pictures of the 2010 Atomic Man duathlon

Here are some of the pictures of last years Atomicman duathlon. I did this race with a stomach flue. Thankfully the worst of the stomach related issues didn't pop up until after the race.

the Turquoise trail duathlon & the Cupid's Chase 5K Run

A race I think is absolutely amazing & I'm very excited about is the Turquoise trail duathlon. I wont be doing it this year because it's to close to IMAZ and competing in this race would interfere with my Iron training. I've been talking about putting together a Heart break hill duathlon for a couple years now. I wonder if they got the idea from me? I posted the link to my old blog post at the bottom of this post to show I'm not full of it. Just click on RD'ing a duathlon below for proof. I don't care if they did get the idea from me though, because as intriguing as the idea was, I never would have followed through with it. I'm just glad someone is making a race using that amazing BEAST of a climb called heart break hill located North of Edgewood & Cedar Grove less than a mile south of where highway 344 & rout 66 meet. Cant wait to do this race in 2012!!!! Should be one heck of a challenge.

I'm also excited about the Cupid's Chase 5K Run. This race is less than 3 miles from my house. Although I'm not in decent shape right now, I'll still do it just because of the proximity to my house. And hey, I've never actually competed in a 5k run before. I've ran in triathlons that had a 5k run in it, but never a race that was just a 5k. Should be fun!!!

Teaching the manly fist pump

Today I was teaching my son how to be manly & do a fist pump with a grunt. He loved it & did it all day long. Very cute.

The first Half Iron triathlon in New Mexico!

The 2011 South West Challenge Series schedule is now out! They said there will probably be some small changes to the schedule, but it's finally out! It's at:

http://www.southwestchallengeseries.com/

I noticed one of the newest races in the South West Challenge series is the Elephant Man Half Iron in September at Elephant Butte New Mexico. I'm very excited about this! It's the first half Iron in New Mexico. The Ironman training program I'm doing has me scheduled to do a Half Iron the weekend of September 25th, & the Elephant Man half Iron is that weekend!!! I'm VERY excited, I'm going to do it! I'll be competing in the first half iron in New Mexico! The Elephant Man Half is a really hard course, it's imperative I get back down to 185 pounds by then. Did I say this already, I'm very excited!

Another race I think is absolutely amazing is the Turquoise trail duathlon. I wont be doing it this year because of IMAZ, but I've been talking about putting together a Heart break hill duathlon using the same course for a year and a half. I wonder if they got the idea from me? I posted the link to my old post at the bottom of this post to show I'm not full of it. Just click on RD'ing a duathlon for proof.

Seriously indecisive!

A month ago I'd decided to train for a 50 kilometer trail run in September. & a few weeks before that I'd decided to train for the Hermann Memorial 70.3. Finally, 3 weeks ago I had found a training program I was able to stick to. I've been training for the Albuquerque half marathon. I haven't missed a single workout in over 3 weeks & I've lost 17 pounds. Things are finally working out! & now that I've started training consistently for the first time in 6 months I'm getting the itch to swim & bike again. I'm contemplating starting a 3 month training program for the Spring Fling triathlon. My 3 year old son will be doing his 1st triathlon at the Spring Fling triathlon, so it would be a family affair. I 'm not sure exactly what I should do. If I choose to try training for a triathlon again I may not be fully over my burn out when I need to start my training program for Ironman Arizona. Bit if I start triathlon training now I'll have a much better multi sport fitness base. Should I risk ruining my recently found consistency by training for the Spring Fling or or stick with the Albuquerque half marathon?

Hmm. What to do? What to do?

2010 year end miles

I came very close to not posting year end miles for 2010 since I only trained Jan through July. After July all training essentially ended for me. Burn out:( But I always strive to give both the good and the bad on my blog, so here it goes.

Bike 4,505.6 miles
run 775.7 miles
swim 5,258.3 yards

It looks even worse than I had feared. But surprisingly I still had more miles than in 2009! I'll do better in 2011.

The Innkeeper (by John Piper)

Sick and blessed

Sunday morning I came down with a stomach bug. I couldn't keep anything I ate down & by that night I had the cold sweats & the shivers. I felt horrid. The next morning I was needing to take care of my 3 kids while my wife went to college. And after taking care of my babies all day I was needing to go into work for a 12 hour overtime shift, 6 p.m. to 6 am. There was no way I was going to be able to do all that being as sick as I was. So my wife & I turned to Jesus in prayer. We asked that He give me the strength to take care of my babies & that I get an easy overtime post at work. He granted our prayers. I was able to hang out with my kids, felt great the entire day & had a fantastic time with them. My work called & offered me a wonderful post for overtime that I would be able to stay off my feet at. My God is an awesome God! He's concerned with everything in my life & there's nothing too big or small for Him to help with.

Today when I laid my 2 boys down for a nap I felt so good I did a 45 minute easy indoor bike ride & when I was getting off the bike my wife walked in, so I was able to throw in an 4 mile easy run also. With how wonderful I felt it's amazing to me that I was down & out with a stomach bug the entire day before! God truly does answer us when we ask Him for help.

I've also started praying for God to help me get back down to my dream weight of 185 pounds. I was very fast in triathlon when I was at 185 & I desperately want to get back down to that weight again! I'm praying that God either grant me my prayers of getting down to 185 pounds or to help me accept His will over my wishes. Either would be wonderful.

Thanks for tuning in!

Traveling trooper

My 14 month son is an amazing trooper. He's constantly in his car seat while we drive all over the nation for triathlons or back & forth 2 hours a day for Isabella's pre-k. He rarely gets grouchy about it.

My years racing schedule

After much back & forth I've decided what my racing schedule will be from now until March 2012. I've decided to try & race less this year so that I can concentrate more on training in the hopes I can break 13 hours at Ironman Arizona.

This year for the 1st time I'm not going to attempt to take 1st place in my division in the South West Challenge series. I'm just going to do the minimum amount necessary to place in the top 3. If I can get away with only needing to race the minimum of 5 races to take top 3, I'll be happy.

That being said, I've heard a rumor that the new multisport series called Chasing3 will award a Clydesdale series champion. If that is the case I may end up racing in 4 or 5 of their races this year in addition to the 5 SW Series races to try & win that series also. What can I say, I'm a multisport addict.

February 19th 2011
Presidents day duathlon,
White Sands Missile Range New Mexico

March 27th 2011
Sully Super Sprint triathlon
Alpine Texas

April 16th 2011
Albuquerque half marathon
Albuquerque New Mexico

April 23rd 2011
Spring Fling triathlon
Rio Rancho New Mexico

May 1st 2011
AtomicMan duathlon
White Rock New Mexico

May 8th 2011
Jay Benson triathlon
Albuquerque New Mexico

June 4th 2011
Albuquerque Century
Albuquerque New Mexico

July (date unknown) 2011
Santa Fe triathlon
Santa Fe New Mexico

September 10th 2011
Enchanted Circle century
Red River New Mexico

November 20th 2011
Ironman Arizona
Tempe Arizona

December (date unknown) 2011
Polar Bear triathlon

December (date unknown) 2011
Jingle Bell triathlon

March 2012
Old Pueblo 50 mile trial run!

Races undecided on:

June 19th 2011
Storrie lake triathlon
Las Vegas New Mexico

July 10th 2011
Cochati triathlon
Cochati lake New Mexico

Sept 11th
Patriot triathlon
Rio Rancho New Mexico

Sept 24th
Redman half Iron
OKC OK

indecisive

A couple months ago I tried to get myself out of a serious state of cycling & swimming burnout by registering for The Memorial Hermann 70.3 & Ironman Arizona. Yet my burn burnout continued.

A few weeks ago I realized I was still enjoying running, it was just all the bike & swim miles I was dreading, so I decided to start training for my 1st 50 mile ultra endurance trail run. As a starting point & to start building up my mileage for my eventual 50 miler I signed up for the Albuquerque half marathon. So far training has been good. For the last 2 weeks I've done nothing but running & am enjoying myself thoroughly! Everyday I'm excited to put my run shoes on.

Now after only a couple weeks of pure running I'm starting to miss being on my bike. Just a little. By no means am I missing multiple hour bike rides! An hour a couple times a week would hit the spot. The fact that I'm already starting to get a small itch for my bike got me to thinking; perhaps I could continue running predominantly, cycling only a couple times a week on my recovery days. And if I continue to gain my motivation to bike, perhaps after I run in the Albuquerque half marathon in April I could be motivated to start Iron training for IMAZ. From April to November would give me 6.5 months to prepare, which is exactly how long most coaches suggest to train for an Iron. I think that would work well. After all, I did just drop $600 on an Ironman registration. To not race it would be absurd. To start training for IMAZ I'd have to give up my 50 mile trail run goal for awhile, which I'm fine with.... At least for now. Not sure if you've noticed, but when it comes to my athletic goals & aspirations I've been a bit indecisive.

hula hoop girl

My daughter trying to learn how to hula hoop. Very funny stuff.

Our youngest

While making lunch today I didn't hear Rion making any noises. That's usually a warning that he's doing something he shouldn't. Apparently he has learned the ability to climb. Since then I've caught him climbing onto kitchen chairs, then up onto the kitchen table. He's used the toilet to climb up onto the bathroom sink. Up onto the coffee table, & the worst was he climbed up onto the top step of his siblings bunk bed! Aaahhhh!

The story of the candy cane

A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ.

He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the church, and firmness of the promises of God.

The candymaker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our savior. It also represents the staff of the "Good Shepherd" with which He reaches down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker stained it with red stripes. He used the tree small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Jesus on the Cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life, if only we put our faith and trust in Him.

Unfortunately, the candy became known as a Candy Cane - a meaningless decoration seen at Christmas time. But the meaning is still there for those who "have eyes to see and ears to hear".

I pray that this symbol will again be used to witness to the Wonder of Jesus and His Great Love that came down at Christmas and remains the ultimate and dominant force in the universe today.

coffee thermos & comuting by bike

I commute to work on a bicycle & I love coffee. Not an easy combination. I could never find a coffee mug that could carry enough coffee & that would fit into my bike bottle holder. I used a coffee Thermos for a few years called a Bike Hothead Thermal Bottle IB-WB2 by Iberra. The company claimed this mug could carry 17 ounces of coffee, but it only carried about 8 ounces. It was poorly made. The plastic part that was designed to hold the coffee mug & bolt into the bike bottle holes broke the 1st week I used it. I tried to return the coffee mug & the company refused saying the problem wasn't their product, but improper use by me. Grrr. Thankfully I figured out if I took all the plastic parts off the Thermos it fit nicely into a regular bike bottle cage. I used it this way for awhile but recently it stopped pouring properly. Now the coffee explodes out of the top when I pour it & I end up wearing as much as I get in the cup. The only good thing I found about Ibera's Hothead Thermal bike bottle was it kept coffee hot for hours, but I always drink my coffee as soon as I get to work so that doesn't help me any.

I recently found another option I'm going to try. It's the Trek Soho Commuter Mug. It carries 20 ounces of coffee. All the reviews claim it's well made & durable. It fits into a bike bottle cage as long as the bike frame isn't small. The only complaint seems to be the coffee Thermos is top heavy. I'm going to order one. Once I get it I'll try it out & post my review here on my blog.

Enjoyment of the experience

The last two times I was training for an Iron I had become so focused on the ultimate goal of becoming an Ironman, training & dieting perfectly so that I could finish it in a fast time, that I never was able to enjoy the experience. This time it's different. Of course I'm disappointed I'm not hitting my weight goals I had set for myself earlier in the year, but this time I'm enjoying the training for Ironman. I'm having fun, & this time I'm not allowing the training to get in the way of my time with my family or God. What's the point of person accomplishments if it's getting in the way of the most important things in life? As long I put God & family as my number 1 priority I believe God will bless in the other less important aspects in life. And if for whatever reason He chooses to not allow me to be successful in my Iron distance endeavors, I will have kept my priorities straight, so I'll have no regrets.

ballet practice

I work the nights my daughter has ballet practice. Tonight I didn't go to work so I could watch her. She's 5 & is my pride & joy. I recorded this using my phone which is only able to record 20 seconds per video, it can't zoom, & the quality is poor, but you can still see how cute she is! On the other videos I recorded she was dancing in & out of clusters of girls so I wasn't able to get a very good video of her. This one was the best. She's so adorable!
I got the family van stuck in a snow drift on the side of road the other day. My daughter started panicking & said, "we're never going to get out!" I reassured her that we were going to get out & we'd be home in no time.
A bit later when we were still stuck she started crying & announced to everyone in the car, "We're never going to get out! I'll never be able to go to Disney World! And I'm never going to be able to do ballet again!" She started crying thinking of the things in her life she wanted to do & now wouldn't.
I wasn't able to help her through the situation like I should have. I tried to reassure her & tell her everything was fine, but I couldn't stop laughing. When she thought we were all goners her 1st thought was she'd never be able to go to Disney World. How sweet.

Hot triathlon training in Santa Fe New Mexico!!

I'm scheduled for my first 3 hour brick in the morning. It's supposed to be a 2.5 hour bike followed by a 35 minute run with some pick ups inserted. We got a large snow storm today & currently have a foot of snow on the ground so I can pretty much guarantee that won't be happening.





The beautiful thing about New Mexico is that the snow melts so quickly here. It's quite possible that the roads will be clear enough to ride on later in the day on Saturday, even with a foot of snow on the ground right now, & more expected for the next 8 hours. So I plan on switching my 2 weekend workouts, the brick scheduled for the morning with the following days long run.

If there's one thing I'd to say about Santa Fe, it's an endurance athletes dream come true. In the winter very few days of training will ever be interrupted by snow. When it does snow it melts very quickly. It never gets very hot during the summer months. It's 7'000 feet elevation (highest capital city in the world, the Japanese Olympic swim team trains here at the Geneva Chaves Community center part of every year because of the altitude) so someone who trains here can KILL a race at sea level! It has miles & miles of gorgeous paved country roads to explore on a bicycle. There are a ton of hilly & mountainous courses to choose from. It has a great city triathlon every year called, ironically enough, the Santa Fe triathlon. & being able to ride to Albuquerque via highway 14 is one of the prettiest rides I've ever done, I then take the Rail Runner back to Santa Fe. The Rail Runner is one of my favorite benefits. I could go on, there's a lot more. But I think you get the point.

My speed & endurance is continuing to improve. Particularly my running, which surprises me because I'm so over weight right now. All endurance athletes know light is fast! But apparently heavy can be somewhat fast too- thank goodness for that! I'm fairly certain I won't be making my goal of 200 pounds by the Memorial Hermann 70.3 in April. But that's ok, I can't hit my goal weight & speed at every race right?

El Nino Iron training baby!

This winter has been very warm so far. I'm told from a buddy it has to do with the El Ninó weather system. Today it was in the high 50's & I did a brick in a short sleeve tee-shirt in the middle of December!!! Apparently I picked the perfect winter to get back into Ironman training!! Hopefully this warmer than normal weather conditions will continue through the entire winter.

I'm in the middle of my 4th week back to triathlon training after 3 months completely off. I'm amazed how quickly my speed & endurance is returning! The human body is truly an amazing thing! I just wish my weight was responding as well. I'm up to 226 pounds now. Not a good thing for a 5'11" triathlete. I've finished multiple 70.3's in 6 hours at this weight, but at 200 pounds I average a 5 hour 30 minute 70.3. Truth be know I've never competed in an Ironman weighing less that 237. I'm not sure what it is about the longer distance triathlons that makes me hold on to my excess weight, but it does seem to work that way. The lowest I've been able to get my weight when training for Ironman is 237, the lowest for 70.3 is 204. When I train for sprint distance triathlons I'm easily able to keep my weight at an average of 192! Makes no sense to me because I train so much more & burn so many more calories training for ultra endurance tri's.

Week 2 of mission one-nine-zero (goal of 200 pounds by April 2011 for the Memorial Hermann 70.3, 190 pounds by November 2011 for IMAZ) is not going well. I've gained 5 pounds this week.

I'm 2 days into a semi-Paleo diet in which I only eat veggies, fruit, lean meats, & small amounts of nuts. No grains (because it's mostly processed), sugar, dairy, or beans. This diet also wants me to cut out coffee, but that aint happening!!! I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for tuning in.

Rion drinking from water fountain

Today at my daughters ballet practice my son Rion drank from a water fountain. He's at the stage that it's hilarious watch.