Two for Tuesday - Exciting Time for Tri-ing

I would have to look back in my post listing to see when I last posted a TfT but two things, or people, have "inspired" me today.

Shawn

I can't help but make sure everyone who reads my blog knows about Shawn. She found my blog and boy am I glad. I have enjoyed following her journey towards completing the Lavaman Tri on March 29. The Queen songs in my playlist are mainly for her because Another Has Bitten the Dust and joined the movement towards triathlon. Yes, Shawn became a full fledged triathlete once she toed the start line in Kona as part of Team in Training. By making it to the start line she pushed herself through workouts and training that would have beaten down other people. But Shawn had, actually has, the guts and determination to follow through and reach her goal.

I love reading race reports from people that are new to triathlon. I get excited through their reports and remember the thrill and joy of racing that I have experienced. These reports help me keep the fire burning while I train and race. Check out her race report from Lavaman. She went through so much before, during and after the race I'm hoping, nah...I know, she finds the humor in what happened surrounding her big race.

With one race behind her she is already looking towards the future. More races, loosing weight, improving her fitness, enjoying this wonderful family of triathletes. Game On Shawn. This Bud's for you Miss Purple Haired Freaky Swimcap Sharklike Triathlete. Well.....maybe not a Bud...you are still training.....maybe an O'Doules.......nah.....stick with Gatorade......with some CarboPro. Yeah...that's the ticket.

TriSaraTops

You don't know TriSaraTops yet? Where have you been? She's is a great blogger and loves sharing her little tidbits of life with us all.

So what can I say about my tri-sister TriSaraTops. Oh I would probably use too many adjectives and start to sound all mushy and effiminate. So I'll stick with "She Rips Tri's like a Rock Star"...."She's Uber Cool"...."She's a Tri Studdette". I know you're laughing Sara.

Seriously, I'm just happy to have her as a friend. Last year Sara started a mini Evo-Tri group at her high school. I called it the Evo-Kids, not to be confused with "emos" who shouldn't be confused with the goths who hate vamps.....well that's what I learned on Southpark....I digress. I helped her with a couple of workouts with these young ladies. I was able to race and watch them at their first triathlon. My hat is off to Sara for everything she did for these kids.

I'm excited that she wants me to help with this years Evo-Kids as well. She is firing up the band wagon and hoping to get more area schools involved. Just as Shawn above has found the fun and excitement of triathlon at 40, I want to help bring more young blood into the sport.

Last year is was all girls. This year we are hoping for more interest from the boys. Hopefully several area high school coaches will help spread the word. I'm really excited by what could happen this summer. I'm going to help Sara as much as I can, but I will surely be riding on her coat tails as she is super organized and is a woman on a mission. I like it.

Game On Shawn and Sara. Female triathletes rock. I should know....I'm married to one.

Fatigue

Yes fatigue. We have all experienced fatigue in one form or another.

Physical, mental, material.

Did I just say material? Yes I did.....and you will see why as you keep reading.

Since my game was back on after three weeks of illness, which culminated in pleural effusion, I was ready to get back to some serious training. I needed some long saddle time this weekend and I didn't want to do it on the trainer, especially 3 hours.

The weather forecast called for clear skies but cold temps. No problem because I would layer appropriately and use some hand and toe warmers for the extremities. Woke up around 7AM and started to get fueled up and gather my riding gear for the day. The temp was showing 35 degrees and The Weather Channel was saying the wind was NNE at 10 - 20 MPH.

One thing I always take into account is wind chill. Not only do I worry about the reported wind chill but also my average riding speed, 20MPH. So I wore my heavier tights and a wind vest to fight of the natural and riding wind chills.

I headed out and was looking forward to the ride. I went south first knowing I would have to battle the winds coming from the north during my return. It would be good mental and physical training for riding in less than ideal conditions.

I had my camera so I took some pictures along the way.

Obligatory shadow picture.



And a couple shots at different angles. Trying to offer something new.





With the wind at my back I was feeling warm and toasty, almost overdressed for the ride. But I knew that the wind would be right in my face so the extra layers would be helpful. Yes another picture. Notice I am outside and NOT on the rollers going with no hands. It's also a country road so there was no traffic around when I did this.

I reached the southern-most part of my planned route and started to head east. The winds were felt immediately. My speed was hovering around 17MPH. As I crossed over one of the major state routes I noticed something very peculiar. My pedal stroke was shortening up. I wasn't getting the full extension of my legs at the bottom on each stroke. I looked between my legs at my seat and noticed the seat post had slipped down.

When I stopped and swung my leg over, the seat moved so loosely it twisted. I had to take a picture of my seat.

I told myself, "Okay, no problem. You have your multi-tool and can tighten the clamp." When I went to loosen the bolt I noticed something very interesting. Fatigue. Of the material type. In this case....aluminum is the material....fatigue results in cracks.


Yes there are three cracks highlighted by the red circles. Not sure how this came about but it didn't bode well for my ride. I was at the furthest point away from home with a seat that wouldn't stay up. Fortunately I wasn't too far from potential help. There were two friends I would be riding by on my route and I could see if they were home to help.

I figured all I needed was some duct tape to help hold the seat post in place. I didn't let this minor set back dampen my spirit. Stuff like this happens. Unfortunately I was looking to road race a little this year and now it may not happen. These cracks have potentially ruined the entire frame....unrecoverable.....worthless......damaged beyond repair.

My faithful GT ZR3000 is dying. I will mourn my ride later once I get a full diagnosis.

So I continued with my ride feeling like a kid on a tricycle. My legs spinning in little circles with my knees barely moving away from my chest. I was able to spot this pig roaster next to a guys barn. I couldn't help but notice the bicycle wheel he used as part of the spit. Definitely worth the picture.




I rode to Patrick's house to see if the family was home. Patrick and his wife Linda got me on the bike in the first place so I knew he would be interested in seeing the damage. No luck. These people are busier than a bee hive in August. With three kids playing soccer and getting in their cycling it would have been a miracle that they would be home.

So it's off to stop number two. Scott and Jane live one city north from Patrick. Not much farther to go on my lowered seat. Please be there Scott. BINGO. Scott was working on their basement and provided me with four strips of duct tape. Looks like it would hold up for the final push home. This is what the tape job looked like once I got home. The seat tube still slipped some but at least it wasn't all the way down.


The remainder of my ride home was uneventful, thank goodness, except for the stiff winds hitting me straight from the north. There is nothing quite like a stiff breeze while going uphill.

All told my ride time was 2:50:00 and 50 miles. Total trip time was more around 3:30 considering the stoppages due to my mechanical difficulties. Overall it was much needed time in the saddle. The entire body is tired from the effort but it's training money in the bank.

What's next for the GT? Not sure. I hate to think the worst but it may come down to retirement for the frame. But I'm not giving up hope yet.

But man, he sure has helped me get my Game On.

Pleural Effusion

You are probably thinking WTF is he talking about?!?!?!? What type of post is this?

It's a medical post.

First we must go back three weeks when I rode outside with two buddies. It was a nice warm early spring day. I must have caught the bug then. My head got all stuffed up. That when I started taking that damn Sudafed laced with Red Bull.

Then the congestion started in my upper chest.

Time to visit the doctor on the 28th. Hmmm he said, doesn't sound the same as your visit in February. Perhaps it's more of an allergy thing. I was thinking the same thing because the sinus pressure was killer when this all started. Buuuuuuttttttt, I've never had allergy problems. I was willing to give it a shot. Singular was the drug of choice now.

One week later all of my cold symptoms were gone and the cough was fading as well. I was finally starting to get a good nights sleep. Then I woke up the morning of the 4th and didn't quite feel right.

My left side had some pressure and whenever I bent over I could feel what felt like fluid moving around. Even when I would lay down I could hear bubbles and gurgles in my chest. It was getting to be a major WTF!!!! feeling.

Aimee and I checked WebMD for symptoms and Googled different things. Aimee was looking at Pleurisy and I found Pleural Effusion. The Pleural Effusion best fit what I was feeling. I gave it the weekend to see if it would clear on it's own. Monday I called the Dr.

Trip #2 Monday morning and he said it sounds like pleural effusion. Best way to know for sure was to order some chest x-rays. so I went from his office to the diagnostics center. By 10AM Monday morning I had my x-rays done. The images were sent over to the Dr. and he said, yep there is some fluid around the chest, but not a lot to be concerned with. He would check it again on May 1 when I return for my annual physical.

I guess it's just good to know what it is. It had me a little freaked out on Sunday. And Aimee can tell ya.....I don't freak out easily.

If you look at the race listing for 2009 there is a date of April 5th for the Athens half marathon. Didn't happen. I pulled the plug on that after an evaluation run last Thursday. I knew there was no way it would be a good run. Aimee was also on anti-biotics and advised not to run. We bagged the weekend race and stayed home. We were only out one race entry because I missed the deadline for on-line registration. Who knew?

So there is my latest update. I'm hoping to get my training back on track. I have this little thing called the Triple T coming up on Memorial Day weekend. I have a lot of work to do in preparation.

Here's to hoping that my Game will get back On rather quickly.

I swam this morning. You know what? I think it feels better after the workout.

Family and Friends Friday - Joe, Ann and Carina

Aimee and I met the Britz family last summer at the Bolingbrook Spa and Resort (another name for Scott and Jane's pool). Scott & Jane loved having people over to hang out around the pool, drink summer beverages, play games, talk and eat.

When we first met Joe and Anne, Carina was about one year old. The amazing part is that she wasn't expected to be alive. She was born with a severe developmental disability that would never allow her to grow. The original prognosis was that she would pass shortly after birth. Yet one year later she was still the apple of Joe's eye and the center of Ann's love.

As we spent some time with this special family around the pool I saw how much they truly loved Carina, despite never knowing how much longer they would have this little girl in their life.

I take these opportunities to think about my own life and realize how lucky I have been. After 22 and 19 years, I have two "kids" that are healthy, well balanced young adults. It's painful sometimes to watch them learn things on their own, but I know it's all a part of growing up. At least I have the opportunity to watch my son and daughter continue to grow. I pray that they will have healthy children as well.

I think of my other friends dealing with hardship or special needs children.

Jason and his 4 year old son Dakota who has Leukemia.
Cyndi's family and her oldest son with Autism.
And Rick just left his son with Autism behind in search of a job in California, how hard that must be.

This little glimpse into the lives of families with special needs children helps me appreciate what they do as parents. Some people may comment, "I don't know how they do it." Parents do it because they love their children. And any decent parent will do whatever it takes for their children. Even if it's long stays at the hospital, sleepless nights next to their bed, whatever the circumstance calls for.

I appreciate and admire what these special parents do day to day.

Carina passed the other day. Aimee and I visited the family tonight to offer our condolences. The pain in their faces evident from the passing of their only child. The comfort of everyone gathering together in support. The memories of her by the pool as we stood by her casket....she looked so peaceful and beautiful.

Carina, June 25, 2007 - March 31, 2009.

Thank you for allowing us to be a part of you short but special life.

Even in heaven...Game On

Inspirational Running

Somehow it has felt longer than 7+ days since my last post. I simply have not felt too inspired or motivated to write. My illness is still lingering. Work kept me busy during last week. The boy and I pulled a one day trip to U of Louisville to visit his academic adviser. Each of these have been a contributing factor to a diminished training schedule and less time to either blog or train.

I will say that the training I did have last week was quality, something which I have been more in touch with since the beginning of '08. Friday night's run was quality on two levels.

Aimee had plans to run the final miles of her sisters long run to offer support and encouragement. Not knowing when I would get my own long run in during a busy weekend schedule, I decided to meet them down on the trails as well.

At 6PM Aimee trotted off to meet her sister and I headed towards one of my most favorite trails in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Old Carriage Trail. I know I have written about this section of trail before but it is a trail that I cannot help but run each time I am even close to it.

With the temperature in the upper 50's the parking lot had some cars in it but not too many. The flat 1.25 miles to the trail head was a nice warm up before hitting the rolling terrain. Along the way I could hear everything in the woods and on the river. Especially noisy were the spring peepers. To get an idea of what I heard, go to the link for spring peepers (it's a Wikipedia article), put your speakers on full volume and play the clip for "collective spring peepers calling". Better yet, put headphones on because they were on both sides of the trail.

Once I was out of their mating area the quiet of the park surrounded me. No cars, no planes, very few people, no music......just peacefully quiet. I hit the trail head and started the climb to the upper portions of the trail. Along the trail I heard the rustling of leaves and branches by the inhabitants of the woods. Black squirrels, chipmunks, birds, maybe even deer. I'm not sure because I rarely saw anything, but I heard them out there.

I was flowing along the trail passing an occasional walker and possibly a dog. I saw at the most 5 people and quietly said hello as I passed them by. The quieter the better for this run.

The loop rejoined the Towpath a little further down from where I originally started. I hit the split button on my watch.....37 minutes. I turned around and headed back up the hill I had just come down. The deeper I got into the woods the more I became in touch with what I was doing. I could tell that this was going to be one of those runs. One where the energy flows from the top of your head down through your feet and into the ground.

People have many names for this special feeling often using terms like "runner's high" or "the zone". I like "the zone" myself.

When I find my Zone I try to recognize it and feel the experience. The body moves as one, I can feel my heart beat, everything becomes relaxed and my pace flows. My feet float over the rocks and roots in the trail knowing how to carry me safely over the terrain.

When I reached the Towpath again I continued my pace back to where I started. I passed Aimee and her sister not far from my starting point. I pushed the split button on my watch.......35 minutes on the return trip. A very nice 2 minute negative split.

I needed more time so I started running after Aimee to see what the status was. All was good and they were going another 2 miles out and back. I finished my run doing the same out and back.

All said and done I logged between 12 - 13 miles with some excellent tempo on Old Carriage Trail. I may be at a better place than expected for this weekends half marathon in Athens, OH. The race course is flat so my hill work should pay off. My expectations are not very high but sometimes that is when your best performances come through.

I'll be looking for my Zone during the race. I'll be preparing myself mentally all week since there is nothing physically I can do now to help me on race day except try to get healthier.

More to come this week.

Game On.

Family and Friends Friday - Let's Have a Sleepover

Remember as a kid when you would have some friends over for the night? Staying up late. Watching movies. Eating pizza and getting wired on pop. Talking. Doing each others hair and nails....well maybe not for the guys.

Who said sleepovers are only for kids. I had one last night. I just woke up from one last night....or was it this morning?.....yesterday? Have I actually woken up? It's all a blur.

Last night........

TriEric: Okay time to go to bed.

All: Do we have to?

TE: Yes

All: But we aren't tired.

TE: But I am and it's a school/work night.

All: Puuuhhhhlease? We just want to talk.

TE: No. I have a meeting tomorrow morning and I'm not feeling well.

All: But...we never get to talk like this.

TE: GO.TO.BED. It's 10:00PM.

All: Okay.

Now I hear whispering, "He said go to bed, not go to sleep."

TE: What are you doing?

All: We are just talking?

TE: Stop it. It's almost midnight. Go to sleep.

All: Okay.

TE: Why are you still talking? I can hear you.

All: We can't go to sleep.

TE: It's 1:45 in the morning. I have to get up in like 3 hours.

All: Sorry....giggle, giggle, giggle.

TE: Good Lord. I can't take this.

I grab a book hoping that a little reading will quiet the voices and put me to sleep.

All: You have a runny nose.

TE: What?

All: You have a runny nose. Maybe you should do something about it.

TE: *SNORT*

All: GROSS.

TE: Go to sleep. It's late. Or is it early. What time is it?

All: We don't know.

TE: I must get some sleep.

All: Hey look. It's Ruby. I hear Snickers coming down the stairs also. YEAH! The doggies are up.

TE: Great, 5:30AM. Okay, everyone get up.

All: But we are tired.

TE: Then you should have left me alone and gone to sleep last night.

All: AAAAWWWWWWWW.

And that is how my night went. All of those little voices in my head just wouldn't SHUT THE F' UP! I could hear them talking about all sorts of things.

Tri training

Ironman

Work

Blogging

Aimee and I talked about it and think the Sudafed I took last night may have done it to me. It was a non-drowsy formula, possibly laced with Red Bull. Oh well. I hope I can make it through my meetings today at the office, or is that what meetings are for....getting some sleep.

Game....*yaaaaawwwwwn*......On

It's a nervous type of feeling.....

....and I remember it well. Not necessarily from the first time I did it but the second. A feeling of what the heck am I doing, what the hell have I gotten my self into. And tonight I got that same feeling in the pit of my stomach. Not for myself, but for someone else.

I know everything will be alright. Having faith and confidence in ones abilities is what pushes the nervousness and butterflies aside.

Nothing bad....it's all good. Just had to brain dump.

I can't take much more pressure inside my head with my sinuses blocking up. I'm trying to get this cold under control before the weekend. My three week training block was cut short due to a sudden head cold. Aimee and I are about two weeks out from the Athens Half Marathon on April 5th. She's gunning for it, I'm still undecided if it will be race or a training day.

Either way....Game On

Two for Tuesday - Rest and Training

So what have I been doing for the past week. Training and working of course. Friday and Saturday were rest days. Friday is my normal rest day and with the Thursday spin sessions that Friday has become very important. The spin sessions have been a fantastic group atmosphere that helps me push the pace and get stronger.

Saturday was a rest day as well because I had to work. Nothing is quite as fun as sitting in a conference room staring at your laptop while there are blue skies and temperatures in the mid 50's. Oh well, you have to earn the bacon.

I made up for it with a second twosome on Sunday. I wanted to do a brick (bike/run) but also needed a long run. So Aimee and I headed down to the basement for a trainer ride. I put in one hour on the bike before heading out for my run.

I wasn't sure how long I was going to run. I was looking for 1:30 to 1:45 run time. Distance didn't matter.....I wanted to put in the time. it was nice getting the bike in first because the temperature warmed up to the mid 40's when I started the run. I was able to wear shorts so I could show off my pasty white legs.

My trip through several neighborhoods went very well. I tried to increase my effort for the last three miles, the hard part of the run where I could feel the fatigue starting to set in my legs and my feet were starting to shred in my shoes. I kept thinking about the Go Zone article I mentioned last week.

When all was said and done I completed 12.4 miles in 1:40. Average pace was 7:54/mile. I did manage the last three miles at 7:40/mile pace so I was happy with that. Overall I had a 2:40 workout.

So two days rest, one training day covering two disciplines.

Game On.

SBR Team Ride

Weekend Training and Racing Report

This weekend has been a great two days of training. The Snakebite team managed to get about 10 of us to ride on Saturday. I had my BimActive going on the phone and the results are shown below, love that elevation profile. The actual elapsed time was 3 hours but once I took out the stops the 2:45 ride time matched my bike computer.

It was a great time to reconnect with old and new friends. This was definitely going to be a fun group ride. I had a hard trainer ride the Thursday prior and a 15k run on Sunday that I needed to keep some legs for.

I enjoyed riding with Linda and was able to catch up with the family. Patrick and I worked the front of the group, especially when we knew a county line or city limits sign was to be contested. I managed to sneak in three sprint wins at Bath Township, Akron and Peninsula. I was a sneaky little bastard for all of them since I usually can't out power some of the guys.

We managed to have awesome weather in the upper 60's and avoided any rain along the way. The only time we got wet was from road spray. I have pics and video that I will post later.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 984 ft Location: Strongsville, OH, Elev. Gain: -4 ft Date: 03/07/09 Up/Downhill: [+3480/-3484] Time: 03:09 PM Difficulty: 4.7 / 5.0 Weather: Cloudy 70 F temp; 64% humidity 70 F heat index; winds SW 15 mph Performance Distance: 46.24 miles Time: 2:44:49 Speed: 16.8 mph Pace: 3' 34 /mi Calories: 2037 Map Elevation (ft)

Posted from bimactive.com

Sunday was race day. Well....kind of race day. I'm not in prime racing condition, at least not where I usually am at this point of the season. So I wanted to use this as a hard training effort. I recently read an article in the April issue of Running Times about Go Zone Racing. It's a great article about how to approach a race, break it up into four parts and mentally tough it out when the going gets hard. This will be my mental focus this season.

In order to keep it a mental race I didn't take any electronics with me. No watch. No heart rate monitor. No phone with BIMActive. I wanted this to be all about perceived effort and racing smart. This race was also a battle with the elements. Saturday was a beautiful day to ride with the rain staying away and temperatures getting close to 70. Sunday the rain came in and the temperature was in the high 30's. It was going to be a wet and sloppy run.

I took it hard but conservative for the first half of the race. I was comfortable. I was managing my pace well. I kept those in front of me in sight and slowly picked several off. Just after mile 5 I put down a PowerGel and grabbed two waters at the aid station. Turning onto Lake Road, it truly is along Lake Erie, we would finally have the wind at our backs. This was the start of my Go Zone. If I was going to gain any ground on the people in front of me this would be the perfect opportunity.

I focused on staying loose and keeping my breathing under control. I increased my leg turnover, or tried to keep it, around 90RPM. Quick turnover equates to more speed. Half way along Lake Road I passed the runner in front of me. She would cross the finish line as third overall female. When the race course turned off Lake Road I was within striking distance of two more runners. I finally recognized John Z in front of me and another woman. John is a very good runner at age 50. I passed the female just as we turned east into the wind and then started working on catching John.

Halfway to our next turn I made my pass and re-focused on my pace so that I would keep the intensity all the way to the finish line. Around mile 8 I saw the last person I had a chance to catch. I didn't think it was going to happen but I was shortening the distance between us. At the final turn I realized it was Dave G. We finished 1 - 2 in our age group last year at this race, I just wasn't going to be able to get him. I finished strong in 1:05:xx and took third in the age group. I was very excited by the finish time because I was really expecting something closer to 1:10:00.

I was most pleased with "how" I ran a race. I executed my plan perfectly. I didn't loose my mental focus and kept the intensity high during the tougher part of the race. I'm also happy that I am actually on par with where I was last year. Maybe my half-marathon in April will have some good unexpected results as well.

I manually put the race into BimActive to show the course and my stats.

Game On.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 609 ft Location: Avon Lake, OH Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 03/08/09 Up/Downhill: [+150/-150] Time: 08:30 AM Difficulty: 2.8 / 5.0 Weather: Rain Fog/Mist 38 F temp; 100% humidity 38 F heat index; winds NE 7 Performance Distance: 9.26 miles Time: 1:05:00 Speed: 8.6 mph Pace: 7' 00 /mi Calories: 1196 Map

Posted from bimactive.com

Two for Tuesday - Running Results

Today's post is in regards to the past two runs I have had. Saturday morning was a long steady run which capped off my recovery week. TriSaraTops came over to run with Aimee while I headed in the opposite direction. The goal was for 1 hour 45 minutes. After seeing the results I was very happy with the overall run. My heart rate was higher than last summer at the same pace but that leaves some room for good fitness gains.

Performance Distance: 12.55 miles Time: 1:42:16 Speed: 7.4 mph Pace: 8' 08 /mi Calories: 1545

Posted from bimactive.com

So today I rode my bike on the rollers for 1:15 in the morning. I wanted to wait for the day to warm up before I would make my decision about running. It didn't warm up that much but the wind did die down. The goal was to have a nice steady run. Nothing too hard. I was surprised with the results when I was done because it just didn't feel that fast. I love it when runs turn out that way.

Performance Distance: 5.52 miles Time: 0:41:53 Speed: 7.9 mph Pace: 7' 35 /mi Calories: 675

Posted from bimactive.com

GAME ON

Monday Musings

I found this random quote while creating a Facebook album cover. I can't get it out of my head.

In case you're worried about what's going to become of the younger generation, it's going to grow up and start worrying about the younger generation.

Recovery Friday

Tri Diesel posted the other day about hitting a wall in his training. We all hit this wall. It's inevitable. As with anything else, can we find away through it or around it. I posted some thoughts for him to think about. One I forgot to include was some sage advice about what to do on recovery day.

If Possible:

• Sit instead of standing
• Lie down instead of sitting

Sounds simple enough. Game On.

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Lasagna Stoup

So we have a subscription for the magazine "Everyday with Rachel Ray". I'll admit that it is one of the better cooking magazines we have subscribed to. We have tried many of the recipes and several have become favorites. We made the Lasagna Stoup today and it's a keeper. I replaced the ground beef with hot Italian sausage. Carrots got chopped with the onions and garlic. Oh yeah....garlic....love it....the more I use the better. Also skipped the ricotta cheese, just not needed.

In the magazine it says this recipe makes 4 servings. Who you kidding!?!?!?! One pound of pasta? 6+ cups of fluid. One pound meat? Those are 4 BIIIIGGGGGG servings. This is at least 6 in my book of sensible eating.

So for the two of us we have some great leftovers. Cook On.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) 1 pound ground beef sirloin Salt and pepper 1 large onion, finely chopped 2 carrots, peeled and grated 3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped One 32-ounce container (4 cups) chicken broth One 28-ounce can Italian crushed tomatoes 1 pound lasagna noodles, broken into jagged pieces 1 cup basil leaves, torn 1 cup whole-milk ricotta Grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, to pass around the table

1. In a soup pot, heat the EVOO over medium-high heat. Add the beef, season with salt and pepper and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the onion, carrots and garlic and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in 2 cups water, the chicken broth and tomatoes; cover and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 15 minutes. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper.

2. Serve the stoup in bowls and dollop with the ricotta. Pass the parmigiano-reggiano at the table.

True Sportsmanship

I was running on the treadmill this morning watching the local news on one TV and ESPN Sportscenter on another. A story came up on ESPN that almost stopped me in my tracks. With a lump in my throat I continued to run as the story continued on the screen.

Team's gesture supports grieving opponent

http://sports.espn.go.com/highschool/rise/basketball/boys/news/story?id=3914375

ESPN.com news services

Updated: February 18, 2009, 2:49 PM ET

Two missed free throws, ordinarily the cause of a coach's headache, became the symbol of sportsmanship in a Milwaukee boys' basketball game earlier this month.

Milwaukee Madison senior Johntell Franklin, who lost his mother, Carlitha, to cancer on Saturday, Feb. 7, decided he wanted to play in that night's game against DeKalb (Ill.) High School after previously indicating he would sit out.

He arrived at the gym in the second quarter, but Franklin's name was not in the scorebook because his coach, Aaron Womack Jr., didn't expect him to be there.

Rules dictated Womack would have to be assessed a technical, but he was prepared to put Franklin in the game anyway. DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman and his players knew of the situation, and told the referees they did not want the call.

The referees had no choice. But Rohlman did.

"I gathered my kids and said, 'Who wants to take these free throws?'" Rohlman said, recounting the game to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Darius McNeal put up his hand. I said, 'You realize you're going to miss, right?' He nodded his head."

McNeal, a senior point guard, went to the line. The Milwaukee Madison players stayed by their bench, waiting for the free throws. Instead of seeing the ball go through the net, they saw the ball on the court, rolling over the end line.

"I turned around and saw the ref pick up the ball and hand it back to the player," Womack said in the Journal Sentinel. "And then [McNeal] did the same thing again."

Said Rohlman: "Darius set up for a regular free throw, but he only shot it two or three feet in front of him. It bounced once or twice and just rolled past the basket."

"I did it for the guy who lost his mom," McNeal told the newspaper. "It was the right thing to do."

Womack, overwhelmed by DeKalb's gesture, wrote a letter to the DeKalb Daily Chronicle, which had first reported the story.

"As a principal, school, school district staff, and community you should all feel immense pride for the remarkable job that the coaching staff is doing in not only coaching these young men, but teaching them how to be leaders," Womack wrote.

DeKalb had traveled more than two hours for the game, and waited another two as Womack rushed from the hospital, where he had been with Franklin, to the school to gather his team.

"We were sympathetic to the circumstances and the events," Rohlman said in the Journal Sentinel. "We even told Coach Womack that it'd be OK to call off the game, but he said we had driven 2½ hours to get here and the kids wanted to play. So we said, 'Spend some time with your team and come out when you're ready.'"

The two schools had met twice previously, and this one ended with a Madison victory, but as in the other games, they also shared a pizza dinner, "four kids to a pizza, two Madison kids and two DeKalb kids," Womack told the Journal Sentinel.

"That letter became a big deal in DeKalb," Rohlman said in the paper. "We got lots of positive calls and e-mails because of it. Even though we lost the game, it was a true life lesson, and it's not one our kids are going to forget anytime soon."

Womack, in his letter to the DeKalb Daily Chronicle, added this at the end: "I'd like to recognize Darius who stepped up to miss the shot on purpose. He could have been selfish and cared only for his own stats [I hope Coach Rohlman doesn't make him run for missing the free throws]."

As a principal, school, school district staff, and community you should all feel immense pride for the remarkable job that the coaching staff is doing in not only coaching these young men, but teaching them how to be leaders.

--Milwaukee Madison boys basketball coach Aaron Womack Jr.

These players are well on their way to becoming outstanding adults.

GAME ON Gentlemen.....GAME ON

New Training Gear

This could very well be my most favorite new piece of training gear for 2009. Don't confuse the black and yellow with the colors of a certain football team in Pennsylvania. Those of you that know me understand that I can give a rats ass about football. I've had the LiveStrong bracelet on for the past 3.5 years. I'm happy to add the black band for this years season. The black and yellow reminds me of Lance's kit colors.

GAME ON

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Pizza of course.....

Yes it's been a veeeeerrrrrryyyyyy long time since we have had a WCW. And tonight is a great way to hopefully get back in the swing of things. When stuck trying to decide whats for dinner at the last minute what else comes to the rescue but pizza.

Now if you remember my previous recipes regarding pizza you know I'm a fan of doing pizza on the grill. Wait....I'm sorry.....did you think I was talking about ordering a slab of dough with red sauce, greasy pepperoni and cheese? Not tonight. Those pizzas have their place when the time is right......friends are over.....you need more than one.....you find a really good pizzeria........post race (that's the best).

NO. This time I am in the kitchen using the oven. Check out what I did tonight. I just had to write about it.

I did my treadmill workout at the Y and was trying to decide what type of pizza to make during my run. I was living on the edge this time. I didn't have a recipe to follow so I was going to blend stuff I felt would go good together.

I stopped by the grocery store (Heinens for the locals) and grabbed my ingredients.

1 package of pre-made pizza dough
1 small jar of artichoke hearts
1 small jar of sun dried tomatoes - julienne cut
1 package of goat cheese
1 package of feta cheese
1 package of prosciutto

At home I pre-heated the oven to 400 degrees with the pizza stone in the oven.

While the oven was heating I chopped up the artichoke hearts. I also mixed the two cheeses together in a small bowl. The strips of prosciutto was sliced in half crosswise so that they were the size of large pepperoni.

I then worked the pizza dough into a circle that would fit on the baking stone.

Once the oven reached 400 degrees I placed the dough on the stone and slid it back into the oven for 10 minutes. I HAVE NOT PUT ANY INGREDIENTS ON YET. Let the dough bake by itself for the 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes I then brushed some of the marinade from the artichoke jar onto the crust for flavor. Now the artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, and cheese mixture are spread evenly over the crust. The prosciutto is placed on top of everything.

Back into the oven for at least 10 more minutes.

Oh man was this good. A nice glass of cabernet sauvigon helped accompany this pizza.

I love it when a spur of the moment dinner idea comes together.

That's how I.......IronChef....Game On.

Never Forget

I received an comment on one of my posts from a year ago. The comment made sense once I re-read my post. It was one of two posts about Hallie Nanda. It had been one year since she left us after battling cancer. I re-read the posts and the comments. I sat for a while remembering how Halle pushed me all summer during my training for Ironman Wisconsin. Silently giving me support from above during the harder parts of my of bike rides and runs.

I know she will be watching me push hard this year also and giving me strength to do my best.

I was forwarded the e-mail below from her husband....In case you are interested......Game On

FYI-- kid's book author Brian P. Cleary has dedicated his most recent book in memory of Hallie. He is the author of the best-selling Words Are CATegorical series and the Math is CATegorical, Adventures in Memory, and Sounds like Reading series. He has also written several other books. Mr. Cleary lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

Last year, I spent portion of Hallie's memorial fund to purchase Brian Cleary books for Avon East. During Mr. Cleary's visit to Sanjay's school, every kid went home with a book which was signed by Mr. Cleary and purchased from the fund. Since Hallie spent most of her free time volunteering at the schools, I thought it was a fitting way to spend the money that so many of you donated in her memory.

It was very generous of Mr. Cleary to dedicate this book to her and I think it is his way of showing his appreciation for Hallie's commitment to the schools and the book contribution. I just wanted to let you know about the book in case you wanted to check it out.

If you are interested, here are the details:

Title: Straight and Curvy, Meek and Nervy

More about Antonyms

By Brian P. Cleary

Illustrated by Brian Gable

US$ 15.95

ISBN-13: 978-0-8225-7878-9

Finding Time To Be at Peace

This past weekend was a hectic one. Places to go, people to see. Valentines day was the worst of all with the running around we had to do. But no matter what we always find time to workout....and enjoy it. Saturday morning was no exception. We met our friend Dale in the Cleveland Metroparks for a morning run. The snow was coming down lightly and had covered the trails and path with a white blankie.

Dale and Aimee ran together on the path while I ran on the bridal trails. I became absorbed in my run and it almost reached a meditative state. I had also taken my camera along to capture the morning. I put together this video of pictures to share with my friends. Despite what alot of people say about hating the snow and cold of winter, I have really embraced the weather and enjoy the scenery. Make sure you are looking around during your runs outside. I hope you have beautiful parks to use like we do in Cleveland.

What do you think about while swimming?

Usually I'm too busy counting laps or watching my splits to think about much during my swims. However, today my thoughts reflected back upon my Ironman Wisconsin race last year. Specifically the start of the swim.

During a race pace interval of 400 yards I thought about how winded I was becoming and the need for more air was quite urgent. My arms were pulling hard through the water and needed more oxygen. At this point I start to breath three times on a side before switching to the opposite side.

For some reason the feeling or desire for more oxygen made me think about the dangers of swimming, and more directly how terrible it would be to drown. That single thought took me back to the start of my Ironman swim in Lake Monona.

The first two minutes of the swim was the most frightening moments I have ever had. I can't recall any other moment in my life when I thought I would, or could, die. Something happened to me during the beginning moments of the swim that completely freaked me out. I had a hard time controlling my feelings of anxiety and fear. I honestly thought there was a possibility that I would drown.

Despite many swim starts during races, open water swims, countless yards in the pool I felt completely unprepared. Somehow I managed to pull myself together and start swimming again.
When faced with danger people often have a fight or flight reaction. Does one fight back or flee from the danger?

I managed to do both. I had to fight my way across the path of other swimmers and I fled towards the open water away from the maelstrom of the 2000+ athletes. Once I reached the relative safety of the outer edge of the swim course I managed to settle into my race pace and the rest of the swim was uneventful. But those opening minutes that morning felt like the end of my world.

I find it curious how these types of memories pop up in my head often triggered by random thoughts. Maybe my mind was ready to deal with the memory and provide some revelation about myself. I'm glad though. The events and memories of an Ironman triathlon are hard to remember exactly due to the long day involved. But each one helps define the day and the person.

I finished the 400 yards at race pace. I felt like I was about to puke as I was sucking in air standing at the wall. But I will tell you what.......it felt good.

Game On.

One final Dad's Weekend

Wow....11 days since my last post. I have only one thing to say about that....Dad's Weekend. The annual fathers visit down to campus with my son. The fourth and final Dad's Weekend for me and all I can say is....thank-you Andrew for graduating in four years, I can't take another weekend like this.

Leading up to the weekend Aimee was laying down the law. I was to NOT get sick while on campus. Not sick as in drink 12 beers, take 6 shots, have a Wendy's Happy Meal come back out the same way it went in......I know too much information.

I'm talking sick as in come back with a stuffed up head, hacking cough, let's see if it can turn into bronchitus...sick.

Each weekend I would come home and be sick for about a week. Something about drinking, talking loudly and cold weather does this to me. I was 3 - 3 leading into the '09 version. I was warned.

But it's his senior year. I couldn't pass up the last weekend.. And my brother wanted to go down as well. This was going to be a fun trip.

Rob and I drove down on Saturday under clear and cold skies. We agreed that one evening was enough for the two of us. We enjoyed leaving the snow behind, but the cold temperatures stuck with us. We never saw the thermometer rise above 30 degrees.

Once on campus we settled in at Andrew's house and introduced his 4 housemates to Rob. I had already met most of them before. Two other dad's were visiting as well so we have a pretty full house. We went uptown for a couple of drink and conversation before heading to dinner. We needed a good food base before the main activities of the evening.

After dinner we dropped off the car and let the guys decide where we would be heading for the night. Bars? House Parties? Always a large selection around campus. So first off we hit a house party hosted by two of Andrew's housemates from last year. Loud music and beer pong was on tap. For the dad's this usually means we stand around with a beer in our hands while we watch the festivities. A couple of "guests" were ejected, quite enthusiastically, after proving they couldn't hold their beer. I don't think the one felt the send off, but I'm sure he was sore the next morning.

From there we joined some female friends at one of the bars uptown. We watched the end of the Cavs game and played some of the video bar games. After a final drink we started to make our way down the street to another bar.

We wandered around a bit looking for a place that wasn't too crowded. This is when we noticed that we had our beer blankets on. You know...that warm feeling you get from drinking. That is when you let your guard down to the cold outside. We finally made our way to Courtside for our last round of drinks.

We actually found a table to sit at and enjoy the last of the evening before heading back to the house. As we made our way back to the house Andrew ordered some pizza, I was hungry. At 3AM the pizza arrived and I managed to get something in my stomach before finally going to bed. After 6.5 hours of sleep I was up for the day. We got our stuff together, had something to eat and finally headed back home. Most of the guys in the house were pretty lethargic and we had things to do.

My brother and I had a great time during our 24 hour road trip. I have to thank Andrew, Matt, Mike, Yutz, Whitney, Mallory and Shelly for a great evening. We had a great time.

So what was the outcome of the weekend. I'm sick. 4 -4 baby. Perfect record if I can be proud of that. It has made for a somewhat miserable week. Hopefully it won't become anything serious. I think I'm getting better. This "forced" downtime from training will hopefully fuel me up for the next few months.

But you know what? I wouldn't trade it for anything. The time spent with my brother, my son and his friends is priceless.

Pushing it over the edge

When I was a kid I loved my cereal. You never knew what great prizes could be found at the bottom the box. Of course I couldn't wait until the cereal was gone before getting the toy. I was good at tipping the box and digging through the cereal to get the prize.

Our latest box of Frosted Mini Wheats is promoting Guitar Hero. The toy was a Half Stak Amplifier that would play three guitar riffs. Press one or all three buttons and you can mix your own song.
It's a fun little gadget. But when I took a closer look I noticed something special about each of the buttons.

The team who designed this have a great sense of humor.

As Nigel Tufnel says "What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff" .... put it to eleven.

Sometimes when we are deep in our training or racing we need that extra push to eleven as well.

Game On.

Winter Buckeye Trail Fun Run Report

Yesterday was the titled fun run on the Buckeye Trail. This would be the third year in a row doing this run. We enjoy the trails so much and the atmosphere is very laid back. Tanya Cady is the RD and her pre-run speech is always funny. With two loops of 8 and 5 miles we can run whatever we want in whatever order. We just need to tell the people at the finish line how many miles we ran and they will mark it accordingly.

So there are options from 5 miles all the way up to the max of 50k (31 miles). You can quit/stop whenever you pass through the start and call it a day. Hot chili and a great Brooks jackets waited for you inside.

Aimee Sara and I carpooled to the run with temperatures sitting at 25 degrees. This was the warmest day of the past week. A fresh layer of snow had come down overnight, about 3 inches.

We were signed up for the half marathon option, 8 mile loop then 5 mile loop, but weren't sure if we would be dong the entire 13 miles. My knee was bothering me from the prior weekends run, IT Band, and I didn't want to make it worse. Sara was coming off a bothersome stomach and Aimee didn't want to spend too much time on the trails. We all thought 8 miles would be enough.

With a toot on Tanya's whistle we headed towards the trail head. Even on the towpath trail we were single file due to where the compacted snow was. Immediately we were going uphill.....walking. There would be no running of any hills today. The footing was just not there.

I settled in behind someone and tried to keep my footing solid. The foot marks from the previous runner were hard to see so a twisted ankle was possible. I passed an occasional person but everyone pretty much kept their position since there was rarely a chance, or incentive, to pass someone. The effort to pass someone in the snow would use quite a bit of energy.

At the turn around for the 8 mile loop I grabbed a piece of banana from the aid station and thanked the volunteers for being out there. On the return trip it was hard passing people coming the opposite way since the packed snow made for a small path. It was good to see friends making their way to the aid station and told them to keep up the good work.

At various times during the first loop I wasn't sure if my knee would hold up for the 5 mile loop. A slight twinge put thoughts of doubt in my mind. Should I stop at 8 miles? Can I make it to 13? what if I take it easy on the hills?

I reached the Boston Store, start/finish line, refilled my bottle with Gatorade and grabbed a Hammer Gel. Chatted with Lloyd and Tanya and headed back out. Three people who were running near me made it through the aid station quicker than I, provided they even stopped. as I started the 5 mile loop to Brandywine Falls I could see the two guys and one gal ahead of me. I figured that if I kept them close enough I would have time to pull them back during the 5 mile loop.

As we approached the aid station the four of us were close together and we chatted while fueling up on water, bananas....I grabbed a piece of PB&J sandwich. We left the one female runner at the aid station and started the final 2.5 miles back to the finish. I was on the heals of one guy until we reached some steps. I bombed down the trail to the side of the steps similar to others before me. It was actually much safer to do that. Now I had one more person to catch.

I caught up to him after another 10 minutes of running and followed him closely until we reached the small portion of road before the towpath. He was very gracious and offered to step aside for me to pass whenever I wanted to. I wasn't worried about passing while on the trail.

Once I did finally pass him it was another half mile to the finish. Despite the 2.5 hours it took me to complete the 13 miles, I was very happy with the results and my knee made it all the way through with no problems.

Make sure you read reports from TriSaraTops, DaisyDuc and JT. They are a little more concise about the day but have great stories to tell, plus they have pictures to share.

*Before I cleared my watch I remembered my splits. I was even split on the 8 mile out and back, 47 minutes both ways. I negative split on the 5 mile section, 26 minutes out, 23 minutes back.

It's about time.....

that Lance make some sort of formal comment about Ironman.

This is what the triathlon world has been waiting for since his "retirement".

Once Lance Armstrong has finished his cycling comeback, his sporting career will turn full circle.

Armstrong has confirmed widely-held speculation that he will eventually compete in an Ironman triathlon.

As a teenager, the record seven-time Tour de France champion was a top-class triathlete over shorter courses in the late 1980s.

But he eventually switched to road cycling, where he has become one of the sport's greatest competitors.

"Whenever I'm done with this (comeback). I can unequivocally say yes to that," Armstrong has told the American magazine Outside about entering an Ironman.

"That's a fact and I get asked that question every day. "I don't know when it was, less than a year ago, that I got some of these Ironman DVDs - I said 'let's see what that's all about'.

Typical of Armstrong, he also wants to be competitive when he attempts the gruelling Ironman distance.

An Ironman consists of a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km marathon run.

The winner finishes in around eight hours and the cut-off time for the late finishers is between 15-17 hours.

"I'm definitely motivated to do an Ironman," he said."We'll go back and I'll be close to 40, but I've swam more in the last three years than before that.

"And I don't want to just do an Ironman, I don't want to approach it like I approached the marathons, I want to do it as fast as I can."

In the three years since he retired from professional cycling, Armstrong competed in several marathons, posting a string of impressive sub-three hour finishes.

Armstrong also based himself on the Big Island of Hawaii for a post-Christmas training camp before flying to Adelaide last Sunday to launch his cycling comeback at the Tour Down Under.

While in Hawaii, he trained on the Queen K highway, the desolate stretch of road that is a key feature of triathlon's most famous race, the Hawaiian Ironman.

We will just have to wait with baited breath. So he will be 40. Big deal. I did my first when I was 39. I wonder if he would get a special invite to Kona or have to qualify like everyone else.

I need more......

.... workouts like this morning. I did a swim this morning knowing that Saturday would be a rest day due to a work commitment. I also skipped a swim earlier in the week so this was also a make-up swim.

I didn't want to do too much since Aimee and I will be running on the Buckeye Trail Sunday. So I decided to put in 3000 yards. I warmed up 1000, did 10 different drills for 1000, then finished off with a 1000 time trial.

The drills were designed to help me focus on some changes recommended to me from my swim analysis in December. As I waited at the end of the pool to start the TT, I tried to focus on what I needed to do. I wanted long extensions/reach and a strong pull all the way back.

It is very easy to loose focus during a swim session since it does become repetitive and boring, but loosing focus at this point can lead to bad form, slow laps and disappointment. Focus is definitely something that all endurance athletes struggle with.

I started my 1000 yards strong but reserved. I couldn't go out too fast since this would be a long TT. I checked my splits after each 100 to see how close I was to my desired pace. The frequent time checks also allowed me to keep my focus because I would do the math and estimate what my next time check would be.

Up through 500 yards I was doing well. I could tell my arms and lungs were starting to fatigue. I switched from alternate breathing to my three breath, switch, three breath, switch race stroke.

During the last 500 I focused even harder on maintaining the long reach, glide, catch and pull. I would glide until my recovery arm almost entered the water. I was keeping pace and knew I would be happy with my finish time.

When I reached the wall for the last time I hit my split watch and.......

wait.for.it....

14:44 for 1000 yards.

Now that was a satisfying swim. That's a 1:29 average per 100 yards. I stood at the wall panting from the effort. My upper body was flooded with blood which makes my not very impressive chest look like it actually has muscles....muscular man boobs. Unfortunately that doesn't last very long.

So I need more workouts like this one. High quality with noticeable results. Now I have to focus on that aspect for each workout. No junk workouts, quality workouts. Sometimes for the quest to reach certain mileage or yardage markers we sacrifice quality for quantity, which leads to poor form, poor results and sometimes injuries......something I did last Sunday during a long run.

Now I just have to remember how I got my Game On for this workout and apply it to future workouts.

Hello, my name is Eric......

.....and I like Dancing with the Stars. There....I said it. Admitting it is the hardest part, right?

Aimee started watching the show and I joined her on the couch to watch as well. We missed season one but have seen some great dancing and entertainment since.

Last night was the Tour show. Aimee received two tickets for last nights tour show here in Cleveland. I will admit that it was a very good show. The music and choreography were awesome. The celebrity dancers were Lance Bass, Marlee Matlin, Maurice Green and Toni Braxton. Each were entertaining and Braxton also sang two songs.

The professional dancers are amazing and in great shape. The show consisted of two 45 minute "acts" and the dancing was non-stop. These athletes are very fit and strong. You can see the muscles cut into the legs and abs of each person. At the end of each dance set they aren't even breathing hard either. I wonder what their VO2 max is?

I found myself focusing on several pros in particular. Maxim Chmerkovskiy, Derek Hough, Edyta Sliwinska, Cheryl Burke, and Lacy Schwimmer. The style and grace as they moved around the stage was amazing.

The song playing in my sidebar is Palladio. The Tour band played a fierce techno version for a Paso Doble routine.

We enjoyed ourselves very much and can't wait for the next season.

I can appreciate how these dancers can get their Game On.

Back in the Saddle

So I was reading a bunch of the blogs I follow through Bloglines and realized something.

I'm READING other blogs more than WRITING on my own blog. Somethings wrong there.

Then there is the fact that my last post was 8 days ago. But I have good excuse for that one, out of town for work.

Today is different though. I'm working with a customer where I have lots of idle time between tasks. So instead of reading I will write.

Remember my post about being a follower? Well my list of followers is up to 12 and I'm following 20 bloggers myself. Of course my main mode of following bloggers is Bloglines.

I've also become a follower of another sort. I've followed my friends and family onto Facebook. So my attention has been on Facebook instead of posting. If you are on FB as well stop on by at my page.

So I'm trying to get motivated with training. The weather and work have been putting a halt to serious training. Last week I was in Wisconsin. I had my running shoes and swimsuit but the treadmill sucks and work took up more of my time than anticipated. For some reason my feet at not liking the t-mill. After 30 minutes I'm feeling the ball of my foot getting loose and ready to blister.

I need more outdoor time but it's hard to pack alot of stuff when traveling.

I'm going to start posting more often and try to bring back some weekly features. Aimee and I have some new favorite recipes and I have some video projects that I need to finish up. So much to do and so little time.

Then there is the training plan I need to put together, publish my race schedule on the blog, find music to post and load on the MP3 player, organize the SBR multi-sport peeps.

I guess it's better than having nothing to do and parking my ass on the couch.

Oh yeah....I also need to get in the saddle more......bike time that is.

It's a new year.....time to get some Game On.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone. I created a video of my Jan. 1 day. Then I was just too cold to do anything else. Enjoy the video and the new year.




Game...Brrrrr.....On