Merry Christmas!!!

Traditions....what a great thing. For me, my Christmas Eve tradition has always been and will always be frozen pizza and shrimp. For as long as I can remember, we would attend the 5pm service, head back to the house for frozen pizza, pop and gifts prior to heading to my grandparents. My dad would get the fireplace going to burn the wrapping paper and we would sit in the backroom of the house as a family and have our own Christmas, prior to running from house to house to visit relatives.
This year is a little different, but not much. I still got my frozen pizza, no worries mom, and had a beer or 2. As I loaded the truck to head back to WI for the holidays, this is how the year is different. This year I have a multitude of different types of sporting gear to bring home.
Sport 1: Running. I have a marathon that I am "participating" in, not racing, in about 2 weeks. I have done approximately 15 miles a week on average for the last 3 weeks...I should be ready, right??? But I will have a cute little running partner to keep me company as I partake in her 2 hour run on Saturday. Oh how she'll love the roadways of EC and the snow covered trails from my high school cross country days.
Sport 2: Hockey. Evan, my nephew, called the other day and asked if I'd bring my hockey stuff back so him and I, along with his dad, my brother and niece can skate sometime during our stay in WI. Of course, not ever passing up the opportunity to put the ole skates on, plus I really want see how much him and Sophia have improved, I agreed to load those in the truck as well.
Sport 3: Cycling. I have my bike on the trainer in the living room, still in the corner from when it was "adjusted" due to the surprise Christmas tree. As I was planning my return trip home I needed to make sure that I had all of the proper training gear to join Kate with her sessions for the weekend. So, the bike will be dusted off, taken off of the trainer, loaded into Big Red along with her bike and trainer as well.
For those that are keeping score....thats 2 pair of running shoes, a pair of hockey skates, hockey gloves, helmet, stick, 1 adult bike, 1 "kiddie" bike and 2 trainers. I think I have my count correct.
Sport D: Tree Cutting. Perhaps one of my most enjoyable past times, for those that didn't know that, is tree falling. I bought a saw a few years ago to help a buddy clear ATV trails on a gentleman's property a little northwest of Eau Claire. When I bought my home it also came in handy for clearing some pines on my lot as well as helping my sister and brother in-law stock pile oak for the winter months to heat their home. Now that I rent, I have little to no use for the saw, unless my dad needs something tipped over on his lot, which to my luck he does. So, my saw has been placed in the back of the truck too.
As traditions go, a lot has changed for this holiday season for me, but some much has remained the same. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!!

I could us a little wind here....

Bear with me folks, but this is the second post in a row regarding weather.....I really do see myself to be slightly more exciting than this, but I am snowed in, wishing I could fly a kite or at the very least go sailing!
After a rather long week of work, a few marathon days, I headed south for the weekend. I knew of this "Blizzard Warning" that was pending for Saturday.......just Saturday. As I crossed the border, the snow started. It was like someone drew a line and the snow machine AND wind started. It wasn't all bad though.....I only had about 40 miles left. No worries my friends, I made it to my end destination.
So its now Sunday, still trapped by the wind and snow. The wind is blowing a gentle 30-50mph...so its not that bad, right? I tried mightily to "scoop" us out on Saturday morning. I got the tractor stuck not once, but 4 times. Not overly happy about my success rate to clear a path out of said driveway to venture out into this wonderful winter weekend. My biggest accomplishment however, was getting out of the driveway with "Big Red" This in itself was an adventure; and all I want was treats from the store.
So today, starts another day of being "trapped" Its not nearly as bad as it sounds though....I have pretty good company to help me pass the time.
To steal a line from George Castanza with regards to wind...."the sea (wind) was angry that day my friends. Like an old man trying to return soup at a deli"

A little reminder for those that don't get to see a nice breeze in the Midwest

So, as I sit at the counter contemplating what do for the balance of the day, I keep coming up with the following options:

1) Drink coffee all day

2) Run twice, similar to yesterday (the treadmill is starting to suck though)

3) Switch to beer shortly after 12 noon and watch football

4) Go back to bed and hibernate like a bear

Oh the options I have!!!!

Mother Nature's Ugly Face

For the mid-westerner's that stop by this page, today was a great MN day for weather. The standing joke seems to be that the mid-west has only 2 seasons, Road Construction and Winter. But with the past few winters being rather mild, the Road Construction season has been extended to cover pretty much the entire calendar year. So with the rain that we awoke to this morning, it was a day to remain inside. As the morning started with watching the infamous white van head south, I returned to the couch to take stake for the day. Oh the naps were plenty....and needed. The past few weeks (maybe months) I feel like I've been going 100mph in about a thousand directions. So the couch was happy to have me hold it down all day. I did wait however for the worst part of the day to go Christmas shopping. By this time the rain had stopped long enough to glaze the roads with ice; the added bonus was the snow that started....with wind gal force winds. I might be exaggerating slightly here, but for those that got to feel the brunt of this beauty, it sucked

I sat on the bike today.....first time in about 3 weeks. Not sure why I picked today to get that going again....perhaps the Christmas tree that appeared in my living room that moved the bike and trainer to a different spot peaked my curiosity to see if I still enjoyed indoor riding. Lucky me, I do.

Its a little tree that fits perfect in the small room, I couldn't be happier to have a tree in the house

However, as bad as this morning started out, yesterday morning was great. Nice sunny skies, a great breakfast at Our Kitchen, a cute little diner in the Uptown area, and as always, way way to much food to consume. Judging by the photo below you can understand the amount of food this place serves.....but its so good.

The pancake that you sub for toast, yep, bigger than my face!!

Race mode and mood is starting to show its smug face again as well. We had a team meeting a few weeks ago to discuss the up coming season and that always gets me wanting to train and race. I have a marathon coming up in a few weeks, my average run volume a week is about 15 miles, and most of those come on during the Saturday morning group run...its going to be the best "fun run" ever. It might even beat the Sioux City half that I trained even less for....but I will have my same running partners and this time I promise to finish with her, not take off with a mile left.

Half Ass Attempt

So the other night I was all jacked up and ready top have a huge pan of tater tot hot dish.....yep, that's my exciting life, ha! At any rate I got cooking all of the components together. I noticed that both cans of soup that I had purchased were the wrong ones. One of them was that low sodium crap and the other was some sort of healthy cooking something or another. It was a disaster from the start. The next mistake, I made a poor choice, very poor choice with the quality of tater tots. I know, its just chopped up potatoes formed into some little tot looking thingy, they gotta all be the same right....let me tell you, clearly not the case. So now everything is cooked and ready to be mixed together in a cake pan to go into the oven. So off it goes. I start cleaning the house while this disaster permeates the aroma of a great meal that I have grown to love over the years. So I am thinking that the meal is not all lost, once its all cooked it will be as good as always. Well folks, it wasn't. I did manage to choked down about half of the pan for supper and saved the rest for the following days lunch. Surprisingly enough, the reheated leftovers were better the freshly cook mess that I had eaten the night before. I like to cook, it is a great stress release for me, I am not good at it, as this post can attest to; but now worries folks....it has not made me stay out of the kitchen. Here hoping your next meal was better than the half ass attempt that I put together the other night.

Free Rabbit

So I had kind of a weak moment on Sunday, actually 2 of them. I would like to think that I a pretty healthy eater, concerned about weight, exercise, etc. Well, not yesterday. I made not 1 but 2 trips to McDonald's. This is a restaurant that I seldom frequent. The last time I was there I was not even sure if they still carried one of my favorite meals (if we can call them meals) from a past life. This was the #4 Value Meal. For those that do not frequent such an establishment, this is a double quarter pounder with cheese (I get it without onions), french fries and a drink of your choice. The 1st go round I had it with a Light Lemonade, yeah, like thats helping anything. The second time I got the same meal, bare in mind it was about 2 hours after the first stop, but had a chocolate shake to wash everything down. I am happy to say I could not nor wanted to finish the second purchase. I felt sick, I mean really sick. I had a headache, I stunk and everyone knows how I can tolerate a lot of smells and scents (see Smells Like Foot in Here for reference). My skin was oily, I was tired and just felt horrible. Its hard to believe that I used to eat there a few times a week and even harder to understand, at least for me, that people can eat there everyday and think its a healthy meal.

Needless to say, I am off of the fast food wagon again and back to some sense of normal eating. My body is not happy with me, if it could kick my ass, it so would.

To end this post on a good note, I got a new pet over the weekend. During a run I found a helpless little pet rabbit that was looking for a good home. It seemed to be "free" and its owners clearly wanted nothing to do with it anymore. So, below is my new pet, I just need help naming it.

He's just so cute and cuddly, how could not want to take him home with you?

He looks super fast to me, might be a new training partner!!!

Its been a long time....

Hello web world, where have you been? Wait, its me that's been MIA for the past few weeks. I have gotten numerous requests to post, okay only 3 but that seems like a lot to me...I only know about 6 or 7 people.For those that are wondering if the "foot smell" has left big red, I am happy to announce it has, but moved to a van, a much larger area to fester and grown into a whole new scent of its own. Again, not a pleasant scent, but I am told it is better than armpit!!This past weekend I was in IA for the Louis and Clark Half Marathon. Kate, Kelly and I ran it; and Kayla was playing Souix City tour guide; she just didn't know it. The morning meet the 4 us of with a brisk 38 degree chill and a lot of fog. I had been told earlier in the week that I was not allowed to wear pants during this "fun run" The photos will attest to the warmth in the air and how "normal" people would dress for such an event. I had a blast, I was able to run with Bratzy for the first mile or so and Sully until about mile 12 when she informed me that she was no longer talking. For those that are unaware, I like to talk, sometimes a lot and usually about nothing of any importance; which is why I like to blog....just random crap about nothing I think NBC had a sitcom on a few years ago, something to do with a show about nothing, if I think of the of the name I'll let you know. The colors though the park area of the run were great. It was the mile or so climb that sucked. I had ran a total of about 12 miles since my last race, the longest run being probably about 6 miles, so when asked about partaking in such an event, hell, why not. My IT bands are killing me, I can't hardly walk. Now I ask myself, "What was I thinking"

In classic Marv fashion, the post race meal was coffee, a french toast muffin, beer and food at Chilis. Perhaps one of the best post race recovery meals I've had in quite some time.

The stitches were taken out of my hand yesterday, so it is back to the pool tomorrow morning for me, and than to slowly work on easing back into the swing of things, just as most of the training folk I know are starting to really enjoy the off season and few that aren't done for another couple of weeks. So I will make a deal with you, if you need a beer, a buddy to eat fried cheese with, milk and Oreos or a whole mess of ice cream....call I'll be your guy.

My first Weaver sandwich, I feel like a freakin' giant

I still had someone to talk to at this point of the run, THAT made much easier

Where's Walldo? Can you spot the moron?

Smells Like Foot in Here.....

So, its been a little while since I posted anything; sorry for the delay. A lot has changed for me in the past few weeks and my mind has been in other places than the blog. I am working on moving forward and restarting my life, all of this is a good thing for all parties involved.

For the past week or so, I have left some of my training stuff in "Big Red." Now for those that have seen the truck, its not big, very utilitarian, so it should come to no surprise that it might pick up and hold onto odors for a while. Well, foot is not an odor I overly enjoy. Warm apple pie, lilacs, oranges, etc; these are scents that I enjoy. Foot, not one of them!! But do I do anything to change this new aroma/love affair that I have began? The answer my friends is, Nope! So again, this morning, I will jump into the truck and head to the office. I have a pair of old training shoes, this past season's racing shoes, cycling shoes and some clothing. The clothing shouldn't be the problem, but I found out this year that I am one of those stinky sweaters. Not sure when this happened to me, and I offer a heart felt apology to those that have been surround by my stench; I didn't know! I mean, come on, its me; how could I stink, ha! A little rambling, moving on. I seldom wear socks when I run, causing some great foot scents to develop in my shoes. Growing up I never wore socks in my skates either, ruined a brand new pair in about 2-3 weeks from sweaty feet and odor. I think the best way to describe my new car freshener smell, smell a good cheese or even milk that is about 6 months past the expiration date. You know the milk has curdled and the cheese has turned green and grown hair. You always smell it, its like a bad car wreck hard to not stop and look. So you smell these oddities and think that it smells terrible. Often so bad its hard to describe, not anymore my friends, not anymore. You now have the ability to say "Holy...that smells terrible, phew, just like foot."

Rolled pants, letting air flow to not have a pungent foot smell, very very classic

A Real Soaker...

So, I have come across some free time as of late, feeling out of shape and in need to get back at it after watching IMOO last weekend. So I put the beer and frozen pizza on the back burner for a while and started to do some lite training again. I have yet to get in the pool, but that will come on Monday (so Dennis and Jim, you best be ready) I'll be the guy in Lane 1 that looks like a fish out of water. If I splash too much, I am probably in need of help, so please through me a line, ha! Got home from work last night, an absolutely perfect night and set off on a run. I did run in Madison, but for whatever reason last night I decide to increase the pace and see what I had left for fitness. I was surprised! I was out for a little over an 75 minutes and had a few good pick-ups and some big hill climbs. The hills that I found will work great for repeats once I am in full training again. My legs were a little tight this morning, but I thought it was because I had just gotten up and wasn't moving real quick yet. Nope. So mid-afternoon I put on the classic Marv Stevenson mismatch cycling gear and out the door I went. For those that live in the area, you know that it rained off and on all day. Well, because I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, I decided to ride anyway. I did a good loop that lead me out past Fort Snelling, through the park, past the airport, around Hyland Park and back home. The rain came, than went, than came back, like I had some how pissed it off after the first shower by not turning around and going back home. I was caught in Hurricane Ike like weather, but pushed on! I feel I had a good run and ride the past 2 days, now I can just sit around, relax and wait for the excessive training bug to hit again; and out the door I go!

Mad-Town

Not sure how to begin this little blog post. Last week Friday, I packed and loaded all of my stuff and headed to Madison for IMOO '08. First Ironman for me to witness and I was caught way way off guard about the emotions that would come over me. I had no idea what to expect, the look of the racers out working to achieve the end goal. But first a quick weekend recap:


Friday: Dan, Jason, Nick and Casey met at my house to load and start the caravan to Mad-town. As always Dan started busting my ass for the amount of stuff I had packed, apparently I pack like a female. I had all of my swim, bike and run stuff. Plan was to get up Saturday morning and get some fun easy training in; so I felt it was all justified. We arrive to town about 2ish, get checked in and head to State Street, which became pretty much the general meeting spot all weekend. Stopped at a great little bar and sat outside to watch people and get our drink on, which we did!! It got pretty drunk out early on Friday and the stories that followed Saturday morning from people that I didn't even know where town, yet knew about my evening were very very entertaining.


Saturday: My mom and I had previously talked about the Farmers Market around the capital and how cool it was. So that is where I started Saturday. I was more than likely still not so sober as I walked around the market. Figuring a cup of java would do the trick I made my first of many trips to Starbucks, no luck, but good coffee. Went back to the room, took a little nap and than went for a run with Dan and Monster. Dan was in rough shape after Friday night and was looking just to do about an hour of easy running. It ended up slightly longer than that, but we were on a mission for him and Monster to find an ink shop for new body markings. With Magellan in the lead we were bound to get lost, which happened. Why do I follow the one guy that gets lost going around the block? We went out again Saturday night and met up with the girls (Jen, Jmac, CY and Merilee) for another night of fun. Went back to my favorite new Madison bar for more Black-n-Tans. Must of had myself about 1500 Black-n-Tans over the weekend, they were oooooh so good.


Sunday (Race Day): Got up, jumped on the bikes and headed to the swim started. I wasn't moving overly fast yet (see # of Black-n-Tans consumed to answer any questions) so I missed the swim start, but was able to watch a majority of the swim and the lead guys run into T1, they were moving. They run faster out of the water than I run the 3rd leg of the race! Back to Starbucks for coffee and a muffin! Sunday afternoon was spent walking the bike course after we were giving poor info as where to met everyone for the BBQ. No worries though, it was a great day and I was able to see everyone on the bike and they looked awesome. Went back to the room, had a few more cocktails in the free bar, jumped on the bikes and went to watch everyone running. This is where the emotions started. Seeing the sheer determination, grit and up coming pride that each athlete was heading towards was simply amazing. I've seen the races on TV, but to be there is a whole different feeling.


Monday ('09 Sign-up): John, Kate and I got up, packed the vehicles and headed down to registration for next year. I had been on the fence all weekend about getting my spot for '09, but after watching people finish I knew this was a race I must do next year. I got my spot and am now just waiting for an email to sign up and pay, that its the real deal!! I am just smiling thinking about crossing the finish line next year.


The weekend was a total success for me. I took responsibility, self concern and caution and tossed it out the window when I hit town. And for those that were there with me, well, they saw it. To all of the finishers, GREAT JOB!!!

Saturday night crew at the Irish Pub for Black-n-Tans

The long awaited photos of my past. If you are unsure of why these are being posted, read post from a few days ago and hopefully it all makes sense at time

Sunday afternoon at Ma Weekes, following the third place game at McQuad's in Bismarck, ND. This is a group of beat up, beat down guys that just played 4 or 5 games in about 100 degree heat, after drinking all night on Saturday and getting minimal sleep. Oh the days of softball. (I am the guy in the middle with my head down, making sure my feet are still on my body)

A photo from 2005, me getting ready for my first race; Door County Sprint. The race that started it all for me. I had no idea what I was getting into, laughed and pointed at the funny helmets, spandex suits, shaved legs on guys and odd looking bikes. WOW, have the times changed for this guy.

Capt Jack's Prior Lake 2 Miler. What a day this turned out to be. Had a great late season swim with 2 great current friends and met 2 new ones as well. Notice "Super Stud Jim" sans wetsuit. Hes kind of a big deal!!!

21st b-day. I was living on the U of M Campus for an internship to finish school. A very interesting 9 months of my life. Take some small city kid, that thinks he has every thing figured out, and put him in the city. At least I survived.

And than there is this little fatty. Ive been told that they had to tape the refrigerator shut, otherwise I would eat until i was sick. I am 3 in this photo. Again, I apparently just finished eating an entire chocolate cake, and my parents felt it more important to get a photo than a wash cloth to clean me. Come on, I'm 3, help a brother out. I noticed this at work today, for those that really know me, I always have 2 shirts on.....I guess that started early in life.

After a pretty sweet guilt trip from a fellow training partner for standing them up on Sunday, this morning i got my butt out of bed and did my first run in a few weeks. I found out real REAL soon as to why I hadn't been running. Its a lot of damn work to run. Man did I forget how tough it is...I would much rather bike or swim. But nonetheless I got a short 4 miles in this morning in the nice humid weather, I didn't stop sweating for about 2 hours. I think I might be in that full off season weight/shape mode.
This coming weekend I am heading to Mad-town for my first ever Ironman spectating event. I am going with a great group of people, so its going to be a blast. I am bringing my wetsuit to swim Saturday morning with the Hirschman's and anyone else that is looking to swim the course. I will also have my bike and running stuff for some very very lite exercise. I am not sure what the weather is suppose to be like nor do I care; I am going down to support and cheer for a number of people that I know racing and to hang out and relax. I should hopefully have some great photos from the weekend that I'll post next week.

Me and My Machine

After yet another night of poor poor sleep I was up and on my bike by 7 this morning. As I rolled out the door the cool crisp air, clear blue sky and a gorgeous sun rise was waiting for me. Just me, my machine, iPod and thoughts. I decided that to head towards Wayzata, maybe do the TNT loop and most importantly stop for coffee and a French Toast muffin at Caribou. For those that have not ever tried this muffin; its a must. Anyone that has ridden from Mntka to Wayzata on McGinty, knows this road sucks. Its full of cracks, potholes, and wash board areas. Some areas are so poor the shoulder is gone. But nonetheless I was headed in that direction, again. As soon as I got to McGinty I was suddenly reminded that it has been repaved all the way to Hwy 101. Sweet!!! I switched play list to "Gut Check" put my head down and did my only little TT to downtown Wayzata. Legs and lungs burning; heart rate at ~ 315; that might be a little high!!! Rolled into Caribou, got my coffee and muffin, walked across the street and watched the boat traffic on the lake; which was plenty already. What a great way to start such a beautiful day.

This how I felt on the bike today, just happy to be out and having a great ride!!!!

Ever start cleaning, come across random photos from the past that never made it into the album? So you stop what you are doing, sit on the floor, couch, chair and thumb through them again. Forgotten times suddenly come flooding back in, you catch yourself smiling, chuckling, perhaps tearing up over the images that are before you. In the age of digital media, not a lot of printed out photos anymore, at least not at this house hold.
So this scenario happened to me this evening as I was cleaning the office. We have been in this house for almost a year, and yes still have packed boxes. Well with the extra time I have now that training has stopped and Rachel in NC; what better time than the present to get things cleaned up. Clearly there was no thought when packing the last few boxes prior to the last move. Just about every box I opened had more random pictures in it. So as I was looking them over I laughed out loud more than once. I laughed because of clothing style, my hair, trying to look "cool" for the camera, college parties, softball games, etc. So as I am currently living in the past I think how far I've come since those photos were taken.
Photo #1, pre-race at Door County Tri in 2005. This was my 1st race. I figured I was playing a lot of bar league softball, was pretty thin and was active; so this should be no problem. I know those were my thoughts going into it. Again, clearly I was wrong. But without that race I would have never picked up the sport that has given me so much happiness.
Photo #2, McQuads Softball Tournament. Most everyone is aware i used to play a lot of ball. So, of the two teams I ran, we picked a group of us and headed to Bismarck for a weekend of fun. The photo I am speaking of, Sunday afternoon, we just won the 3rd place game; had to play 5 that day to even get to that game. We are all sitting on a wall in a driveway, completely beat down, hot, dirty and looking like we just came from a serious battle. That was the also the 1st of what would be 3 years of us gong to that tourney. The guys I played with, still make the yearly trip and have continued to do well. But I will not forget the faces of the other teams when we showed up.
Photo #3, my 21st b-day. I was also living in Mpls at that time, fulfilling my internship for school. I was living with a high school buddy in Stadium Village on the U of M campus. That was one were I burst into laughter when I came across it.
Photo #4, Prior Lake swim 2007. Master's Jim, Sally and 2 others swam across Prior Lake last summer, ~2 miles to Capt Jacks for a beer.
Photo#5, this is my all time favorite picture of me. I look to be about 3 years of age, dirt or food in a few spots on my face, my fat little arms and gut shooting out of a yellow shirt that says "My parents created a Monster" Ziggy and his buddy are the cartoon characters on the shirt as well. I have this dazed look on my face, nothing out of the norm right, just staring back at the camera. I come across this picture every now and again and just think of what that little boy had and still has in front of him.

I am going to try and take these 5 pictures to work and have them scanned and posted in the next few days so people know what I am talking about. Here's hoping that every now and than you stop cleaning, and sit down to relive the past when you come across something you've not seen in long time.

60 minutes including ice cream

So, as of 2+ weeks ago my season was done. I think that I've pretty much made that clear. So last weekend I said how I had a nice ~10 mile ride with my dad. So again virtually no training since the week prior to Turtleman. I contacted a fellow training partner Friday to see if they were interested in an easy coffee ride on Sunday. Nothing serious, maybe an hour stop for coffee and call it a day. Well, this partner, lets call them "S Nelson" for the sake of the post, had a big run Fri/Sat and was more than happy to do an easy ride and get some ice cream, but only if it was from McDonald's. So I meet up with S Nelson at the trail head in St Louis Park and headed east toward Mpls. We continued east until we got to Hiawatha and than meet up with West River Rd. From there we went by the Falls, past Fort Snelling, around the airport, over the 494 bridge, into Eagan and Mendota Heights. Continued into Lilydale and finally St. Paul. Now St. Paul was mentioned at the beginning of the ride to see the Xcel and if they had done anything for the upcoming Republican National Convention. They haven't done much as of yet, in case you were wondering yourself. So follow some roads in downtown St. Paul and wind over to Grand Ave to Bread & Chocolate. A great little treat store that I found earlier this year after my vO2 max test. I had 1-1/2 coffees, we each refilled our lone water bottles, again we planned for 60 minutes and ice cream or coffee, and headed back west. By now, S Nelson, was wanting the fastest way back to the Park and Edina. So we headed back towards Minnehaha Park and took the trails to Nokomis. Followed the parkway to Harriet and Calhoun. Making our way back to the commuter trail and straight west towards the end. We split ways at the trail head were we met up and I rode the ~6 miles back home. All in all it was a great ride, awesome weather and I had not chatted with this riding partner in a few days so it was nice to get caught up. I hope everyone was able to get out and enjoy the great Midwest weather that we had last weekend.

By the way, about 60 miles total for me; and NO ice cream. Last time I do an easy 60 minute ride with S Nelson.

10 years, like we never lost contact

I loaded up the truck and headed back to EC for the 2nd time in 3 weekends. Jack and I left town Friday evening on what promised to be a great time. I was heading home to see an old high school buddy that I had not seen in roughly 6-8 years. He is back at his parents for a few months, in a transition stage, moving from out east back to CO. He was hired by his parents to re-landscape the walk way and steps from the yard to the river. Like I said, the weekend promised to be a good one. We had spoke about water skiing, hanging out on the pontoon and just generally getting caught up with each other. For those that don't know, I played hockey until I was a senior in high school. Politely told the coach he was an ass and left the team mid-season. Dan, the old friend and another fellow senior walked off of the team with me that same night. I had to talk Dan into skating both his junior and senior years, I think the deal maker was I would drive to school and practice.
Jack and I got into town Friday about 7:30ish and I went straight to see Dan. I had a few cocktails with him and his parents down by the river and than went out to watch some buddy's play softball a few miles from my parents house. I ended up at a bonfire and got to bed about 3:30ish. Jack was a real trooper Friday night. He was very well behaved and stayed by my side all night. My old softball team mates had informed me of games they were playing during the weekend and it was another great way to see more folks while I was home. Showing up to the field, I had to laugh. All of the matching uniforms, pants, shoes, batting gloves, etc; its pretty comically. When I played roughly 250-300 games a year, it all seemed normal. Now, they look like morons, but they're all having fun.
Saturday morning I woke up after about 4 hours of sleep, Jack's revenge for not letting him lay around Friday night was to wake me up about 7:15 so he could go out and pee. I was pretty "head achy" and very very dehydrated. Gotta love Wisconsin, I cross the border at Hudson and almost instantly get drunk. I hung out at my parents house for the little while, went back to the ball field for some of the morning's games before going back to the water and helping with the landscape work.
I hauled rock and helped where and when I could with the redesign of the walk way. Had a great time and than, FINALLY we got out on the water later in the afternoon. Meet up with my parents that were already out, my aunt and uncles and even my Grandpa was out, in rare form as always. He is real character!!! Had a few cocktails on the boat, worked on beating Dan in "Splash Dives" and entertained his parents for about 30 minutes as we acted like 12-14 year old's jumping off of the dock again.
The weekend was exactly what I had hoped for. I even got bike ride in with my dad this morning. I had blast checking up with friends and reminiscing about old times.

Terrible at Turtleman

Saturday morning started out great. A light rain in the early early morning; nothing to ruin race day. Nice cool temps and little to no wind. Gonna be a good race, right? Wrong. Since Rachel has moved to NC it is has been a little lonely coming home to an empty house. For the last 7 or 8 years we have lived together, married for almost 5 of those. Now the one person that, at least seems to care about my racing is gone. I know that we talk on the phone at least daily, but its not the same as having her here. So motivation is more than likely at an all time low. Mentally drained from a long season, a great season and the effects of training pretty hard since last November. I crashed the end of last year and my off season started in July so the Nov start was a good time to get back on the horse.
Water temp at the 25th running of the Turtleman Triathlon was 77.999 degrees. Now if it were 78 or warmer, no wetsuits. So for the mile swim, I was immediately in a place that I didn't like; over heating. Having a full wetsuit, than adding a swim cap, not much exposed skin to try and let the heat out of the body. At the turn I was starting to feel myself fade, was told by a fellow racer that is the point that he lost his "free" ride from my draft as he was dropped, but I felt like I was slowing so I pushed on. Apparently way to hard. I've never gotten sick during a race and actually puked, until Saturday. T1 was seemed to take for ever, I was puking. The first 3 miles of the bike, again took forever, more puking. Now these were not full on flu pukes, more of the heart burn vurps (vomit burps). About 1/2 way into the bike I was able to keep my Heed drink from wanting to come back up, didn't even think of taking my gel for fear of a major disaster. I thought a few different times of calling it quits when I out for my bike ride. But than I remembered they got a sweet finishing pin last year, "what am I going to get for the 25th year?" I know, but I do all of these races for the free shirts, bags, hats, etc that we get (yes I know that is all covered in the entry fees) So I came into T2, racked the machine that had zero umph and started off of the run. The opening mile went so so. Walked some of mile 2, damn aid stations and trying to take in too much water and Heed. So I walked to relax my stomach, started running again and enjoyed the rest of the day. I have referred to "the Hurt Locker" before in posts, this was not a trip there, this was a good ol' slug fest of wits. After the race "Swimmer Jim" asked how it went, he said he knew something was up when he saw my stellar T1. I told him about the day and he was said he was glad that I fought through it. I too am very happy for continuing on. By the way, we got a pretty nice wind breaker jacket for racing.
So, being total spent mentally, my '08 season is DONE!!!!!! Yes, that means I am not driving to Palo, IA this coming weekend to do the Pigman Half Ironman race. I can not complain about any of my races, including this latest one. I busted my ass this year, off season and race season and made some huge strides. I have Dan at SCS Multiport to thank for getting me there. This was the 2nd year that I used him as a coach and am very very happy with the results I got from his guidance.
Now that the off season is here for me, you probably ask; "What are you going to do with all of your free time?" Today I bike for 6 hours and covered just under 100 miles. I ate 2 Chipotle burritos when I was done and watched the Olympics. Tomorrow I will probably start my off season frozen pizza and beer diet. I might try to sneak one late season "fun" race in, plus I have the Beer-n-Brat 5k and Capt Jack's 2 mile swim to get in before the snow flies. I know that all of my posts are race related, but I will try to keep posting. For those that are still racing this season, good luck and we can toe the line together next spring.

Splash-n-Dash Fun

As I rolled out of bed, okay off the couch this morning and looked at the clock; 5 AM. Thats pretty early. Only a few weeks ago it the sun would have been coming up, shinning in the big picture window as Jack warmed his lazy butt on the back of the couch. Now, its dark, cool and almost the end of summer. But alas, off to Cedar Lake I go.

I pack my shoes, goggles and even remember a towel this time. I am meeting the crew for our workout. When I get to the beach, Dennis is already there. YES, someone else crazy enough to get up and do this with me. Than Sara, Nick, Shelley (riding her bike) and John all show up. As we stand around getting warmed up, only John and Dennis are doing the splash-n-dash with me. So I load their shoes into a bag, steal Shelley's bike, its clearly built for the vertically challenged folks in the world, and I pedal off to the opposing beach. Now this is a lake I have swam in about 100 times, maybe not, but a bunch of times. I have ran and rode the trails that surround the lake as well. This morning I managed to get lost trying to find the beach. You'd think that for a public park they would put up a sign. After a few wrong truns I get to the water again, set up the 6 pairs of shoes (2 pair per person) and back to the starting beach. The water was warm, really warm so no wettie for me!! Actually no one was in a wetsuit this morning.

Both of the swims went well, as did the runs. The 2nd set I drafted off of Dennis, yes he slowed down so I could draft and John followed me. We made good time to the other side and did the last run in a pack and chatted as we covered the roughly mile trip back to the starting point. This is probably one of my more enjoyable workouts. I think because I seldom do it, its way different than the normal style bricks I do and it forces me to get my legs going right out of the water, which I struggle with.

I was able to get the Lake Minnetonka 5 mile swim photos to upload tonight too, hope you enjoy

Jim smiling for us during his swim

Jen, me and Jim having a coffee after the race (Jim finished 8th overall, nice job buddy!!)

Jen taking a photo of her an I paddling; I think Jim was swimming nearby

Just Me and Jack....

Well, its been about 2 weeks now since Rach has been in NC, man have Jack and I had a ball. Okay, so we haven't. I am training for the last 2 races of the season and he sleeps on the back of the couch. We get to talk to Rach, yes we. When she calls I put her on speaker and Jack barks at her. She is having fun so far in the south. Went to visit her new job last Monday and meet the folks she will be working with. Her hand is healing nicely she tells me and that she thinks she will be able to start working the middle of next week. Scabs have come and gone on a few of the wounds, so thats good. The big one in the meaty part of the hand is taking a little longer than she wants.

Training is going well, not very motivated right now, but still getting the workouts in. After Pigman I am done for the '08 and will start the off season; frozen pizza, beer, wings, etc. Man I love the off season!!!

On Saturday mornings training ride in WI, I was back home for my brother in laws high school grad party, I got to flag down a sheriff and tell him about an injuried cyclist. I was in the middle of one of my efforts when up the road I was 2 riders. I assumed they were just kids, they were in the middle of the road, than back on the right side, than they would veer out into the center again. Well, when I got up to them, one of them had crashed. He wasn't bleeding or broken at all. Just full of gravel and looked really dazed; they weren't kids either. They were a married couple that looked to be about 50-55. The gentlemen had went down and the wife was trying to steady him. I stopped, becasue I am a nice guy, and offered assistance, water, my cell phone, really anything that they might need me to do. They said they were fine, I double checked with them and went on with my ride. I got back into the effort, head down and spinning well. Up over a rise I see a sheriff coming towards me. I flag him down explain the situation with the married couple and where I saw them. He wants my name and number, I guess he thought I was pretty good looking and maybe wanted to grab dinner and drinks, ha. They called me about 45 minutes later and said they found the riders and that everything was okay. It was a little wierd to come up on an incident like that. I was in no mans land again, not hardly even seeing cars let a lone other riders. The rest of the ride was pretty normal, I rode around the Eau Claire/Chippewa County roads and even went to "play" in the hills by the apple orchards. There are a set of 3 that make he wonder how the guys in the Tour are able to climb hills like they do.



Getting up at the but crack of stupid tomorrow morning to meet the normal open water crew at Cedar and hopefully do a Splash-n-Dash workout. Swim about 700-750 yards, get out, run roughly a mile at a good clip, jump back in the lake and swim back to the second pair of shoes. Should be a good workout if the usual number of folks show up for it. I did it once or twice last year and its fun.



Last weekend I canoed for a swim buddy while he did the Lake Minnetonka 5 Mile Challenge. The swim was unfortunatly shortened to 4 miles, e coli was invading the finishing beach. That didnt stop some folks from doing all 5 miles. I paddled last year for him as well, its a good time and quite the distance to swim. I am not sure if I would be smiling like he was while doing it. I can't get the photos to upload of the event, I'll try again later this week

Dog Bite

Okay, 2 posts in 1 day...yep I need a life. As promised here are 2 photos of Rachel's battle wounds. Also I have included a photo of the dog that bite her. I am sorry to know that it is going to be put down, but it is the right thing to do after this attack and the other 2 that it has been involved in. These photos are 6 days old and the healing is well under way. I am happy to inform you that there are no broken bones, ligament damage and as of now no nerve damage. The swelling has went down drastically and she is only complaining about tenderness in the index finger. But you will notice that is the main "chomp" area. Lutsen is a 7 year old German Shepard that I used to play fetch with all year long and run with from time to time. Not sure why he snapped a few months back and again I am saddened by this attack and the results.

Race Recap

What?!?! How bad?!?! These are the words that came out of my mouth Saturday afternoon during a phone call from Rach. She first told me to be calm, don't get mad or yell...but that she is at the ER for a dog bite. Now if Jack, our fat 7 lb Yorkie bite her that's fine...nope a 65-75 lb German Shepard pulled her off of a couch by her right hand while she was attempting to paint her toenails. I will try to post a few photos of the puncture wounds that she suffered. The worst part is that she can not start her externship in North Carolina on time now and will be there into November. Needless to say, I did not stay calm; I yelled, swore and was more than likely not real comforting for her. Sorry dear....I'll try better next time.

This past weekend I again carpooled to a race. Not with the Bates' family though, this time it was a long lost racer, C Millner. We meet at the butt crack of stupid (sorry Kate, I love that line) in Eden Prairie and started the drive to Annadale for the 23rd running of the Heart of the Lakes Triathlon. The weather was little goofy, AGAIN. Can't we just show up race day and have clear blue skies with a temp of about 70?? The fog was so bad during the swim warm-up you could not see the long course turn buoys in the water. The short course were bearly visible and we had to swim past those. I started in the elite wave again, making this swim a non-wetsuit one. The water temp was said to be at 72 and that means no wetties folks. So at least everyone was on the same playing field in my wave, no worries. I was told earlier in the morning that my stellar swim in Waconia would not happen again because I was not able to wear a wet suit for this one. Again no worries, the assface that informed me of my luck in Waconia, I was able to draft him in the water and come out on his feet; I didn't beat him to the finish but it was a huge mental victory for me. I jumped on the bike and took off down the road for the 21 or 22 mile loop. The roads in the past for this course have been terrible. Not anymore, they repaved them and they are great. I held a good pace and was able to pick off a few of the better swimmers. About half way into the bike I take my usually Hammer Gel feed break, get what I think is all of it out of the package and stuff it into the leg of my suit. Wrong, I didn't get all of it. You know when you see a little kid with sticky hands ans you want to stay away from them as they do the "sticky hand claws" move. Pretty much what the back side of my knee and calf felt like. So the last 8-10 miles of the bike I had Raspberry Hammer Gel running down my leg, not overly pleasant; note to self for future races. I dismounted and racked the bike, it felt like a fast T2 and that was confirmed by results as it looked to be 4th fastest. Really happy about that. I heard someone yell "Go Mark, your looking good, run hard" while racking my bike. Voice didn't sound real familiar around a race venue and I was in a hurry, you know its a race, so I didn't look in the direction of the voice. Kind of a mistake. A big one. Yeah, it was Rach. She had left EC early in the morning to come and see the only race she was able to make this year and I didn't even see her, not just in T2, but the entire race. She was cheering in about 4 different spots. I'm a jerk, I know...okay now lets all say it together...Mark's a jerk. Anywho, on the run I knew that I was going to push myself and make it hurt the entire time. Enough of this running 6:45-6:55's miles to finish a race. These times are killing me at the finish. So I put my head down and went for it. I was past by 2 younger people, they are runners so I was not feeling bad. I was able to keep them in contact for about 2 miles before they went a round a corner and than another and I lost them. I had a gentlemen pass me with about 1/2 mile left, I felt like hell and didn't even contest the pass. As we entered the finishing area I heard a few people yell "he's right behind you and coming quick." So I increased my pace and started to recatch the guy that had just passed me. I ended up repassing him and out sprinting him to the line by 1 second. The guy behind me, no, I was the guy that was coming fast on the gentlemen that had passed me already. Anyway I got the spot back and had an awesome race. I am super happy with a 20th place finish and how everything went. Now a few weeks off and than Turtleman. Again, another one to leave everything on the course.

Back to Rachel's hand; its healing nicely. She went to the doctor on Tuesday and got the packing pulled out of the teeth marks. 3 of the 4 holes are starting to scab over and the 4th one, which is a big deep sucker, is looking good. Today when I was home for lunch she showed it to me again and flexed her hand, it looks like a hand puppet's mouth. A little disgusting but for her medical lifestyle she was able to laugh and chuckle about it.

Real Quick....

Okay for those that have a few seconds and want see perhaps my favorite new race photo. Click on the link for a photo from Timberman; you will need to go to http://www.minnefotamoments.com/ and in the search box, enter IMG_9187; hopefully you can spot me. If not, I am the good loooking one in the blue SCS suit. I just showed Rach as she was walking in from school and she was very very impressed; as was Jules. I might have found my new calling in life!

Up North

Another fun filled weekend of racing. Again Mother Nature decided to throw us a curve ball in the shape of wind, choppy water and cool cool temperatures for the middle of July. This past weekend took myself and 14 fellow racers to Grand Rapids, MN for the 24th running of the Timberman Triathlon. The group had rented 2 condos about 500 yards from the race site, making it very very convenient for getting ready on Saturday morning. Being at the race venue for the weekend, it took me a little while to get my game face on Saturday. We woke up, took our gear to transition and then went back to eat and get ready for the race. Now its at this point were I felt like I was waiting around for that last person to show up at an early morning group ride. But nonetheless I got back to transition a little before 7 and started to warm up, get marked and pick up my timing chip. Slowly but surely the game face was coming out; well the best game face I have.
The swim, like I said was little choppy. The water temp was said to be about 62, I think it was much warmer than that however. Upon exiting the water I heard a few people yelling that I was 6th out of the water. Sweet!! I got through T1 a little slower than I would have liked, but I was told I was still in 6th position leaving the resort grounds to go and battle the hills and wind that were waiting for me. About 1 mile into the ride I saw 2 racers up a head and set my sights on them. I over took the first one rather quickly, happy to now be 5th. Just as quick as I had that thought I remembered a few of other racers that typically beat me, they are old and had to start 3 minutes after me; I started in the 40 and under wave. Regardless of that thought I was gunning for a top 10 and a top 3 in the 25-29 age group. I continued to bear down on the rider in front of me and overtook him just before the first big climb. This was a new bike course, 2 loops. Each loop having many a hill to climb and again plenty of wind. I was now in 4th spot for the random spectators along the road. About 3/4's of the way into the first loop, WHHHOOOOOSSSSSH!!!!! Holy crap, it would have been less embarrassing if I was anchored to the road when I was passed by this 41 and over wave starter. I was very supportive and yelled "Go get Rhett they can't be far ahead!!" Okay, so I was passed by Rhett Bonner. He's good if your wondering. I held my spot for the next 10-15 miles before in about the same spot on the climb Brooks got me. WTF!!! I was hoping I was a better rider/climber than this. Not today. Again, no hard feelings...if Brooks wouldn't have gotten me on he bike I can guarantee you he was going to crush me on the run. Basically it was inevitable that he was coming as well. I was passed by one more rider and than beat him out of T2, Steve something or another. Nice guy, you know the kind that's able to carry on a conversation during the run as you are pretty much red lined. My run was my normal run....foot issues AGAIN for the first mile and half and than it loosened up and got better. I ran one of my better 10k times and finished 13th overall and 3rd in my age group. Not the top 10 I was gunning for, but with the 3 pros in the field finishing all in the top 5, that makes it a little tough. I am super happy with my race and got a sweet minnow bucket as an age group award. This is a great race and I can't wait to do the Silver Anniversary next year.
For the most part this blog is about me and racing and training. But now as I sit and ponder what is coming up in the next 2 weeks, it sucks. Rach is heading to NC for 3 months on the 25th. I didn't really think that it was going to be that big of deal, 12 weeks right. Well, now that its 11 days away, I'm pretty bummed. I wish her well, she is doing great in school and will do great in NC as well. She has a ton of work experience and is super knowledgeable in her field. The one nice thing is that she will being staying with her aunt and uncle in Charlotte. Being surrounded by family will help here out and with phone/email we are really never that far apart. So sweet-heart, I will miss you dearly and wish you the very best in finishing your schooling!!!! Knock 'em dead Racecar! (okay, maybe not the best line, seeing how she will be dealing surgical patients)

What a Weekend

I was back in Wiskee (WI) for the weekend with my entire family. Unfortunately Rach was unable to join in the fun, she was stuck working her last holiday and weekend shift prior to shipping out to NC. I got to town on Thursday mid-morning, took Jackster to the vet to have his stitches removed and than promptly to the ER to have stitches put into my Grandma.She slammed her finger in the service door of the garage and needed to be sewn up. If its my blood or injury I am fine, anyone else, that's a different story. My mom sat in the ER room with Grandma whilst the Dr did his thing.

Nolan playing on an empty pool

After Thursday afternoon the rest of the weekend was pretty enjoyable. I got a great 3+ hour ride in on Friday morning. It was nice to get out of the concrete/asphalt jungle that I live in now. I took a bunch of country roads where the trees formed a nice canopy over the road and just spun at a good pace. Its always fun to have animals running around in the ditches and deer crossing in front of you. I really really miss those kinds of rides and was in my own little world while I rolled around the country-side.

My brother and his 2 kids, as well as my sister and her 3 kids got into town during the mid afternoon on Friday. We had a great time sitting around and getting caught up with everyone. am trying to remember, but I am pretty sure the last time I saw everyone was during our Christmas trip in January. We are close family so that's a really long time a part.

Merrick just hanging out

Saturday morning came, I got up, had some water and Tylenol; and went back to bed. I was little foggy in the head, but it was my own fault for continuing to drink on Friday when i should have stopped. But I was in Wisconsin, that's what us Wisconsinites do; we also like cheese. I play into the stereo-type so well.

I finished my weekend chatting with my in-laws. I, unfortunately took up most of their Saturday and ruined their plans. But it was nice to see them again and just relax and get caught up. I had a great weekend with family and friends. The weather couldn't have been better as well.

I got back to town on Saturday night to spend Sunday with Rach. We decided to ride the bikes to breakfast; but first I had to swap seats and seat post to her bike. Funny thing about that, she asked me why I was on my tri bike during our ride. This is another mystery to me about women, you can bitch at us about doing something, in this case using her saddle post for my bike, yet totally forget about it 10 minutes later. I wasn't going to get upset though, she was out riding with me and we were having a great time.

1st Ride

So last night I took the new red machine out for its first little spin; I have yet to name it. This is a bike that I build with some help from Jeremy and Jason. The only down fall is not having a bike stand. So Rachel, my lovely lovely wife, would come home and the living room would look like a bomb was just set off. I had bike parts, tools, cables, etc all over the room. Poor Jack just sat on the top of the couch out of the way wondering "....what is he was doing, why is he yelling at himself and where did that blood on the back of his hand come from." Damn chain rings!! For those that have built up a bike before, you know it takes a little patience; something that I am pretty sure I was not blessed with. But nonetheless, it got built, tweaked, tweaked again and finally ready to roll. I had to steal the seat post off of my wife's bike in order to ride my new machine; she is busy with school and work so she wouldn't notice anyway. WRONG...the saddle had not been on my bike 4 hours. She comes home from class and wonders why her seat is missing off of her bike, one she has not ridden since last fall. Guys, I am not sure how women can pick something like that out, but that is a gift. She can't find her shoes most days, but a seat missing off of a bike that has been stowed away in a corner, whamO!!

Last night I was lucky enough to have a great ride with Shelley; although I am pretty sure she will never ride with me again. I am still pretty new to this whole cycling/tri community, so some of the unwritten rules are lost on me. I guess wearing shorts that are blue/red/white/yellow do not go with a red/black top. Strike one for the evening. Strike two came when we started to run into people that we knew, not that bad, they know that I am a a bit odd, but when we ran into a few people that just Shelley knew, she was not impressed with my fashion show. Don't feel bad S Nelson, Rachel agreed with you, I looked like a dork.

Ocean like Conditions.....

So, for those that follow this blog, which is few, because most of you have other things to do; we had Waconia this weekend. I am not sure how to describe the thoughts and emotions going through my head prior to the swim. For those that were there, it was a little choppy on the water front. Katie, if your reading this post, I hope you can find photos and see the ocean like conditions that we were able to swim in. As Dan said, "Jezzzz, Alcatraz wasn't even this bad" I was happy to have survived my first fresh water ocean swim, although a boogie board and fins would have made it more enjoyable. Plus the additional length of the board shorts could have hidden the sweet bike short tan lines I am getting again.

So exiting the water I was in my usual spot, near the end. But I knew going into this season stepping up to the elite level I would have a year of chasing the faster folks and hope to see improvements; which I have so I am totally fine with my season so far. Get into T1, winds still just gusting from the north off of the lake. Take of on the bike at a 45 degree angle into the wind to stay upright and off we go for 24 miles of fun. My bike was considerable faster than I had figured it would be based on the wind. We were able to head south for a section of road; sweeeet tail wind!!! It was a little odd, when we made the turn it became silent. Just you, the bike and the hum of the race wheels. For those with Zipps you know the sound I am attempting to describe. I covered the bike course in a little over an hour. My left foot, remember the last post, was little bit of a bother on the bike so I was unsure how the run was going to go. I took off like molasses in January on the 4 mile pancake flat course. Okay thats a lie, the 1st mile is a death march; no lie. At the top of the hill is a cemetery!!! My foot loosened up after the 1st quarter to half mile, but I was a little nervous to push it and risk ending my season early again due to injury again. So I settled into what I thought was a rather easy pace and had fun. I was thanking the many wonderful volunteers for helping out and allowing all of us to partake in another morning of racing. I even thanked a group of high school aged kids for coming out and cheering just for me; that was so nice of them. I finished 25th overall and got beat by a few age groupers, but I think if I would have raced the run I might have cracked the top 20. All in all it was a good race for me, exactly what I needed after last weekends debacle in Des Monies.

Speaking of Des Monies, my newest fan base made the drive to MN to spend time with their real son and cheer on their new adopted son, ME. Thanks for coming and cheering us on Bill and Annette, you guys ROCK!!!

I have to give credit to everyone that made it through the swim. From the people I talked to pre/post race, the last one they can think of that was even close to being that bad was the BOUS when it was at Lake Minnetonka 2 years ago. Ooooh how we all learned to love white caps on Sunday.

What a Week....

Well, mid last week I was turned up sided down at work. It was totally unexpected and untrue...but I am not going to dive into it on an Internet site and be like the lady that bitched about her husband on You Tube as they were going through a divorce. So, the unneeded and unwanted stress didn't really set the stage well for the Hy Vee triathlon in Des Moines.

I traveled to IA with Dennis and his wife Shannon; had a great house stay at Casa del Dane in Urbandale and was treated like family. The home stay and Dennis' parents couldn't have made the trip any better. Thanks a million Bill and Annette, see you '09!!!

This highly anticipated race was changed from a triathlon to a duathlon and back to a triathlon on Wednesday of last week. Here's a race director, their staff and hundreds of volunteers that put together not only a tri in 4 days, but a world class and last Team USA Olympic qualifier just 104 short hours from race day. World Class all the way!!!

My race was less than stellar. The swim start; me and 158 of my closest friends charged into the murky muddy waters of what was a normally small lake, but with the rain and rather large body of water. I was able to cover the 0.9mi swim in under 23 minutes, very happy with my time. I was thinking the entire swim how bad I was swimming and was not looking forward to seeing the clock when I got out of the water. But I was happy to see that my time, for me, was not bad. Now, with the change of venue, came some other changes as well. Like the garbage bags every racer was handed to put there T1 stuff into in order to get it to the finish. That's right, all of the stuff you wore race morning, your wet suit and the rest of you swim stuff needed to be placed into a Hefty sack for transport by the volunteers to the finish area.

Off on the bike I went. I left good the first mile and a half. Yep, the rest was a really struggle. Both physically and mentally. I didn't have any legs to push the gear I needed to on the bike. I stayed the course and continued at a rather slow pace. A pace that was slower than some races last year. I know that I have done much much more training and I should have been faster than what I did. More than once I thought about stopping my race after I finished the bike; totally foregoing the 10km run. I climbed one of the last big hills and rounded a corner to a sea of people. Spectators were lined on both sides of the street 3 and 4 deep cheering, yelling and ringing the cow bell....that's right "I gotta fever, and the only cure is more cow bell!!!" At that point I knew there was no way I wasn't finishing this race. Not only had I been talking all off season and up to this race about being able to finish on the blue carpet, Dennis had told me the finish line chute was awesome; so bring on T2 and the run

Now, similar to T1, we had to set up T2 on Saturday as well, only in different part of town, 2.6 miles away from T1. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, so finding my shoes was a little tough. After standing around for about 10 seconds with my thumb in my butt I found my stuff, changed out of the bike stuff and into my run gear and headed out. I felt slow, again legs didn't seem to have much. But I was able to run sub 7 minute miles and finish the race in 2:18 and change. I am pleased that I stuck it out and finished. I would have been really upset with myself for not finishing just because I didn't bring my A game to this race. Can't race 'em all well can we?

I would like to congratulate Dennis for a strong 11th place finish overall and 2nd in the tough 25-29 age group. I would also like to congratulate Cathy for besting the entire female amateur field by 5 minutes, nice job!!!

Next up is Waconia this weekend. I have been side lined for the last few days with a left foot injury. The x-ray shows that at some point in my short life time I broke the foot, but didn't know it, damn drunken bar league softball days! It feels much better today and I am going to rest it for Sunday and hopefully have a much better showing than I did last week.

Epic Battle (while, at least in my mind)

Yesterday I was suppose to have the day off of training, sleep in and just relax. Sleeping in didn't happen, Rach got back from a "trip" at 5 am and need a ride home from the airport, so alas I was on the road with Jackster about 4:45 to get her. My day off of training consisted of an 11 mile bike time trial in Medina followed by a 15 minute run with Jmac. As the title of post would suggest, something big happens. Okay its not that big. A buddy, lets call him Dennis had mentioned that he was doing the TNT (Tuesday Night Time Trial) in Medina. The weather looked good when I was leaving work, sunny and little to no wind. So I decided to loaded up the bike and go "ride" the course, but take it easy. By the time I got started on my 11 mile journey, the clouds had rolled in and the humidity had increased; but still no wind. I took almost a minute off of my time from 2 weeks ago and added almost 1 mph to my average. I am seeing some great improvements in my riding and am really happy about it. Dennis, remember him, he beat me 2 weeks ago by 8 seconds; this week 9. What!!!! Here I am feeling good about myself for improving and I am losing ground when I need to be gaining it. Such is racing.
I got word today that my race in Des Moines next weekend has turned from an Olympic distance triathlon (1.5K swim, 40 k bike and 10k run) to a duathlon (10k run, 40k bike and 5k run) I am not overly excited about that changed format, but with the flooding and weather related issues that part of the country is dealing with right now, I am happy that Hy Vee is still able to put on a race. The pros that are trying to qualify for the last remaining Team USA spot will be fun to watch; and from what I hear this run/bike/run format will be much better to spectate.
So far I have had a good week of training, feel good coming off of a great race last Sunday and looking forward to Hy Vee. I need to stay focused on improving my run and continue to improve in the water. From the last post I had, if it wasn't real clear, the elites in this area are really good in the water; all over actually. But I need to be able to keep them in sight coming out of the water to feel like I have a chance. Kind of that out of sight out of mind mentality.

Holy ....!!

This morning, again we woke to an early morning (4:30 am) rain. I am starting to see a pattern develop for race weekends. As always I loaded the truck, went to pick up a buddy and head to J Bates' casa to load the VW and head to the Manitou Sprint in White Bear Lake. Last night I was a little unsure of what to expect at the race this season. After last year's disappointing run, a ton of side cramping, I was hoping to perform much better. Also this was my first Elite wave start. In the past racing age group some competitors are a little more serious so it pushes you to be better. Well the elite wave, whole new game of competitiveness. When the gun went off it was chaos for the next 12mins and 25 secs. The swim was the common U shape,keep buoys on your right side. We decided to swim down the center of the course and at the last moment head left to make a right hand turn and head back to the beach. At one point I am pretty sure that I had someone swim perpendicular across my back; that's some great sighting!! I was able to find a set of feet and hang onto them. Swam without a doubt my fastest 1/2 mile time thus far. Mounted the bike and started off on rain soaked roads and a nice head wind to greet us. The bike went well. I played cat and mouse with Mike Waataja, which made me happy. Last year I struggled to stay with him on a few training rides we were both at. Dismounted the bike and I was off on the 5k run course. Now this is the point that I blew up last year. I had to stop a number of different times and try to work the cramping out of my sides and mentally keep going. The entire GW team was there for moral support as well. No it really wasn't as embarrassing as you'd think. Alas, the run went much better this year. I was able to run 6:20's and finish in a time of 1:07.14. That's about 5 minutes faster than last season. I am very happy with my results and am now looking forward to Hy-Vee in 2 weeks with my Iowan buddy Dennis.
Other than my highlights for the day....84 year old Bob Powers won the Zipp 808 wheel set. This guy is great. He shows up to just about every race I'm at and has a smile on his face every time he crosses the finish line. If my health is half is good as his at that age I will consider myself lucky, let alone still be healthy enough to race. And fellow SCS team member Jen "Psycho Sally" Lenarz, won a brand spanking new QR Lucero carbon frame!!!! I would blog more tonight, but Ice Road Truckers new season is starting on the History Channel...gotta run.

2nd at Buffalo Tri

Well, we gave it our best...literally. Team 2 Tri's and a Guy had big days in Buffalo, but came up a little short. The day s was picture perfect, couldn't have been a better day for my first relay triathlon. Jim Drew, I swim with him at masters, started the relay with, you guessed it the swim. He had the 4th fastest overall swim time; fastest relay swim, covering the 1.5km distance in a blazing 18:59. I had him run a short distance through transition to meet me near the bike out, avoiding the rest of the relay teams and transition congestion. I was off on what was my 1st 40km time trial. Now I've raced Olympic distance events in the past but, usual have to run once I am done biking. Not today. I took of as hard as I could, and in the words of fellow tri friend Jason Bates, met the Hurt Locker. I opened the door, let myself in and turned out the lights. The next 1:00.54 was going to be a snot-fest for the record books. I had the fastest bike time for the relays and looking at the overall times, I think 11th. I am super happy with that. I've worked my butt off this off season to improve on my swim and bike. With my FL bike and swim times I am super happy with my improvements thus far. I came into T2 at what felt like 100mph; hopped of the bike, past the chip to Jen Lenarz, aka Psycho Sally, and she was off like a bullet. I felt good at this point. I had been passed by no one on the bike route and I knew Jim smoked the swim. Jen ran like the wind; however the winning team's runner ran 5:33's, are you kidding me!?!? I'm not even sure if I bikes miles that fast. Needless to say, the winning team, all men, us, co-ed. Jen PR'd her 10km time and was super happy with her results. I had a blast with this new team of mine and am looking forward to a late season relay as well. I am waiting for photos from Jen and will have them posted as soon as I get them.

I would like to congratulate Dennis Dane on yet another great race at the Pigman Sprint in Iowa. Dennis, continuing his stellar season finished 4th. Looking forward to racing Hy-Vee with you in a few weeks buddy!!

Another Grey Day in MN

Today started out with a 30-40 min oen water swim with (Dan, Jason & Dennis) at Cedar Lake's south beach. Air temp was a little warmer than it was on Tuesday for Lake Ann (~40 degrees), I was actually very happy to get into the water on Tuesday. This morning meet me at the door with overcast rain looking skies and not much motivation. After last night's short track workout under clear blue sunny skies, I was more than dissappointed to wake to the Seattle like weather again. I gathered all of my open water swim stuff and headed off to meet the rest of the boys. The swim went well, we worked on starts after the over and back roughly 1650 yard swim. The guys gave me some good pointers about starting and what to do. A sport of constient learning. I stuggle to follow feet at the start and usually find myself in either no mans land or busting my butt to get on someone's feet after being lost at the start. If I want to continue to improve I will certianly need to work on this area of swimming.

This weekend I have the Buffalo relay with Jim and Jen. This should be the makings of a great relay team. Jim is a former U of M swimmer and Jen is solid runner. Hopeefully I'll have some good photos to post of the race. I was able to prove to myself that I am capable of biking on Tuesday night at TNT. So for the bike portion I will bury my head and go for broke. Tuesday night in Medina I was able to average just under 25 mph on a fairly hilly challenging course. I finished 11th out of 52 entries. Dennis, same one from swim this morning, beat me by only 8 seconds. I say "only", but thats a pretty good gap. My quads and lungs were burning. I had a blast at my first bike tt and am looking forward to the next one in a few weeks.

Not much else is exciting, Rach started her 2nd to last class on Tuesday. She will finish up all class work the end of July and than its off to externship, lord only knows where. More than likely I'll be a "single" guy for 3-4 months; just me and Jack hanging out protecting the house. She is waiting to her back from a counselor at school if Madison is still a possibility. She might be able to get a spot at HCMC in downtown Mpls. We would be able to stay together for those 3-4 months and she would get great work experience. She is a little hesitant about HCMC, being a Level 1 trama center, but she knows her stuff and would be able to hold her own. I mean, where else can you get the everyday gun shot victim, stabbing victim and over dose?? Sounds like a real treat, huh? Sure beats pushing papers and filing charts

First Time for Everything

Well, as modern technology continues to grow and human interaction is less and less these days; I figured I should jump on the band wagon and create a blog. I thinks its a little goofy to have something posted on the Internet that is more or less shameless self promotion. But after talking to buddy of mine on the way back from a race this weekend...he informed me that its a great way to keep is parents and family members up to date on his happenings. So I thought that I would give it a shot and see what happens, plus Rachel just took off to meet her mom in Woodbury for some shopping and I don't want to mow the back yard. So here goes nothing......



This morning I got up and went out for the first of many open water swims at Lake Ann. The water temp was not bad, face was a little cold the first minute or 2 but not bad. I tried out a new wettie (wet suit, stealing the Aussie term, thanks Ry) from Jason. I have a full body sleeveless suit, and this borrowed one has sleeves. I was thinking that the shoulders might feel a little tight once I got going, but its not that bad. Plus I now have a new wettie for the season and zero cost to me. Thanks J for the use of the suit!!!



For those that don't know me and just stumbled upon this blog, I race triathlons all summer long. This is a pretty expensive sport for the none money winning athletes like me...so any little help goes a long way.



This coming Tuesday I have my very first cycling time trial in Medina. This is an out and back 11 mile suffer fest ride. Just put your head down and go as hard as you can. Really the pain cant be that bad, can it?



I will do my best to keep this up to date as times moves forward. I hope you will like what you find and read here. If not sorry, I am new to all of this.