Home Sweet Home

I'm glad I live in Santa Barbara! Today I went to the valley and rode Mt. Fig. Beautiful day!

Surfs Up

The surf was huge over the weekend. I am hoping it will calm down a bit this weekend so I can take out my SUP.
Today I actually felt like I did some damage:
Morning Masters- butterfly day!, lunch time at the gym for some core and leg work, evening 10 mile run. Hopefully I'll be able to move tomorrow!

Back on Track

I learned at an early age I sucked at the hurdles.
Last night at the track- 10x800m with 1 min rest. I ran with John Nelson, who is training for Boston. We ran at 3:20ish pace and it seemed a lot harder than it should have been.

Teddy was a stud

I really did not know much about Teddy Roosevelt but after reading this book I will never complain about being tired or hungry. It is a great read about an amazing adventure.

Going Down Under

Fred Maggiore headed down under last weekend to compete in Ironman New Zealand on March 1st. Although this will be Fred's first Ironman race, he is optimistic for a podium finish and a berth to Ironman Hawaii in October. Check out Ironmanlive.com on race day for live splits of Fred's day. Good luck Fred, I share your pain!

Rainy Day Schedule

There once was I time I would put on the layers and head out for a ride no matter what the weather. It was raining on and off all morning so I totally wimped out and road my trainer.

Storms Brewing

Tempo run this morning with Mike and Rusty's training group. Warmup 4 miles, 5 miles tempo at 7:10/mile, 4 mile cool down. We were suppose to descend our miles but Jill and I kinda pooped out the last mile. It's been looking pretty stormy all day. Not looking good for my ride tomorrow.

Day After Marathon

Tour de Cali

Looks like a nice rainy day today. While the professional cyclists time trial up in Solvang today, I'll elect to ride my trainer a bit watching a movie.

Divine Inspiration

Sometimes when I do my track workout I take some inspiration where ever I can get it. Yesterday at the track with Mike Swan: 2x400 @ 95 sec, 1x800 @ 3:18. Four times thru.

Old School

I found this postcard from Ironman Hawaii circa 1985. Check out the skid lid!

Paradise Found

Early in the season I always find climbing hills gets the most bang for the buck. So off I went up Old San Marcos, Painted Cave, down to the Paradise Store where I sat in the sun a bit to warm up, then up and over La Cumbre peak. I haven't done this ride since training for IM Canada in 06 and it felt like it. Probably 5 or 6 K of climbing!

Best Dressed

My Grandfather was quite the well dressed cyclist in his day. This picture was taken in the early 1900's in Hawaii.

The Comeback

While I haven't been totally inactive over the past year and a half since IMC, I took a prolonged break from racing. I only recently unpacked my bike from the bike case! I signed up for the half ironman Honu race in June so that's my big motivation. I've been reading Chuckie V's blog and found some renewed inspiration. Chuckie has been posting the training of Angela Naeth , a triathlete wunderkind who is the second coming of Paula Newby Frasier. For those who have never met Chuckie, former IMC champion, he is an affable, laid back kind of guy. As a coach, he seems to be pretty on top of things. He can quote VO2 max's and anaerobic thresholds with the best of them. So with a little renewed motivation, I gear it up one more time. Tomorrow. Or maybe this weekend.

More Thoughts

Some more thoughts on Ironman... For me I have always enjoyed the journey of preparing for an Ironman race. The race itself is almost secondary. This year I had a bit of a detour with the passing of my mother, but in a way, the long days alone training gave me an opportunity to cope in my own way. I really had no expectations going into race day. I have found that in an Ironman race you just take what the day gives you, no more or no less. Suprisingly this was one of the easiest Ironman races for me physically. I was happy with my results. Next year is the 25th anniversary for IMC. Organizers say they are going to open the race up to 3,500 people! I think that is absolutely crazy. Needless to say, I won't be back. I am a bit disappointed in how corporate Ironman has become. It has lost a lot of its original appeal for me. I am not sure what my next big challenge will be. Maybe I'll work on that 200 fly.

It's Over

WOW!! It's over! Over 2,300 started the swim Sunday morning. I thought the weather was perfect. Bright and sunny. I think the temperature bearly topped 90 in the afternoon. Here's how the race went down:
Swim split: 58:24- I started at my secret spot that Chuckie V showed me during the 2001 race. It was pretty much clear swimming. I was happy with my time considering I have been struggling at masters lately.
Bike split: 5:55- The first 30 miles goes by pretty fast. The climb up Richter Pass was longer than I remember. The climb up to Yellow lake was shorter. One thing I notice in these big races, when I get passed on the bike it is not by one or two people at a time, its by a freakin peloton. 20-30 guys grouped together. That happened 2 or 3 times and that really kinda ticked me off. My back tightened up a bit mid way thru so I backed off to prevent further suffering. All things considered I was happy with my ride.
Run Split: 4:13- 9:41/mile splits doesn't seem very speedy, but during the run I felt like I was moving fairly well. I passed far more people that caught me and my splits were even- 2:05 going out, 2:08 bringing it home.
Total Time: 11:14:36 , 320 place of 2,175 finishers
All in all it was a good long day training.

Ironman eve

Ellen and I had a nice dinner and I'm hanging out at the hotel room. I figure I'll wake up at 4 am, eat a little something warm up and stretch a bit and then head over to the start. I'm ready to go!

1983

In 1983 the winning time of the first IMC was 10:41 by Mike Wigstaff. That time would bearly crack the top 10 in the 45-49 age group today!

The Day Before

The transition area was just starting to take shape when I dropped off my bike and gear bags this morning. Tomorrow this place will be rockin'! The weather is starting to heat up a bit. Afternoon high is in the 90's.

Chillin at the Lake

Ellen and I hung out and had a BBQ at a small lake around 30 minutes from Penticton. The lake even had its own beaver cruising around. Way cool.
Swam and biked a bit today. Just relaxing getting ready for the big day.