tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305468612024-03-14T02:17:48.540-04:00Blogging The Willow (by Tom)This is a blog about home ownership, the internet, my cats, and Boston sports, and triathlon training.<br>
Plus anything else that is interesting.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.comBlogger309125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-84676801121873404272014-06-07T22:52:00.000-04:002014-06-07T22:52:00.209-04:00Little Miami Triathlon - Spring 2014 Results The SPRING 2014 Little Miami Triathlon on June 1st results blog!<br />
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The weather was almost perfect. No rain and ~75 degrees at the start. It said a high of 85 but I think it almost hit 90 because it was hot!<br />
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This year we had 3 team participate:<br />
Dave and Jesse were JUST GOT BACK FROM OUR HONEYMOON AND BOY ARE WE TIRED.<br />
Casey and Brad were TRI BEING ENGAGED<br />
and Cousin-in-law Scott and I were CRUISING COUSINS (slogan "Partner's for Life")<br />
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Annie and Julie were our ATHLETIC SUPPORTERS and met us at the top of the hill and the finish line.<br />
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Top things I learned this time:<br />
1) Wear sunscreen! With all the pumping up of bikes and getting things sorted I forgot to put sunscreen on and got a little burned on my next, arms and face. Not good.<br />
2) I don't think I ate enough the night before or the morning of so I just didn't feel like I had much energy even with eating 3 shot blok bars during the race.<br />
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Some things I noticed was that the triathlon was under staffed. There were not enough canoes when we got there so they were pulling out of the "bad" piles. All 3 of our teams ended up in metal canoes even though only Scott and I should have had one. Also at the end of the canoe you almost couldn't reach the shore due to the HUGE pile up of canoes. It looked like volunteer boy scouts were helping but this part of the race was much less organized than in previous years.<br />
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I was concerned about battery life since my larger back up battery didn't fit in the waterproof pouch so I didn't run the HR monitor via bluetooth. At the end of the race I think I had ~40% life left on my battery which seemed pretty good even while using the small extra battery.<br />
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On to the results: I continued to generate data proving that if you don't exercise much you are slower than when you exercise. Hopefully that motivates me to find more time to exercise even with a <strike>baby</strike> toddler. I just didn't have the energy today for any event.<br />
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Side note: I wore my Louis Garneau yellow jersey to stay cool but was chased for 0.5 miles on the run by a bee so next time I'll wear white!<br />
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<b>Canoeing ~6mi [64 min, +10 mins from last FALL]</b><br />
Scott and I had a pretty good canoe trip. For the first half we were pretty close to the front of our heat. Then we probably got tired and slowed a bit. Casey and Brad also contributed by trying to T-bone us a few times so both teams were slowed down for those shenanigans. <br />
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I think the main reason our time was ~10 minutes slower from the fall was because we got stuck on rocks 3 times. We really got surprised by a set of rocks that lines the river. We should have stayed to the right but we went left into all sorts of trouble. I think Scott and I did an awesome job of not panicking even when water was starting to pour into the canoe (I really don't know how we didn't end up swimming). We were able to get free and we continues on but got stuck 2 more times for 3 in total and I think we never made back that time. Looking through the data based on our initial splits we probably lost 5-6 minutes in total on the rocks.<br />
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<b>Running ~5mi [66 min, +2 mins from last FALL]</b><br />
I hadn't run since the indoor tri in March so I knew this wouldn't be that great. It was also a hot day so I didn't feel that great. Only remarkable thing to say on the run was the fact that a bee was chasing me on the bike trail for about 0.5 mile. It would land on Scott's hat and "launch attacks" at me so I waited until it landed on Scott's head and then I killed it. Unfortunately in doing so I slapped Scott's head harder than I anticipated (sorry partner!). But we triumphed over the bee! I saw one other person being chased by a bee so I think I'll wear white next time.<br />
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<b>Killer Hill + Transition ~0.5mi [13 min, +2 mins from last FALL] </b><br />
At the end of the run Scott went ahead because he was going to change into bike shorts so after the canoe and run I was the last one up the hill. I ended up on the bike ride ahead of Scott but it didn't take him long to pass me for good on the bike.<br />
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<b>Biking ~18mi [79 min, +3 mins from last FALL]</b><br />
I knew getting on the bike that I wasn't going to break my PR. I was pretty far behind my times. As I said Scott was gone and for most of the bike ride I was pulling up the rear. This was also my first event on my Cervelso S3 so it was not a good debut for my bike.<br />
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It was surprisingly windy for what initially seemed like a calm day. There was a stretch around mile 10 into the wind and those uphill "S-curves" until mile 13 that still seemed a bit hard. But in general I think my time was slow just because I didn't have any energy.<br />
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Other notes would be that I didn't cramp much at all this time which was nice, however after the race the bottom of my feet were tight so I need to look into that. Also my S3 isn't geared for hills but I had (just) enough gears for this course.<br />
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<b>Summary[ +17 mins from last FALL]</b><br />
It's amazing to have lost 17 minutes from the fall, though I was only 3 minutes slower than last spring so I guess I don't keep in shape much over the winter and then get in a little shape furing the summer.<br />
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Also looking at 4.5 years of doing this event it is interesting that my times haven't moved much so I obviously haven't figured out how to build on fitness year over year which is something I would like to do. I really like having a consistent benchmark 2 times per year to track my fitness. No other race on my calendar is as easy to fit in as Morgna's Tri.<br />
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If you read this blog to this point you must be interested enough to try it in the Fall of 2014! I'll see you there!Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-90991825575722827852014-03-23T21:53:00.000-04:002014-06-07T21:56:24.478-04:00Vegas 2014<div class="mobile-photo">
This year Dave, Adam and I stayed at the Wynn Encore and it was a blast!</div>
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Panoramic View.</div>
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The view from our room was nice!</div>
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Here's a Wheel Of Fortune win!</div>
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This was the first Vegas trip that UMass made it to the tourney so I finally got the chance to lose some money betting on UMass.</div>
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The last night I couldn't lose at a Black Jack table in the Encore and took $700 profit off the table.</div>
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Highlights of the trip included the Wynn buffet, playing $10 craps right outside our tower elevator with a couple from Vancouver, and being up $700 on the trip!</div>
Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-74948937657625117662014-02-18T23:37:00.001-05:002014-02-18T23:59:36.266-05:00Lifetime Fitnesss Indoor Triathlon - 2014<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sJ-YL-Y4MUc/TWLDBEdD8ZI/AAAAAAAABBg/a2Ih-nt-BhI/s1600/tri-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sJ-YL-Y4MUc/TWLDBEdD8ZI/AAAAAAAABBg/a2Ih-nt-BhI/s400/tri-logo.jpg" height="140" width="400" /></a>
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This past weekend we completed the <a href="http://www.indoortri.com/" target="_blank">Lifetime Fitness Indoor Triathlon</a> and it was a great time!
<a href="http://bloggingthewillow.blogspot.com/2013/02/lifetime-fitnesss-indoor-triathlon-2013.html" target="_blank">We did the same event last year and enjoyed it</a> so I was glad when we got a LARGE group together to do it this year.<br />
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This year Dave, Jesse, Casey, Brad, Julie, Scott and I participated. At the last minute Brad was unable to participate when a doctor's visit <strike>turned up performance enhancing drugs</strike> ended in elective surgery.<br />
The Indy group deserves a LOT of credit for driving down early in the morning for the event. It was a blast having them here for the day!<br />
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Although this event is for individuals, Scott and I competed as a team (Partner's for Life) and we came in first place among all other teams.<br />
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OK on to my results. (some pictures are from 2011).<br />
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<b>[ 10 min Swim ]</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm in the far right lane -<br />
and blurry because I am swimming so fast!</td></tr>
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I learned my lesson from last year about not trying to exert myself in the swim too much too early as I ended up wasting time resting.<br />
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This time I did the breast stroke relatively easily and mixed it up with the backstroke when I wanted to catch my breath. This worked out well as I completed 13 lengths in 10 minutes, 2 lengths better than last year.<br />
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My swim rank was tied for #50-55 out of #65 which is improved ~8 spots from last year. Take SWIM LESSONS already!<br />
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<b>[1st Transition ]</b><br />
I was more prepared for the short transition time this year but still didn't really have time to adjust the seat height of my bike properly before it started. Also apparently my SPD-SL clips don't work with these bikes.<br />
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<b>[ 30 min Cycling ]</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm blurry because I am biking so fast..</td></tr>
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So after giving Lifetime Fitness poor reviews in the bike last year (since they always change their unrealistic mileage and you can't compare year to year) I was actually open to the changes they said they made this year.<br />
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It was supposed to be more realistic distances however I think the calibration of the bikes were all over the map. My bike was in kilometers which is fine as they easily converted the distance to miles however I finished in the top third of cyclists last year and this year I was at the bottom. I think others in our group felt their bike results were not accurate. I know Scott was working hard and it didn't show up in his distance, and I watched Casey's feet / cadence and I think she got ripped off on her distance. Also Jesse scored ~100 points in every other event but the bike so I am sure her distance was not accurate either.<br />
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Again - Lifetime should just track revolutions and calculate a score. I've participated in this event 3 times and the bike is different each time ,aking it frustrating and hard to compare.<br />
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My biking rank (for what its worth) was tied for #51-52 out of #65 which much worse than last year (by almost 30 places) when I earned 2/3 of my total points on the bike alone.<br />
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<b>[ 5 min transition ]</b><br />
This transition was pretty straight forward and you just walk over to the treadmills. There was plenty of time to get ready for the next event. We were told to take a shortcut through some other classes which I don't think made sense. Next time I'll just go down and around as usual.<br />
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<b>[ 20 min run ]</b><br />
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The run was pretty straight forward - 20 minutes on a treadmill. It was great to have such a large group of us competing together!<br />
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I was able to finish 1.70 miles which was better than last year and gave me a rank of #45 out of #65 competitors on the run. Believe it or not this was my best event this year though I am not buying the bike part this year.<br />
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<b>Summary</b><br />
Overall - I came in a not-too-great but expected #53 out of #65 competitors. Although I improved in my swim and run the bike score brought me down and this is a worse overall result than last year but I guess I feel pretty good about my performance.<br />
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Also I again wish that the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon was more than once per winter as there isn't much else to do AND I always have the bug to do a little better after I figure out how to do the indoor tri again.<br />
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Maybe next year...Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-48941424513727857182013-10-31T20:35:00.000-04:002013-11-04T20:36:00.764-05:00Halloween 2013It's the 2013 version of Halloween pumpkins!
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Jesse made a donut - or an Ohio State logo!<br />
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Dave S. made a ghost peeking out of a door.</div>
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Dave D. drew free hand a baby head down in the womb! (He just had a baby so it makes sesne)</div>
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Matt carved a ghoul hiding behind a door.</div>
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I carved a kitten ontop of a pumpkin in a pumpkin.<br />
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The best part of this year was that I got a lot of help!</div>
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Anna really wanted to be part of the process!</div>
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She even decorated her own pumpkin!</div>
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Anna's pumpkin. So proud! I think it's a globe. I can see Asia.<br />
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Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-72759994860520319632013-10-06T23:30:00.000-04:002013-11-04T20:42:06.170-05:00Little Miami Triathlon - Fall 2013The FALL 2013 Little Miami Triathlon on October 6th results blog!<br />
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With rain in the forecast the weather turned out WET but warm fort his time of year at 66-70 degrees.<br />
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This time we had 2 team participate:<br />
Dave and Jesse were STILL TAPERING.<br />
Scott and I were CRUISING COUSINS<br />
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Annie and Julie were our ATHLETIC SUPPORTERs to cheer us on in the rain at the start.<br />
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I also want to comment that althought the cost of the tritahlon was back to normal there were even less participants this time(591 instead of 1,150). I think the rain may have kept some away but hopefully they didn't alienate too many people by raising prices so much last time.<br />
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After 7 trithlons with great weather we knew eventually it would catch up with us. It rained all night before and all morning. We actually had to get ready at the start in the rain. It stopped pretty much for the actual triathlon but we were already soaked. A few cars got stuck in the mud leaving including Dave and Scott.<br />
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This picture sums up the race:<br />
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On to the results: I didn't end up using my new bike because of the rain, and I may wish I had because it was windy on th bike ride and I missed my PR by 90 seconds. No doubt this bike would have helped :)<br />
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<b>Canoe ~6mi [54 min, -10 mins from SPRING]</b><br />
Scott and I had the TIPPIEST CANOE I have ever used. We had a tough time not tipping just sitting and paddling. We did a great job just making it without getting in the water though we came close a few times. One time we tipped so far over we took on water but somehow we stayed up. I think with all the rain the river was high and running fast which helped out time. Scott and I had the fastest canoe time I have had in the Little Miami Triathlon!<br />
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<b>Running ~5mi [64 min, -3 mins from SPRING]</b><br />
Not much exciting to say on the run. I didn't run much before the Tri so I didn't expect to set a running record anyway. If anything the sool weather helped. It was fun too because Scott and I ran the whole way together so I had company for the Canoe and Run.<br />
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<b>Killer Hill + Transition ~0.5mi [11 min, +1 min from SPRING] </b><br />
The course up killer hill was MUDDY. There was running water across the bottom of the trail and there wasn't a way to avoid dipping your shoes in it. The hill was slippery and not easy to climb but the new stairs helped.<br />
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<b>Biking ~18mi [76 min, -1 mins from SPRING]</b><br />
Since the canoe time was so fast and I did OK on the run I thought I had a chance to set a PR on the bike. The first 7 or so miles I was averaging 15 mph and on pace to set my record. Then I hit the wind. It was a pretty strong wind and it was in the LMT classic direction where every turn in one section you seemed to be going up wind.<br />
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There was a section where some bikers crashed and one was taken off in a stretcher. I was biking when the ambulance and firetruck went by. It was a bit tricky to bike around the scene but the women who fell looked to be doing OK as they were putting her on a stretcher.<br />
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For most of the bike ride I was yo-yoing with a guy on a red masi bike. I ended up finishing first and he complemented me as being good motivation for him to go fatser so that was nice.<br />
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I also passed a lot of people and wasn't passed by too many on the course which was good. If not for the wind I think I could have been around 3:22 but intead I finished with my second best total time.<br />
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Other side note: This was the first time I raced without my HRM. While that may be good because I just pushed myself I like having the feedback. I'll get a new battery this week. See you in the Spring 2014!Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-47630337855261657452013-07-31T20:37:00.000-04:002013-11-04T20:41:26.692-05:00Emerald Ash Borer<div class="mobile-photo">
Well - I didn't think it would happen so fast but the Emerald Ash borer is in our back yard :(<br />
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As you drive around Mason you can see hundreds of dead trees on the side of the road or highway.<br />
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And now my back yard. Out of all the Ash trees only 15 are being treated (about $100 per tree).<br />
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The only upside was that I thought 100% of our trees were Ash but it turns out only 90-95% of them are!<br />
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I took some pictures to remember our backyard at it's peak.<br />
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Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-18620486326763978472013-06-07T00:03:00.002-04:002013-06-07T00:03:33.575-04:00Little Miami Triathlon - Spring 2013 Results The SPRING 2013 Little Miami Triathlon on June 2nd results blog!<br />
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With rain in the forecast the weather turned our sunny and 72 at the start and 78 at the finish. Maybe a little hot but overall great weather.<br />
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This year we had 2 team participate:<br />
Dave and Jesse were STILL TAPERING.<br />
I was alone in a kayak.<br />
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Again we didn't have any ATHLETIC SUPPORTERs to cheer us on but the athletes had a good time.<br />
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I also want to comment that there were noticeably less participants this year (850 instead of 1,150). I think the increase in the cost of the race was a big factor. They were continuously selling out in previous years so it makes sense to rainse prices but they may have gone too far.<br />
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Also the new timing chips attached to the back of the race numebrs had a double sided sticky tape that when it got wet it bled blue ink on my white (expensive) jersey. We have washed it and stain sticked it a few tims but there is still some ink on there :( Next year I will remove the tape backing before the race.<br />
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As we were getting out of our cars and putting out stuff together I saw someone wearing a yellow Boston Marathon 2013 official shirt. It caught my eye becase it was so recognizable from TV and all the coverage this year. I guess if you raced in the Boston Marathon this year it would stick with you.<br />
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On to the results: I heard that Jesse had a Personal Record (PR) and Dave was a few seconds from his PR so great job by the STILL TAPERING team. I found out that they had a secret training program the week before by snow-shoeing in Alaska. I'll have to try that next time.<br />
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I ended up generating data to prove that if you don't exercise much you are slower than when you exercise. Hopefully that motivates me to find more time to exercise even with a <strike>baby</strike> todler. It had been a year since I raced the Little Miami Triathlon (LMT) because we attended a wedding in Boston the race before.<br />
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Side note: This was the first LMT that I didn't wear my Apple Jacks jersey. While it is a crowd favorite I am cooler in my Garneau breathable jerseys.<br />
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<b>Kayaking ~6mi [64 min, +5 mins from last SPRING]</b><br />
This was my first time ever kayaking and I think I prefer canoeing with a partner. The advantages to kayaking woud be that your time is not dependant on yourpartner and therefore more consistent year to year (to track improvement etc).I also believe that in theory the kayak could be faster than a canoe. The disadvantages to kayaking are that you have no one to talk to for an hour, it takes more effort and energy to kayak, and you can't really grab a quick drink or eat anything because no one else is paddling.<br />
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While I was grabbing one of the old or normal kayaks someone who works at Morgan's canoe told be to grab one of these green kayaks. he said they were faster. That is probably true. But he forgot to mention that the shallow wells would quickly fill up with water. I spent an hour sitting in water with my shoes mostly under water. With every stroke water dripped down into my kayak. This is the first time I realy ever got wet in this triathlon. Fortunately I had tri shorts on and good socks so it wasn't an issue but more of an annoyance.<br />
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Next time I will try to find a canoe partner, otherwise I will grab one of the older kayaks.<br />
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<b>Running ~5mi [67 min, +4 mins to last SPRING]</b><br />
I remember feeling good on the run considering I hadn't run much. I think the weather was cool enough for me to feel pretty good and not get my heart rate too high. Not much else to say. I wish I could run a 10 min mile. Probably time to see a pulminologist.<br />
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<b>Killer Hill + Transition ~0.5mi [10 min, -2 min from last SPRING] </b><br />
The course up killer hill was new with more stairs built in. I think it was a little longer but not as steep and I liked it. It seemed easier and I set my best time. That being siad I saw more carnage on the hill than I remember seeing before. Usually I am the one leaning against a tree to catch my breath but there were multiple people around me suffering against a railing or tree. I felt great when I got to the top and I was ready for the bike.<br />
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<b>Biking ~18mi [77 min, +2 mins from last SPRING]</b><br />
I knew getting on the bike that I wasn't going to break my PR. I was pretty far behind my times. Dave and I started the bike together and I went out and gave it a strong effort and Dave stayed right with me just about the whole time which is awesome. I ended up cramping a bit on the hills at the end and Dave finished the bike first. Jesse was already in the club house for 40 minutes. <br />
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I noticed that more of the bike ride was tar and pitch surface (the cobbles) and I think mile 3-11 and 14-16 are now rough road. Also this year the wind was in a different direction which was nice for some of the typically harder parts in the wind but I think it was subtly tougher as you were headed into the wind later. But nothing could be as bad as when Jesse and I biked 50 miles in 20-25 mph winds so the wind was fine.<br />
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As for the temperature it was a bit hot by now on the bike and I finished both water bottles but it was fine overall. I was basically slower all the way around so it is time to work out this summer.<br />
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If you read this blog to this point you must be interested enough to try it in the Fall of 2013! I'll see you there!Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-70344183526743351892013-05-05T22:31:00.000-04:002013-11-04T20:41:52.258-05:00Calvin's Challenge 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I had this on my radar fora while but this year Jesse, Dave and I participated in Calvin's Challenge.<br />
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Calvin's Challenge is a 12 Hour Bike Race is held each year on the weekend before Mother's Day, starting at Shawnee High School in Springfield, Ohio. It's a race to see who can bike the furthest in 12 hours. There is also a 6 hour bike race, a 100 mile time trial and a 50 mile time trial.<br />
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One of the things I like is that there are TONS of different tipes of bikes at this event.<br />
• 3 Tandem classes<br />
• Singlespeed/fixed gear<br />
• Recumbents<br />
• Hand Powered Vehicles (HPV)<br />
• High wheelers<br />
• Triples<br />
• Trikes<br />
• 2-person team<br />
• 4-person team<br />
• Ellipticals <br />
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Or one of those crazy old bikes but with aero bars!<br />
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This year we even saw some scooters (kick bikes). They were a debacle in the wind. Which brings me to this year's race. This year Jesse and I participated in the 50 mile TT. Dave was recovering from being sick and still tapering for the next event so he did the shorter loop TT.<br />
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It was cool at the start and WINDY! It was 60 degrees and cloudy with 20-25 mph winds in the begining. It was weather where you question why you are doing your first long event under these conditions. If that wasn't bad enough the first 30 miles in almost all seriousness was into the wind. At the 25 mile mark we were on pace for a 5 hour time trial. I thought maybe we should have just enetered the 6 hour race! I recall really long stretches where I was working hard and going 8 mph. Fortunately the last 20 miles was away from the wind and it was warmer and sunny. I think I was averaging 18-20mph the rest of the way and finished in under 4 hours.<br />
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All in all I was glad I did it. I hadn't ever spent 4 hours on the bike and I was surprisingly not that tired at the end. I ate plenty of energy bars on the way which really helped (about 1 entire clifs shot block per hour). I wore bike shorts but wish my seat were more comfortable. Either my gel seat is too worn in or a slightly stiffer seat would work better with padding from bike shorts (tri shorts actually).<br />
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I was really glad Jesse wanted to do the 50 mile TT with me and I plan to add Calvin's Challenge to my annual events. I plan to eventually step up to the 6 hour race and the 100 mile TT.<br />
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Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-56212573952641896932013-03-25T21:14:00.000-04:002013-11-04T20:42:23.501-05:00Vegas 2013<div class="mobile-photo">
This year Dave, Vishad, Adam and I got a Suite in the Venetian with a strip view. The Venetian was nice but it is weird how you have to take an elevator to another lobby to then get in an elevator to your room.</div>
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Just about as soon as we put our stuff down and started walking the casino Dave found a gave giving away WILDS.</div>
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Good news is he won a bunch - bad news is they took his social sec # on a post-it note and have him a W2-G</div>
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We also found the mechanical ponies on our trip. I think our room spent 6 hours there with the same 2 other couples.</div>
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After "breaking" the machine 2 times each and being hand paid for all the quarters they owed us our room took out over $2,000 from this machine. We all had already won too much and while they were hand paying us we all hit the 200-1 winner.</div>
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Everyone won so much that we had to pose with our buckets of quarters!</div>
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On this trp we also passed a roulette table in the Mirage that was DUE!</div>
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It was so due that there is a red number off the screen. Everyone at the table was betting black. So much so that they lost their shirts and when black came up no one had money on it. After 19 spins in a row without a black it finally came up. The "dealer" said they had never seen anything like this and they were motioning to the other roullette "dealers" to check out their wheel!</div>
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Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-46367511522342229832013-03-04T07:20:00.000-05:002013-03-04T07:20:00.863-05:00Sh*t Triathletes Say - I'm Totally Busted!This video is so funny because it contains stuff I've heard other triathletes say, things I'd say, things Meghan would hear me say, and the one thing Dave S says...
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1KTEgLKhjIw?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-56823331019601226882013-02-22T08:41:00.000-05:002013-02-22T08:41:00.484-05:00Lifetime Fitnesss Indoor Triathlon - 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sJ-YL-Y4MUc/TWLDBEdD8ZI/AAAAAAAABBg/a2Ih-nt-BhI/s1600/tri-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="140" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sJ-YL-Y4MUc/TWLDBEdD8ZI/AAAAAAAABBg/a2Ih-nt-BhI/s400/tri-logo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Last weekend we completed the <a href="http://www.indoortri.com/" target="_blank">Lifetime Fitness Indoor Triathlon</a> and it was a good time! <br />
<a href="http://bloggingthewillow.blogspot.com/2011/02/you-dont-have-to-be-fast-to-tri-indoor.html" target="_blank">I did the same event 2 years ago and enjoyed it</a> so I was glad when Dave's girlfriend Jesse tried to get a group together to do it this year.<br />
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This year Dave and Jesse, Jesse's friend Katie and I participated. Although I have a competitive streak in me it is a good thing I can focus on just competing with myself because I knew Jesse was a good athlete from her Little Miami Triahtlon, but it was also a last minute surprise to find out that Katie was an Ironman finisher as well. Needless to say the girls in our wave did awesome.<br />
<br />
While I usually focus on my own results but I want to give a quick shout out to Jesse for coming in 4th overall and 1st place for Women! Also great work to Dave for finishing his first swim triathlon. Maybe he'll get the bug like I did for swim triathlons. Katie did great too and was the most consistent performer across all 3 events of our group.<br />
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OK on to my results. Note: Pictures are from the 2011 Indoor Tri when Meghan took them.<br />
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<b>[ 10 min Swim ]</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g3-jy8qQ7ps/TWMTcBvHcyI/AAAAAAAABBo/ke62OwVYyBc/s1600/CIMG5742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g3-jy8qQ7ps/TWMTcBvHcyI/AAAAAAAABBo/ke62OwVYyBc/s320/CIMG5742.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm in the far right lane -<br />
and blurry because I am swimming so fast!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The last time I did this triathlon I swam the breast stroke nice and easy the whole way which is a bit relaxing and keeps my heart rate down, though I only did 13 lengths in 10 minuets that time.<br />
<br />
This year I decided to start out swimming freestyle and see if I could get a few extra lengths in before switching to breast stroke. It turned out to be a bad strategy as I got my heart rate up and it never really went back down so I ended up catching my breath here and there and only finished 11 lengths in 10 minutes this time.<br />
<br />
My swim rank was tied for #58-61 out of #62 which is terrible. Good thing someone only did 9 lengths otherwise I wouldn't have gotten any points for the swim.<br />
<br />
Next time I will go back to a nice and easy pace the entire time - or of course I should just take SWIM LESSONS already!<br />
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<b>[1st Transition ]</b><br />
The 10 min transition time seemed shorter to me this year. I also realized in the locker room that I forgot to bring my bike shorts. Good thing I swam in tri shorts so I just wore them the rest of the way. I got ot the bike with about 1 minute to spare but the guy running the spin bikes didn't know how to set it up for my clips so I ended up using my sneakers in toe straps.<br />
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<b>[ 30 min Cycling ]</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EqP3Sj-AidI/TWMUBe8VzQI/AAAAAAAABBw/eW4jTa9PXQ0/s1600/CIMG5752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EqP3Sj-AidI/TWMUBe8VzQI/AAAAAAAABBw/eW4jTa9PXQ0/s320/CIMG5752.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm blurry because I am biking so fast..</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I knew what to expect from the spin bike from the last time but I was disappointed with a few things. First of all the scale for how they calculate "mileage" was changed again so I didn't know what was a good distance this time unlike last time. This time most people were in the 50-55mph range.Secondly the spin bike guy told me that if I went over 55-56 mph that my computer could reset my distance and mess up my score.<br />
<br />
I can't say this effected my score much but a few times I went over and slowed down. The guuy also told me not all bikes had this issue so I think I could have tested this on my bike more and pushed it a bit. Overall I averaged 53 mph which was just OK. I also proved I could keep my heart rate between 195-202 for 30 minutes staightso I wasn't anaerobic yet at 195 bpm. I saw V02 max testing going on at Lifetime Fitness so maybe I should sign up for that and see where my zones are.<br />
<br />
My biking rank was #20 out of #62 which is about even with last time I did this event. I also earned 44 out of my 61 points in this event. I need to improve my swim and run.<br />
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<b>[ 5 min transition ]</b><br />
This transition was pretty straight forward and you just walk over to the treadmills. There was plenty of time to get ready for the next event.<br />
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<b>[ 20 min run ]</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-41UIKjMzYC4/TWMU8aDrVeI/AAAAAAAABB0/RWyL7wK7s1w/s1600/CIMG5755.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-41UIKjMzYC4/TWMU8aDrVeI/AAAAAAAABB0/RWyL7wK7s1w/s320/CIMG5755.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm blurry because I am running so fast...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The run was pretty straight forward - 20 minutes on a treadmill. I felt much better this time than the last time I did this event and I was able to run / job the whole time. Last time I walked more. I wonder if that means I pushed it more on the bike last time versus this time.<br />
<br />
I was able to finish 1.57 miles which gave me a (sad) #51 out of #62 competitors on the run. Believe it or not this was an improvement over my 1.51 miles last time and an improvement in rank.<br />
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<br />
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<b>Summary</b><br />
Overall - I came in a not-too-great but expected #48 out of #62 competitors. It was a slight improvement in rank percentile over last time so I guess that is good. Also I didn't get much of a chance to exercise beforehand. The best thing out of this event is it lit a fire in me to start exercising again and I hope to do more events this year than last year.<br />
<br />
Also I again wish that the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon was more than once per winter as there isn't much else to do AND I always have the bug to do a little better after I figure out how to do the indoor tri again. I know I could have gotten into the Top 10 on the bike had I just known I needed to squeeze out 0.5 fake miles more out of my 26 fake miles total.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-65920225994532800912012-10-31T23:43:00.000-04:002013-02-21T23:44:58.777-05:00Halloween 2012Oops I just realized I never published this blog (it's 2013 already!)
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Let's see if I can remember them all.<br />
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Matt<br />
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My Pumpkin - Anna loves owls!</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gtb6qQPPn3k/UKf83UeQk0I/AAAAAAAABTQ/3DYNbt89MCk/s1600/photo%2B2-724467.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5811891871463543618" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gtb6qQPPn3k/UKf83UeQk0I/AAAAAAAABTQ/3DYNbt89MCk/s320/photo%2B2-724467.JPG" /></a><br />
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Dave D - Coyote power animal</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KWShZb1WZe8/UKf83ssLlOI/AAAAAAAABTc/xAVpg5APn-E/s1600/photo%2B3-726254.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5811891877964387554" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KWShZb1WZe8/UKf83ssLlOI/AAAAAAAABTc/xAVpg5APn-E/s320/photo%2B3-726254.JPG" /></a><br />
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Dave S</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Px2ficBfQgQ/UKf84sOm8EI/AAAAAAAABTo/zTDuSv15J_8/s1600/photo%2B4-730662.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5811891895020220482" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Px2ficBfQgQ/UKf84sOm8EI/AAAAAAAABTo/zTDuSv15J_8/s320/photo%2B4-730662.JPG" /></a><br />
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Jesse</div>
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Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-71748550284717728452012-07-03T21:27:00.000-04:002012-10-15T21:54:58.122-04:00Mason Fit to Fight Triathlon 2012After 2 years I finally returned to my very first triathlon ever - the pool swim at Mason. It was a case of Apples and Oranges compared to my first triathlon there in 2010 (I'll explain).<br />
<br />
<b>400m Swim (actual swimming this time) - 15:28</b> Median Time:9:19<br />
<b>Transition 1 - 4:37</b> Median Time:1:49<br />
<b>13 mi Bike (was actually 14 mi) - 54:31</b> Median Time:46:14<br />
<b>Transition 2 - 2:32</b> Median Time:1:09<br />
<b>5K Run (was actually 3K) - 25:21</b> Median Time:17:35<br />
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<b>Overall - 1:42:32</b> Median Time:1:16:26<br />
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<strong>Swimming 400m [+3 min versus 2 years ago]</strong><br />
If you have read my blog before you know that my <a href="http://bloggingthewillow.blogspot.com/2010/07/mason-triathlon-bolt-speedman-rides.html" target="_blank">first ever triathlon swim</a> was dubbed the "swimbacle"because it didn't go too well and I ended up swim-walking (dubbed swalking) most of the way.<br />
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This was appled and oranges because I swam slow and steady just about the entire time (though you can rest and catch your breath at the end of a lap) but my time was much slower than before. I wouldn't have guessed that swalking would have been faster than my poor swim but I guess it is. I think this also contributed to my longer transition time as I was more tired. I am NOT much of a swimmer still Need to take swim lessons (I keep saying this).<br />
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<strong>Bike 13mi [=0 min versus 2 years ago]</strong><br />
We had severe weather just before the race and trees were down on the trail so they shortened the run but make the bike longer. I thought they said they'd lengthen the bike by 2 miles for 1 mile less running but it didn't seem that long. It was my first triathlon with my aero bars which I think helped but the course was also compleetly different than 2 years ago. It was 2 laps through a neighbor hood but seemed to be a bit hilly so I think I would have rather have the old course.<br />
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I remember as soon as I pulled back in from my last lap Meghan and Anna showed up so I got to see them off the bike and at the finish.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t2OIBYy25Uc/UHy6iPi5uFI/AAAAAAAABSY/_pN2yE3o35o/s1600/mason-bike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="383" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t2OIBYy25Uc/UHy6iPi5uFI/AAAAAAAABSY/_pN2yE3o35o/s400/mason-bike.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
<strong>3K Run [-17 min versus 2 years ago]</strong><br />
Apparently there were trees down on the trail and they had to cut it short. I was pissed. There were a lot of people talking about the change and were excited because they don't like the run much. I would rather have had a traditional Sprint Triathlon distance so I could compare times year to year.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ztL0tytyqzo/UHy71Mgm3uI/AAAAAAAABSg/vH8O-67kXiE/s1600/mason-run.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ztL0tytyqzo/UHy71Mgm3uI/AAAAAAAABSg/vH8O-67kXiE/s400/mason-run.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<strong>Total Time [-13 min versus 2 years ago]</strong><br />
So while I was "faster" it really was apples and oranges so I guess it was fun. It was great to see Jeff there as I haven't been able to do as many triathlons this year so this was the only one we did together.<br />
Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-79649794604342667662012-06-05T20:43:00.000-04:002012-10-15T22:02:59.484-04:00Little Miami Triathlon - Spring 2012 ResultsThe SPRING 2012 Little Miami Triathlon on June 3rd review! I am actually writing this in October and back dating it because I haven't gotten to it yet. That's what having anew baby will do!<br />
<br />
I remember the temperature was great, high 60s to low 70s the entire time which can feel a bit hot but it was fine.<br />
<br />
This year we had 1 team participate:<br />
Dave (brother) and I were DOS GEMELOS which means two twins in Spanish.<br />
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This was the first time we didn't have any ATHLETIC SUPPORTERs as Meghan was home with baby Anna and others were busy. But Dave and I had a good time.<br />
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<b>"Hey Apple Jacks - Are you the guy with the blog?" - YES I AM!</b><br />
The previous two triathlons someone had recognized me in my Apple Jacks jersey from this blos (Blog: <a href="http://bloggingthewillow.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-run-little-miami-triathlon-tips.html" target="_blank">Tips & Tricks blog for the Little Miami Triathlon</a>.) But no one did this Spring. But when I didn't race in Morgans Triathlon in the Fall of 2012 due to a wedding I had a couple of comments on my blog saying they read the tips and loved them and were looking for me at the race.<br />
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On to the results: PERSONAL RECORD! (For Dave S.) I ended up in the typical 3:30 range at 3 hours and 29 minutes. It wasn't to bad considering my training was definately reduced with having a baby.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pJxU0NuI7dg/UHyvxQd22nI/AAAAAAAABRw/FGwXN_n9dFE/s1600/LMT+Spring+2012.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pJxU0NuI7dg/UHyvxQd22nI/AAAAAAAABRw/FGwXN_n9dFE/s1600/LMT+Spring+2012.gif" /></a></div>
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Let me see what I can recall from the race.<br />
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<b>Canoeing ~6mi [59 min, -1 mins from last FALL]</b><br />
Dave and I got he far left lane and had a great start. We really separated from our heat and I don't think really anyone from that group passed us. Maybe some faster folks behind that heat did but I thought our canoeing was good. I remember the water was surprisingly slow for the Spring. I remember seeing a few teams dump as there were some shallow areas on the course but we didn't really have any issues.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PH8j3T8fg88/UHyxHT5SR4I/AAAAAAAABR4/HLs69t9zOc4/s1600/canoeing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="380" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PH8j3T8fg88/UHyxHT5SR4I/AAAAAAAABR4/HLs69t9zOc4/s400/canoeing.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Running ~5mi [63 min, equal to last FALL]</b><br />
I remember feeling really good on the run considering I hadn't run much. I think the weather was cool enough for me to feel pretty good and not get my heart rate too high. I'm not much of a runner anyways but I was glad to see my time this year fall in the typical range where I was a bit worried it would be lacking. I did notice that my IT band didn't bather me this time during the run which may be a first for running the Little Miami Triathlon which is mostly uphill. I credit rocking Anna side to side for strengthening my knees (I mean it).<br />
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<b>Killer Hill + Transition ~0.5mi [12 min, +1 min from last FALL] </b><br />
As I have said before, It seems no matter how I slice it - I end up getting on my bike at 2 hours and 15 min mark and previously I needed a faster ride that 1:15 to set my Personal Record (PR), however after my best bike last fall I needed 1:11 to beat my PR and I didn't think that was too likely on this day.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N1p5Nd6Uovg/UHyzMFJ6_1I/AAAAAAAABSI/kLaDegiop_w/s1600/hill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N1p5Nd6Uovg/UHyzMFJ6_1I/AAAAAAAABSI/kLaDegiop_w/s400/hill.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Biking ~18mi [75 min, +4 mins from last FALL]</b><br />
I think the weather was perfect for me for the canoe and run but for biking it was slightly cool since it was windy. I knew pretty much from the start that I wasn't going to break my PR since it was so windy. I remember working hard the entire time and I was some what impressed to keep a pretty typical bike time even with the wind. As per usualy had some slight leg cramps which seems to occur worse with wind (because my legs get cool?) but I also know that drinking more water seems to help (for a little bit).<br />
<br />
When I finished I basically got my time and went around to the start and Dav was pulling in smashing his PR with a 3:37 time if I remember correctly (which was awesome).<br />
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Here's a fun pic form the post race picnic. Notice the rubber ducky on the aero helmet at $10,000 bike!<br />
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As per usual, I have a goal to improve my run over the winter and make the Spring Triathlon my best yet,<br />
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If you read this blog to this point you must be interested enough to try it in the Spring of 2013! I'll see you there!Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-22993178877158556732011-12-11T22:47:00.001-05:002011-12-11T22:48:21.368-05:00Where's Waldo and Dad's ShirtHere's a current picture of the stuffed animals for the baby's room. Can you guess which one her Dad picked out (where's Waldo?). He's a pirate hippo but he looks like he just got our of jail! It'll be her favorite for a while because of the black and white contrast!<br />
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<div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sDt0lOqNBCc/TtglNKkKsmI/AAAAAAAABRM/bNedHqpotDg/s1600/photo-748469.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="300" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681331838032458338" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sDt0lOqNBCc/TtglNKkKsmI/AAAAAAAABRM/bNedHqpotDg/s400/photo-748469.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Also here's a shirt I made that I am going to wear in the Labor and Delivery room:<br />
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<b>Front:</b><br />
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</a></div><b>Back:</b><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_sREHmgFyc/TuV4ufFkkAI/AAAAAAAABRU/XiIqj1Dq-nA/s1600/DAD_back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_sREHmgFyc/TuV4ufFkkAI/AAAAAAAABRU/XiIqj1Dq-nA/s320/DAD_back.jpg" width="320" /></a>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-30411841649770979832011-11-27T22:02:00.000-05:002011-11-27T22:02:33.645-05:00Turkey Trot 2011We ran in the Turkey Trot 10K this year - the 102nd running of the event in Cincinnati! <br />
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This year there were a lot of people in the event, Annie got to run in it since she didn't have to host Thanksgiving that day, and Angie had her 3rd consecutive trot, Dave and I met up with our friends Brad and Amy and their daughter and niece. Also my triathlon friend Jeff was there so it was quite the event!<br />
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Annie made us some AMAZING turkey trot gloves:<br />
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As usual the Apple Jacks jersey was a hit and I wore a turkey hat so people liked that!<br />
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I also generated data to show that if I bike a lot more that run this year - I'm slower when I run... hmmm.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ptIACBeQsv8/TtL5LmOsxTI/AAAAAAAABRA/kU7hjVEjTgk/s1600/turkeytrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ptIACBeQsv8/TtL5LmOsxTI/AAAAAAAABRA/kU7hjVEjTgk/s400/turkeytrot.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-53866548836956099752011-10-31T20:29:00.002-04:002011-10-31T20:29:41.439-04:00Halloween Block PartyHappy Halloween!<br />
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<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ItU1PSvV2vo?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-21994171700645989812011-10-30T23:36:00.000-04:002011-10-30T23:36:23.610-04:00Loveland's Amazing Race - Halloween EditionThis year brother Dave S., Sister-in-law Molly and her Fiance Dave D. and I decided to enter Loveland's Amazing Race - Halloween Edition 2011 because we have always thought about doing the actual race but it sells out a year in advance and who knows if they will be available a year ahead of time. So the Halloween Edition seemed like a good way to check it out.<br />
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The Halloween Edition is less obstacle course or physical challenges and more of a scavenger hunt.<br />
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<b>Making The Costumes</b><br />
So we didn't exaclty know what we were getting into with the event but we decided to go big with our costumes (who has a Halloween event without costumes? Or a costume competition? Answer below).<br />
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We ended up with some awesome costumes!<br />
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1) Need some boxes (which took hours to make - you'll see)<br />
<div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5fQPlNu_0oA/Tq4ByJrKFKI/AAAAAAAABMM/_9lQRW30Tm4/s1600/photo%2B1-767872.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="300" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669470942008054946" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5fQPlNu_0oA/Tq4ByJrKFKI/AAAAAAAABMM/_9lQRW30Tm4/s400/photo%2B1-767872.JPG" width="400" /> </a><br />
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2) Tablecloths and 225 yards of Gorilla Tape </div><div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ou9UnEPviss/Tq4Byf0YcWI/AAAAAAAABMY/11KsS9GifUs/s1600/photo%2B2-769405.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="300" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669470947952324962" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ou9UnEPviss/Tq4Byf0YcWI/AAAAAAAABMY/11KsS9GifUs/s400/photo%2B2-769405.JPG" width="400" /> </a><br />
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3) A healthy love of tetris </div><div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JZDzJDPStRc/Tq4By2zjPuI/AAAAAAAABMk/o6Tjbam7NGk/s1600/photo%2B3-771248.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="300" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669470954122854114" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JZDzJDPStRc/Tq4By2zjPuI/AAAAAAAABMk/o6Tjbam7NGk/s400/photo%2B3-771248.JPG" width="400" /> </a><br />
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4) Getting into formation! </div><div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JwmQ8fc0lN8/Tq4BzQdICaI/AAAAAAAABMw/Mu8HoM7upk4/s1600/photo%2B4-773451.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="300" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669470961008118178" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JwmQ8fc0lN8/Tq4BzQdICaI/AAAAAAAABMw/Mu8HoM7upk4/s400/photo%2B4-773451.JPG" width="400" /> </a><br />
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5) Costume accolades! </div><div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x7HzzVtSQt0/Tq4BzylPFpI/AAAAAAAABM8/klHex2BIzKU/s1600/photo%2B5-775524.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="300" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669470970168940178" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x7HzzVtSQt0/Tq4BzylPFpI/AAAAAAAABM8/klHex2BIzKU/s400/photo%2B5-775524.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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On to the write-up of the event. Here's the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.<br />
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<b>The Good</b><br />
When we got to the event out costumes were a big hit. We had a lot of time to hand around and someone from a local paper interviewed us and took our picture and a number of random others took our picture.<br />
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Our competitive natures led us to take off the costumes for the scavenger hunt and it was a good call - it would have been impossible in the Tetris costumes.<br />
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The event was fun - over 90 minutes we ran all over downtown Loveland. There was a mix of things we had to do. There were random pages of tasks (see more detailed feedback in the section called - The Event - The Bad) so it was a bit all over the place and we split up sections amongst the 4 of us so we each were responsible for noticing when we could complete a task.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wrhmlL3ris0/Tq4H0DCJkeI/AAAAAAAABNQ/gxo_TwF0QXY/s1600/CIMG5971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wrhmlL3ris0/Tq4H0DCJkeI/AAAAAAAABNQ/gxo_TwF0QXY/s320/CIMG5971.JPG" width="240" /></a>1) Identify 10 locations of Halloween Masks located at various businesses (mandatory)<br />
This part was actually pretty fun because it gave you a reason to cover the entire area, and once you got to certain locations in Loveland there were activities whewre you could earn extra points for complete tasks like juggling, naming songs from the 80s, sculpting clay, etc.<br />
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2) Answer trivia questions<br />
You had lists of trivia questions you'd have to answer like "What's the fine for illegally parking in a handicap space in Loveland" or "When is the next zoning committee meeting" which you could randomly find the answers to as you cruised around Loveland.<br />
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3) Identify where certain random pictures were located<br />
This was in theory pretty cool because from the close up pictures they gave us you didn't know what the locations where until you passed them. I screwed this part up - in part because in scavenger hunts for work we had to take pictures of stuff so instead of noting the locations of these obscure images - we took pictures of them. In fact we combined a few with tasks of taking pictures thinking we'd get double points for everything. We got no points for this section. People who know Loveland well might have been able to do this without actually finding these locations.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rgY5CHvsb7U/Tq4JrBeBYEI/AAAAAAAABNc/ojTnOh0SDTU/s1600/CIMG5973.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rgY5CHvsb7U/Tq4JrBeBYEI/AAAAAAAABNc/ojTnOh0SDTU/s200/CIMG5973.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>4) Take pictures of random things from a list<br />
This was cool because you had to take a picture of your entire team on a ladder, in a fire truck, in a canoe, in a dumpster, etc. Some descriptions were really vague like take a picture of a stuffed tiger in a boa and you wouldn't know where to go - you'd have to keep that long list of random things handy so when you ran into it you could complete that task for points. You received double points if you could combine 2 "tricks" into one photo.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EEArX6eEbzc/Tq4J2DolReI/AAAAAAAABNo/m_fHrcMJuXA/s1600/CIMG5977.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EEArX6eEbzc/Tq4J2DolReI/AAAAAAAABNo/m_fHrcMJuXA/s200/CIMG5977.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you find a mail box that says "take one" - do it!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Dave S. gets the award because we had to find this mail box and take a picture of it - and while it might seem obvious to open it - we think many teams didn't! Inside was another task that was mandatory and in theory any teams that missed this didn't get any points!<br />
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This picture section included taking videos of random tasks. In one of our best moves of the evening we combined 2 of the toughest video challenged in one as our Team "Serenaded a stranger (woman) to 'You've lost that loving feelin'" while the woman was part of a groups of strangers we had to convince to sing the national anthem.<br />
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It looks a little like this:<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/d2PuY2tBVVo?rel=0" width="480"></iframe><br />
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5) Other random tasks<br />
Somehow if you bought specific candy and or specific items like 1/4" nuts and bolts you could get extra points. We did a few of these which was fun as it also helped these businesses I am sure!<br />
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<b>The Bad </b><br />
There were warning signs. Initially we missed them.<br />
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When we arrived almost no one was in costume. Unless you call Bengals sweatshirts a costume.<br />
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It also looked like like we stumbled upon Loveland's 25th high school reunion - and we weren't invited.<br />
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Why was everyone 35-45 and why are they drunk in public in Loveland?<br />
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When we arrived our costumes were a big hit for most, but a few had stupid comments like they didn't know what we were (which I gave them a pass for because they were too old to play Nintendo when it came out). Also others didn't get why we were dressed up for Halloween when they were about to compete in a scavenger hunt. There was some sort of local journalist who took our picture and was going to write something about our costumes. We should have seen the warning signs when she asked "Did you all go to high school together or are you family?" Instead of trying to explain the complex associations of Adults we said "Family".<br />
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Also the start of the event "the judges parade" had nothing to do with the judges checking out the best costumes, it literally was a parade for them to show us how great they thought they were before they began to berate the crowd by yelling stupid sh*t in a microphone like "court is now in session - quiet down or you'll be held in contempt!"<br />
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All of that being said we had fun for the 90 minutes of competition and had the night ended then we would have said it was a good time. Instead - when we got back to the Judges tent at 8:28 (just 2 minutes before the event ended and we assumed you wouldn't get any points) it took another 60+ minutes standing in line for the judges to score the teams. The scoring takes a while in part because all of their papers and questions are a bit unorganized, but also because they have to review pictures and tally up random objects we obtained during the event. There were more than 10 judges with 10 teams per judge - but if it really takes 5-10 minutes to score a team then they were woefully under staffed! No matter how much fun you had for 90 minutes - who wants to do the event again next year if it takes 60 minutes to turn your score in! We were second to last in our line and the team behind us left early and said "eff-it".<br />
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After the event they were supposed to give us drink tickets for the after party and we were planning to get back in costume and mingle by the fire. Instead we stood in line for 60 minutes in the freezing cold behind some obnoxious drunk woman who was 35-45 and should have acted more like an adult.<br />
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The BEST MOVE of the night is that the obnoxious lady's team who was in front of us in line was harassing us for a tick tac because they didn't get one and it was worth 25 points, we bought a whole package of tic tacs and easily had one to spare but they were so annoying Dave D offered to trade their spot in line for one. They took us up on it and it was the best move of the night! <br />
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When we got in line at 8:28 we felt like we had a lot of fun and were in a pretty good mood. By the time we got to the judge no one was happy. We missed the after party and all of our drink tickets were worthless, plus we couldn't get into the 4-5 eating establishments where the awards would take place because the lines were out the door by the time we were done.<br />
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If that wasn't bad enough we messed up the one section of activities because I didn't understand the rules to that part. One thing I know from Consumer Research - men don't read directions. Especially in a crazy unorganized packet during a race. If you want to know what the location of a picture you show is - show the picture and say "where is it?" instead they had multiple pages of pictures with numbers on them and later some random page that you had to write in the name of the location for picture #1 etc. That section was my fault and our score suffered as a result. But worse - our judge was not friendly. To quote Parks and Recreation "I don't use the word butt-head lightly, and I think in many cases butt-head is overused, but in this situation I can say with confidence our judge was a dick!" She was trying to be funny but was completely rude about making fun of us for being from Mason instead of Loveland, she was also a teacher in Sycamore with some sort of chip on her shoulder against engineers and P&G in general, and she had some drunk guy hanging out chiming in with her "witty banter". After it was over she did apologize saying something like "I hope you know we were just kidding" - I didn't saying thing but I was thinking "it doesn't matter - everyone on my team has a terrible impression of you and your Loveland Townies from this sh*t!"<br />
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All of this took some of the fun out of the event and made us unlikely to return - but I think the deal breaker of an event like this is in Loveland's Amazing Race - Halloween Edition it was obvious that you can't compete honestly and have any chance of winning. Our team followed the rules and didn't open the clues until the gun went off, we stayed together as a team instead of splitting up - and we didn't know any other teams and didn't "share answers" like so many we saw. In short - You can't win honestly. That takes a lot of the fun out of the competition of the whole Event. If you want to just have people run around and do fun stuff then don't pretend it's a competition. If you want it to be a competition it has to have a lot more integrity than this event.<br />
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In hindsight we would have had more fun staying in our costumes, not trying to compete and getting back to the judges so early that you missed a lot of tasks but could enjoy the after-party.<br />
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<b>The Ugly</b><br />
By the time we were done it was 10:00pm and we were all hungry and the establishments that were part of this event were mobbed out the door. So somehow we took our post game party to steak and shake.<br />
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As I was telling the tale of the one and only time I have had food poisoning and how it was from Steak and Shake our "waitress" came over. She was maybe 16, had a tattoo inside her ear (I'm not judging - just hadn't seen it before), and she started off by saying "this is like my first day and I don't know anything and I don't know what I am doing." There were a few typical waitress mistakes along the way - but when she returned with our food - literally while she was passing it out she was sniffling and said "I'm so sorry guys I am really sick." Where's the Board of Health - oh that's right - budget cuts. Time to pollute the streams for profit too while we're at it.<br />
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Doctor Dave said it was unlikely that our waitress had a pathogen that he hasn't been exposed to already.<br />
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Our team took it like champs - and because we were starving we ate everything!<br />
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All and all it was an interesting Halloween. We didn't get to carve pumpkins this year because we carved boxes for Tetris. Our team had fun spending time together and running around all over Loveland.<br />
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If you aren't from this area you can't get into the town rivalries and it seems petty and small. If you are from Loveland and want to have a reunion with your high school class - this event is for you! Literally.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-57663957698282207002011-10-15T17:18:00.000-04:002013-11-04T20:44:33.773-05:00London<div class="mobile-photo">
Seems like forever ago but right before Anna was born I was in London for work. We were pretty busy so I didn't take many pictures but the group I was working with at the time was awesome and we had fun out a dinner and even hit up a London club.</div>
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Ew. Prawn pringles - and they look too much like the original.</div>
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Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-19876550346904094412011-10-14T18:02:00.000-04:002011-10-14T18:02:36.100-04:00Little Miami Triathlon - Fall 2011 ResultsThe FALL2011 Little Miami Triathlon on October 2nd was a great time! The temperature turned out to be PERFECT! It was 38 degrees when I arrived but 48 degrees by the start so I just wore my tri shorts and Jersey with a long sleeve shirt underneath and I was fine. It was probably still only 53 degrees by the finish.<br />
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This year we had 1 team participate:<br />
Dave (brother) and I were DOS GEMELOS which means two twins in Spanish.<br />
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But Dave S. was sick so Dave D. stepped in and canoed with me which was awesome!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LQt_D5v8gcE/TpZk_9aetrI/AAAAAAAABKM/wNpTr6gfsXA/s1600/photo+2+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LQt_D5v8gcE/TpZk_9aetrI/AAAAAAAABKM/wNpTr6gfsXA/s400/photo+2+%25282%2529.JPG" width="298" /></a></div><br />
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Meanwhile Molly (sister-in-law) and was there as the ATHLETIC SUPPORTER and my parents were tracking my GPS online. Meghan was home being pregnant. :)<br />
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<b>"Hey Apple Jacks - Are you the guy with the blog?" - YES I AM!</b><br />
For the second Little Miami Triathlon in a row someone recognized my Apple Jack Jersey and said they had used my blog to help prepare for their first Little Miami Triathlon. I guess I will have to keep racing in the Apple Jacks Jersey. Blog: <a href="http://bloggingthewillow.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-run-little-miami-triathlon-tips.html" target="_blank">Tips & Tricks blog for the Little Miami Triathlon</a>.<br />
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On to the results: PERSONAL RECORD!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ta9rn0xD1mc/TpZnthr0_cI/AAAAAAAABKU/6JGuy3N-Hfk/s1600/LMT-results.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ta9rn0xD1mc/TpZnthr0_cI/AAAAAAAABKU/6JGuy3N-Hfk/s400/LMT-results.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>After figuring out how to run the Little Miami Triathlon I was stuck in the 3:30 range. The 3:28 was before the "cobbles" were added to the bike course so I consider them to be equivalent. I finally broke through and though it doesn't seem like a huge difference - after 3 triathlons where I couldn't find a few extra minutes this was definitely my best finish and by far my best percentile finish (by about 10 percentage points).<br />
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<b>Canoeing ~6mi [60 min, +1 mins from last FALL]</b><br />
Dave D and I were in an interesting canoe heat. There were a number of teams with the fiberglass canoes as they were in the "masters" division so they seemed to have much faster canoes than our huge metal canoe. This led to a lot more traffic initially and in general the water seemed slow.<br />
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It was perfect weather for canoeing and we had a great time. I was very appreciative of Dave to step in at the last minute and help me set my Personal Record in the triathlon. I only drank one water bottle on the canoe but ran with the other and finished it after a few miles which worked out well.<br />
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In the personal record department - it was my 5th Triathlon in a row getting the "inside lane" for the canoe start which is tough to do every time! <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2YkSnrl9DrI/TpZpX1JkueI/AAAAAAAABKc/cKFKc0FbSoI/s1600/LMT-canoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2YkSnrl9DrI/TpZpX1JkueI/AAAAAAAABKc/cKFKc0FbSoI/s400/LMT-canoe.jpg" width="307" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Molly got a great pic of us from the bridge!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a47Dpqbnx4o/TpZrzBJaRkI/AAAAAAAABKk/_ojnqwyeKlQ/s1600/LMT-canoe-time.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="387" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a47Dpqbnx4o/TpZrzBJaRkI/AAAAAAAABKk/_ojnqwyeKlQ/s400/LMT-canoe-time.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<b>Running ~5mi [63 min, +2 mins from last FALL]</b><br />
The run was great. With the cool weather I felt good and my heart rate was fine.I know it says I was 2 minutes slower from last fall but that was also the year I ran the half marathon so I think my running was in better shape then. I was 2 minutes faster than this spring which was hot.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gJpNa_w-9K4/TpZsKIhPjSI/AAAAAAAABKs/sUEJWnVhhQE/s1600/LMT-run.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="383" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gJpNa_w-9K4/TpZsKIhPjSI/AAAAAAAABKs/sUEJWnVhhQE/s400/LMT-run.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<b>Killer Hill + Transition ~0.5mi [11 min, -2 min from last FALL] </b><br />
I think the cool weather helped me feel great on the hill too. I was blindly following some people ahead of me and we took a wrong turn on the hill and had to backtrack, but otherwise I felt the best I ever had at the top and didn't need any time to recover before getting on the bike.<br />
<br />
It seems no matter how I slice it - I end up getting on my bike with 1 hour and 15mins to go to beat my PR and it usually takes me 1:15 to bike - so I was in the exact same place here as I have been in my 3 previous triathlons. It all came down to the bike.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jNqn4RBX_hU/TpZshrnh1OI/AAAAAAAABK0/8XsERUE93Sw/s1600/LMT-hill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="385" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jNqn4RBX_hU/TpZshrnh1OI/AAAAAAAABK0/8XsERUE93Sw/s400/LMT-hill.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<b>Biking ~18mi [71 min, -6 mins from last FALL]</b><br />
At one point I realized how slow the first mile is of this triathlon. You have to bike uphill through the Fort Ancient Park traffic and I tended to go slower than most other miles of the biking. This time I decided to just go as fast as I could for as long as I could from the very start. Since this summer my mantra for biking has been "You can bike faster than you think" which came from Cousin Christopher as we were talking about biking. I think it's true - people often get faster by biking with a group of "faster" bikers not just because they are training but because they train themselves to expect to be going faster in your natural biking state. If you aren't paying attention and just biking - you have to set your status quo speed to a higher setpoint to improve and the funny thing is you really can bike faster than you think.<br />
<br />
I thought the weather was great and I felt really good on the bike. It was a bit windy as usual but I would say it was in a favorable direction compared to some other years. I didn't really have any cramping issues - I only had to stop pedaling a few times but no major cramps like some previous years. I did pass a few people walking their bike up the hill over the highway which is one of the toughest spots. I again saw some poor guy wipe out and be covered in blood all over his face on the transition from the paved road to the tar and pitch "cobbles". Don't worry - he was receiving medical attention when I passed and he looked to be in good shape and standing besides being scraped up.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--XT5im6qOcg/Te8JAaIWAnI/AAAAAAAABIg/cFwDWeoR7O8/s1600/roadpic4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--XT5im6qOcg/Te8JAaIWAnI/AAAAAAAABIg/cFwDWeoR7O8/s320/roadpic4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The "cobbles" - tar and pitch road surface.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I think I only drank one of my water bottles on my bike and I was fine - the cool weather made it easy.<br />
<br />
I was counting down the miles and checking my personal best time and it was close every split. I wasn't sure when I hit the finish how close I was but I thought I had a good chance to beat my time. I felt great when I finished and had a meaningful improvement (finally) in my time. It was so hard to get these minutes that I think in order to take more time off have to dramatically improve my running AND biking - which will be my longer term goal in this triathlon.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bjHurhDxoKo/TpZy_0cUCKI/AAAAAAAABK8/YUirK5_T6ic/s1600/LMT-bike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="386" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bjHurhDxoKo/TpZy_0cUCKI/AAAAAAAABK8/YUirK5_T6ic/s400/LMT-bike.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Anatomy of a 6 minute bike improvement:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gAjhZomdCQ4/TpZzM862hGI/AAAAAAAABLE/jkHfFg8s3Do/s1600/LMT-bike-splits.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gAjhZomdCQ4/TpZzM862hGI/AAAAAAAABLE/jkHfFg8s3Do/s400/LMT-bike-splits.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Well - it was another great triathlon and I look forward to breaking my PR (Personal Record) in the Spring!<br />
If you read this blog to this point you must be interested enough to try it in the Spring of 2012!Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-52938452289612247362011-10-12T23:59:00.000-04:002011-10-12T23:59:43.173-04:00Hueston Woods Triathlon - Mission AccomplishedAppealing aspects of the Hueston Woods Triathlon:<br />
1) Less than 1 hour away<br />
2) Cold water ~65 degrees (great for those who want to wear a wetsuit)<br />
3) Supposedly 4 foot deep open water swim in Acton Lake<br />
4) No <i>e. coli</i> in the water (unlike Caesar Creek)<br />
5) It was on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 <br />
<br />
I think the Hueston Woods Triathlon lived up to the hype. It was probably a better beginner triathlon course for an open water swim than Caesar Creek. I remember waking up at like 5 am in order to get there in time to pick up my race packet. It was still dark at 6:30am when we got there and people in the transition area were wearing lights on their heads like miners in order to get ready.<br />
<br />
Plus I knew another triathlete there so it was fun to see him and talk triathlon. <br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Swim 750m (0.47 mi)</b><br />
<b> </b><br />
No buoys were harmed during the making of this triathlon. The swim was advertised as being in 4 foot deep water for the entire course. This was only true for the first 10% of the course. Meghan overheard some other folks saying the water was higher this year. Fortunately this wasn't an issue for me as I didn't need to stop at all while swimming. The water was colder so I felt better in my wetsuit than Caesar Creek where I was too hot during the swim. So I didn't need to take a buoy break this time :) If success can be measured by swimming 750m slowly without stopping than this was a success. For those who didn't wear a wet suit they said 65 degrees was shockingly cold at first and they lost their breath when they dove in but warmed up as they went. For me I wouldn't have made it since I don't do well in cold water but even in 65 degree water my full wetsuit was hot so I would consider a shorter sleeved wetsuit to balance out a bit.<br />
<br />
One fun thing about the swim is that when you look out at the course from shore it always looks longer than you think. So when I went to look at this course it looked RIDICULOUSLY long! When I got to shore people were literally freaking out over trying to figure out the swim. Turns out one of the buoys that marks the swim got loose and floated away making it look like an impossible swim. They fixed it just before the start.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Bike 20 km (~13 mi) - </b>Time Trial deja-vu! Again! For the 3rd time.<br />
I thought this was going to be a relatively flat course. Again. Caesar Creek was a bit hilly, but this course had a few steep climbs. You know it's steep when people are walking their bike up a hill during the triathlon. I was not one of them - which usually makes me feel good when I pass them - but it had a few tough spots.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SywYARGjPqs/TpZYP9SrUEI/AAAAAAAABJs/D--7tDPZfDk/s1600/hueston-bike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="386" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SywYARGjPqs/TpZYP9SrUEI/AAAAAAAABJs/D--7tDPZfDk/s400/hueston-bike.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The green "sharks teeth" are the steep hills - especially the last one.<b><br />
</b><br />
<br />
<b>Run 5 km (3.1 mi) -</b><br />
The run was better than Caesar Creek because it was on paved roads instead of a gravel road over a dam. Other than that I wasn't crazy about the course because it just winded around the property which made it seem long and boring for only a 5K. I'd rather run an out an back course or a loop than wind around and around. <br />
<b> </b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IPMHvKNxBxY/TpZZ8TlrZEI/AAAAAAAABJ0/1IPhLBuQmYM/s1600/hueston-run.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="387" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IPMHvKNxBxY/TpZZ8TlrZEI/AAAAAAAABJ0/1IPhLBuQmYM/s400/hueston-run.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<b>Apple Jack a Hit</b> <br />
This course may have set a record for most Apple Jacks Jersey compliments. At one point I ran by a guy who said "I'm sure you've heard this a bunch of times but that is a sweet Jersey." <br />
<br />
In Summary - I would add Hueston woods to my race calendar again next year. I like the timing in the schedule better. It seems like triathlons peak in July/August when it is 95 degrees out - I'd prefer more in September.<br />
<br />
I took 11 mins off my Sprint Tri time from Caesar Creek. And though my swim and run are still slow among triathletes my bike was good and dramatically higher in percentile finish than my swim, run or overall finish - which is good since I spent most of this year biking. I think this was a prelude to my Morgan's Tri bike record. It's funny that my absolute biking time was slower that Caesars but I had a much stronger bike finish compared to other triathletes versus where I placed in Caesars bike so I think the Hueston bike course was tougher.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CWyOnTKqmxg/TpZcKrvZ7rI/AAAAAAAABJ8/wAX3D7Zn4ng/s1600/hueston-finish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CWyOnTKqmxg/TpZcKrvZ7rI/AAAAAAAABJ8/wAX3D7Zn4ng/s320/hueston-finish.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W_FQw-yygdA/TpZhFlzet1I/AAAAAAAABKE/7ThJ0rSrr3g/s1600/hueston-comp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W_FQw-yygdA/TpZhFlzet1I/AAAAAAAABKE/7ThJ0rSrr3g/s1600/hueston-comp.jpg" /></a></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-67241945302171479962011-08-22T00:23:00.004-04:002011-08-25T23:37:16.771-04:00Current Favorite Commercial<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zGOgU3JUpEU?rel=0" width="480"></iframe>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-20038426070603650712011-08-14T00:07:00.002-04:002011-08-14T10:47:27.711-04:00Cincinnati Mudathlon - We Did it!<blockquote><i>"We are calling out serious athletes and fun seekers alike to join us for an off-road, obstacle packed, mud soaked adventure that will leave you wiped-out and wanting more! Mudathlon is over 3 miles of 40+ challenging obstacles and 100 yard mud pits followed by an outstanding post-party that promises beer, live music and great food. It's an event that you just don't want to miss! Choose to compete as an individual or as a team. Either way, at the end of the day you will be proud to call yourself a Mudathlete!"</i></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Before</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XUtGnCc7t_U/TkcuWI2am9I/AAAAAAAABJU/U-BtXbBNsz4/s1600/DSC00473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XUtGnCc7t_U/TkcuWI2am9I/AAAAAAAABJU/U-BtXbBNsz4/s320/DSC00473.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>After</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-agZIiO00vxw/TkcrIHoKo4I/AAAAAAAABJQ/HzDuqiFO6XA/s1600/after.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-agZIiO00vxw/TkcrIHoKo4I/AAAAAAAABJQ/HzDuqiFO6XA/s1600/after.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Muck-Ups: My brother Dave, co-workers Ben and Nicole and Nicole's friend Megan. And Bolt Speedman. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h-Jpv-W4RZg/TkdBwhCo8CI/AAAAAAAABJo/RLTFbgAF2z4/s1600/DSC00468.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h-Jpv-W4RZg/TkdBwhCo8CI/AAAAAAAABJo/RLTFbgAF2z4/s320/DSC00468.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> <br />
Our team, the "Muck-ups", was decorated in vibrant gear thanks to Nicole and Megan and then given some great flare thanks to Ben and his Doo-rags and flaming duct tape! I thought the neon idea was awesome because it looks so bright in the beginning and then - you are just muddy!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WcyfJDObz-0/TkcwqMRWvQI/AAAAAAAABJY/bPBs6rQWiCA/s1600/running.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WcyfJDObz-0/TkcwqMRWvQI/AAAAAAAABJY/bPBs6rQWiCA/s400/running.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Nicole pushing the pace - as usual!</b></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>The Course and Obstacles:</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tza5hYJYGLE/Tkc2BMb8OBI/AAAAAAAABJk/_ikD8cU-z9g/s1600/Obstacles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tza5hYJYGLE/Tkc2BMb8OBI/AAAAAAAABJk/_ikD8cU-z9g/s400/Obstacles.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>The course was a 5k with obstacles - which really was a lot more tiring than an 5k because you were either trying to run distances or doing something related to strength. Or mud. Mostly mud. But some strength.<br />
<br />
The best obstacle was #38 the slide. It was a pretty big and steep hill with a water slide into mud. The mud at the bottom was impossible to keep to keep out of your nose.<br />
<br />
The worst obstacle was the #9 monkey bars. Each individual bar would turn - making it impossible to actually finish them.<br />
<br />
The most frequent obstacle seemed to be the shifty spools. They were actually pretty tall and took some good effort to climb over.<br />
<br />
The mucking mud pit was a crowd pleaser as you had to cross it twice. It was mostly ankle deep but it was so slippery underneath that you often feel. There were a few sections of barbed wire that required you to crawl/swim underneath. The girls support crew also joined in the fun by "cannon balling" into the mud pit as we were coming through! Great effort on their part!<br />
<br />
The cargo net climbs were good too. One was more of a cargo net walk 6 feet off the ground which was surprisingly dangerous. In fact a number of obstacles could have caused some bodily harm. Except for the potato sack race. That was just fun. And not a race at all. More like an obstacle. Except part of the overall race.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jQei8VmjpYw/Tkcy78OOWYI/AAAAAAAABJc/qspyyZL7Ykc/s1600/mudpit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jQei8VmjpYw/Tkcy78OOWYI/AAAAAAAABJc/qspyyZL7Ykc/s400/mudpit.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Mud Pit!</b></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>It was surprising how a muddy river could actually seem clean as we used it to get mud off our face or glasses.<br />
<br />
<b>Summary:</b><br />
The Mudathlon was a blast! I have a few bumps and bruises but I would definitely do it again. I wish there were a way for the spectators to see more of the course as the best obstacles were in the woods. Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-71631308554961761082011-08-06T22:31:00.001-04:002011-08-06T22:32:10.375-04:00Caesar Creek Triathlon - Did it!It's been a bit since I blogged so here's what I can remember about the Caesar Creek Triathlon in July. It was my first open water swim triathlon! There was also some added excitement since the water was closed the month before due to high levels of e. coli (we had a ton of rain and the water was 8 feet above normal catching all of the bird mess in the grass!) But we were cleared to swim in July! <br />
<br />
<b>Swim 750m - </b>I finished the swim but bouy was it tough!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f4I1ynzi5AE/Tj3wOws-UuI/AAAAAAAABI0/4YQsHtDcqyk/s1600/swim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="91" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f4I1ynzi5AE/Tj3wOws-UuI/AAAAAAAABI0/4YQsHtDcqyk/s400/swim.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>I remember checking out the swim course the day before the race - and it is not quite a 1/2 mile swim but the course looked long from the shore! I am not a good swimmer but I was armed with my new wetsuit and I was just hoping to finish the swim. Unfortunately the water temperature was 75 degrees which is still wetsuit legal but they said it would be hot - and it was! As soon as I got my wet suit on I was sweating so I tried to cool off in the water before the start but no good.<br />
<br />
At the start I just let my wave go ahead of me and I took my time walking into the water and then swam behind the group so as not to be in the kicking and grabbing pack of swimmers. I started out with some easy swimming but by the first turn I was way too hot, out of breath and couldn't get my heart rate down. The turn is quite a ways from shore and deep and then you swim along shore for quite a ways so thinks looked bleak.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RTT-aA9aJGk/Tj3tgUZGC6I/AAAAAAAABIw/MqlhnjEVSwQ/s1600/bouy.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RTT-aA9aJGk/Tj3tgUZGC6I/AAAAAAAABIw/MqlhnjEVSwQ/s1600/bouy.bmp" /></a></div>If you recall my creative swimming endevours from the years before (see "swalking") you may know that I am known to push the limits of a course. And this was no different. I decided that the bouy at the first turn was a great opportunity to stop and reassess the swim-bacle that was occurring. Also the wave of swimmers behind me were quickly coming at mob speed and I took an arm to the head at one point. It could have looked a little bit like the image to the right, but really I just grabbed on with one hand to hang out for a bit.<br />
<br />
Things have to be going pretty poorly for someone to grab a bouy, but the "lifeguards" (read bored inattentive teenagers in kayaks) did not seem too concerned about me. Had they come over immediately I might have considered bailing because it seemed like a long way home at this rate. After a few minutes there my heart rate came down and I figured out to unzip my wetsuit a bit to let water in and cool me down. I think my wet suit acts more like a dry suit but that is a whole other story. After feeling better I decided to trudge on - swimming pretty slowly the rest of the way in.<br />
<br />
I was excited just to finish the swim because I knew with my first open water swim that I could easily not have finished the swim - but once I did the rest was a pretty short course.<br />
<br />
I also had the distinct honor of finishing the Sprint Swim in the exact same time as the fastest guy who started after me and swim 2 laps for the Olympic swim! He swam 1500m (almost 1 mile) in only 15 minutes!<br />
<br />
I decided to take a LONG transition and had some food and lots of water. It was hot and the swim took a lot out of me.<br />
<br />
<b>Bike 22 km (~13.7 mi)- </b>Time Trial deja-vu!<br />
There isn't much to say about the bike other than that it was hot and much hillier than I was planning on. It reminded me of the time trial that turned out to be more hilly. About half-way through the biking I started to feel better and everything was fine. Also everyone who passed me commented on the Apple Jacks jersey - it is a crowd pleaser!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-npjImUDxCxs/Tj30B-E06cI/AAAAAAAABI4/xKSjqlwqd2o/s1600/caesar-bike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="386" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-npjImUDxCxs/Tj30B-E06cI/AAAAAAAABI4/xKSjqlwqd2o/s400/caesar-bike.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
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<b>Run 5 km (3.1 mi) - </b>WTF am I trail running?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O1Irj2oMV8I/Tj31kkq0cjI/AAAAAAAABI8/EzaDj8mHKy8/s1600/gravel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O1Irj2oMV8I/Tj31kkq0cjI/AAAAAAAABI8/EzaDj8mHKy8/s320/gravel.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>The run wasn't too special besides being very hot and being an off road run on gravel! I was not expecting to do the XTERRA triathlon today but it was fine. I was too hot so I ran / walked.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lmToEST0riE/Tj32W5_hpwI/AAAAAAAABJA/0arM2cznXMg/s1600/caesar-run.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lmToEST0riE/Tj32W5_hpwI/AAAAAAAABJA/0arM2cznXMg/s320/caesar-run.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Summary - </b>Well at least I finished. I learned a lot. I learned that with a wet suit I want the water temperature to be 65 degrees and not 75 degrees (which makes the Tri for Joe triathlon in April more appealing) and I know I have to keep working on my swim.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZOa83h73Xo/Tj346xHdF4I/AAAAAAAABJE/pRcWvqzxjRk/s1600/Tom-Caesar-Creek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZOa83h73Xo/Tj346xHdF4I/AAAAAAAABJE/pRcWvqzxjRk/s400/Tom-Caesar-Creek.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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I'm just glad I finished - and while my swim was ugly at least it wasn't this ugly:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VbWsQMabczM?rel=0" width="480"></iframe><br />
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Or this ugly:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/p1UvxxYIv3U?rel=0" width="480"></iframe><br />
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or this ugly (this is a 5 km run!):<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2xIzuyjCcZk?rel=0" width="480"></iframe>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30546861.post-50307773211916412902011-07-03T21:57:00.014-04:002011-07-03T21:57:01.076-04:00Pictures of Cats Being CuteThe cats love watching "outdoor" cat Soxy.<br />
<div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gKbRWClA_WU/Teg_lar1qdI/AAAAAAAABHs/CEeQFo-Zu6c/s1600/photo%2B1-760741.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613806847568226770" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gKbRWClA_WU/Teg_lar1qdI/AAAAAAAABHs/CEeQFo-Zu6c/s320/photo%2B1-760741.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Sox the cat provides hours of entertainment to our cats. <br />
<div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-voJw1yzOPtk/Teg_lpWQjQI/AAAAAAAABH0/hmKYVlHpc7U/s1600/photo%2B2-761988.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613806851504246018" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-voJw1yzOPtk/Teg_lpWQjQI/AAAAAAAABH0/hmKYVlHpc7U/s320/photo%2B2-761988.JPG" /></a></div><br />
So close but yet so far... Soxy is unaware of the possible danger he is in.<br />
<div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A6UJI6f7u_E/Teg_nMVPoII/AAAAAAAABIM/3G-99qWBAyM/s1600/photo%2B5-767157.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613806878075101314" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A6UJI6f7u_E/Teg_nMVPoII/AAAAAAAABIM/3G-99qWBAyM/s320/photo%2B5-767157.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Here the cats take time out to work on a puzzle.<br />
<div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-__4xwMYTeh4/Teg_mFiuHqI/AAAAAAAABH8/cZjfoZwVK68/s1600/photo%2B3-764112.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613806859072708258" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-__4xwMYTeh4/Teg_mFiuHqI/AAAAAAAABH8/cZjfoZwVK68/s320/photo%2B3-764112.JPG" /></a></div><br />
"Dad knows what cats like" is a theme in our house because sometimes I see things (like these cat lounging boxes) and then I get them and the cats LOVE using them. They look pretty comfy.<br />
<div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ddCWfItLr_o/Teg_mlu2LYI/AAAAAAAABIE/1UA0tjYqZ2E/s1600/photo%2B4-766090.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613806867713502594" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ddCWfItLr_o/Teg_mlu2LYI/AAAAAAAABIE/1UA0tjYqZ2E/s320/photo%2B4-766090.JPG" /></a></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08489475901335177511noreply@blogger.com1