Too funny not to share.

My sista-in-law is the best. Check out this birthday message she sent me.

Click Here

40 things about me

I've been wanting to do something like this for quite some time. Here is my first installment.

1. I played clarinet in elementary and junior high school.

2. I only have one kidney.

3. I broke my wrist during a freshman track meet….running the hurdles.

4. I ran the 800 and record setting 1600 relay the same meet.

5. My grandfather and I share the same birthday.

6. My dad, brother and I were all cub scouts.

7. My dad and I were Scout leaders as adults.

8. I’ve worked in the IT industry for 20 years.

9. I didn’t work until after I graduated from high school.

10. Spiders give me the heebie jeebies. I’ve gotten better.

11. My dad, brother and I have birthdays in February.

12. I got my first dog at age 30. Snickers is awesome.

13. I played on the very first soccer team at our high school.

14. I like to sing karaoke…..and my brother says I’m not bad.

15. I lived in Ohio my entire life, so far.

16. I’ve been shaving my legs for the past ten years.

17. I earned my blue belt in karate when I was studying.

18. I don’t care much for baseball, football and basketball.

19. I like the changing seasons in Ohio.

20. I spent freshman year of college at Bowling Green State University

21. I spent the following 10 years at Cleveland State University to get my Bachelors Degree.

22. My brother is seven years older than me.

23. My brother is gay…….and I don’t mind at all.

24. I enjoy camping, but rarely get a chance to go.

25. My nickname used to be two-beer……actually it’s still true.

26. My favorite nickname is Pumpkinhead.

27. My dream job would be an active vacation tour guide.

28. I don’t like playing poker…..but will play Euchre anytime.

29. I never thought I would do a marathon, much less and Ironman.

30. I enjoy cooking. Especially on the grill.

31. I work-out today at the same YMCA where I learned to swim, shoot a bow and arrow, build
models, jump on the trampoline and play basketball.

32. Growing up I like to build models. Cars, planes, space shuttle.

33. I have never suffered a deep personal tragedy. I pray I never have to.

34. I was captain of the varsity soccer team my senior year of high school.

35. Growing up I wanted to be an architect. Turns out Aimee had the same idea. She
currently works for an architecture firm, accounting.

36. I still have the G.I Joes I used to play with as a kid. These are the original 12 inch Joes.

37. I’ve never tried drugs like marijuana, cocaine, uppers/downers, etc. Never needed them.

38. I didn’t eat salads until after high school.

39. I wrote articles for my high school newspaper.

40. I’ll cry like a baby if the situation calls for it.

For some reason that seems like enough for today.

Game On.

When a Boy Becomes a Man

It's an age old question. When are you considered a man? Is it based on age? 18, 21, 25, 40. Is it based on experience? Personal tragedy, insight, self enlightenment, achievement, responsibility.
The journey through life is such a strange and wonderous thing. So many things to think about, worry about, experience. So many people to meet, love, hate, ignore, tolerate. So many changes that must occur as you grow physically and emotionally.

I've often wondered about my own maturity. Each year as I get older, I'll be 40 this month, I try to think back to things that I have done. Sometimes I'm amazed at how my memory is triggered at the weirdest times and I think of an event from years ago. Often that event is a defining moment that shapes who you are. I guess that's why it's permanantly stamped into your brain.

I look back at those "events" and think, "What a stupid dumbass I was". Why would I do something like that? Probably because I didn't know any better, I guess it's part of the learning process.

As I watch myself grow, I also have a son and daughter to watch grow as well. Sometimes it's painful to watch them learn about life but they have to learn somehow.

With my son at college I keep touch with him via instant messaging. He is real good at updating his away message/comments, too good sometimes. So I check his messages on occasion and obtain some interesting insight of his college life, such as:

Tuesdays suck. He has class all day then works 4 hours after dinner.
He's working out (weight lifting) on a regular basis and is getting stronger.
He stated recently, "(I) never realized how much college changes ppl i guess..."

He comment above is what prompted my own introspection about changes. College, he will find, is not the only time in his life that other people (ppl) or himself will change. Hopefully those changes will be for the better.

So as I get older I try to hold on to the youthfulness in my life. Don't ask me what I want to be when I grow up since I don't plan on "growing" up. I'll be mature and professional when I need to, but I'll also be playful and fun to balance things out.

Mid-life crisis?!?!?! Yeah right.

The Game is so On for the next twenty+ years.

Who do you fight?

“I seek strength, Father — not to be superior to my brothers, but to be able to fight my greatest enemy, myself. Make me ever ready to come to you with clean hands and a straight eye, so that when life fades like a fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.”


CHIPPEWA PRAYER

Cold Morning Run

Work had me out of town the last half of the week. I was "forced" to run indoors on a treadmill two days, 40 minutes each time. So my long run this morning I wanted to do outside. Of course the weather showed the thermometer at around 8 degrees and Weather Channel was saying wind chill at -3. I was not going to run 10 miles on a treadmill!!! So I bundled up and headed out, around 6:30AM. All of the stats are below. I was actually overdressed for the run but the extra layers helped when I turned into the wind. The out and back run allowed me to know my mileage based upon the BimActive program on my cell phone beeping each mile. On the way back I was great with a most spectacular sunrise. One where a bright red flame of fire shoots up from the horizon as the sun starts to rise. It's looks so cool. I'm glad I had my phone because I could take this picture. The picture doesn't do justice of what I was truly seeing but you get the idea. This made me glad I decided to brave the cold temps and run outside. Have a great weekend and find some way to get your Game On. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 690 ft Location: North Ridgeville, OH Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 02/10/07 Up/Downhill: [+49/-49] Time: 06:35 AM Difficulty: 3.5 / 5.0 Weather: Partly Cloudy 8F temp; 72% humidity 8F heat index; winds SW 10 Performance Distance: 10.03 miles Time: 1:21:16 Speed: 7.41 mph Pace: 8' 06 /mi Calories: 1221 Map Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 16 +0' 10 7.3 -0.2 0 ft 2 8' 01 -0' 05 7.5 +0.1 +6 ft 3 8' 20 +0' 14 7.2 -0.2 -3 ft 4 8' 09 +0' 03 7.3 -0.1 -3 ft 5 8' 32 +0' 26 7.0 -0.4 0 ft 6 8' 01 -0' 05 7.5 +0.1 0 ft 7 7' 43 -0' 23 7.8 +0.4 0 ft 8 8' 05 -0' 01 7.4 +0.0 +6 ft 9 7' 54 -0' 12 7.6 +0.2 -3 ft 10 7' 57 -0' 09 7.5 +0.1 -4 ft end 8' 53 +0' 47 6.8 -0.7 0 ft Versus average of 8' 06 min/mi

Posted from bimactive.com

OOOOOUUUUUUCCCCHHHHHHH

That is what my muscles are saying each time I get out of a chair, be it a desk chair or the car. I started lifting again. I keep telling myself to keep at it so I don't have to deal with muscle soreness when I restart a lifting program. Damn it hurts. I guess you can say it's a good hurt though. Reminds me that I am alive. It will go away soon. I did some abdominal work last night also, so I just can't wait for those muscles to start hurting.

Am I the only one who falls off the weight training schedule when good weather hits. I just can't stand being inside lifting weights when I could be outside riding the bike or running or swimming in the lake.

Must remind myself, a strong core leads to a more complete and stronger body.

Game, ouch, On.

2006 in review....by the numbers

I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier but I guess it's because I've never been obsessed about the numbers. I do my time, get it done and keep moving forward. But I think a look back at the numbers is in order since 2006 was the year of Ironman. Let's see how things stacked up.

I am pulling my numbers from Training Peaks. My coach had her athletes using it for 2006. I don't like how the reports turn out numbers, I don't know what is being combined, double counted or broken out.... a little confusing.

So here goes.....

447 Hours of training......equals 56 eight hour days

260,587 yards swimming......divided by 1760 equals 148 miles....DAMN, that's more than IM

1,635 miles on the bike....this was on my mountain, road and tri bike.....that's far.

743 miles running........and I had a couple of times when I was injured and not running.

1,482 miles of bricks.....this is the category that has me pissed with TP. There is not breakout of miles riden versus run. I think this is new "improvement" that I think is stupid. I have a question about it to them.

So those are my numbers for 2006. All of it was worth it to become Iron.

2007 game is on. Will be interesting to see what the numbers hold for me this year.

Game On.

Cookies like Grandma used to make

Mmmmmmmm......cookies. Who doesn't like those yummy, soft, chocolate chip cookies? I can't get enough of 'em when they are made fresh. I try to eat them quickly so they get the hell out of the house. I don't need that temptation while I am trying to keep close to fighting weight during the winter.

The cookies are worst for me when I drive for work. More times than I care to admit, when I leave a customer I am sometimes hungry....definitely thirsty. On the longer drives home, 1.5 hours plus, I will stop in at a Speedway (get those points) and grab a Gatorade. But sometimes the munchies are evident as well. My favorite item to grab lately is Grandma's Homestyle cookies. Two yummy soft cookies in one bag. Case in point I was driving home from lovely Bucyrus, OH and grabbed the Gatorade (not that damn AM crap either...save that for another post) and my cookies.

During my drive home I read the nutrition label on the packaging. I pulled down this label from the www.fritolay.com site.

Now I am no math major but something doesn't quite add up here. I check out the calories and fat so I know what I am consuming. One cookie is 190 calories. Two cookies is 370 calories. One cookie has 9g fat.....two cookies has 17g fat. WTF!!!!!!

Unless there is a bug in the Windows calculator this is not adding up correctly. I even tried Excel and it also tells me that 2 x 190 = 380. If Bill Gates' software is the official calculating authority then so be it. Fat check.....2 x 9 = 18. The Trans. Fat is off kilter as well. All of the other numbers make sense. What the hell is going on?

Is this information trying to tell me that one of the cookies is low cal? Is one of the cookies low fat? If so, which one is it. Is one low fat and the other low cal? I'm telling you, it just don't make sense.......kind of like the Chewbacca Defense.

There is some false advertising somewhere. I want to eat the low fat cookie. I don't mind the calories......I'm burning those off while I sleep, but I want low fat. Which god damn cookie is low fat please.

So I'm driving home stupified by the nutrition label eating my cookies and drinking my Gatorade (32oz. bottle / 4 servings) and before I know it the cookies are gone. So did I eat 380 calories or 370 calories. Am I now 17 or 18 grams heavier with fat?

All I know for sure is that I ate two very yummy cookies.....and drank 32 ounces of Gatorade.......and had to pee real bad when I got home.

If someone figures this out, please let me know. In the mean time I am NOT going to loose any sleep over this.

Game On People

Thursday Game of Tag

Oh..My..God. My very first game of tag. Believe it or not this is my first official invitation to play tag. It's kind of nice when you don't have to think of anything "original" to post. My good IronSista, TriSaraTops smacked me with this tag. Here goes............

1. Describe a memory from your first triathlon ever

2001 edition of the Huntington Beach sprint tri in Bay Village, OH. Aimee and I both did this tri. We tried to train for the swim and that is how I discovered I really sucked for the swim. However this swim was only 400 yards.
Memory 1
This picture shows me with two other people exiting the swim at the back of our wave.....the very back of the wave.......I'm sure some people in our wave may have been in T1 already.

Memory 2
Aimee's wave started late enough that I was done before she finished her bike.....with an almost flat front tire. While she was in T1 she was very frustrated and asked me to run the 5k with her. Here I am chasing her down out of T2......So I ran another 5k to be with Aimee. It was worth it.

2. Describe a memory from your most recent triathlon

That would be Ironman USA. So many to choose from. How much I saw Aimee. I caught a glimpse of her while running to T1.....on the bike course........on the run course (alot)......and another glimpse of her running down the finishing chute. Just like in training she was there with me the entire time.

3. What's the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you in a tri?

I caught a fist during the first 200 yards of an olympic distance tri in '04. Split my lip and was bleeding the entire two loop swim. As I approached T1 I asked where medical was. The race announcer said, over the PA system, "Eric the ambulance is back there". Of course Aimee heard this as she was approaching T1. Everything was fine and I completed the race. This picture shows the gauze I got from the EMTs. I had it in my mouth for 10 miles to stop the bleeding.

4. What's the most thrilling thing that's happened to you in a tri?

2004 edition of the Huntington Beach Tri. This was my final tune-up for my first half IM. I finished top 10 overall, first in my age group and caught almost everyone in the wave ahead of me...2 minute gap......including TriAl. Sorry Alan....I had to mention it.

5. What is something you discovered about yourself by doing triathlons?

How to keep things in perspective. How to prioritize what is truly important. How to have fun.

6. What is The Big Goal that you're working towards?

I've "discovered", through triathlon/training, that I am not a big life goal planner. I plan my race schedule more than I plan my life. So from a Big Goal aspect, two things. First, there is an 80% chance that I will be doing IM Wisconsin in '08. Second, keep finding those certain "events" that will push me farther than ever before. Be them athletic, personal, career, life.

Who do I tag......BuckeyeRunner (or the Mr.), My Coach Angela, Snickers Girl, Eric Hodska (my coach's coach)

A Better BT Winter Run Report

I figured I better give you a better race report since E has put me as a link on her BT50k race report. Time to step up.

if you recall in my prior post I had partied hearty at OU with my son the weekend prior. Too much beer, too little sleep, too much college food, too little intelligence....equals.....head cold. So with that type of setup I wasn't sure how the run would go. Here is what I sent my coach and will post as well interspersed with additional comments. A little disjointed but still worth posting.

Ouch.....my muscles are sore. I had to check my watch but my HR averages were all above 160. Even as I started the run my HR was high and I attributed it to 1) being sick and 2) taking medicine....Sudafed to combat the clogged head.

Unsure of the HR based upon those two items I decided to run how I felt.....and I was feeling pretty good. Not good enough to keep up with Rudy Sroka or some of the 50k guys, man can they go, but still at a good pace. Rudy is a world class cyclist, head mechanic at Bike Authority, and an all around great guy. His wife got him into duathlons and he has excelled in that as well.

So I was taking it easy until the first set of hills. Aggresive walking up the hills and downhills that were on the verge of being out of control. Quick mind and quick feet make for a successful downhill run.

I walked most of the hills and was able to recover my HR quickly once I started running again. I really didn't run into problems until the final leg back from Pine Lane (second loop of course....8 miles). My calves started to cramp on me pretty good. I admit that I have not been stretching them very well but I felt I was hydrated enough. I took gatorade at the aid stations and was also drinking my fuel belt bottles. However, I may want to look into getting a bigger water bottle pack.

The hills, especially steps, were taking their toll on my calves. I stopped once to stretch them but didn't stop long because I didn't want to loose my momentum. There was also a competitive friend of mine, Bill Marut, whom I really wanted to stay in front of. I'm wondering if there is something else besides hydration that could lead to muscle cramps in my calves. My calves are the only muscles that I have ever had cramp up.

BT Half Marathon summary

Brandywine Aid Station 22:06 / 162 ave HR
Boston Store Aid Station 19:08 / 170 ave HR
Pine Lane Aid Station 40:14 / 169 ave HR
Finish at Boston Store 38:47 / 170 ave HR

I negative split each loop which I was totally stocked about.

Now you (coach) told me to be in Zone 3, maybe 4 on the hills. Let 's look at my zones again.

Zone 3 154 - 160
Zone 4 161 - 167
Zone 5 168+

I guess you could say I overdid it. No wonder my legs are sore, even though not as sore as they could, or should, be. One bad side affect of the race is a tender ITB on the right side, yep the one I always have trouble with. I may replace running with eliptical or more bike time.

I told my coach the I would look at the schedule she would put together for me and make adjustments where necessary. If I am still stuffed up I will skip the swimming. Swimming with a stuffed nose and snots floating out is just wrong.

So my coach called me after reading my e-mail. She was happy with my results and agreed that the cold and drugs were affecting my heart rates. We also talked about hydration. It reminded me that I was sweating pretty good during the first half of the race. At the middle of the two loops we were back at the start. I peeled off one shirt under my jacket because I was wet underneath. So I guess I was sweating too much and not replacing the fluids well enough. Most definitely a possible cause of the cramps. I must remember to drink more during my races, especially the running races.

The good thing is that coach added a second rest day this week. She knows the effort I put in and proper rest is needed right now. We will also be expecting to see good dividends down the road from the hard training race. I am feeling stronger but must take care of the ITB.

Okay......this is a good post. More detail from the Winter Run.

Game.........On............

From OU to BT50K

The past seven days have been a whirlwind of a week. Last weekend I visited my son at OU for Dad's weekend. I drove down on Friday to spend some extra time with him since I would need to leave a little early on Sunday to make a birthday party for my father-in-law. I knew we would have a good time but I wasn't sure what the weekend would entail.

After I got down to OU we waited for his roommates dad to arrive before getting something to eat. After wings and beer, great training food, we hopped to two other bars. It was nice to finally meet some of Andrew's friends. I've heard their names many times but didn't know who they were. We actually closed the second bar, but there was an "after party" to attend at another friends. We walked to the apartment and placed some games before finally leaving. We made it back to the dorm room around 4:00AM. What was I thinking. We slept in until 11:00AM like good college students.

We got some lunch then watched the women's basketball team. Andrew's cousin is the leading scorer on the team so it was fun to watch the game. Unfortunately the OU team lost. We killed some time before meeting with more friends and dads back at BWs. We stayed there until closing, a round of shots and 8 pitchers later. Of course there was another after party at another friends apartment so we walked there and hung for a little bit, I was tapped out so no more beer for me. Oh, did I mention that the weather in OU was pretty cold, low 30's all weekend and I was walking around in a hoodie or sweater. Didn't want to carry and worry about a jacket in the bars.

We made it back to the dorm around 2:30 - 3:00AM. I slept in again until about 10:00. I headed out to the showers and saw about 2 inches of snow on the ground and flurries coming down. Mind you this is southern Ohio and they don't usually get alot of snow. No salt on the roads, no snow plows. Made for an interesting drive to my dad-in-laws house for his birthday party. It took me about an extra hour to get where I was going. Thank-you SIRIUS for keeping me entertained on the drive.

The birthday party was fun and all I wanted was to get home and sleep. I didn't have much sleep all weekend, then through on top of that beer and college food.......I haven't done that in a long time. I'm waiting for Andrew to send me pictures so I can post a couple.

So come Monday morning I'm still extremely tired and also stuffed in the head. Oh yeah...walking around without a jacket really did me in. FULL BLOWN HEAD COLD.

I needed to get over this cold quickly because of the Buckeye Trail Winter Run on Saturday. There is also the overnight work trip to Detroit. What a week. The stuffiness in my head started floating down to my chest. It's not bad now but I should go see a doctor on Monday.

I finally got some good sleep Thursday and Friday nights. The run on Saturday started at 7:00AM. Aimee and I were up at 4:30. I wasn't sure how I was going to do the run. the BT Winter Run had three runs, half marathon, full marathon and 50k.....all on the trails of the Cuyahoga Valley. Don't forget the pictures I gave you of the creek crossing. I would have to cross it two times today. The winter run is very low key. No awards, proceeds would go towards a scholarship and a non-profit organization. But the race shirt was primo and the food afterwards top notch.

I started running easy to get warmed up. You never know how far the guy next to you was going to run. Conversation was abundant and I realized that there were several 50k runners around me. I couldn't believe the pace they were running at. I was feeling pretty good and decided to see what I could do. I think my heart rate was a little high from either the Sudafed I was taking or from just being sick. I was going to run on feeling. The footing was okay despite the snow and ice. A warm front came through over night and with temperatures just below 40 degrees the air was comfortable. The first loop was 5 miles which I completed in just over 40 minutes. I started the second loop still feeling good. The second loop, 8 miles, is alot of fun. The two times I've done it before it's become my favorite trail run. The creek crossing was at a normal level and I could step over on a couple of rocks.

It wasn't until the turn-around of this loop that I started having any problems. The hills were starting to take a toll on my calves. They were starting to cramp. I had to fight off the cramps and keep moving forward. The uphills were walkers and the downhills I took agressively moving quickly.

I would pass Aimee and other people I knew going the other way. Everyone looked good and even the people I didn't know offered words of encouragement and I tried to return with a comment to them as well.

As I came off the trail there is a half mile path to the finish. My calves started to cramp again but I was almost done. As I hit the finish someone called out my time. Run over. From the finish line we go inside and turn in our race number stub and tell Tanya our time. See....I told you it was low key. Then your race number gets placed on posterboard in order of finishing. I was 7th overall for the half marathon. As I reviewed the results I was surprised by what I saw. The top four spots went like this, 39, 15, 49. Those are the ages of the runners. The 49 year old is a friend of mine, but a 15 year old cranking out a 1:50 for a trail half mary. The only thing more incredible than that was the NINE YEAR OLD who finished around 2:40. This kid must be the next Dean Karnezes. Amazing he would even want to run that far.

Oh by the way.....my time was 2:01....which is what I was hoping to run. Of course being sick I was pretty much drained. Aimee and I made it home and took a nice long nap. My legs are very tired and I'll be hitting the sack early again. Maybe I'll be able to sleep better tonight despite the sore throat and stuffy head. I can only hope.

I can also hope that it won't be another 10 days before I post again.

Game on people.

Product Review

What do you get when you combine your cell phone with BimActive.com? The following information, charts and graphs. You may have seen the ads in Runners World or InsideTri for BimActive. The website is free, but you can also download a program onto certain phones that allows you to track your workout. It is supposed to be better than the GPS systems because it also uses cell towers to find your position. After the workout is done the data is uploaded to the website so you can look at it and publish it to a blog, like this. Personally I have seen two benefits of this program. Now that I am trail running I can get accurate distances of what I am running. My phone also beeps when I hit each mile, allowing me to mark my splits. this gives me average HR per mile. The total mileage is good for tracking how many miles I have on my shoes. I usually don't care how far I run, but I like to know when I should be replacing my shoes using mileage instead of age. I usually carry a phone with me when I cycle or run anyways so I might as well use it for something else. If you are interested check with the BimActive.com website to see if your phone is supported. You can try it and delete the program if it's not for you. Just another way to get your game on. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 793 ft Location: Peninsula, OH Elev. Gain: -9 ft Date: 01/13/07 Up/Downhill: [+1158/-1167] Time: 11:53 AM Difficulty: 4.4 / 5.0 Weather: Fog/Mist 38F temp; 92% humidity 38F heat index; winds N 5 Performance Distance: 9.97 miles Time: 1:30:20 Speed: 6.63 mph Pace: 9' 03 /mi Calories: 1197 Map Elevation (ft.) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 07 +0' 04 6.6 -0.1 +111 ft 2 8' 58 -0' 05 6.7 +0.1 +105 ft 3 9' 00 -0' 03 6.7 +0.0 +3 ft 4 10' 21 +1' 18 5.8 -0.8 -69 ft 5 9' 08 +0' 05 6.6 -0.1 -112 ft 6 9' 12 +0' 09 6.5 -0.1 +177 ft 7 8' 43 -0' 20 6.9 +0.3 -42 ft 8 9' 35 +0' 32 6.3 -0.4 -26 ft 9 8' 28 -0' 35 7.1 +0.5 -151 ft end 8' 00 -1' 03 7.5 +0.9 -7 ft Versus average of 9' 03 min/mi

Posted from bimactive.com

Communing with Nature

Amazing what a week can mean for training. Remember my implosion and regaining of balance last weekend. I had a good trail run last Sunday on the Buckeye Trail. This weekend I had to work again but things went better and I was able to get in my trail run after work as I had planned. This week I had to be at my customer at 2:00AM. Hospitals can't do without their systems during the day. So I worked from 0200 - 1000, about 8 hours. With only one hiccup in the process things went well. I thought it would be interesting to get in my 1.5 hour run with only 4 hours rest before work.

I ran another section of the Buckeye Trail. This part will is the second half of the Buckeye Trail Half Marathon at the end of the month. The rain had come down in the area pretty hard. The rivers were running high so I knew of one creek crossing that would be flowing well. That and alot of mud on the trails.

As soon as I turned onto the trail the hill climb was slippery. There was water running down the middle of the path. I'm enjoying getting muddy. Splashing through the mud puddles. Ducking under trees. Jumping over logs.

I don't run with any music. I like to run by myself. I like to think about what I am doing. Keeping my pace where it should be. Staying in the HR zones where I need to be. Watching out for tree roots. Being careful where I place my feet. Taking the correct line on the trail.

I also think about people I know. Why I train. How I am improving. My "big" thought this trail run was how much I've been enjoying my current training. How much I've been enjoying getting muddy and loosing myself in the woods. I don't get lost literally, I just feel generally great about being out there.

I thought about IronKahuna at Tri-Geek Dreams. He's in a slump and needs some motivation. Go out and give him some love. I was a little slumped too but this trail running has helped alot. Maybe Kahuna needs something new in his training to get un-slumped.

It's the enjoyment of the trail running that has revitalized my training. Doing something off the beaten path. Getting into a unique area of running. That's how I got into triathlon. It wasn't something that everyone was doing at the time. I just like doing things that are a little unique.....like becoming an Ironman.

So I'm revitalized with my training. My HR zones have increased by 5 beats. I'm feeling the benefits of the changes and looking forward to a good season.

So to share my enthusiasm here are some pictures from my trail run.

This is a picture of the creek that I would have to cross twice, out and back loop of course.


This is a picture I took of myself crossing the creek. Normally the water is only ankle deep. Almost to my knee this time. The water was cold but once you get going again the legs warm up again. Of course I stood in the water for about 1 minute in order to get a good picture, maybe not the smartest move. I could feel the grit from the water filling my shoes. I was on my way back anyways.


Post run: Oh yeah, that's mud all the way up to my knees.

Reason #15 to shave your legs.......the mud is easier to get off post trail run/mountain bike.


Game On

Blog Updates

Make sure you check out my sidebar information. I've updated alot over there, especially the 2007 season.

Amazing what you can get done when waiting on an operating system upgrade in the middle of the night. I have read all of the posts that were waiting for me in bloglines.

Don't you people post in the middle of the night? I hope you all got in some good training this morning while I was working the hours into daylight.

Game.....yaaaawwwnnnnn......On.

How many of me?

Got this from Flatman so I punched in my name.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 9 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Merry Christmas

Come on. It wasn't that long ago. Have you forgotten all about being nice to each other and fellowship and caring and Jesus and connecting? I didn't think so.

I was putting away more decorations and had to make sure I posted a picture of the ornament I got from my mom. My parents were at Lake Placid when I did the race. They stayed a couple of days extra to see more of the area, definitely nice to be retired. So they were strolling through town and one of the shops was selling ornaments. The entire thing is hand painted, including my name, number and finish time. What an awesome gift.

It's a great reminder that I am an Ironman.

Game On!

I love trail running

I finally am able to post my BiM Active activities on Blogger. Here is the results from my trail run the day after I found my perspective again. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 724 ft Location: Northfield Center, OH Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 01/07/07 Up/Downhill: [+1286/-1286] Time: 09:19 AM Difficulty: 4.5 / 5.0 Weather: Overcast with Haze 39F temp; 75% humidity 39F heat index; winds SE 9 Performance Distance: 11.04 miles Time: 1:42:50 Speed: 6.45 mph Pace: 9' 18 /mi Calories: 1286 Notes HR for each split on the watch 8:18 / 145 8:29 / 149 9:20 / 154 9:23 / 151 8:27 / 155 8:36 / 151 9:51 / 137 21:40 / 146 17:50 / 156 Map Elevation (ft.) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 32 -0' 46 7.0 +0.6 +132 ft 2 8' 24 -0' 54 7.1 +0.7 -115 ft 3 9' 25 +0' 07 6.4 -0.1 +39 ft 4 9' 24 +0' 06 6.4 -0.1 -65 ft 5 8' 22 -0' 56 7.2 +0.7 +161 ft 6 8' 59 -0' 19 6.7 +0.2 +4 ft 7 9' 50 +0' 32 6.1 -0.4 -105 ft 8 11' 05 +1' 47 5.4 -1.0 -66 ft 9 10' 38 +1' 20 5.6 -0.8 +27 ft 10 9' 33 +0' 15 6.3 -0.2 +122 ft 11 8' 12 -1' 06 7.3 +0.9 -128 ft end 11' 06 +1' 48 5.4 -1.1 -3 ft Versus average of 9' 18 min/mi

Posted from bimactive.com

Keeping It In Perspective

My problem is that I have things to post about but I can't set aside the time to write them down. I'm usually too busy reading other blogs, updating my Training Peaks, reading the message board for the Cleveland Tri Club, training, working, Snakebite team business, etc. You get the picture.

I also think quality over quantity is better, so I try to make my posts worth while. Then I need to spend some time and update the blog with sidebar information......where does it all end.

Must focus. I don't know if I have a mild case of adult ADD or just too many things that I'm involved in that pull me all over the place. Oh and the Christmas decorations need to be packed away. SEE WHAT I MEAN!!!

So usually I have to step back, make a list and prioritize. That's where the perspective part comes in. Once I create that list I can see what's important and get things done. On my current list almost everything is crossed off and blogging is one of the last things not crossed of......so here goes.

********BEGIN FLUFF******
******ALSO KNOWN AS BULLSHIT THAT PROMPTED THIS POST**********

Today's post actually goes back to last weekend, Jan. 5-6 to be exact. I was finishing a project at a customer in lovely Lima, OH. This place is a 2.5 hour drive from home. Friday was to go out and do some prep work on the new computer system and Saturday we restore the production data to the new system. Boom.....live on the new system.....everyone is happy. I forgot to include what I call the Denis Factor.

Denis is the person I was working with at the customer.......he is the customer. Smart guy. Been there over 15 years. Knows all there is to know about the processes on the system. Also a very busy guy, many year end projects as we also try to install this new system, the prior system was 8 years old.

Anyways, I knew Denis would be tight for time. However, when i arrived on Friday, 2:00PM, he hadn't done anything on the new system in the past two weeks. New software wasn't loaded. Things hadn't been tested. GREAT. I started doing what I had planned on doing and see where we wind up. I kept him on task as best I could. Friday plans was to prep the new system and save data from the old system.

I thought cool, write the program, set it up to run at night, get to the hotel, nice dinner at Applebee's, relax at the hotel, blog a little, good nights rest. Oh boy was I wrong. We could get the system at 7:00PM. Fine I said. Still early enough for me.

BOOM......oh by the way we have to run day end processing before we run the save. Now I almost loose it. WTF. so how long does that take........3-4 hours. Then he starts manipulating the jobs, ending some that don't need to run, pushing others fasters, etc. I'm sitting there trying to figure out what has happened as I can do nothing.

I've read most of the links on bloglines. Nothing new on the message boards, I don't feel like posting. I'm just getting totally frustrated as I am now tired and hungry. I've been going for over 12 hours. The emotional rollercoaster I'm on is worse than Ironman. At IM I was in control for a majority of the race. I have NO control over Denis.

Well we finally get out of there it was 10:00PM. I'm starving. Dinner turned into Arby's in bed watching CSI. Saturday's work started at 8:00AM so I needed some sleep.

Saturday went well. I was in control. I made sure during testing Denis stayed on track. Unfortunately, Saturday also went 3 hours longer than I wanted. I had packed a bag so I could run the trails on the way home. I didn't leave Lima until 3:30PM. As I drove by the exit for the park the sun was setting and there would be no trail run today. So Friday AND Saturday became rest days from training.

I called Aimee letting her know I was on the way home. She made plans with her sister and neighbor to go shopping and have dinner out. I wasn't going to interrupt her plans so I kept quiet about how shitty the past two days went.

Once home I made some dinner and opened up a bottle of wine. I guess I needed to unwind more than I thought. By the end of the evening I was one glass shy of finishing the bottle. Yeah, I was buzzing pretty good. I watched a couple of movies on the TV, only remembering "The Punisher".

On Sunday I felt better. Despite all the alcohol I put in an 11 mile trail run at a 9:18 pace. I felt great, got muddy and used the endorphines from the run to improve my attitude.

********END FLUFF*********

During my drive home Sat. afternoon I started to get things back into perspective. Things didn't go exactly as I had planned. I wasn't going to get my trail run done. I spent more time than I wanted at the customer, in fact it went 14 hours over thanks to the Denis Factor.

It was around noon on Saturday that things clicked for me. I was so pissed off because I wasn't going to get my run. The run mattered more than the work. I love my training and competition. I like my work. But it's the work that pays for my training and competition.....so get over it and deal with it. Once I let it go that I wouldn't get in my run I started dealing with the whole situation better.

I'm a triathlete damn-it. We constantly remind ourselves and others that we must go with the flow because on race day, especially Ironman, so many things are out of our control and we should expect anything. Be prepared to face the unexpected, adjust to the adversity and move forward......always move forward.

I think the flexibility is what prevented me from blowing up at Denis Friday night. It was what is was.....out of my control for the moment.

So once again the lessons we learn in triathlon, work and life can be used in any situation.

Keeping my perspective reminds me that things could be worse in my life. Homeless, jobless, ailing, mentally unstable.....you know what I mean.

So my perspective in back in balance......GAME ON.