prayer request

I'm requesting prayers for a friends son named Peter who is six. He and his parents are currently missionaries in Cameron. He has bronchitis.

indoor tire product reviews

The wonderful thing about indoor training is that indoor trainer tires last FOREVER! The 2 I've purchased most recently are the Vittoria Zaffiro Pro Home Trainer Tire & the Continental Ultra Sport Home trainer Tire.

The Continental Ultra Sport Home trainer tire is a very good tire. I put on almost 2000 miles before the sides of the tire became cracked and I started having flats. The bad thing about them is that the tire is black, so after I ride on them I have to carry my bike outside, not allowing the tires to touch the floor or they leave black tire tracks on our tile and carpet. Since riding the Continentals my wood porch has a huge amount of black tracks all over it that can only be removed if I scrub the wood with sandpaper, and then I'm forced refinish the wood with a wood treatment product.

The Vittoria Zaffiro Pro home Trainer Tire is an amazing tire! I currently have 3500 miles on it. Although it is starting to have some cracks on the sides of the tire I still haven't had a single flat tire. Not a single flat in 3500 miles! Now that's great workmanship right there!!! The tires are red and don't leave any annoying black tracks on my flooring, carpet, or porch.

cookie baking & a triathlon physique dont mix

Today I baked sugar cookies with confetti sprinkles on them for my babies and didn't eat any. I felt like I was being tortured. Baking cookies and then not having a single taste is something that could be used at Guantanamo Bay.

Now that I'm no longer training I'm having to be super careful about my calorie intake. I no longer have the calories to eat wich I normally earn from working out, and since early September my metabolic rate has dropped from 3350 calories a day to 2884 calories a day. My goals for the next few months is to rest, recover, and most importantly NOT gain any weight. In early September I Weighed 182. Somehow I've been able to avoid gaining any weight without having exercised at all for the last 20 days. I'm hoping I can continue to maintain until I get back to swimming, biking, running, & a bit of strength training. Once I get back to training I'd like to try to get down to my dream weight of 177 pounds! Man I'd be fast at that weight!!!!

2011 South West Challenge Series standings & points

I've competed in the South West challenge series every year since 2006. I love the series. It's an amazing challenge that an athlete has to work hard at and be dedicated to for an entire season. Since 2006 this will be the 1st year I wasn't able to compete at least 11 of the races in the SW series.

This year has been an amazing season! 2 incredibly fast athletes, Marty Moriarty and Brooks Vandivort started beating me early in the season which is unusual. I usually train hard on the indoor trainer throughout the winter and have my best races early when the other triathletes are just starting to build their base cycling fitness.

Cory Adair is currently in 4th place in the series. Cory is a solid and consistent athlete who is always in contention for the top 3 in the SW series. He has 8 races & 39.25 points. If he finishes in 1st place in the 35-39 AG the next 2 races he'll have a season total of 55.25 points which as of right now would place him in 3rd place.

Marty Moriarty who is a pure cyclist & bike time trial phenom is in 3rd place in the South West. He has 6 races and 53 points. If he finishes the Elephant man triathlon in 4th place or better he'll jump ahead of me & secure 2nd place in the series. There are only 2 SW Challenge series races left for the year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to hold onto 2nd place!

I'm currently in 2nd place having completed 9 races and have 56.25 points. If I hadn't been injured from a cycling crash I'd be competing in as many late season SW series races as possible to attempt to hold onto 2nd place.

Brooks Vandivort has absolute control of 1st place in the 35-39 SW series age group. He has completed 8 races and has 76 points! Brooks is in his 1st full season of triathlon training and racing but has already proven he's one of the fastest athletes in the entire region. He has the perfect combination of natural talent, dedication, and grit which allowed him put on more speed in less than a year than any other triathlete I've ever seen!

The 2 remaining races for the series is the Elephantman this weekend & the Raptor triathlon on Columbus weekend. I wont know until then if my 56.25 points will be enough to keep me in the top 3 of the South West challenge series this year. I'll let you know if there are any changes in the 35-39 AG.

Thanks for tuning in and please keep me in your prayers for quick healing from my injuries.

Ironman Arizona 2011 training stopped by bike crash

I'm now 10 weeks out from Ironman Arizona 2011. I've been training hard for the last 5 months & I've lost a total of 53 pounds since Dec in preparation for IMAZ.On Friday while on a training ride I was hit by a limousine and my dreams of another Ironman was ended. Witnesses of the collision claim I was knocked unconscious for 5-15 minutes. One of my front teeth was broken in half, now my teeth don't bite down properly. I couldn't move my jaw, thankfully it's not broken, just sprained. My knee is swelled up the size of a grapefruit and I have road rash just about everywhere. I have 2 gashes on my chin that needed stitches. I got a concussion. I have an amazing set of bruises on my quads where my bike hit the limo, I flew off my bike & my thighs hit the handle bars when I shot over my bike & the vehicle.

Since the accident occurred I've been having a lot of problems caused by the head trauma. Thankfully the emergency room Doctor warned me of some of the effects of having a concussion, so my family & I were somewhat prepared. Even knowing ahead of time that these issues may occur it's still been a struggle dealing with them. I've been having head aches. I'm having trouble following conversations, I'm getting confused a lot, forgetting things, & losing things. I'm dizzy occasionally, especially when I try to stand up after having been sitting or laying down. My fine motor skills aren't working very well, when I go to reach for things I end up knocking them over, when I'm holding or carrying things I end up dropping them for no reason. I'm not speaking clearly, I'm not sure if it's because of my tooth having been knocked out, my teeth having been hit and shifted in my mouth, or if it's because of my concussion. I've been grouchy and am getting my feelings hurt easily. Last night I got really upset at my wife & we argued which is very unusual for her and I, but today I can't remember what I was so upset about. The most shocking thing has been me getting depressed. Anyone who knows me knows I'm almost always upbeat & optimistic. Today I was horribly blue, I felt like it would have helped my mood if I drove to the pool and watched my masters swim club train, before I realized something was wrong I had driven to the wrong side of town. That got upset and a little freaked out so I just drove home and crawled into bed. I didn't get up again until tonight when dinner was ready. My $7,000 bike is a complete and total loss, perhaps me having lost my bike explains my depression.... triathlon bike separation anxiety. ;-) LOL.

My 4 year old son has been a wreck since he found out I'd been in an accident. He wont let me out of his sight, he's had constant diarrhea and isn't sleeping well unless he's laying with me.




One thing for sure, with how hard the limo hit me the only reason I'm still alive is because of the grace of God. Apparently He still has need of me here on earth. I'm grateful and humbled by Him keeping me safe. Since I wont be able to train again until I've healed up and am able to replace my bike; and I seriously doubt that it'll be in time for IMAZ, my season is over. Because of time constraints and conflicting schedules IMAZ 2011 was my last Ironman until my wife graduates from nursing school in 2015, it's depressing knowing I'll be a DNS (Did Not Show on race day). I'm grateful I didn't die or sustain any triathlon ending injuries & I'll be able to train again. I plan on coming back stronger than ever.

Caribbean Sweet Potato and Black Bean Stew

Every Tue & Thu I make dinner for my family. I tried this recipe last night & it was amazing. I've never posted any recipes on my blog before, but this one was too good not to share! It's very healthy and would make a great post workout meal. BTW, it's completely vegan.

Sweet potato, 4 cup, cubes (2 large sweet potatoes cut in to cubes)
Green Beans (snap), 4 cup
Beans, black, 1 cup
Cinnamon, ground, 1 tsp
Thyme, ground, 1 tsp
Caribbean Jerk Seasoning, 1 tsp
Salt, 1/4 tsp
Pacific Natural Foods Organic Beef Broth, 1 cup, 1 cup
Onions, raw, 1 cup, chopped

Combine all ingredients in to slow cooker and cook on low for 5 + hours, until sweet potatoes are tender. Beef broth can be substituted with chicken or vegetable broth.

Number of Servings: 8 one cup servings

Each serving has:
147 caloreies
3 grams fat
24.6 grams carbs
6 grams fiber
6.25 grams protien

post workout food

Today I swam 2500 meters & did an hour and a half of speed work on the bike. After I was STARVING! My favorite post workout meal is a PB&J sandwich with coffee or chocolate milk. I've been trying to cut out all sugar from my diet so today I ate a PB & banana sandwich. I was pleasantly surprised. It was DELICIOUS!

Monthly miles August miles

I've finally been able to pick up my bike miles. They were over 500 miles for the 1st time since last July. This month's run miles are over a 100 miles for the 1st time since Feb. My swim miles are still pathetic. & I just started a strength training regimen that will target my weak spots of glutes & lower back the last day of the month.

outdoor Bike miles 363.9
Bike trainer miles 162.5
Total bike miles 526.4
run miles 106.2
Swim 7720 yards or 4.3 miles

back to trainning with my daughter

Today I went on my first run since getting sick last week. My 5 year old daughter rode her bike next to me during the entire run which consisted of a 20 minute warm up, 4X 4:30 at a zone 4 pace with 1:30 recoveries. On my speed sets I was averaging a seven minute thirty second per mile pace. On my last set of speed work she lapped me! Total we ran for 58 minutes & covered 6.19 miles. That's a long bike ride for a 5 year old!!

I felt pretty good considering how sick I was. My lower back still aches but it felt better once I started running...perhaps it wasn't the exercise that made the pain subside, perhaps it was the company of such a wonderful little girl.

which sport for the 2012 season?

I finally feel like I'm healing up from my stomach flue. I'm not sure I feel well enough to pick up my training plan on Monday, but I'm pretty sure Tuesday I'll be back to working out consistently.

With all this time off from training I've started to dream about what I'll be training for after I finish Ironman Arizona. I've decided I'll be training for one of 2 options:

1) train for a mid season sprint distance triathlon & attempt to qualify for the 2012 Sprint National Triathlon Championships.

I've qualified for the national championships at the Half Iron distance & the Oly distance, but never the sprint distance, which is ironic because I'm a much better short course athlete.

2) Train for cycling specific racing. I really enjoyed racing Oak Flats RR last weekend but I didn't do well, I finished 32nd out of 38 Cat 5 riders. I'm very competitive, once I try a new sport I usually will become OCD with it until I can do it well. New Mexico has some amazing road races, time trials, criteriums, multi day road races, & omniums. If I choose to train for cycling here are some of the races I'm interested in:

April
Hayfield Roubaix

Adoption Exchange classic (this race is an omnium consisting of 2 days, 3 events consisting of a Criterium, Time Trial, and Road Race)

May
Galisteo Road Race

June
Santa Fe RR (2 days consisting of a Road Race & a Time Trial)

Crest Race

July
Santa Fe Hill Climb.

August
Oak Flats

September
Record Challenge Time Trial (worlds fastest 40k held in Moriarty NM)

It's awesome virtually all of them are local races.

illness, tri's, and family

Last week was my 5 year old daughters 1st day of school. While at school she was getting pushed by a school mate while on top of a slide. My daughter told that girl "I'm my Daddy's only princess, if something happenes to me he'll be really upset." Funny but true! Kids say the funniest things!

On Thursday I felt sick with the begginings of the stomach flue. That day I was planning on doing my 75 minute run regardless of how I felt. My wife put her foot down & told me she wasn't going to let me work out that day. She almost never does that so I agreed. Turns out she was right. I ended up getting more and more sick. If I had worked out as scheduled it would have made my recovery time take even longer than it will now. My wife, she's a smart one!

I missed my 2 long bricks which were the 2 most important workouts of the week. I plan on taking tomorrow off and healing as best I can. I'm hoping to be ready to train by Monday.

stomach bug

This morning I woke up with a stomach bug. I'm taking the day off of training. Tomorrow I have a 4 hour bike & a 45 minutes run to do, then a 1 hour bike & a 90 minute run Saturday. I sure hope I feel better by then, nothing bothers me more than missing long brick weekends (a brick is a bike run workout combo that teaches the body to run on tired legs).

post race/ post taper

The day after Oak Flats Road Race I was crazy sore! I hadn't been that sore since I completed my 1st Half Iron in 2005. The race helped me realize that the weak point of my bodies fitness is my glutes & lower back. I've read that is a common issue with triathletes. My glutes had muscle failure so badly they gave out on the last 12 mile loop. They fatigued so badly that when I stood to sprint my legs colapsed & almost crashed. Yesterday I started a strength training regimen that targets the glutes & lower back.

I'm so glad I tapered for this race. Not only did I do better at Oak Flats RR since I tapered, but I was really excited to start training again.

My next race is the Elephantman half Iron Sept 25th! The Elephantman will be my tune up race for Ironman Arizona.

Oak Flats race report

Today I raced in the Oak Flats road race. I raced 4 twelve mile laps, 48 miles total.

I knew the basic rules of cycling, the #1 rule is DON'T GET DROPPED. Stay with the pack no matter what! I knew if I got dropped I'd never be able to get back with the front runners. I was able to hang with the pack for awhile, the speeds they were riding at wasn't a problem for me, but what killed my legs was the accelerations. I was not expecting how brutal the accelerations were! I'm in pretty good shape for triathlon specific training & racing, but triathletes don't train for explosive 5-15 second sprints. We go really hard for an entire race, but we don't do quick hard sprints, there's no need for them in a multisport racing. By the 9 mile mark the sprints were killing me, my calves were cramping up. At mile 9.9 we hit the biggest climb of the race & I got dropped from the pack.

From miles 10-17 I went back to my triathlon racing mindset, which is to push myself as hard as I can for as long as I could. Hindsight I realize that was a mistake. I was pushing myself so hard I didn't have enough strength to sprint & catch any ones wheel when a group passed me. By mile 16 I had been pushing myself so hard my hands started to shake. At mile 18 I was able to finally catch the slip steam of a couple of cyclists. At 1st the 3 of us were taking equal pulls at the front. I was faster riding with these guys, but each time I'd take the lead and hammer it would kill me! I'm just not accustomed to hard sprinting with short rests. At the end of the 2nd lap we dropped one of the guys, 2 of us left. At the beginning of the 3rd lap my lower back started cramping up. From then on each time I took the lead I was able to pull for less time. He'd pull for a minute, I'd pull for 20-30 seconds. Mid way through the 3rd lap I got dropped. I struggled from that point on. My inner thighs, calves, & lower back was cramping & I was completely out of energy. At mile 36 the cat 1, 2, & 3's started to pass me. At mile 38 the a few female cyclists passed me. At mile 40 I caught the wheel of 2 females. They were TOUGH! They were keeping a 20-28 mph average. I was able to hold their wheel for approximately 4 miles pretty easily, but at the next big climb I tried to peddle standing up to ensure I stayed with my new pack, but by then my glutes were TOAST. When I tried to stand my legs collapsed, I came near to crashing & I lost the slip stream of the ladies ahead of me. From miles 44 to 48 I tried my best to continue riding hard, but my legs simply had nothing left!

My average on the last 4 miles was 13 mph! My total average of the 48.5 mile race was 18.8 mph.

My top speed of the day was 47.3 mph & it happened while being in the middle of a large pack. Riding over 45 miles an hour with people 5-6 inches on every side of me was something I had never experienced. It was a major rush!

I burned 2015 calories.







When I came up to the finish line I saw my wife & kids holding signs saying "GO DADDY" & "YOU ARE MY HERO" that they drew with markers & crayons. They were screaming & cheering for me. It's amazing how their encouragement made all my pain go away. I felt on top of the world! I'm not saying I could have completed another lap, but I felt good enough to dig deep for one more sprint across the finish line. I'm very lucky, extremely loved, & have the best wife & kids!

I think next year I'd like to try a multi day stage race. Perhaps The Santa Fe stage race which is a 2 day event or Iron Horse which is a 3 day race with 1 road race, 1 criterion, & 1 time trial.

tapering for my 1st road race

I'll be racing in my 1st cycling specific road race in the morning. It's called Oak Flats. It'll be 4 twelve mile loops on a somewhat mountainous course located 9 miles south of Tijeras New Mexico.

I've done 74 triathlons/duathlons and a couple centuries, but never a cycling specific road race. I've been tempted before, but have never pulled the trigger. There's a lot of tactics, team strategy, and drafting used in road racing, as a triathlete I haven't practiced at those skills much. Plus most of the people who race road events are pure cyclists. They're great at cycling because that's all they do. Right now I'm training for Ironman Arizona, so only about %50 of my training time is dedicated to cycling. On one hand I'm in good shape & I'm weighing at an all time low, but on the other hand cycling is my weakest sport. The lightest I've raced at before was at the 2010 Dog House triathlon & the 2010 Chick-Fil-A tri. At those races I weighed somewhere in the high 180's to low 190's & I finished 5th & 10th overall, right now I weigh 182. I'm hoping being another 10 pounds lighter helps my racing performance.

To ensure the best performance I'm capable of I did a small taper this week. This was my 1st taper of the entire 2011 season. It felt great to have a little down time. Let's hope it helps me out on race day! Wish me luck everyone, I think I'll need it! Let's hope I keep the rubber on the road!

my new run partner

One of my fondest memories as a child was when I'd visit my Dad during the summers, almost every morning he'd go running & I'd ride next to him on my bicycle. We'd talk & enjoy each others company. Sometimes a 2 mile run would turn into 10+ miles because of how much fun we'd have together.

Today I was scheduled for an easy recovery run & I took my daughter on her bike. We did 4 miles together. I was amazed with how well she did. She never once stopped or slowed me down, as a matter of a fact she was going so fast I had to keep a high zone 2 pace to keep up with her. She's an amazing little athlete for being only 5 years old. I sure enjoy her.

Next year my middle son should be big enough to go with us also.

my daughter the cyclist

I've been pulling my babies in a bike cart to the park for 4 years. Yesterday I only had to pull my 2 sons in the cart, my daughter rode her bike there. Round trip it was 5 miles plus she rode around the park a half dozen times once we got there. I'm guessing she rode a total just shy of 8 miles. That's A LONG WAYS for a 5 year old!

Oak Flats road race!

I'm now registered for the Oak Flats bike race on Aug 28th 2011! I'm so excited! This will be my 1st road race. Wish me luck!!!

Oak Flats road race

The training plan I'm following from the book Ironfit has me scheduled for an Olympic distance triathlon this weekend. There aren't any multisport races in NM of any distances this weekend so I'm contemplating competing in the Oak Flats road race, which is a cycling race. I'm never trained or raced a draft legal cycling specific race. I'm intrigued & intimidated all at the same time. If I do Oak Flats I'll do a run afterwards to ensure I get a good bike/run workout.

Here's the link:

http://www.newmexicosportsonline.com/events/details.aspx?id=297

unexpected running

My running this year has been excellent. I'm not sure why. I'm running the same amount as last year, but my pace & endurance is better. I weigh 1.5 pounds less than I did last year. Other than my small weight loss I see no reason at all that I should be making gains like this.

Today was my 2nd day back from 3 weeks of vacation & annual training for work. I'm fatigued because I'm having to get used to working nights again. This morning I got mandatory to a 16 hour shift. I woke up after only 4 hours sleep to go run. It was 94 degrees out, I was exhausted, & sleep deprived. Usually that combination would make for a horrible run. I ended up having an amazing run! I ran for 65 minutes & at the 45 minute mark I ran at a moderate pace (zone 4 for hard core triathletes who know what the zones represent) and averaged a 7:40 per mile pace! Normally a 7:40 pace wouldn't have been very impressive, but a zone 4 pace is fairly easy pace and my body was hot & fatigued! I'm feeling good about the swim & run portions of my upcoming IMAZ! Now f I could just find a way to get in more cycling miles.