Nikon Thanksgiving Sales

If you are looking for a camera there are some great deals this week on Nikon equipment where you can save $300 and more:

Abe's of Maine

Nikon Black Friday

Crazy-Fast Computers for 2009

Check out this article on Engadget. 24GB? That's insane - but I still want it!

Sign of the Times

Looks like the local Lamborghini/Lotus dealership is gone, gone, gone... Now what am I going to get?

Swimming Update

In today's swim practice I was able to swim a length in only 12 strokes in 24 seconds. I then increased it to 15 strokes and put a little speed on and got my time down to 21 seconds. The overall exertion level is still much less than it used to be for the same distance. I like this Total Immersion stuff.

Halfway to Ironman 2010

I last posted that I plan to do a full Ironman (2.4/112/26) in 2010. I'm thinking it would be nice to ramp-up, and so today I registered for what will likely be one of the most difficult things I've ever done: the Vineman Half-Ironman in July. That's right: 1.2 miles of swimming-goodness, 56 miles of biking goodness and 13 miles of running goodness. In one day. In Sonoma. In July 2009.

Coming to a training center near you this January!

Ironman 2010

I went to a talk last night put on by Triathletix. The speaker was Cherie Gruenweld (author of Become an Ironman) an incredible lady who completed 21 Ironman races - her first being in Kona. Listening to her speak and watching several videos tipped me over the edge: 2010 will be the year I do a full Ironman race!

Save the Trees

Plastic Logic in early 2009 will release what may be the first real, usable version of electronic paper. Check it out here. The upsides are numerous, including not having to carry tons of books around and not having to print, distribute and trash billions of newspaper pages a day (world-wide), decreasing the demand for paper and therefore the number of trees that need to be cut down to supply this demand. It's compatible with a wide range of document formats (PDF included) so this may turn out to be a very viable product.

Swimming Update

I've hit the pool three times this week as swimming is my "limiter" and in the off-season it's good to concentrate on your limiter (so as to unlimit yourself, I guess). So I'm swimming and doing strength training (to get all those little, atrophied muscles that aren't used in swimming, biking and running back up to spec).

Today I swam for an hour, painstakingly (boringly) working on technique and trying to maintain a constant, low stroke count over varying distances. I was able to keep the count between 14 and 17 SPL at up to 100 yards. Not too bad! The exciting part, if you just missed it, was that I actually swam a 14 stroke length (multiple times in fact)! The other nice thing about using the Total Immersion technique is that after 100 yards I'm only a bit tired/winded, and actually much less than I previously was after only 25 yards.

Minority Report User Interface

From Engadget:

If you've been waiting for that Minority Report-style interface to really come to fruition, you can finally exhale. One of the science advisors from the Steven Spielberg film -- along with a team of other zany visionaries -- has created an honest-to-goodness, real-world implementation of the computer systems seen in the movie. Dubbed g-speak, the mind bending OS combines "gestural i/o, recombinant networking, and real-world pixels," to deliver what the creators call "the first major step in computer [a] interface since 1984." There are some things that need to seen to be understood, so watch the video...and prepare to have your mind thoroughly blown to bits.

You can see the video here

"Will work for homeland"

And we think we (the US) have problems! Apparently the Maldives, a group of islands south-southwest of India, is sinking and the newly elected President is seeking to move the entire nation. Read more here. Maybe I should start a moving company specializing in entire countries...

Tough Transition

This is my "rehab month" training-wise: my foot, knees, IT band, back and left arm have issues so I'm just doing PT exercises, rowing, swimming and giving myself a break. While I'm not really working out, I'm spending the "extra" time I normally would be spending training by trying to figure out how to train for next season.

There is no shortage of advice or resources out there, that is for sure! When I was training with Tnt, it was very easy: just follow the instructions, show-up twice a week, and all was good. On my own though, with goals exceeding just completing a race, it's difficult.

I've found sites that track workouts, give you workouts, charge you for workouts, evaluate you, and even one that tailors a season-long training program based on all of the races you are going to be in (unfortunately I lost the link to that one and am still trying to re-find it). There are plenty of sites and coaches available, from $200 to $700 a month for training, but that's a bit pricey considering I'm not quite in "podium range" yet.

So, how do *you* train effectively? Do you do it on the cheap or pay for it (directly or through raising money)? Any tips?

Calabasas Classic Race Report

Bright and early yesterday I woke my son up and we headed out to Calabasas for the Calabasas Classic 5K/10K. It was a very cold morning (especially considering it was very warm the day before) and we shivered our way over to the LA Tri Club tent to wait for the start.

At the tent we met Lawrence Fong's father and picked-up a "Team Fong" t-shirt in support of Lawrence, who suffered multiple minor strokes last week and is in very serious condition at UCLA Medical Center (for more info on Lawrence, click here) (we're on the far left in the photo above).

Ryan and I ran the 5K. His knees started hurting after about 1 mile so we mostly walked the rest of it. As I was more interested in just having some quality time with my son and ensuring he had a good time at his first race, it was no problem to just take it easy for once.

The course was nice and slightly hilly through the city of Calabasas. A short run, we completed it in about 40 minutes, got our medals, hung out at the LATC tent a little while, and then headed home where it was nice and warm. Ryan said he liked the race, will likely do it again next year, and even mentioned doing a tri with me in a couple of years. That, I think, means this was a great morning!

Presidential Transition Resources

Here's an Operations Manual for the United States. One thing I found particularly interesting was the org chart - check out who (or what) is in charge of the whole country...

New President

For better or worse, we have a new President. And while I don't know how things are going to turn out, I'm optimistic since things can't get much worse. It's time for a change, let's hope it's enough of a change to get things back on track.

Another Strike Against Static Stretching

“They’re stretching, touching their toes. . . . ” He sighs. “It’s discouraging.”

Yet more advice on NOT stretching before a workout (but you should still warm-up).

Click here to read the article.

Hardcore Jogger

I always figured triathletes in general were hardcore, and even gave myself a pat on the back for doing the Muddy Buddy in the rain on a cold day, but there's a whole level of grit and determination that I don't think I really comprehended, as evidenced in this story out of Arizona from the AP:

PRESCOTT, Ariz. – Authorities in Arizona say a jogger attacked by a rabid fox ran a mile with the animal's jaws clamped on her arm and then drove herself to a hospital. The Yavapai County sheriff's office said the woman told deputies she was on a trail near Prescott on Monday when the fox attacked and bit her foot.

She said she grabbed the fox by the neck when it went for her leg but it bit her arm.

The woman wanted the animal tested for rabies so she ran a mile to her car with the fox still biting her arm, then pried it off and tossed it in her trunk and drove to the Prescott hospital.

The sheriff's office says the fox later bit an animal control officer. He and the woman are both receiving rabies vaccinations.

Swimming is Getting Fun

So for my first official "rehab" workout of the month (i.e. no running or strenuous work - my body is feeling pretty broken in spots) I went to the gym and did the usual PT stretching and strengthening exercises followed by a round of "Triathlon Training Series" "Adaptation-A" exercises. All good. Given that I can't workout tomorrow, I hit the pool for a little over 20 minutes and that is where things got interesting.

Last week I was able to get my SPL (strokes per length) count down to 17 bare-handed, 19 with fist gloves. Today, after only 10 minutes, I got the fist glove count down to 17 and my bare-handed count down to 15! 15 strokes to swim 25 yards! And I did it in 25 seconds - which is 5 seconds faster than usual, and it felt *very* slow (but in reality was not), and I wasn't huffing and puffing at the end.

Total Immersion swimming rocks!

Time to Feel No Pain

Went for a run with muddy-buddy Craig today. I lasted about 3.5 miles (at a really great pace) when my left knee was hurting so bad I could only walk. This knee has been diagnosed with "runner's knee" and it's pretty much at its worst at this point. Therefore, I'm going to shift to swimming, stretching, walking and resistance training for the next couple of weeks in the hope of giving my legs a break so I can ramp up in December and really hit the training in January.

Muddy Buddy Race Report

4AM the alarm goes off. Thank god for the extra hour of sleep coming off of Daylight Savings Time here in California (aka GST-8). I rolled out of bed and into a pair of black tri shorts, dark blue swimming shirt, and black cycling socks. In the bathroom I flipped on the light and was greeted by monster eyes: red, puffy, itchy, watery, stinging. What the heck? Pink eye? Great, how am I going to crawl through mud with pink eye? Well, a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do, so I headed downstairs to mix hydration drinks and pack things up.

I opened the garage door just before 5AM and 30 seconds later my neighbor Craig (who you may remember from the Father's Day Mock Tri and the Malibu Tri) came walking up my driveway. We loaded up and into the night we drove.

First stop: Long's Drug Store where I picked-up a bottle of eye-drop anti-histamine that did the trick.

Next stop, 50 minutes later: Bonelli Park in San Dimas, this morning's home to the Muddy Buddy race series and 2,398 of our soon-to-be closest friends.

Parking wasn't nearly as bad as we had feared and was made all the more enjoyable by the site of two girls in flourescent pink tights and tops over which they had reflective silver bikini outfits. The day was looking up!

We unloaded, got our jungle-man outfits ready, and headed down to the main race area. There were guys dressed as prisoners, 6 people dressed as Crayola crayons (with different colored soccer cones on their helmets), the "Team in Trannies" guys dressed in drag, the "referree" girls, and a whole lot more. After the race announcements we all lined-up by wave, bikes in front, ready to go. Craig and I, dressed as jungle men complete with leopard print togas (our team name was "The Boys from TZ" - we live in Tarzana - get it?), were in wave 4.

Craig's a stronger mountain biker than I am so we put him on the bike first, which of course meant I was running first. The countdown hit and he was off. Two minutes later the runners were released and we started the trek up the initial hill. Thinking it was time to walk, I looked down at my watch to find that a whole 2:50 had elapsed. Wow, this was going to be a long, rainy, wet morning. I kept plugging along however.

The first psuedo-obstacle was to go around a fence that jutted out into the lake about 5 feet. So, at 1/2 mile into the 5.5 mile race, our shoes were soaked through. This made the first real obstacle, a short climbing wall with a cargo net on the other side, insanely difficult due to wet shoes sliding off the grips. The trick was to get your hands over the top and pull yourself over. Whew, 1 down!

I ran to the bike pile and found our bike in 2 seconds flat: we had attached a big mylar balloon to it. Off I went, Craig already ahead on his run of this leg.

First up was a medium hill which I rode up, passing a guy who was peeing over the edge (heretofore known as the "pee guy"). Down a hill I went, being very careful as the brakes were slipping when I caught-up to Craig, who told me the brakes were slippery. I got to the transition area and parked the bike, standing up for easier visibility and pick-up by Craig, at the second obstacle: a set of bars in a triangle shape that we had climb, weaving ourselves through and over the bars on both sides. Completing that, I was off on my second run leg.

Wow - this leg (3rd) had a lot of hills. By this point 99% of the people were walking up hills, including the bike riders. I caught up and passed the pee-guy. I ended-up walking next to a guy on a bike and his daughter (a teen) walking next to him. He was trying to reassure her that this was the last hill and that the top was "just around the next corner." I and the others around me gave him a hard time about that: we all had friends who motivated us with talk like that, and we had a great time educating his daughter about how full of it he likely was. She smiled and groaned, but trudged on with the rest of us. If it sounds like this leg felt every bit like a death march, you'd be right on.

The next obstacle was walking over a metal beam. We were allowed to use two beams (wide legs) and that proved to be the fastest way (for me at least) to get across. Miraculously I had beat Craig who was on the bike, and waited for him in the transition area. I grabbed the bike, told him to use the two-beam method, and off I went.

This leg was much easier: a bit of uphill and then a long downhill ride on a paved road. The leg ended-up in a grassy area where we had to climb a rope ladder and slide down one of those kiddy blow-up slides. Fun! Given that I knew I was way ahead of Craig, I downed the "emergency" gel in the saddle bag and availed myself of the facilities.

Having done the slide thing a few weeks earlier with my kids and suffered through "slide burn" on my elbows for a week, I threw my legs and arms up in the air as high as I could and took the plunge. Of course doing that with tri shorts and a polyester shirt meant I was nearly frictionless and I sailed through the bottom into the far side of the "landing pit." Fortunately it was padded, so I got up and hopped over and started running.

The last leg to the mud pit was short and easy with a slight uphill. As I had to wait for Craig to arrive before we could crawl through the mud (teams had to cross the finish line together), I meandered into the transition area to wait for him. It was literally a forest of upside down bikes!



Craig showed up and off we ran to the pit, first leaving sunglasses and bike gloves with the bike. We were forced to crawl under a heavy rope net and then on elbows, stomachs and knees to swish our way through 50 feet of mud, egged on by army/ROTC guys who delighted in throwing mud on our backs while yelling "get down!". We made it to the end, stood up and slogged through the last 20 feet and we were done!

The "Beer Garden" overlooked the mud pit and for $5 you got a couple of beers (at 9 in the morning!). One of the funniest parts was the crowd of people yelling "wrestle! wrestle! wrestle!" every time a pair of girls came through the mud and cheering or booing depending on the outcome. Here are some shots of the pit (not us, obviously):









After getting our picture taken we headed to the "shower area" where about 30 hoses were available (but all being used of course) to get cleaned-off.



Following that we went to the car, changed clothes, threw away our shoes and costumes, and went to take some pictures and soak-up the post-race vibe. Our final time was 1:10:55, coming in 23rd of 24 teams in our combined age group (at that point at least, we're hoping there was an extra page that wasn't posted yet) but overall, from the looks of things, we did average.

This was a great time, we'll likely do it again next year, and I encourage everyone to give it at least a try - it's really a ton of fun.

Keep in mind though that it is decently difficult: the hills are tough, the obstacles are easy, it is uncomfortable in spots, but overall it's a great deal of fun. Definitely train for a 4 mile run and a few miles of mountain biking, up and down loose/muddy hills, before attempting this. You will share the path with runners and some of the trails are relatively narrow and steep, threading through trees. We witnessed several wipe-out's, including a 3-person crash at a road/trail transition.

More pictures here

Next up: the Calabasas Classic 5K with my son then either the Turkey Tri at the end of the month or the Solvang Century ride (100 miles) in March.