Usually I sleep like a rock the night before a race.  The night before my first 70.3 was filled with sleepless hours.  By the time the alarm clock(s) went off I felt exhausted but excited. We made it to the staging area as planned.  From the staging area participants and spectators were bused the 1 mile to the starting area.  I must say, for accommodating over 2,600 people, it went really … [Read more...]

I know, my last Master's Swim post was little negative.  You will be happy to hear that my second Master's Swim experience was much more pleasant. It didn't start out that way though.  I arrived at about 10 till to find people waiting in the parking lot.  Apparently the Lifeguard was a "no show".  Which meant we didn't have a key to get in.  After much waiting one of the guys went to get … [Read more...]

Thursday was yucky!  All I could muster was a miserable 15 mile training ride with Danoh.  It wasn't that cold but it is getting dark early. Friday was a day off. Saturday Dan and I met for a 38 mile bike ride around Salisbury and Pleasant Plains.  Neff actually joined us for a quarter of the ride.  He flipped just before Salisbury.  Did I mention he is nuts?  It was something like 40 … [Read more...]

The computers were down at work so I busted out a few minutes early.  I was going to be on a time crunch if I wanted to get in a good training run. I managed to hit the pavement shortly after 16:00.  For some reason I felt pretty good so I decided to just go with it.  All the lights were turning red to green (to reference the song "Babylon").  It was cold and I was wearing shorts.  Heading … [Read more...]

I left my house around 07:00 to arrive at Master's Swim by 07:45.  This gave me plenty of time to remove my cycling gear and get down to tri shorts.  This was my first time at Master's Swim and I felt really out of place.  I'm not a strong swimmer, these are the best (old) swimmers in Springfield, and I wasn't sure of the protocol.  I didn't want to sound dumb so I didn't ask anyone what they … [Read more...]

Thursday was cold and rainy so I was relegated to running on the treadmill.  My first experience on the never ending belt in a long time.  Needless to say it was miserable.  At least the baseball playoffs were on TV.  I ran 5 miles and the Cardinals ending up losing.  Wainwright was tough but Holiday...... Friday was a day off since I would be waking up at 05:00 on Saturday to get in a … [Read more...]

It's not that I haven't been training it's just that I have been too lazy to sit at a computer and type.  On Saturday Dan tortured me for "50 some" miles then got me drunk in St. Louis.  I took the day off on Sunday then rode 29 miles on Monday.  Tuesday was a wash.  Wednesday I officially became a member of Eisenhower pool and swam 1500 yards.  I felt better swimming this time.  It must … [Read more...]

The family was meeting some friends on Lake Springfield for their last boat trip of the year.  So I had to get in a good run before we left at 12:00.  I reluctantly called up Dan to see when he was running.  Reluctantly because my legs were feeling tired from yesterday and I knew Dan would not run slow.  He was leaving in 15 minutes.  I made him wait 20 minutes. Leaving my house I could … [Read more...]

The in-laws left Springfield in the late morning.  Dan had already left for his morning brick.  It was cold and raining by the time they left.  So I was left to wait and hope the rain stops in time for a long ride.  I flipped back and forth on the Weather Channel probably, ohhhhhh, a hundred times.  Watching the green blob slowly trickle from left to right across the screen.  The rain would … [Read more...]

The wife's Aunt and Uncle are visiting from Seattle starting Thursday so the next couple of days will be training-free.  I HAD to get in a good day today to allow for a couple of days off and family time. Work ended early and I was on the bike by 17:00.  I rode an improvised loop heading South on the TT bike. Nothing crazy but trying to maintain 20 mph at the least.  The ride ended with 22 … [Read more...]