62. "Don't laugh, I've made a few 'special modifications'."
63. "Vader loves you."
64. "Anyone can be a father but it takes someone special to be a Sith Lord"
65. "Even Yoda would smack you in the head."
66. "I'd rather be podracing."
67. "Why yes, I am a Jedi Master."
68. My other car is a Millenium Falcon
69. "Save the gooberfish."
70. "Yoda is my copilot."
71. "Smuggling, it's not just a job, it's an adventure."
72. "The Sith will rise again."
73. "If you ain't a Dark Lord you ain't Sith"
74. "I break for Taco Bell, Pizza Hut or KFC"
75. "Darth for President"
76. "There ain't no good wars 'cept Star Wars"
77. "Fly Casual"
78. "Don't like my driving? Call 1-800-GOTO-HOTH"
79. "Kiss my Wookiee"
80. "My paycheck is the property of Kenner toys and Lucasfilm"
81. Pro-force
82. Don't like my driving? Talk to the Wookie!"
83. Daggobah or Bust!
84. "I'm not lost, I'm following the force"
85. "Road Rage: Another form of the Dark Side"
86. "I'd rather be flying my X-wing"
87. "Hang up and Drive: It could be a trick to trace your location!"
88. "Visualize using your identification code"
89. "Bad Hutt!- No Han!"
90. "Yoda/Mace: 2000"
91. "My Jedi Reflexes allow me to drive as fast I want"
92. "My Padawan learner out-dueled your sith aprentice."
93. ROGUE WILL- keep 'em coming.
94. Yoda loves you, but everyone else thinks you're an idiot.
95. Ask me about killing Woks for fun and profit.
96. I got a lightsabre for my wife. Good trade, huh?
97. The Maker created man. Blastech made them equal.
98. There are few personal problems that cannot be solved by suitable application of thermal detonators.
99. "Rebel Scum!"
100. "Wipe them out, ALL of them"
101. "Icky Icky Goo!"
102. "Be all you can be, in the Rebel Alliance"
103. "Have Light Sabre, Will Travel"
104. "The Force, Never leave home without it"
105. "Work is for people who aren't atuned to the Force"
106. "To Err is Human, To be perfect is Jedi"
107. "I gave up Star Wars, The Force, and the Jedi Code; the worst 15 minutes of my life"
108. "Will work for food, will beg for tickets to TPM"
109. "Yoda for Emperor"
110. "You don't need to see my identification."
111. I DON'T brake for ewoks!
112. "I waited 16 Years and all I got was this lousy bumper sticker."
113. "May not look like much on the outside, but she's got it where it counts"
114. I swerve and hit Ewoks at random.
115. My wife is a Sith Lord.
116. Darth Vader's breathing unit is in my air conditioner.
117. If the Sith would've won, we'd have had it made!
118. Officer, I'm not the driod you're looking for.
119. "I blew up the Death Star and all I got was this lousy medal"
120. "Quadinaros/Gonk 2000"
121. "You want this... don't you" (on the back of a Pinto)
122. "DSTR 113.8 SITH ROCK!!!"
123. Max Rebo Tour 99
124. Say NO to spice
125. When lightsabres are outlawed only outlaws will have lightsabres.
126. Jar Jar in trunk"
127. "TK421 has left the building"
128. "Ugnaught: The OTHER white meat"
129. "Follow me to Tashee Station"
130. It's 12 am do you know where your Padawan is?
131. I like Gungans. They taste like chicken."
132. "My other car is a Neubian."
133. "Maul: Half the man he used to be."
134. "Duct tape's like the force. It's Light on one side, dark on the other,
135. and it binds the galaxy together."
136. First Panel:
Obi-wan says to Luke: The force can have a powerful influence over the weak minded.
Second Panel:
Luke says: The force can have a powerful influence over the weak minded.
137. "My car may not look like much, but it's got it where it counts"
138. "I don't know where I'm going. The Force is guiding me."
139. Ewok, the other white meat
140. I miss the Emporer but my lightsaber skills are improving.
141. Pass or pass not there is no try.
142. Don't send a droid to do a Sith's job.
143. Keep honking, Darth Maul is getting a trace.
144. Keep honking, my blaster is recharging.
145. Always let the Wookie win.
146. My other ship is Slave 1.
147. My Jedi ancestor kicked your Sith ancestors butt.
148. Let the Wookie merge
149. Blaster Control means using your lightsaber.
150. Got Maul?
151. Yippee!
152. That's so wizard!
153. It's in good repair....except for the parts we need
154. Caution - in real life spinning is NOT a good trick
155. travelling through hyperspace isn't like dusting crops kid
156. Clones are people two.
157. "feel Honk" if your a Jedi
158. Jedi: NO FEAR
159. Got Midichlorians?
160. Have you hugged your Padawan today?
161. Back Off! The Force is strong with this one.
162. Query: After eating, do Gungans need to wait an hour before getting OUT of the water?
163. I'm the Trade Federation and I Vote
164. Pro-Sith, Pro-Jedi, Pro-Choice
165. Save the Gungans, Collect Them All
166. My Other Car Is An N-1 Starfighter
167. "would it help if I got out and pushed?"
168. A new car is my only hope (on the back of a beater)
169. A new car is your only hope (on the back of a Porche)
170. What a piece of junk!
171. Clear docking bay 327, my brakes are out!
172. Watto's Auto Parts "I have everything you need, I think"
173. caution! driver is as clumsy as he is stupid!
174. 21B or not 21B
175. "You don't need to see my identification"
176. "I proudly put George Lucas' kids through college"
177. cation driver actually going into asteroid field follow at own risk!
178. visualize world pieces!
179. Caution: Padawan Driver
180. Why do I sense we've picked up another pathetic life form?
181. This is not the vehicle you're looking for.
182. I can go about my business.
183. Sorry. My hyperdrive is leaking.
184. Careful. My wingman is behind you.
185. If you hit me I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.
186. Wimps drive single file to hide their numbers.
187. I'm altering the deal.
188. I will Not rely on negotiations.
189. I'm nice drivers
190. "Have you seena my chancecube?"
191. KEEP HONKING- I'm igniting my Lightsaber
192. Funny... I don't seem to remember owning a fuzzbuster before.
193. You will never see a more wretched drive of scum and villany. You must be cautious.
194. How could they be Clocking us if... they didn't... know we're coming?
195. Many donuts died to bring us this ticket.
196. A bad day watching Star Wars beats a good day at work.
197. I used a Jedi mind trick on the toll booth operator
198. My son and my money go to TPM
199. (Closeup of Maul) Honk if you're horny
200. How about "My other car was on Alderaan"
201. "Wookie on Board"
202. "If you cut me off, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine"
203. Anyone can be a father, it takes (picture of Vader with a hand each on Leia and Luke)
to be bad
204. Let me tell you about TPM
205. I left my license in my podracer
206. See podracer; see podracer go fast; see cop
207. You tailgate closer then Sebulba
208. This car runs on midichlorianated gasoline
209. "It's Working!"
210. If you lived in a galaxy far, far away you'd be home now
211. Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to accidents.
212. "Mos Espa or Bust"
213. "No R2 I said take us off autopilot!"
214. "Eopie another white meat"
215. How about a stuffed Gungan suction cupped to the window with a stupid saying (In Gungan) in a word baloon above its head.
216. "Tae wanna wanga, STUPID"
217. Save a Nerf... Eat a Ewok
218. MY speedometer measures in LIGHTYEARS.
219. If you can read this . . . my cloaking device is down.
220. I'd brake, but I don't know where they are. - Anakin
221. I'd brake, but I don't want to. - Sebulba
222. Sorry if I hit you. Nav computer miscalculation.
223. Fear the red light. - Maul
224. There's a mynock on your windshield.
225. Sorry. It was your destiny.
226. Driving brings out my dark side.
227. There are always 2 - driver and passenger.
228. Ooops . . . wrong button.
229. Cut me off and your journey towards the darkside will be complete.
230. Let the Wookiee drive.
231. Give money to a charitable cause. Buy Maul a toothbrush.
232. Excuse the swerving. I'm dodging a TIE.
233. This hunk o' junk is the fastest ship in the galaxy.
234. You use a map. I use a nav computer.
235. I don't need to watch the road. I use the force.
236. Save the Jedi.
237. The odds of successfully navigating the traffic are 3,783 (I don't remember the actual #) to 1.
238. Never tell me the odds.
239. It's always rush hour on Coruscant.
240. You're bantha fodder.
241. I can't shake'em!
242. I left my lightsaber in my other pair of pants.
243. Move along. Move along.
244. Follow me to the Jedi Temple
245. Follow me to Mos Espa
246. Follow me to Mos Eisley
247. Follow me to Hoth
248. Follow me to Naboo, but watch out for the locals
249. I believe in midichlorians
250. Look, I am your father
251. (On a catering truck) Stew or Stew not, there is no fry
252. My phantom dentist uses a maul
253. Anger have you - back off
254. Old Jedi don't die, they just fade away
255. I'm running out. Here's one more.
256. Back off or I'll flick a mynock on your windshield.
257. Avoid the Crowds- Vacation sunny Tatooine
258. Toshi Station : Your Place For Power Converters
259. Witness the power of this armed and full operational Pinto
260. No Blasters ! No Blasters !
261. Hoth or Bust
262. Would it help if I got out and pushed?
263. This is an armed and fully operational battlestation.
264. The sheilds are still up!!
265. Activating Hyperdrive
266. "Droids suck"
267. "Save the Huge Submarine Eating Fish"
268. "Be all that you can be: The Imperial Army needs *YOU*"
269. Who's the more foolish, the fool or the fool who tailgates me?
270. I don't think this Pinto is entirely stable...
271. Red Five, you may commence your run on the liquor store
272. I feel the good in you, let go of your hatred and let me merge
273. Switch off!!
274. " Don't worry, she'll hold together "
275. "I'd rather be on the Jedi Council Forums"
276. "Yoda my English teacher is"
277. The Jedi could use a little Vader
278. Uncle Owen: Hate you, hate Tatooine, am taking droids. - Luke
279. Star Wars: Y2K compliant for 22 years
280. Lost your Ewok? Look under my tires.
281. I like you, but I wouldn't want to see your midichlorians
282. "Bad Jedi. No lightsaber".
283. "Jar Jar Binks For President" (that will PO the crazies)
284. Obi Wan Kicks Butt"
285. "My Naboo Fighter Can Beat YOUR Naboo Fighter"
286. "Have You Practiced Your Jedi Today
287. "Become a Jedi, Travel the Universe"
288. Maybe it should read "Darth Maul Was Born Cosmetically Challenged
289. Horn broken. Watch forlightsaber.
290. When it absolutely, positively has to be obliterated overnight . . . Rogue Squadron.
291. Life is like Episode II, you never know what you're gonna get.
292. "You said the biggest problem in the universe is that no body drives safe"
293. "I'm a Toydarian, lights and signs don't work on me, only money!"
294. I was at the 1st annual Jedi Purge
295. My other car was on the Death Star.
296. The more Gungans I meet, the more I miss the Ewoks...
297. Palpatine is my Boss.
298. Cut offs lead to road rage; road rage leads to accidents; accidents lead to law suits.
299. A warning WILL do fine.
300. If you hit me I will become more rich than you can possibly imagine.
301. FEAR SITH
302. Friends don't let friends race Sebulba
303. You're full of Sith!!!
304. My other car is a STAP.
305. If you don't like my driving, stay out of the spacelanes!
306. Palpy/Vader '00
307. Mauls against Dead Darths
308. Vote Palpatine, it could save a life... YOURS.
309. I Survived the Jedi Purge and all I got was this lousy bumpersticker!!!
310. I honk for banthas!
311. Piece of Junk? - My car this is
312. Don't mock me, I have a turbolaser!
313. When 900 years old your car is, look as good it will not, hmm?
314. Confront me, you must. Then, only then, a driver will you be.
315. I find your lack of speed disturbing..
316. You came in that? You're braver than I thought!
317. Dont underestimate the power of my road rage!
318. My BOSS is a SITH
319. THE REBEL ALLIANCE: We kill more stormtroopers before 6am
than most people do all day!
320. Ski Hoth
321. Corellian Smugglers...Getting you what you need since before the Empire.
322. My other car was stolen by jawas.
323. Read my lips: "NO NEW GUNGANS"
324. Don't hit me... Jaba the Hutt is my Insurance Broker (and he won't understand)
325. This isn't the car that was speeding. Move along, move along.
326. If you can read this I'm charging my blaster.
327. "CAUTION: The force is with ME."
328. Reality, for people who've never seen Star Wars.
329. ~Do not meddel in the affairs of rancors for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup"
330. What a peice of junk!"
331. " I forgot how much I hate freeway travel."
332. "Were Doomed!
333. "It's not my fault! It's all yours."
334. " Proud owner of a rancor!"
335. " The odds of successfully navigating I-15(in Utah Anyway) are approximately 3720 to 1
336. " How Rude"
337. "Ever hear the Imperial March when you see cops like I do?"
338. "Gungans rule!"
339. "Loose your Sith Lord? Look under my tires."
340. "Loose your Battle Droid? Look in the Death Star's trash compactor."
341. "Loose your Droid army? Check the statis of the Control Ship
342. "I'm not driving fast, I'm podracing."
343. "Now THIS is podracing!"
344. "Honest podracers always finish last, IF they finish."
345. "I think I hit a Wookie back there."
346. "Anakin, I am your mother!"
347. "Real Sith pick their teeth with their lightsabers."
348. "Vacation Dagobah."
349. "Yavin or Bust."
350. "Storm troopers, they can't hit the broadside of a Bantha!"
351. "Your lucky I don't have force destruction."
352. "Cut me off and you will become bantha fodder"
353. "I wonder if you'd drive any better if that lightsaber was up your butt!!!"
354. "Piece of junk this car is"
355. "WARNING: Am driving without a restraining bolt"
356. "No, I don't like you either"
357. "Lost your stormtrooper? Check my tires!"
358. "My jedi knight beat up your sith lord"
359. "What's that red light? We just lost steering, kid"
360. "My Republic Credits and my Padawan go to Coursasant University"
361. "Team Tatooine"
362. "Run in boots in deep sand,
363. It builds character!
364. Jedi Temple Local 402"
365. "My other ship is owned by a Hutt."
366. "My son is The Chosen One at Padawan middle school."
367. Life is what gets in the way of Star Wars.
368. Destroyer Droids on board.
369. Have an Okey Day.
370. I brake for Destroyer Droids.
371. This car protected by droiddekas.
372. Take a womp rat to lunch.
373. Maul's Agains Dead Darth's"
374. "Piece of Junk? - My car this is "
375. "My boss is a Naboo senator"
376. "Palpatine/Vader '05"
377. "If you can read this you must be Sebulba"
378. "If you can read this you must be a Dug"
379. "Home is where you send the battle droids."
380. "Mindprobes: because a GOOD mind is a terrible thing to waste (needlessly)"
381. "Jedi are where you find them."
382. "My other saber is a SITH SPECIAL"
383. "What part of NO don't you understand.-Mace Windu"
384. "A Jedi is only as good as his lightsaber."
385. "Pod Racing ain't like Dusting Crops- Oh, sorry, yes it is!"
386. " It's Working It's Working!"
387. "eat my dust slimeball!"
388. I brake for gooberfish
389. Padawan Driving Student
390. The Force Works In Mysterious Ways
391. "practice random acts of the force"
392. "have you hugged your wookie today?"
393. "friends dont let friends laugh at jar-jar's jokes"
394. I'm not the squad leader, go follow someone else.
395. Poodoo happens
396. My other car is the Millenium Falcon
397. Feel the Force, Motha
398. 'If ever car drives off bridge, use Ewoks as life preserver.'
399. "You'll be careful?!?! HA! You'll be dead!!" Yoda For President
400. R2D2 For President
401. CAUTION: Blown Power Coupling
402. I'm Altering the Deal!
403. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of my Road Rage!
404. You've Been Well Trained My Aprentice--The Cops will be no match for you!
405. Sorry, It was the Will of the Force
406. Lets Try Spinning---That's a Neat Trick!
407. COMMENCE PRIMARY IGNITION!!
408. "Duel of the Fords"
409. "I'm not driving badly. I'm just letting go my conscious self and acting on instinct"
410. "Traveling the Interstate ain't like dusting crops, boy!"
411. "I made the Kessel run in five parsecs and all I got was this lousy bumpersticker"
412. "Judging from the amount of damage we've suffered, they must have been destroyed."
413. Your Lucky I don't have FORCE DESTUCTION!
414. I'd rather be in Star Wars.
415. Save Alderan! ooops too late,
416. Who's scruffy lookin'?
417. You drive in that? You're braver than I thought.
418. I'd break for Nerf Herders!
419. R U Crazy?
420. I wear yodajammies!
421. Curse my metal body I wasn't fast enough!
422. Do not defy the law Master,not again.
423. I know we're in trouble,just hang on!
424. You're a good driver, Solo, we hate to lose you.
425. A speeding ticket's not an easy thing to live with.
426. If my Star Destroyer is rockin, don't bother knockin'
427. I'm all out of Estrogen...and I have a lightsaber!
428. Even Jedi cannot live by Force alone.
429. This car does have it's moments, not many, bit it does have them.
430. You love that car, don't you?
431. Sith: Where do you want to die today?
432. Measa love yousa wife
433. Unless you going to fire 2 proton torpedos up my exhaust pipe. BACK OFF.
434. Wookies: And you think YOUR road rage is bad.
435. Yoda: Judge me by by driving do you?
436. At last we can reveal ourselves in the volvo.
437. You drive that thing? Your braver than I thought!
438. " and you thought they look bad... on the outside"
439. Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good V8 kid..
440. "Im the only human who can drive...."
441. "You want to over take me dont you... I can feel the anger swelling in you now."
442. "You dont need to over take me now..."
443. ""I call for a vote of No-confidence on your driving."
444. Warning: Live hard Die jedi.
445. Tell those traffic lights we wish them to go green at once.
446. Join the army: Travel to Nabboo
447. Drive... Dont think..
448. Would it help if I got out and pushed?
449. Im dont think Volvo had Wookies in mind when they designed her Chewie

Weekly weight

On May 1st I found out I qualified for the Halfmax National Championships at the Redman September 19th in Oklahoma City, Ok. Since I found out I'll be racing at the Halfmax National Championships I've been having EXCELLENT workouts & have been perfect with my eating. I haven't been this consistent with both my eating & triathlon training since August 2008. I love it when I get motivated!

The Redman is now 19 weeks away. My goal has been to lose 2 pounds a week & get to 195-200 pounds by early to mid August. Then maintaining that weight until race day. I'm dang fast when I'm around 200 pounds!

This week I lost 3 pounds, which surprised me because I ate an average of 3065 calories a day. That's a lot of calories to eat & still lose 3 pounds in 1 week.

I'm a great big nerd. To show you what a nerd I am, I've calculated that based off my average weight loss, if I continued to work out as hard & as much as I have been, I could eat 4565 calories a day & still maintain my weight. Wow. That's a lot of calories! That's another great reason to train for triathlons!

Until next time!

By the way, any peeps wanting to buy a vehicle? My wife & I are selling a 2007 Ford Fusion. 36,000 miles. One owner vehicle. Near mint condition. We are selling it for $10,500. The Blue Book lists that vehicle at a dealership @ $15,000. & from an private party @s listed @ $12,500. It's a great deal. Email me if interested.

Thanks for tuning in!

2009 Santa Fe Century

Sunday May 16th 2009 I rode in the Santa Fe Century. This was the first year I'd riden in this event. This century is always the same weekend as one of my favorite triathlons, The Buffman & Squeaky Olympic distance triathlon. I'd competed in the Buffman every year since 2005. I originally didn't think I'd be able to ride in this years century either. I didn't have the $25 for the entry fee. The leader of my triathlon club found out about my lack of funds & offered to pay my way into the century for me. But I didn't want any one else to have to pick up my slack due to my lack of funds, especially a friend.

The day before the ride I drove to where the registration was & offered to trade a pair of Nike cycling shoes I had been meaning to sell on ebay for the registration fee. The first person I asked agreed, so I was able to ride on Sunday after all.

The century started at St. Vincent's hospital in Santa Fe. I rode the first 10 miles solo. The 10 mile mark is approximately 150 yards from my house, so I stopped & refilled my bottles, kissed the wife & headed out again.

I jumped into a peloton led my Outlaws Tim C. & Brian P. just outside of the NM state penitentiary & rode with them all the way into Madrid. This was my first time riding in a peloton larger than a few people. I must say being in the middle of that peloton was one of the most exciting things I'd been apart of in a long time. It felt like a living breathing animal! I rode a total of 15 miles with this group. We averaged over 26 miles an hour. That felt amazing because the entire ride in the peloton my HR never got out of zone 2 yet we were going very fast indeed.

Madrid was the first pit stop. I refilled my bottles & rode the rest of the ride as a triathlete would, that is completely on my own. No drafting.

The first 35 miles of this ride was very very mountainous. Heart Break hill is the last hill of the extremely difficult first 35 miles. After Heart Break Hill the rest of the ride is slight rolling hills or flats with a slight downhill. On Heart Break Hill at least 95 percent of the riders get off their bike and walk. Heart Break Hill is about a mile long & maxes out at a 12 percent grade. Very tough hill! I rode up it the entire way, but suffered for it;)

After heart break hill it was down hill until Cadar Grove, at which point the ride was flat. I rode my bike to church every Sunday morning this route. Right after Cedar Grove is where I'd stop for church, the Santa Fe century turned East from my church & rode out through Gallisteo & Stanley.

I 'd never ridden in this direction before. Not a lot out that way but many miles of dirt, dead brown grass, alfalfa farms, & mobile homes. I started to feel fatigued once I hit Gallisteo which was probably the 80 mile mark. Thankfully the rest of the ride had a tail wind & there wasn't anything entirely challenging to ride up. All in all I'd say I have kept up much more of my Ironman endurance than I thought I had. Still got it in these old legs after all;)

Ending mileage was 103 miles. Total time in the saddle 7hrs 9 minutes. I earned 58 weight watcher points which I ate ALL of that night. The extra eating was almost as much fun as the ride was!

2009 USAT rankings

The USAT rankins are out.
Triathlon ranking
2008- 1167th place, 75.525.
2007- 65.23
2006- 67.95

My 2008 duathlon ranking wasn't shown for some reason.
2007- 68.21
06- 65.75

My weight this morning was 219.8. 8 pounds down, 20 more to go, & 16 weeks until my goal race of the Redman Halfman.

No more overtime :(

I've been in corrections almost 14 years now. It has it's good and bad points, but it's always been recession proof. As a matter of a fact when the economy is bad crime goes up & corrections usually sees a boost. Recently the New Mexico state government has demanded corrections cut back on it's spending dramatically. One of the ways the DOC (department of corrections) is cutting spending is by cutting out overtime.

New Mexico DOC has always been one of the 2 or 3 lowest paid corrections in the nation. But because there has always been unlimited overtime our correctional officers hadn't been to terribly upset by this. If we wanted extra money we'd work a few extra shifts on our days off & TADA! A great big check.

With unlimited overtime available to me I've been able to make enough money that my wife is a stay at home Mom with baby #3 on the way. Life was always easy at the DOC, until a month ago.

To put the loss of overtime in perspective we are now living off of 38 percent of what we had been.

Some things we are now doing to live off less money has been to:

-cancel our Net Flix, dish TV, & all magazine subscriptions.

-We are no longer eating out except for special occasions at which time we'll eat at somewhere cheap like Taco Bell or McDonalds.

-I had originally planned on doing around 15 South West Challenge series Multisport races & the Redman Half Iron. Now I will only be doing the few triathlons which I've already paid for. The only reason I'm still able to do the Redman Half Iron is because my best friend will be doing it also & he said he'll pay for the lodging & gas. Thank the Lord for him!

-The races I still plan on doing that are out of town I'll be staying at KOA's & in a tent. To be honest I'm actually excited about this. I've always loved camping out. Now I can camp out & race all in the same weekend!

-We are becoming a 1 vehicle family. We selling our 2007 Ford Fusion. Unfortunately we are about $5,000 upside down, but it's cheaper to pay $160 a month on a $5,000 personal loan than $360 a month on a $23,000 car. Plus we'll be saving $80 a month on insurance. Anyone want to buy an 07 Ford Fusion with 32,000 miles, near mint condition, one owner vehicle? Retail is $15,000. Private Party is $12,100. We'll sell for $10,500. That's $4,500 below what you can buy it for at a dealership!

-I've planted a large vegetable garden so I can ensure my family will still have healthy veggies.

-I'm commuting to work on my bicycle.

-There's a bunch of other little ways we're going to try & save money such as buying food in bulk, buying our clothes & other necessities when possible at Good Will, etc.

Thankfully running & cycling is free;)

All in all I believe God will see us through this unexpected rough time. If you have an opportunity I'd sure appreciate prayers.

Peace Peeps! I'm out!

Cycling fantasyland

Did any of you peeps see the article called cycling fantasyland in Junes issue of Bicycling?

In a nut shell it said there are 3 places that are building entire towns or subdivisions around bicycle paths. They found 3 cycling utopias.

1 is called bicycle city is still in the planning stages & can be found @ bicyclecity.com

Another is called Pla D'adet, the co-developer is George Hincapie.

& the third is called Mesa Del Sol & will be built in right here in Albuquerque!!!!! A 20 mile Velocircut is being planned. Mesa Del Sol is supposedly only a few minutes bike ride from the Rio Grande bike path which is a 20 mile path that goes the entire length of Albuquerque. It's also a few minutes ride from downtown Alb, UNM, & the Sun Port (Alb air port). The NM Rail Runner is a great tool for cyclists. Its a high speed train that runs from Belen to Santa Fe. The Rail Runner has a place built on it for bikes so you can ride the rail runner from Albuquerque to wherever you decide to get off & cycle back.

Albuquerque is where one of 2 cycling academy's of Johan Bruyneel's (The team manager Lance Armstrong won 7 tours with) is located. Looks like I may not have to move to Boulder Co to find a cyclists dream when I retire after all. Cycling heaven will be right here in my home town by then.

2009 Jay Benson triathlon race report

2009 Jay Benson triathlon race report

Sunday May 10th was the Jay Benson triathlon in Albuquerque. I love this race. Its close to my home and because its a local race most all of my tri-friends & Outlaw triathlon team mates show for this race.

After I got my race packet I started setting up my transition area. After I pumped up my tires I realized my front tire valve was broke & was leaking. I went to my car to get the spare sow up tire & realized I'd forgotten my "emergency" tire. Apparently there would be no racing for me today. Well, I live & learn.

I started loading up my race gear to leave & the guy parked 2 cars down from me asked why I was loading up my bike. I told him of my dilemma & he reached in his car & offered me his spare wheel to race on. This was no common trainer wheel. This was a $900 Rolf wheel he offered to let me use. He'd never seen me before & yet he was willing to risk a complete stranger stealing or damaging his gorgeous wheel! I was absolutely amazed, & completely grateful! I later found out his name is Jamie Dispenza & he's the photo editor at the Albuquerque journal. Props to him. Very few people out there who are so trusting & giving. Thanks Jamie.

I had a good friend who I hadn't seen since 2006 show up at the race with his family to root me on. They came down even though it was Mothers day. That they gave up part of their day touched me deeply.

The race had the Clydesdales starting in the 3rd of 3 waves. This wave had the Clydesdales, Athenas, & women 40 & over. It was nice to have the Clydesdales racing separately from the other men so I knew exactly who I was in competition with. This race was a reverse triathlon. Its order was run, bike, swim.

Out of habit I started the run in the middle of the pack. This was a mistake I wouldn't have made if I'd of thought of it. But I've never been accused of being a deep thinker or an awe inspiring strategist.
All of the fastest triathletes had started in the first 2 waves. So where I chose to start the race had me running with people I'd normally run much faster than. It took me at least 2 minutes to work my way through the herd. In the mean time all the people I'd normally be as fast as or faster than had built a large lead on me.

The run is a loop & once I got out of the pack I started chasing down Clydesdales one by one. By the end of the run I ended up catching all but 4 Clydes. One of the Clydes I was unable to catch ran 7 minute miles. Needles to say I never saw that guy again. I finished the 3 mile run in 32:31 averaging sub 8 minute miles the first time year.

I had one of the best T-1's I've ever had. The transition area was at least 90-100 yards long yet I only had a 60 second transition. I got out of the transition area & onto my bike in front of 2 of the 4 Clydes who'd recorded a faster run than me. Transition practice makes perfect.

The bike route is a bit more technical than most triathlons have. Lots of turns & curves & 3 switch backs. I liked the U turns because I was able to see how much of a lead I or my competitors had. I ended up really hammering on the bike finishing the bike in 34:31, a 21.6 MPH ave!

When I got off the bike there were 2 clydes in front of me & despite having another really fast T-2 of only 85 seconds & really good swim- ok, it was good for me, not necessarily good for most triathletes- I wasn't able to catch either of them. I finished the swim in 7:55 & had a total race time of 1 hr 8 min 21 seconds, finishing 3rd place Clydesdale & getting 8 more points for the South West Challenge Series with 63 points in 7 races.

Overall I was excited with my results. There's something about this race that brings the best out in me.

blog

I'm usually very slow to try new technology. Blogger.com has had for awhile now the ability for their bloggers to post via cell phone. As usual my stubborn mind set is to not accept or try new technology. Consequentially to post on my blog I write my posts on my PDA's email, send the email to my home computer, then once at home I open my email, copy & paste it on my blog, then publish it. I have finally decided to try this new & easy posting option via my Palm Pilot. We will see how it goes for a technology moron like me.

On to the important stuff, like triathlon, Multisport training, goal races, body weight, & power to weight ratios! Oh me oh my isn't my favorite hobby exciting?

My weight today is 225. Down 2 pounds from last week. Slow & steady weight loss is the name of the game this year. My goal weight is 200 by Sept 19th; dare I dream of going lower again? That didn't go well last . That gives me 25 pounds to lose in 18 weeks. Now, I don't mean to spin it to say this will be easy. I've only been below 211 pounds twice since high school. High school ended 15 years ago for my old fat butt. One of those times I wasn't yet involved in the Multisport lifestyle, & I had simply stopped eating. We all know how self induced starvation in America ends. A quick weight gain that far surpasses any losses!

Any how, the slower I can lose this weight the better it will be for my power to weight ratio. A persons speed on the bike is essentially figured out by their power to weight ratio. If a person loses a lot of weight rapidly they invariably lose power along with the weight. So the slower I can lose the 21 pounds I'd like to lose, the better for my speed & endurance it will be.

The lightest I've ever weighed for a 70.3 race (also known as halfiron which is a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) was 204 pounds. I had a break through performance that day crushing my previous PR by 23 minutes! There's no coincidence that my PR of 5:35 was done at a weight of 204 & at a difficult course. While my previous PR of 5:58 was done on a MUCH easier course, but at 236 pounds.

On top of the speed benefits of being thinner I need to lose some weight because my two remaining 36-40 sized work pants are getting horribly thread bare. I've patched them multiple times, but they are close to becoming unrepairable. I have at least 6 pair of size 32-36 work pants that I have that are in near mint condition. Last year when I finally lost the weight I'd always wanted to lose I advised my work I needed to start receiving smaller pants & shirts for my yearly issue. I then promptly shot back up to my usual weight of 225-230. Pride has prevented me from advising my work I am now in need of a larger pant size again. But hopefully in a month or so I'll be able to fit into those size 32-36's again!!!!

My next 70.3 distance race will be the Redman in Oklahoma city in September, which is the Halfmax national championships. The Halfmax National Championships is a race a person has to qualify for. Thank the lord & weight watcher online I qualified with a 5 hr 35 minute time, barely making the cut off time with only 40 seconds to spare.

Today I registered for the Redman Halfmax nationals. It was $200 to register for the event. That's $150-200 cheaper than a 70.3 sanctioned event. The Halfmax also has a Clydesdale & Athena division, the Iron & 70.3 sanctioned events no longer have those divisions. So, from here on out I'm a Halfmax racer & supporter. Down with the Iron & 70.3 series I say!

My training is going very well. I'm on a recovery week right now. On Sunday I'll be competing at the Jay Benson triathlon in Albuquerque NM. The Jay Benson is the most heavily attended Multisport event in New Mexico. NM's fastest racers show to this event. Many call this race the NM championships.

The Jay Benson is one of the 30 or so races in the South West Challenge Series. This Sunday's race will be my 7th race of the 2009 SW series. As of now I am ranked first place Clydesdale with 59 points & 6 races. 2nd place is Alex Garcia with 33 points & 4 races. 3rd place is Jason McClure with 26 points & 3 races. With almost 20 races left in the series it's hard to say if I'll be able to keep my lead. But I'll give it my all.

Thanks for tuning in.

The Redman Half Iron!

My training hasn't been going well this year. By far the least motivated & the least amount of training I've done since starting training for triathlons in 2005. Surprisingly my weight has stayed consistent, higher than I'd like, but consistent. Mid-high 220's.

I started training for sprint distance triathlons (400 meter swim, 12.5 mile bike, 3.2 mile run) last year after Ironman Arizona. I chose to do that because sprints are my favorite distance to race at. I have been shocked to find out that although sprints are my favorite distance to race at half irons are by far my favorite distance to train for. Iron training was in my opinion a bit to much time spent training to really be enjoyable. At my peak training last year I was training 19 hours a week. On Sundays I'd do a 6 hour bike with a 45 min run, then Monday morning I'd do a run from 3-3.5 hrs long. So full Ironman training was to long and monotonous, yet training for anything shorter than the half iron distance leaves me feeling unsatisfied, which was why a couple days ago I was surfing some half iron web sites.

Last year I found a series called the Halfmax & ultramax. They are the same distances as Ironman & 70.3 (half iron), but this new series has Clydesdale & Athena divisions which Ironman & 70.3 no longer has. The minute I found that series on the web I decided that the Halfmax national championships was one of my eventual goals. A person would have to qualify for the Halfmax national championships. At the time I'd found the max series on the web I was weighing less than 200 pounds & I needed to qualify as an AG 30-34. Time needed to qualify- 5hrs 05 minutes! That is VERY fast indeed. An entire half an hour faster than my PR.

Well a couple days ago I saw that the Clydesdale qualifying time is 5:35. I am a Clydesdale now! I had finished the 5430 half Iron in 5:35 late last year as a tune up race for IMAZ. So that means I DID qualify for the Halfmax national championships!!! I was so excited I emailed the all my friends & the RD to let everyone know I'd be racing at the championships which will be held in Sept in Oklahoma city! The race that the event will be held at is called the Redman Half Iron.

I was nervous about emailing my coach & asking him to rebuild my plan for the 2nd time in 4 months. Coaches don't like their athletes to change A races. I did this in February when I decided to not race at the trisport.com dessert classic duathlon, & here I am doing it again 6 weeks before my current A race of the Milkman triathlon in Dexter NM.

My coaches response was amazing. He was supportive & as pumped up as I was about me qualifying & competing in this years Halfmax national championships.

So once again I'm back to training long, & I've changed my A race once again. I believe that going back to training for the longer distances will help control my weight too. That's important because in endurance athletics skinny isn't a body type, it's a tactical necessity!

Last September at the 5430 I was weighing 210 when I busted out with a 5hr 35 minute time. I believe I need to be at LEAST that light to match my 5:35 time. Hopefully I'll be lighter.

Current weight is 227 with four and a half months until the Redman Halfmax national championships!!!!

Wish me luck Peeps! & thanks for tuning in!

2009 Atomicman duathlon race report

This last weekend was the Atomicman duathlon. A 4K run, 15k bike, 4k run. This is my second favorite race of all time. The only race I've done that I enjoyed more was the 5430 half iron.

This was my 4th year in a row doing this race. Last year I busted out with one of my top three performances finishing 1st place AG 30-34 & 9th place overall in a time of 1hr 9 minutes.

This years race was bitter sweet. I started out the run chasing a guy who looked like a fellow Clyd, only he was tall & lean. I was struggling right off the bat. I never felt tired, much less exhausted. But I just couldn't force my legs to go as fast as I wanted them to. I finished the first 4k averaging a little over 8 minutes per mile.

The Clyd I was chasing had at least a 60 second lead going into T-1. Coming out of T-1 his lead had shrunk to about 20 seconds.

Right out of T-1 there's a long and gradual hill. At my current weight I'm not a very good hill climber, but I had put on an 11-28 cassette to help me out on the uphill & make up time on the downhill. That plan worked well. I'd lose the Clyd I was chasing on the uphill, but make up a ton of time on the downhills.

This course is a very mountainous course on both the runs & the bike. But the bike in particular is brutal. The ride is in & out of these huge canyons. I was constantly riding around the 40 mile an hour mark on the downhill of those canyons. At one point of a fast decent a cross wind hit hard & out of no-where. I came dang close to wiping out. The good news is at forty miles an hour I wouldn't of felt much pain. I'd of been knocked into unconsciousness or killed immediately.

The last decent on the bike was about 3/4 of a mile long and came right up to T-2. Most people slowed down a lot coming down that last hill. I didn't. I kept the speed up until the last second. Dismounted & made up another 20 seconds on the guy I'd been chasing all day. Now I was only 40 yards behind him & my legs still felt fresh.

Apparently his legs felt pretty good too because he averaged just over 6 minute miles on the last run. I was able to keep my 2nd run of the day within a minute of my first run. It's not that I am a grwat pacer, it's that I still have great endurance from my Ironman a few months ago & am able to hammer all out without my legs getting fatigued.

Thankfully the Clyd I was chasing wasn't a Clyd at all, he ended up being an AG 35-39. I finished in 1hr 14 minutes & first place Clyd. I finished a little over 2 minutes faster than the next Clyd. Despite being 8 minutes slower than last year, I still added another year to my unbeaten streak at this race. 4 years in a row I've finished the top of my division. All in all a decent day at a fantastic race!

April 18th 2009 Collegiate Sprint National triathlon championships race report

I went to Lubbock TX over the weekend to visit my cousin who had just came back from the Middle East. My cousin is good friends with the RD who was putting on the 2009 Collegiate National triathlon championships race in Lubbock. The race was a 500 meter swim, a 19.7 mile bike & a 3.2 mile run on the exact same course as the BSLT, the Buffman & sqeakey, & Tri Rader triathlons.

The night before the race my cousin pulled some strings & got me a spot to race. This was sweet because the race sold out a few weeks prior. Since I was going to be visiting for 4 days I had brought my bike, cycling gear, & run shoes for training. Essentially I had everything I needed to race except for a race belt & a wet suit. I even had lounge chairs & blankets for my tri-spectator family packed up in my triathlon machine; ok, it's just a mini-van, but let me have some self respect here & allow me to call it my triathlon machine ok?

I get to the race sight the morning of & realize the event is a REALLY big deal. There were 1200 triathletes- 1201 if you include me, & there was an energy in the air I'd only felt at Iron distance events previously. It was 45 degrees at the start of the race. I dare say it felt much much colder. There was a 7am start so the temperature wouldn't really start to warm up until after I was done racing.

Now as I was saying, since I was visiting family & not expecting to race I didn't have a wet suit. I assumed in West Texas I wouldn't need one anyway. WRONG!

After setting up my race gear & transition area I headed down to the lake start. The lake temp was only 55 degrees!!! Everyone else but me & one other idiot had on full wet suits, neoprene booties, & neoprene swim caps because of how flipping cold it was!!! I only had on swim shorts & goggles. I won't go into much detail about the first leg of this triathlon to save myself at least a bit of dignity. I'll sum it up by saying the 500 meter swim which would normally take me 11 minutes took me almost 20. There was 30 people who were pulled out of the lake for hypothermia, each one of them had on wet suits to fight the cold. I didn't- sissies! When I finally got out of the water I couldn't feel anything below my elbows or knees & I was shaking uncontrollably.

At the mass swim start one spectator came up to my cousin having no idea he was there to watch me & asked "what kind of a retard races in these conditions without a wet suit?". My cousin & I both agree he had a great point.

My swim to bike transition is always less than 1 minute. But have you ever tried to put on cycling socks & shoes when your shaking uncontrollably & unable to feel your hands or feet? Not an easy task I assure you. It took me almost 4 minutes to get out of T-1.

As everyone hopped on their bike to start the cycling leg of the triathlon everyone realized very quickly that legs don't work well after a swim that cold. There were a huge number triathletes simply falling over because their legs simply weren't working quite right. The bike start was like I was trying to pedal through a war zone with flopping bodies laying all over ground. At the time I was annoyed, but looking back I realize it was pretty funny. Next year the collegiate nationals will be held in Lubbock again & at the same time of year. I'm bringing my camcorder & having my wife film these youngsters. It'll be a U-tube hit. Good thing helmets are mandatory.

I had a really poor bike. I never did end up regaining the feeling of my hands or feet. & my legs never started working properly, yet I still passed a whole bunch of these college students who looked to have perfect physiques. Anyone who has seen me knows I don't exactly have a slim physique;)

The bike to swim transition was a little faster for me, but still no where near as fast as what I usually do, yet I still ended up making up a bunch of time in T-2 on a lot of college students. Apparently they study & party to much to practice transitions because I'm telling you they were REALLY slow getting off their bikes & onto the run leg.

My run was no better than my swim or bike. I still couldn't feel anything below my ankles. Running without being able to feel your feet is a very odd feeling. You can't tell when your feet hit the ground or what kind of footing you have. But surprisingly I was only passed twice & I passed 10 of those pups! The majority of these college students I passed were running with race shirts that had no waist or no shirt at all. Most every one of these guys I passed had 6 pack abs & perfect looking bodies, yet here I was a decade older & easily 50 pounds heavier passing them with authority! Invariably when they saw me passing them & they saw how heavy I was their pride would force them to pick up the pace to keep up. I'd pick up the speed too & drop em like a bad habit! Oh how sweet that run was! I should race with college students more often. It's great for my self-esteem! Apparently those bodies which could be on the front page of fitness magazines are just for show.

I ended up finishing 4th place in my division. Not bad for an overweight 33 year old eh?

I can always count on family

My wife's Aunt & Uncle bought our kids a rabbit for Easter. The rabbit arrived in very very small bird cage. Definitely not something large enough to be comfortable. So now I get to spend the day buying $80 worth of supplies (which we can't afford right now) & building a rabbit cage (which I don't have time to build). Ah, gotta love family. This is the cage I'm going to try & build.