My Path To The Ironman

What have I been up to lately?

2010-03-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

So what have I been doing since I am definitely taking a year off from an Ironman? Well, not sitting around getting fat. That's for sure.

First, I've been hanging out with my hottie wife (see picture above from Turks and Caicos). Crazy thing how much you see your family when you are not training for an Ironman. We have also been doing a fair amount of wedding photography in Chattanooga.

Second, I've started rock-climbing more and even took some climbing photos.

Third, I'm working on an exciting new project with the same guy who CREATED THE BEST LAWN MOWING BUSINESS SOFTWARE out there.

Update

2009-12-03T20:42:00.000-08:00

Florida Ironman 2009 didn't happen due to my step-dad dying and a number of other personal issues.

I don't know what I'll do next, but I definately have some big plans in the pipeline so stay-tuned.

In the meantime, I am helping out this awesome Chattanooga Wedding Photographer and Chattanooga Family Photographer. Usually, I call her my wife, the boss, or Brittany Moncrief.

So if your in the market for a Chattanooga Wedding Photographer - shoot her an email.

Cheers,

Jimmy

Training and Twittering

2009-07-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

I'm obviously falling WAY behind in blogging. The summer's just keep getting busier and busier. Training has been going ok, I'm excited to be gearing up for my next race though - which will be the Atomic Man Half Ironman. A true test for how ready I will be come Ironman Time in November.

I have started twittering more, so if you want some more updates, please follow me here:

http://twitter.com/jimmymoncrief

My wife's photography business just launched a new site, check it out here

Chattanooga makes TreeHugger.com

2009-07-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

There is an article on TreeHugger.com about Chattanooga's Community Kitchen donating bicycles to the homeless.

Link to article can be found here

Awesome

2009-07-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

Just got back from an amazing trail run. So amazing I did it twice! I wasn't exactly looking to do 12 or 13 miles but I thought something happened to one of my friends. Turns out he wanted a real adventure and wanted to see where another trail went. Anyway, during the run we started talking about Lance Armstrong. I personally don't (didn't) get it. Why would you come back? There is no upside. If you win - your Lance - that is what you do. If you lose, your another athlete who couldn't give it up. I don't think I need to name names here.

I put "didn't" above. Because I hadn't seen this commercial yet:

The Key to Life is Running and Reading

2009-07-01T18:31:00.001-07:00

This is old school, but I love Will Smith, and this is a great message.

Call for Pictures and Video

2009-06-17T19:51:00.001-07:00

I'm currently working on a special project that I'm REALLY excited about. Right now it's TOP SECRET, but everyone will hear about it very soon!

As many of you would suspect by now, part of the project requires some crazy awesome pictures and video. SO, if you have some awesome picture of yourself, hainging off of a cliff, finishing an ironman, sweating through an ultra-marathon, or whatever, email me, leave a comment, whatever and I'll include it in this sweet new project I'm working on.

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Ironman Training

2009-06-08T19:52:00.001-07:00

This weekend I FINALLY got a good semi-long day in. Definitely, not a full Ironman training day, but definitely long enough to know that it is prime time for Ironman Training. I was fortunate enough to be with my buddy Kevin. We had a warm-up pace heading to the water, we pulled each other while we were doing intervals.

My friend Kevin swam in college, so it is pointless to actually swim with him. But we did get in the same amount of time, about 30 minutes. I always joke that I actually swim as fast as him, I just don't swim in a straight line. Note, when we race in a lap-pool I have to get a little more creative with my excuses.

We had a nice bike ride back doing some more intervals. Kev, had to cut it short, and I "had Georgia on my mind" so I headed out to the valley.

WARNING! This is about to get deep, so if you want to just follow me and my triathlon training, stop here!

As I was riding all by lonesome, I couldn't help but just think about the completely awesome creator we have. The sunrise, the morning dew, the deer, the complete silence and the sounds of nature. If you are having a hard time empathizing - then you need to get outside more!

"He bought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because he delighted in me." Psalms 18:19

Scenic City Trail Marathon Reviewed

2009-06-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

I was planning on running the half-marathon at the Scenic City Trail Marathon, but since I have been having some knee problems I just decided to take pictures and support my friends.

One of my friends directed the race...

One of my friends terrorized everyone...

And another one of my friends won the race!

Contrats to all who finished!

Updates

2009-06-03T17:20:00.000-07:00

May was extremely hectic for me, so I made a personal goal to blog everyday in June. So now, as of June 3, I have already failed at this. Owell...

Monday, June 1 Ironman training was my official start for training. I'm sure this is a major shock to most of you. However, I've been keeping in-shape - long rides here and there, trail runs, etc..., but now, it's official triathlon training time.

For now, no more just keeping in-shape, it's time to get in triathlon shape, which is a world of difference than just being in-shape. On Monday, after work I grabbed a quick open water swim. Unfortunately, I had to cut it short, but it was great being back in the water. I never thought after training for the Louisville Ironman that I would miss it, but I have.

Last night I got in another swim and today I got some good running in. Saturday, is my first big day and I'm stoked becuase my training partner will be with it and we are both good at challenging each other in different legs.

In May, I did participate in some really cool events, in-which I will blog about over the next couple of days. So be sure to keep coming back - or better yet - SUBSCRIBE TO THE RSS FEED!

Ride of Silence

2009-05-18T20:48:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone in the blogosphere. I was wanting to promote the Ride of Silence on Wednesday. This is a slow ride (max 12 mph) in hone of those who have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways. Go to: http://rideofsilence.org/main.php

For a ride near your city.

If you live in Chattanooga, here you go:

Date:	Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Time:	7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location:	Finley Stadium
Street:	1826 Carter Street
City/Town:	Chattanooga, TN

Starting Swim Training in Style

2009-05-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

I'm kicking off my swim training for the Florida Ironman like everyone should...in the ocean. Sure beats chasing the dreaded black line in a cold pool.

I'm going to try top post some pictures when I'm there, but just in-case I knew everyone would enjoy these. I also plan on getting some good sailing time in.

Hopefully the weather gets better in Chattanooga, TN.

Country Music Marathon...Taste of Victory

2009-05-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

I love this picture for a lot of reasons. It definitly describes us all three as individuals.

Brent: Chicago Bears Hat, Softball T-shirt, next time just wear a sign that says "I'm not a runner, but my best friend annoyed me so much I signed up"

Dusty: All the marathon, road running gear he needs. If it wasn't so hot, I'm sure he had another 26.2 in him.

Jimmy (me): Trail racing t-shirt, Ironman Triathlon hat. This obviously isn't my kind of race, but I still had a blast with all of my friends! Which is what life is all about! Well sort-of...
By far my favorite picture! They busted out crying, my wife and I started crying. It was all-out waterworks. We were all in need of some gel-therapy (inside Ironman joke). Only a spouse understands all of the hard-work and dedication it takes in training to complete a marathon. You did it Dusty! Congrats! You are a marathon runner for life.

After I finished I crashed under some shade with some water, and then got back out there and ran to about mile 23 or 24 to brink Dusty home. On the way, it looked like a freaking death march. Unfortunately, I was passed by more ambulances than I can count on one hand, and even saw a guy have a seizure. I thing after this one, Dusty will want to put the Badwater Ultramarathon off for a couple of years.
Back story. I have an amazing wife that ran the last two miles in my Ironman Triahtlon in flip-flops with our 6-month old strapped to her front. Becca, my wife's best friend and the sister I never had is right up there in support as she is 5 months pregnant and she got out there to run a little with her hubs.

In the end, I had a horrible race as my right knee blew out on me at mile 11. It didn't matter though, because my legs were shot after the first five miles of hills .Like I said in the beginning, I had a blast with my friends and I would do it all over again just to see my daughter try to eat my finisher medal.

p.s. All of the pictures are from my awesome Wife - thanks for keeping life documented!

What Kind of Life Are You Living?

2009-04-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

WOW! For me, this puts my Ironman Triathlon in perspective. On one level it is definately not safe, and it is out of the box. However, I want to live a much deeper life, one of meaning, purpose and experience. I hope you all enjoy!

Mob Boss Book Review

2009-04-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

I’ll Make You An Offer You Can’t Refuse is a straight talking book business book if there every was one. Michael Frazese balances business advice with real life examples, albeit most of the examples are illegal.

The biggest asset the book has is the simplicity. The book flows well and is very easy to read. Additionally, it has an outline of bullet points at the end of each chapter titled: “Get the Message”

Another big plus for the book is that it is part of Nelsonfree, which means if you buy the book, you get the audio book and the ebook free.

The only major thing I can complain about is that it felt cheesy at times, as Franzese’s constantly compares himself to “Tony Soprano” which seems odd, considering Franzese was an actual mob-boss. However, the real examples the book describes are like nothing I have ever read. Mainly because they are illegal. I can’t believe this guy is alive, much less telling the true stories of the inner-workings of the mob.

I think the business section of the book store is better off with this book. We need more real life examples in business practices and less theoretical management garbage. If you want an easy to read, straight-talking book, and you are interested in the inner-workings of the mob, this is the book for you!

2009 Country Music Marathon

2009-04-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

This weeked I'm running my first road race. The 2009 Country Music Marathon. The race is extremely special to me as it was my first marathon. I think I did everything wrong, but I finished and that is what counts.

This year will be just as special as my best friend is running his first half marathon and one of my good training buddies is running his first marathon.

Hopefully I won't be looking like this:

Which is exactly what I looked like the last time I ran the Country Music Marathon. Hopefully, the lack of an extra 13.1 miles will help.

Good luck to all.

Good Ol' Days

2009-04-13T15:42:00.000-07:00

I think perspective is extremely important in all parts of life. Sometimes I get frustrated with where I am in my training versus where I want to be. I used to have a lot more time to train, and as such, was a lot faster. But I just came across some archives of my first couple of posts and an overwhelming smile came across my face.

Let's treat life as a process and not a goal, and enjoy the ride!

Why run ultras?

2009-04-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

“Why run a hundred miles? Because basketball and baseball only require one ball.”
- Kim Gaylord

Who I Am

2009-04-09T19:13:00.000-07:00

It's obvious.

That it is important to know who you are.

But unfortunately (or fortunately) I'm not going to even attempt to summarize who I am in a blog post. Here is a summary anyway:

I am a passionate person. I value experiences in the the highest order. I believe life should be looked at not as a goal, but as a journey. YES, I have to remind myself of that regularly. I love GOD, I love my family and friends. I love the outdoors and all of the opportunities and encounters I have with mother nature.

My ultimate goal in life: to consume more Ice Cream than any other person on the face of this earth (hence, I need to keep doing Ironman triathlons, to stay in reasonable shape for this task)

Pictures of River Gorge Trail Run

2009-03-31T10:16:00.000-07:00

Pictures of the River Gorge Trail Run are up.

Black & White images should be uploaded later in the week.

10% of all sales go to the Cumberland Trail Conference.

Congrats to all of the finishers who made it through the mud!

Freakishly Awesome Article on Running

2009-03-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

I love science. Even though I'm bad at it and struggled through college, I have a huge amount of respect for science. This is mainly due to my grandfather who was a chemist.

Anyhow, Seed Magazine just put out a freakishly awesome article on running.

Chattanooga Outdoor Expo Update

2009-03-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

I just got word that the Outdoor Expo that I blogged about yesterday, has been rescheduled for Sunday, March 29, from 12-4. Everyone come on out and check out Outdoor Chattanooga's new digs!

Chattanooga Outdoors

2009-03-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

Unfortuantely I won't be running the River Gorge 10 miler this weekend, as I am still fighting a sinus infection. However, I will be there photographing everyone and motivating friends.

On another note, the Outdoor Expo is this weekend and I will be there helping my friend Jon out with iMultisport.

Outdoor Chattanooga Outdoor Expo
Gear Swap
and
Grand Opening Celebration

Saturday, March 28, 2009
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Coolidge Park
(Rain Date: March 29, Noon - 4 p.m.)

Live Strong Manifesto

2009-03-18T20:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't kept up with my goals of posting more on the blog due to a seriously wicked bug. I haven't ran in 4 weeks. It has been well over a decade the last time I went four weeks without running. Anyway, aside from being kept up sick and dealing with a bunch of other stuff I recently found some motivation in this manifesto and wanted to pass it along. Go LIVE!

THE MANIFESTO OF THE LANCE ARMSTRONG FOUNDATION

We believe in life.
Your life.
We believe in living every minute of it with every ounce of your being.
And that you must not let cancer take control of it.
We believe in energy: channeled and fierce.
We believe in focus: getting smart and living strong.
Unity is strength. Knowledge is power. Attitude is everything.
This is the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

We kick in the moment you’re diagnosed.
We help you accept the tears. Acknowledge the rage.
We believe in your right to live without pain.
We believe in information. Not pity.
And in straight, open talk about cancer.
With husbands, wives and partners. With kids, friends and neighbors. And the people you live with, work with, cry and laugh with.
This is no time to pull punches.
You’re in the fight of your life.

We’re about the hard stuff.
Like finding the nerve to ask for a second opinion.
And a third, or a fourth, if that’s what it takes.
We’re about getting smart about clinical trials.
And if it comes to it, being in control of how your life ends.
It’s your life. You will have it your way.

We’re about the practical stuff.
Planning for surviving. Banking your sperm. Preserving your fertility. Organizing your finances. Dealing with hospitals, specialists, insurance companies and employers.
It’s knowing your rights.
It’s your life.
Take no prisoners.

We’re about the fight.
We’re your champion on Capitol Hill. Your advocate with the healthcare system. Your sponsor in the research labs.
And we know the fight never ends.
Cancer may leave your body, but it never leaves your life.
This is the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Founded and inspired by one of the toughest cancer survivors on the planet.

LIVESTRONG™

In honor of my friend David

2009-03-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

On the way to work this Friday I noticed an "accident" on the right side of the road. However, as I approached a cold shiver went up my spine that is still there. I saw a lone bike on the ground with a huge truck in front parked. Cop cars were everywhere. Later I found out this was actually a good friend of mine, David Meek, a fellow commuter that I had shared many rides with on Tuesday nights, many breakfasts with at Bike to Work, and many other great memories with. Mere words cannot even begin to explain the admiration I have for David Meek. A true cyclist who builds his own bikes. He passed away after arriving at the hospital.

Many of you know I'm extremely sensitive about this topic as I was full-time bike commuter for over 3 years. I have edited this post many times to not sound so militant, but I do want to remind everyone that in Tennessee automobiles are required by law to give cyclist 3 feet of room: Tennessee's 3-foot law.

Southern 6 Recap

2009-03-05T09:58:00.000-08:00

No wonder I didn't win - look how far back I am from the front!

My first race of the year went relatively well. Saturday my friend Dusty and I did the course so I would be familiar with it. The course is behind Southern Adventist University and has some excellent trails, that are real heart-breakers! The race was a 6K course and the first 2.5K were straight-up! Needless to say we didn't have to worry about pack-running.

It was perfect running weather as it was wicked cold at the start with strong winds. Once we got into the woods everything was fine though. The race played-out exactly like I thought it would. Everyone charged up the first section of the almost 3K hill and once people started to see there was no end-in-sight people started to walk and shuffle to the side. I'm happy to report that I didn't stop the entire time. My only dissapointment came mid-way through when I was wanting to keep-up with a very fast group and they passed me. I was actually exicted when we were about 80% done and Chattanooga running legend Randy Whorton passed me! However, reality set-in when they gave him an award and he announced he ran a 50-K the day before! Owell, it was a fun day and my friend Dusty pulled a Dean K - and ran to the race! True dedication!!!

I'm truelly addicted to trails now. I don't care if I am significantly slower - I feel better and more refreshed after running on trails.

not all who wonder are lost

2009-02-04T09:11:00.000-08:00

My friends systematically express disdain towards working out with me. There are several reasons for this. The main one being, I do have a slight tendency to A) wonder (get lost) and B)workout for longer than some people would like.

Somehow there is this rumor that a friend that used to workout with me was going to go cycling with me on a nice Saturday morning. My friend only has "a couple of hours" and just wants to knock out "30 miles or so" well somehow, according to the rumor, we ended up covering over 60 miles two time zones, three counties, two mountains, and my friend didn't get his porch painted this day. However, I need to remind everyone this is just a rumor.

The wondering part of my answer is fairly sophisticated. First and foremost, I love Chattanooga and it's surrounding areas. Not having the distinct pleasure of growing up here I am constantly finding new areas to explore. It is gorgeous here and I love the mountains. I can't tell you how many times I have been going down a mountain at 40+ mph not knowing what state I was going to end up in, much less what county or city. Even though I have now lived here for 9 years, I haven't even scratched the surface as to all of the awesome outdoor venues here.

OK, so I'll quit rambling. Two weekends ago when I was cycling up Signal my friend and I got to the top and we were just zipping along the brow. My friend knew the way back and wanted to turn, but I wanted to keep going, not knowing where it went (he didn't either). Only later to find out it is one of the best overlooks Signal Mountain has to offer. I digress.

Last weekend, my wondering didn't pay the expected dividends. Another friend and myself were running on the trails on Racoon Mountain and I thought if you cut-out early, I would be cutting my run short. It turns out this section was where I was supposed to get off. Much to my chagrin, the trail immediately started going downhill and away and I added another two miles - and it was a painfull two miles! Owell, it was a pretty day.

It looks like it is going to be another great weekend with friends and family coming in-town, great weather, my daughter's birthday, and a couple of trail runs already planned...

Signal & Signal

2009-01-29T05:40:00.000-08:00

I had a great Birthday weekend! On Saturday morning me and a friend rode up Signal Mountain (W Road route). I couldn't help but make my usual remark of "Man its gorgeous here! You have no idea how awesome it is to live in Chattanooga!" Note, he is from Chattanooga. I know it was my goal to make more personal pictures on the blog, and I got about 1/4th of the way there, since I did bring my point and click, but I got so wrapped up in how pretty it was up there, I forgot to take it out.

I'll try my best to describe it here. When we got to the top, we got off our bikes and I felt like I could see forever. Mountains were in the background, but immediately below was the valley. The morning fog was still visible below us in certain spots, and the good ol' river was briskly winding through the city. It was awesome!

We then rode around on the brow for awhile, before going hypothermic down the mountain. For those of you who have not had the pleasurable experience of being soking weat with sweat in 30 degree weather, and then going 40 mph down a mountain on a bike, it's simmilar to freeze out in a car, but just with your whole body outside and being wet.

The next day on my birthday, I met another friend at the bottom of the mountain to run up the front side. Much to my chagrin, my alarm didn't go off. He was nice enough to wait for me. I guess the wait was worth it for him, since we talked the entire way up the mountain as we ran, and we still ran faster than his time before. Everytime I tell myself I'm going to hitch-hike down, becuase of my knees, but it never works out. So staying true to my roots, I did something VERY different - I RAN DOWN THE MOUNTAIN BACKWARDS! I definitly got some strange looks, but it was worth it. My knees didn't feel like I had dropped bricks on them all day, like before. I think the bonus, was that my hamstrings got a nice extra workout.

After the workout, I had one of the breakfast's I've had in a long time, and definitly one of the best in my entire life. Not so much for the food, even though that was amazing, but by the friends and family I ate with.

Hindsight 20/20, I'm glad everything happened the way it did last year, to trully force me to believe that what matters most in this crazy world we live in is the relationships we have with others.

birthday boy

2009-01-25T00:33:00.000-08:00

Hi! It is Brittany, Jimmy's Wife. I hacked into his blog to tell all of his friends over here that today is his Birthday. Make sure you wish him a happy one and if you just so happen to want to see how special he is to his family be sure to jump over here.

Thanks for saying hello! Have an incredible day!

Oh and a post is always better with a picture so here is the b'day boy sporting a couple of his birthday presents (click to enlarge).
Happy Birthday to my Ironman! Love you a and f. -brittany-

Gossip, Gossip, Gossip

2009-01-15T05:25:00.000-08:00

Guy's perennially make fun of girls for there endless talk of celebrity's. In reality, however I think us guys are just as bad. Instead of it being actors/actresses it's just sports figures.

I'm not going to use this blog to spread gossip but I do have two bits of information hot off the gossip wheel that people might find interesting.

1) I have heard from 3 different unrelated groups that Floyd Landis is moving here - to Chattanooga, TN

2) Lance is planning on doing an Ironman after the Tour de France! This one, I actually have an internet source for.

Long Run Sundays...

2009-01-12T05:37:00.001-08:00

On Sunday, I found yet another awesome reason why I love living in Chattanooga. I have now been here 9 years and I haven't even scratched the surface on all of the outdoor activities available. On Sunday, my friend Dusty had to do a long-run in training for his upcoming marathon. Having participated in many of these long-run sessions I know they can be extremely boring and it wasn't like running 10 miles was going to hurt me and my nice winter-hibernation flab.

So early Sunday after a late night I got out of a nice warm bed to go brave the cold for a long run (can anyone tell that I had a lot of excuses not to go?). We were running at Chicamauga Battlefield. I had never ran there before, but Dusty had ran a half-marathon and guarunteed I wouldn't be dissapointed. Note, I prefer trails and we would have ran trails, but all of the ones we knew about were flooded. The experience was awesome to say the least.

First, we talked pretty much the whole time so it definately wasn't boring and second we saw no less than 30 dear. It was great being out there with the early morning fog and mist seeing the deer eating in the fields. At one point, we got within about 5 feet of two deer that were completely unfazed that we were running almost at them (they were by the road we were running on).

The actual run wasn't bad at all, as there were only a couple of moderate hills and we pretty much talked the entire time while watching the deer so the mileage flew by.

Anyway, we had to cut the run short due to a bowel syndrome I had which is caused by eating expired granola and then going and running 8 miles, I'll let everyone guess as to what was going on...

Changes

2009-01-06T12:51:00.000-08:00

Last year was great of-course because I became an "Ironman" the obvious goal since I had that great conversation on a road trip with my friend Kevin. Now I'm "stuck" with a blog titled "My Path To The Ironman" What to do?

Well, for one, if you have been consistently reading this blog you know that there is more to my life than just 140.6 miles and that there are more "things" both tangible and intangible (but mostly intangible) that I consider an Ironman.

Yet, there will be changes. My goal for the blog this year is to have more frequent posts, more of a following, and more personal pictures. So keep me accountable. These are the goals for the blog this year, who know where it will lead...

If there is anything you would like to see or hear about please leave a comment, email, or call. If there is anything you dislike or like comment, email or call.

No Mo Memphis Ride

2009-01-06T06:31:00.000-08:00

On New Years Day I got invited to do the "No Mo Memphis Ride" All ex-Memphians now living in the greatest city on earth - Chattanooga, TN. The person who invited me said "we are all going to be hung over, so we will just take it nice and slow" Which was fine with me since, I'm not really even doing base training right now, rather just trying to keep the weight off until spring when I will hit training hard. Also I haven't done a serious ride since Ironman.

We all met at Mojo in Red Bank, Lance was predictably not there on-time, but strangely enough his bike was there (he was changing out a tire on someone else's bike. The other two (a couple) I had not met before, but judjing by the bike and the gear, I knew we weren't going slow on this ride. She had a custom bike, and he had a SEVEN, for those of you none-cyclist out there, these things aren't cheap. Corey showed up and the others and we were off. So let me paint the picture, everyone is there with all of their sharp bikes and winter riding gear, and I've got my mountain bike helmet, my hoodie sweatshirt I have had since middle-school, one black sock and one white sock, and quite possibly the cheapest pair of cycling shoes on the face of this earth. I think everyone else's sunglasses cost more than my entire outfit. Owell, I'm just here to have fun and make everyone else look good.

The ride to Signal was fun, we talked about last night's drinking and the new year and all of the races we were looking forward to. I have never climbed the W route up signal, but it is much talked about. I was predictably slow, but it was a fun route, there was a little ice up top, but nothing too scary. I thought I would overheat in my 3 layers of clothing but I didn't, and that should tell you how cold it was. The rollers on top of Signal are great training. You just have to grind them out no matter how good of cyclist you are. There is no fast way to do them. The ride down the backside was fun, as always. Corey was, as usual, the fastest hitting 42 mph, it would have been faster, but we were all COLD.

At the bottom, I pulled out a PBJ sandwich. Everyone was laughing, but at this point who am I kidding really? They all had their perpeteum. I'm not naming names, but these people are so serious they drink Recoverite after they mow the lawn.

About Perpeteum:

About Recoverite:

The ride through the Sequatchie Valley was the most disappointing. Usually it's a nice ride with no traffic and you can talk the whole time, while maintaing a nice training pace. This time we were greeting with 15+ mph headwinds. My stomach was really acting up. Evidently champagne & rum isn't what I should have been carbo-loading the day before. I was in good company though a fellow cyclist had a similar concoction of beer, whiskey, champagne, and then beer (in that order) from the night before so he was right there with me. I made it up Suck Creek mountain with one hand on my handle bars and one hand on my stomach. On the way down I my entire body was shaking so bad I was scared I was going to fall of the bike. It was pretty though seeing the ice on the side of the mountain.

So I'm sure while reading this you are glad you didn't participate in this ride, as it was one of the worst rides I've been on. However, hindsight 20/20 would I do it again - YOU BETCHA! Even though I had miserable stomach cramps, was freezing, and was completely out of shape and shouldn't be tackling two mountains and 60 miles, it was a lot better than staying inside and watching tv all day.

What a Year

2008-12-30T05:46:00.000-08:00

What a year it has been?!?!?

I became a proud father of the cutest little girl on the face of the planet (hence, she looks like her mom).

I completed my first competitive trail run. I completed my first century. I completed my first Ironman.

I changed jobs - definitely for the better!!!!!!!

I found out what my knee cap looks like!

My best friend moved to Nashville.

I ate a Chicago dog in Wrigley field watching the CUBS play!

I was the best man in a wedding with my best buddy from the Marine Corps. Afterwards, my wife and I took our daughter hiking above 10,000 ft! We also took her hiking when she was 8 weeks old. I hope she brags about this someday!

My wife launched a photography business!
I encourage everyone to send her an email for 2009 booking - the calendar is already looking full!!!

“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting. ” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fair warning - this might get cheesy! The best part about the year, is all of the great people I met along the way. I definitely hit some deep, dark valleys this year, but the peaks made it worth it. I made a commitment last year this time last year to live my life more passionately - to find out more about my friends and thier passions and how I can help them achieve their goals. I'm not sure if I helped that many people but I know that I know my friends on a deeper level this year and am much better for it. I love my family, my friends, meeting new people, and the adventure in everything we call life. Whether its waking up at 5:00 on Saturday's to go swim, bike, run or staying up all night reading a good book I hope everyone out there is seeking an adventure, challenging themselves and loving everyone around them no-matter the differences. I recently read Bart Yasso's new book: My Life on the Run. He put it this way:

But I'm urging you to take it a step further and test the boundaries of life, not just your physical prowess. You already know the rewards of putting one foot in front of the other. Sure, it's hard at first, but who hasn't looked back and wished they had done it sooner or been baffled that they were ever afraid or hesitant in the first place? moving outward is an act of courage, and in my life, running has also been a vehicle of introduction-to people, places, cultures, and animals. I have run on all seven continents, but it's not the details of the races I recall or the images I project in my slide show at a past dinner. And it's not what's made my life book-worthy. The interesting stuff, the humorous stuff-memorable, life-affirming, and worth-reading stuff-is the meeting of a stranger, the stamp on a passport, the glimpse of a never-before-seen sight, the outlandish adventure.

As I know all of my good friends are contemplating 2009 goals I leave you with this: If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to your mountain, "MOVE!" and it WILL move... and NOTHING will be impossible for YOU! - Matthew 17:20

A Christmas Wish

2008-12-22T05:31:00.000-08:00

I'll have a year-end review post coming soon. In the meantime I'll be braving the cold trying to keep the holiday weight off.

Goals and Life

2008-11-21T05:20:00.000-08:00

The best motivational comedian in the country personally recommended this clip to me. Regardless of your thoughts on Rocky and or Tony Robbins, PLEASE watch this clip.

With definite goals you release your own power, and things start happening - Zig Ziglar

What is your ironman for 2009?

Addicted to Inspiration

2008-11-05T04:57:00.000-08:00

There is no single word to describe my current being other than the word, addict. When someone tells me about some "impossible race" out there I reflexivly go look to see if I qualify and see if I have the time (and the money) to do the race. So for the past year I have heard about the jellyfish at Ironman Florida, the wind at Ironman Florida, the seemingly infinitely flat run at Ironman Florida, and so on Sunday, I signed up for Ironman Florida.

I don't care if you never do a triathlon and never want to. I want everyone to watch this video below. I have seen and heard most of the top motivational speakers in this country and nothing matches the video below.

Shaving the Legs

2008-10-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

No, I haven't shaved the legs, and no this isn't me in the picture, but I did find an amazing article about men who shave from my new favorite web-site.

Please don't tell Pavlov!

Another great reason to shave the legs is if you have a newborn and they are learning to walk and are pulling up on your leg hairs constantly. If you are wondering if this is me - you would be correct.

Congrats to the Ironman 2008 World Championchip Finishers

2008-10-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

Keeping it Real!

2008-09-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I ran a 5K for the first time in several years. I didn't have a clue how I would do for several reasons including, but not limited to: still recovering from the Ironman, bad knee, had not run seriously since the Ironman, etc...

I originally told my friend that I wouldn't due to it, but since it was for a great cause and I knew I would regret not doing it, I decided to get out there and suffer with everyone else.

5K's are tough on everyone. If your a distance guy like myself they are WAY too short, and don't give you near enough time to get into a good rhythm. If you hate to run, but are doing one just to get in-shape, they are way too long.

The best thing about a 5K though is the diversity. There were guy's there running in nothing but cycling shorts and running shoes to a guy I saw running in blue jeans and a long-sleeve shirt (note, it was around 85 degrees).

I had a great time. The start was WAY TOO FAST as all 5ks are. The second mile was my favorite as it was along the river and was shaded. Third mile had a nice hill, and was through the university. After I finished I waited on my friend and we ran back to get our wives, who much to their chagrin got stuck at the end with their strollers. The funniest thing is that they had this new timing system and it clocked my second time. So the record has me finishing in an hour and 2 minutes. Man am I glad I paid an extra $5 for that! For the record: I ran a 6, 7, and 10 minute mile respectively. Needless to say I was disappointed in the last mile. O well, at least I have a baseline going into winter marathon training season.

Pictures will be up soon.

The Race

2008-09-07T04:54:00.000-07:00

It's hard to say when it started. I got "out of bed" at 3:30 but really did not sleep the whole night. Two days ago at a mandatory race briefing the race director joked "there are usually some guys who sleep at the start who are there when I get there at 4:30" I took this seriously. You see the start is "first come, first serve" and the 17 hour time cut-off begins from the time the last person starts the swim. So however many extra minutes you have from that time, is essentially how many extra minutes you have to finish.

So I got there at 4:10 thanks to my awesome wife who drove me there and our awesome friend Becca who babysat our daughter while my wife was gone. So I can officially say that I was leading the entire race in the amateur division (the pro's started 10 minutes earlier than everybody) as I was the first person in the entire race of 2400 to start.

Right when I jumped in and started swimming, I had so much adrenaline it took about 20 meters to figure out that I had some serious water in my goggles and I really could not see that well. (Back story: every triathlon I have ever competed in I have had problems with my goggles) I stopped, readjusted my goggles and was good to go. We swam upstream for 0.85 miles. The first part wasn't really bad, as we were beside an island that was taking the majority of the current away from us. However, at the end the current coupled with the fact that there were 2400 swimmers making a 180 degree turn together, made life interesting. I thankfully didn't get kicked in the head but did get dunked a couple of times and had a couple of swipes at my bad leg, but nothing serious. After I made the turn, everyone was really spread out and I was in the middle of a group. I look up every 8 strokes. And in 8 strokes I went from being in the middle of a group to being in the middle of the Ohio River by myself. No worries though, I eventually got to where I needed to be.

At the end of the swim I really wasn't that tired, I could tell I hadn't swam in a month though. I didn't think the river water was that bad until my wife and friends told me they saw a swimmer hit a dead (floating) fish!

Transition was fine. It took me awhile to load all of my stuff in my bike jersey. Note, I couldn't have done this the day before, because when you put on a bike jersey when you are soaking wet it curls up in the back and everything falls out. Anyway, I hopped on the bike and felt great. The scenery was gorgeous by the river and I was munching on an avocado sandwich that had been sitting out for over 12 hours (Dave Scott special). {sidenote: You have to leave your bike and all drop bags in the transition area by 5pm the day prior to the race} I was feeling so good I decided to take a shot of some gel and then eat a peanut butter banana and honey sandwich. Which, turned out to be a VERY bad idea.

I immediately got unbearable stomach aches. I couldn't bend down in my aero bars and could barely even cycle. The whole time though all I could think about was how much time I had spent training for this. I just kept pushing through it. After about 40 miles they essentially went away. I had to cut out everything but water. This course would be really fun if I was out riding it with my friends, but for an Ironman triathlon, everyone was saying in there head "what the hell, Kentucky has hills like this?" I actually saw a couple of cyclist fall off because they couldn't make it up a certain pitch of a hill. Thankfully, I had trained on Lookout Mountain for the majority of my training rides and was prepared for this.

We passed through LaGrange at mile 35 and there was a huge crowd. I think it was the whole town, it was really awesome they made you feel like you were a celebrity in the Tour de France. I didn't see my friends and wife at that point though. When you are doing the LaGrange Loop that everyone was talking about all you are thinking is: "I can't believe I have to do this twice" But honestly it wasn't that bad on the second lap. I think it was because you knew what you were facing. The second time I passed LaGrange I saw my family and friends and it was a HUGE motivating factor seeing them cheer me on. You can see on my split times that my bike time improved after I saw them.

At mile 90 the bodies started to pile up on the side of the road. I felt so sorry for this one girl who was laying in a ditch and looked like she had gotten hit by a car. I'm sure I looked the same way, I just wasn't passed out.

I was worried about the cut-off time around mile 85 so I pushed as hard as I could and passed a couple of people and made some serious time up. The last 15 miles were very flat to which helped. I tried taking some salt pills but couldn't stomach it, so I was just in my aero bars cruising away.

Second transition was pretty fast for me. Inside the changing tent it looked like something off of MASH. Nobody was talking and everybody looked horrible. I ditched my bike jersey for my favorite running tee (that doesn't match anything according to my wife).

I actually felt great the first mile of the run. It was through a little part of downtown and then across a bridge. I kept pushing through and the second mile was fine too. This was perhaps my favorite mile because I got to see my daughter for the first time of the race. I also noticed my wife had special shirts for herself, our best friends and my daughter. They had posters and a cowbell, it was awesome. I saw them briefly during the bike, but so brief that I did not notice any of their encouraging paraphernalia. Miles 4&5 were fine too, but I started walking around the 4.5 mile mark. A guy at the swim told me that he gives all newbie Ironmen the same advice: RFP - relentless forward progress. All I repeated to myself during the run was this and a verse my wife told me when she dropped me off at the swim start: I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Phillipians 4:13.

By this point I felt great. I knew to finish on time I had to have a plan better than just "gut it out" So I started running "Galloways". Sorry but for humility reasons I need to give a back story. I first heard about Galloways a couple of years ago and I thought to myself "oh that's nice, but no serious runner would ever do such a thing. Well, let me somber in ultimate humility, Thank you Mr. Galloway, you are the reason I finished this race. At first I walked 30 minutes and then ran 30 minutes but then quickly changed it to a 15 minute schedule. I think normal Galloways are run a mile then walk a mile. But it was getting dark and I was scared I would walk too much so I just stuck with the time issue. Also, I knew that if I could average 4 miles an hour (I know it sounds pathetic, but it is what it is) I could be an Ironman by the end of the night, or possibly by the beginning of the morning, however you look at things.

At mile 17 I was feeling rough but thankfully I was downtown around a lot of people and hallucinating slightly at this point envisioning my drill instructor from Marine Corps boot camp as I was running. I then saw my wife and she started running with me with our daughter strapped to her front side. This was definitely my favorite mile because she was talking away keeping me entertained and informed. Also note, she was running in flip-flops. I told her of my plan on running Galloways so she then walked another 15 minutes. My wife is a complete freak show when it comes to power walking. Our pace was only 2 minutes behind my run pace for mile 18. She definitely kept me going.

At mile 20 I got a second wind and started running pretty hard. I was queezy and ready for this to be over. By this point the glowsticks had come out (Note, my secret goal was to not finish with a glowstick). At mile 22 I saw a race clock I had never seen before from a distance of about 100 yards. When I ran up to it, it wasn't there. But it was another 150 yards away. When I ran up to it this time "they" moved it again. When I ran up to it another time "they" moved it again. By the third time I had fortunately/unfortunately figured it out. I was hallucinating. My first thought probably should have been something like: oh no, I'm hallucinating that is really bad medically. But remember, I'm an endurance athlete with a public education from Memphis so instead my thought was "COOL, I've always read about distance runners hallucinating while they were running, I'm glad I get to experience it now"

Miles 23 & 24 were tough, I was getting really light headed, I kept dry heaving every couple of steps and it was so dark I wasn't even able to see anything. I just kept pushing forward. I was scared to try and eat or drink anything new, but yet couldn't' stomach anymore gels.

Around mile 25 I saw my wife. We have been married for over 6 years. I say this to say that we know each other pretty well. She immediately inundated me with phrases like "you are doing awesome" "you are almost there" when her eyes were saying things like "man you look horrible" "good thing I have life insurance on this guy"

We got into the city at mile 26 and I started seeing more people. So I started running again. I wanted to finish with my wife and daughter but the race officials snagged them right before the finish. Nevertheless, I finished.

Right after they gave me a finisher medal a guy grabbed me and told me where medical was before I even asked. I got my finisher bag and then met up with my best friend Brent, his wife Becca and my wife and daughter. They were extremely nice and offered all congrats but were also worried about me, so I went to medical where the Doctor said I had two options: 1) sip water and after a couple of days I'll get back to normal, or 2) get an IV and I'll feel better tonight. I opted for the latter. When I was getting an IV they made me keep talking so I didn't pass out. I talked with an amazing woman named Sharon who was told by doctors that she would never walk again. Long story short, she went to a massage therapist and now she walks just fine. While I was getting an IV I was in a bed next to a guy who was having uncontrollable spasms in his legs due to his potassium/sodium levels being out of whack. Unfortunately, they told him he could die if he didn't go to the hospital. I only say this because it was just another reminder on how serious this event was - not to be taken lightly.

I also got a blister popped by a podiatrist who said that in a couple of days I would have a piece of skin fall off my foot the size of a silver dollar.

I then got a massage and walked back to the hotel with family and friends. By this point it's around 2:00 A.M. Around 2:30 my wife drew me a nice ice bath. It was my first one, and it worked wonders. I really wasn't even sore the next day. It was 3:45 A.M. and although I was wired awake, I knew I needed sleep. So that was it.

I'm an Ironman. What I like most about triathlons is that they are the great equalizer. Meaning, if you lack confidence they give you confidence, and if you are arrogant they give you humility. For me, I lacked patience and the Ironman has given it to me. No one, and I mean no one just gets up and does an Ironman Triathlon. You have to train for months, and really years to do it. Which of course makes it that much more special when you finish.

Be sure to click here to see the slideshow.

I am an Ironman

2008-08-31T23:48:00.000-07:00

I'll have a detailed post later, with pictures, video clips, and details of everything that happened. But in-short, it was the experience of a lifetime.

I give all the glory to God, because I could not have done it without Him. Speaking of which, a guy behind me at the start of the swim said: I hope you are a Christian, because if not, you will find Jesus on this course. I wanted to quit the entire time: My swim time was horrible, I could not stomach any solids on the bike and could not get in my aero bars because my stomach was in knots, and I hallucinated during the run from dehydration and exhaustion. But I finished and that was my goal.

It was an amazing day that I got to share with my wife (who ran with me for more than 2 miles with our 6 month old strapped to her) and our travel buddies Brent and Becca who served as an awesome support crew.

I would be remiss if I did not mention Kevin, my Irish training partner who got me into this bloody sport. I first got into triathlons to just keep in-shape after I got out of the military, I never knew it would evolve into a lifestyle of buying energy gels by the case, my wife cooking me homemade energy bars and getting up before 6:00 most Saturdays to train.

Thank you all for your prayers and support.

We are here

2008-08-29T16:59:00.001-07:00

Right now we have limited internet, but I wanted to fire off a quick post to let you all know that according to the race director there will be real time updates on the web, so you can track where I am and even watch me finish. Thank you all for your support!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-08-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

Kite Surfer attempting to surf in the Tropical Storm

2008-08-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

Prayer

2008-08-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

It's definitely time for prayer. My knee is in excruciating pain.

I'm trying to get caught up on some reading and writing. There is an amazing article here on bike commuting and there is another amazing op-ed piece here on bike commuting and alternative energy.

I think every day I will be forced into entrepreneurship more out of necessity than wanting to, however I have always wanted to own my own business so I'll keep praying!

8/8/8 not such a lucky day after all

2008-08-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

If pride comes before the fall, then greatness comes after the fall, right???????

I was cross-training today, climbing a 5.12 route up the face of Lookout with my buddy Corey. I was reaching for our next pitch, and then he slipped, I shoved my hand into a crack and was holding both of us in thin air, then the friction slipped, and my knee found a friend name a very hard rock, and this is what happened.

Actually, none of that happened. But it would be a better story than the real one. Here is the real story:

I was pumped about today's workout. Number one reason: I was going with my buddy Corey, who is a serious mountain biker, but just getting into the triathlon scene. However, he can hold his own in any conditions on any course.

I rode out of my house at 5:45, and we cycled to the dam. No big deal. The wind had the waves kicked-up a notch, which made it a lot funner. After that we tackled some hills and was then back on the river walk for some cycling.

We then ditched the bikes and headed out for a nice run. We were both talking away, keeping the conversation going when I ate the pavement. It seems it is perfectly acceptable in Chattanooga for a sewer circle to stick out of the ground by half a foot in the middle of a sidewalk.

Here is the result:

So tapering it is...

Long Training Day

2008-08-04T18:17:00.000-07:00

It was a bit boring having a long training day to myself, but I got it done. 1 mile swim at the dam. This time I actually swam out to the damn, rather than just staying in the swimming area. Really, what fun is that? The only mishap was that I was swimming a long and all of a sudden I was so in-rhythm I forgot to look-up and I was touching bottom. No worries though. I had to get back to the house to get my iPod.

The original plan was to spend the day in solitude. But it was more like spending the day with 1 million vehicles. I cannot stand the sound of a car when I'm cycling. I've been spoiled by early mornings in North Georgia.

So when I got home, I ditched the bike, and donned the running shoes. I had been dreading this day for a long time but it was now or never - it was time for a long run. At this point it was 9:30 so it was not too hot. I got into a rhythm and it was great, first 2 miles I was in a rhythm, then I hit a nasty climb, still great, then I started running by the river and the heat sunk in. I threw back some Jelly Beans, drank some water, but my body was feeling it. I was running without socks, testing it out. I think the extra couple of seconds it takes me to put them on in the transition area will be worth it. I stopped by a local coffee shop threw some ice in my hat and kept going. This is awesome, and for those of you that haven't found this trick I HIGHLY recommend it. I definitely would have overheated if I had not done this. From this point on it was extremely short goals that ended up, turning into 20 miles. I did it. Home at last.

Tomorrow I may get out on the bike and due some time-trial stuff.

New Adventures

2008-08-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

Friday was my first day without a job. It really hasn't hit me yet. I did have my long training day on Friday instead of Saturday which provided me with a whole lot more safety on the road, since there was a lot less traffic out there. I did a short swim, climbed Mowbray Mountain, and then ran up a nasty hill near my neighborhood.

So while my career in finance has just ended my wife's career in photography has just started. On Friday, she launched Moncrief Photography. She has already had several sessions with her friends with great reviews.

She truly does great work, and if you are interested, send her an email.

Cheers!

Bike, Run, Swim

2008-07-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

The past week I had some "motto workouts" this is what we called them in the Marine Corps, when a workout was tough, but also motivated you at the same time. On Friday, I biked up Signal Mountain and rode in a downpour with a friend for about 3 hours. On Saturday, I ran in the rain for an hour and half and on Monday I swam 2.8 miles (200 links)! I was pumped on Monday because not only did I finish it, but I finished strong.

Thursday is my last day at work so Friday I plan on doing a really long workout.

Commuting Stories

2008-07-28T06:31:00.000-07:00

I think most all of my friends like my crazy commuting stories. This morning it wasn't much fun, with road construction left half-completed as I walked in the office this morning I was completely covered in asphalt smut.

On to a funnier story, please read this post on the woman who commutes to Wal-Mart. Wallie World management didn't let her take her bike into the store, because she didn't buy it there, so she naturally just took off her clothes since she didn't buy them there either!

Training with my Ears

2008-07-23T06:20:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, keep reading and the title will make sense.

Training has been going good. It's weird, triathletes are such a rare breed of people, and then amongst us we are seriously different people. I just heard of one guy who was training for a 16:59:59 finish (17 hour time limit for an Ironman) please compare this to my friend Chad who has to bring an extra water bottle on his Tuesday and Thursday rides to wash his mouth out, because he rides until he pukes.

Ironically, both of these people inspire me, obviously for different reasons. Friends came in-town for the weekend so I did my long workout on Friday. I found this ultra-steep pitch, where I almost fell over going up, it was awesome! I later find out people rock climb up this section of Lookout Mountain.

Yesterday was nasty in all aspects. Around 3:30, when I usually start getting ready to escape the office Chattanooga received 2 inches of rain in about 15 minutes, with 25 mph winds to boot. Strangely enough, as I looked out of my office window, I actually wanted to be out there in it. I know this is perhaps really strange to some of you, and yet to another crows maybe you can relate. I just stared out the window and couldn't help myself in finding the similarities of the weather and my life. So after a couple of minutes of this, I actually shot some emails out to my two hard-core cycling buddies, wanting to get out in the hail storm and mix it up, I promised PBR afterwards to entice them. No response from one, and the other response was "hell yea." When it was actually time to go my "hell yea" buddy was just kidding and wanted to skip the cycling and go straight to the PBR.

So by the time I got out there the storm was pretty much gone, but raining nevertheless. My friend Chad told me about "the big ring workout" where you just stay in your hardest gear for about an hour and half and try to just slam your heart-rate into over-drive. The only rule to this workout is you can't get out of the saddle.

So I'm cruising along, my heart rate isn't even close to where it should be but it's accelerating into the 40 minute mark, when this long straight incline hit. I immediately threw my head down into my aero-bars and started to grind it out. Literally, my face was where my forearms go in my aero-bars. Then the "oh crap" moment happened. My mind was telling my legs to push down, but evidently their was a short in this circuit as my legs weren't moving. I had seen how this movie ends, and it usually ends with somebody getting a concussion from falling over. I had about a solid 1 second to thing about it, so I jerked my head up pushing my arms up, thinking this will be enough to get to the top. As soon as I jerked my head up it felt like God himself reached into my inner-ear ripping my eardrums out. Seriously, I looked down at the street to see if my eardrums were laying out there.

The wire to my headphones had got stuck in my aero-bars and when I raised my head up, my headphones were stationary. I hurt...really, really bad. So after a couple of questionable steep turns on slick roads I headed back and went for a walk with my dog, daughter and wife.

This morning I went for another training ride with my ears and all.

Big News

2008-07-17T06:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not blogging much lately, I have been doing a lot of training and have a lot of side projects going on. It is because of these reasons I have not been blogging. Not because I don't have enough material to blog about. In fact, I have some pretty big things to talk about.

I'll leave out all of the gory details that shouldn't be blogged about, but I decided to take a new route in my life, and just sold my company and my last day will be July 31.

Since I sold my portion of the company my tv in my office has switched channels from cnbc to versus to watch the Tour de France. To which, I'm stoked about.

My wife, daughter and I have some very INTERESTING vacations in the pipeline. Hopefully, they will come to fruition.

I have really been forced to take a step back in my life and figure out what is important to me. What do I want people to remember me by? What is my purpose in life?

You'll never know until you try! You'll never get to WOW unless you are at least willing to aspire to it.

--Tom Peters

Random thoughts and Readings

2008-07-09T06:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the random post, or lack there of, but I have been extremely busy with other projects. Nevertheless, training is huming along. I took a new route yesterday, from downtown out to my in-laws that live in Lakesite. For you non-Chattanoogan's it's about 20+ miles one way. Nothing major, but it was a fun ride and I absolutely love going on new routes.

I'm also excited about this weekend. On Saturday, I will be doing a VERY long training routine, and then on Sunday, I will further hone my photography skills at the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon.

This morning a friend of mine told me about this blog. Jennifer Pharr is attempting to break the women's Appalachian Trail record. The best part about it - she is doing it in honor of Meredith Emerson- who was killed while hiking in the North Georgia mountains. Her first post is absolutely awesome!

Amazon Swimmer Interview by Tim Ferriss

2008-07-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

Swimming the Amazon: 3,274 Miles on the World’s Deadliest River

Written by Tim Ferriss Topics: Interviews, Physical Performance, Travel

February 8–Inahuaya, Peru

The more dangerous the trip gets, the more momentary we all become. Songs sound better, foods taste better, and seventy-cent-a-bottle cane whiskey is fun to drink.

Last year on April 8th, Slovenian marathon swimmer Martin Strel became the first man to swim the entire length of the Amazon River from headwaters in Peru to the Brazilian port city of Belém: 3,274 miles. It took him 66 days with a support crew of near twenty people following him in a boat for protection.

He’d already conquered the Danube, the Mississippi, and the Yangtze. In 1997, he became the first to swim non-stop from Africa to Europe, and he did it in 29 hours, 36 minutes, and 57 seconds… without a wetsuit. WTF? Seven swimmers had attempted it before and all had failed.

The Amazon was different. As the “Fish Man,” as the locals called him, reached the finish line at Belém, he had to be helped to his feet and ushered into a wheelchair amidst a cheering crowd. His blood pressure was at heart-attack levels and his entire body was full of subcutaneous larvae. But he lived to tell the tale.

I recently caught up with Martin about how he trained for and accomplished this feat… Don’t miss the excerpt at the end, which I included specifically for those of you — like me — who don’t quite fit in with the masses.

1) What were the biggest challenges you faced on the Amazon swim?

The biggest challenges were:

–Dealing with pirates; trying to not come into their hands.
We tried to go through their territories unnoticed, and use local people and their knowledge to help us.

–Piranhas, snakes, spiders, candirú, bull shark or other animals which make unpredictable attack; you have to be ready all the time if any piranha attack you. We had some buckets of blood ready in case of emergency, to distract the piranha and get them away from me if necessary. We saw a deadly bushmaster snake, but luckily I didn’t step on it. If I had stepped on it I would have been dead in less than an hour.

–Malaria, dengue and other unknown infections I could easily get in such a water/jungle environment. It looks like I have an “iron” body and very good immune system.

–Floating debris; I tried not to touch any of the debris floating downstream as it might carry a snake, spider, red ants or any other poisonous animals

–Peeing; I didn’t pee into the water straight as this attracts a very dangerous fish called the candirú, which lodges up human orifices with a razor-like spike and then sucks your blood. I was peeing all the time through the wetsuit.

2) How do you train for preparation?

Yearly I do 400 training sessions in the pool, ocean and rivers, 100 cross country ski sessions, 75 hiking and 75 gymnastic sessions. I train from 3 to 5 hours a day. Beside physical training I also do mental training in the forest around the fire or along the river banks. I try to get the energy from river flow and then turn it into my desire. It works pretty well if you are able to make it happen.

3) What’s more important: physical or mental power?

On my swims I’d say mental power. It is true it does not work with great physical training but I do strongly believe that there are many other good swimmers who could swim as I do, but they do not have their mind ready. And this is mental strength where I am really good. I could not do such great swim 20 years ago when I was much younger, now I can do it. And the reason is I am now mentally matured.

4) What do you eat and drink while swimming and recovering?

I eat regular food from soups, pastas, carbohydrates, fruit, vegetables to meat. I do not eat much meat because it is too heavy for me to swim afterward. Besides this I also consume a lot of liquid. Mainly I drink energy drink from Gatorade, Enervit and Spring Of Life. I do not drink “energetic bombs” like Red Bull. And I do drink wine and/or beer every day, even while swimming. This gives me a special power and relaxation I could not live without.

5) Did you ever come close to giving up on the Amazon swim?

Yes, there were moments I was thinking of going home. First one was right at the beginning when our main escort boat got stuck into the mud and I was far away on the river alone with the small navigating boat. A logistical problem.

There were also hundreds of daily organizational/logistical problems from the beginning and lots dangerous places on the river that I could drown. And i was afraid to continue. I was asking myself if I chose too big challenge this time, and if I might never make it and lose my life.

But at the same time, I got the positive, bright answer: NO. I want to conquer all these obstacles and stay alive. I wanted to show the world how important is to keep this place of the world clean and undestroyed, and at the same time achive the my mission that has never been done.

6) What goes through your mind when you are on a long swim?

While I am swimming long distances I am rolling very interesting different films and stories in my head in order to forget about swimming and pains that I have in my body. Basically I am like a robot and if someone suddenly “wakes me up,” I usually get angry, because I fall out of my concentration. This “robot stage” is an ability of high-level concentration, which works like hypnosis. So I could say that if you want to forget your pains and action you have to know how to put yourself into hypnotism.
This hypnotized stage could last up to one hour on my swims and I can repeat several times a day. I needed many years to train/teach myself how to do it. I could not do this when I was younger.

Otherwise, I think about everything. It’s difficult to just swim. I talk with myself and animals around me for many hours, play guitar in my mind, talk to God, talk with my wife. I believe when I was talking to my wife in the middle of the Amazon, she knew, thousands of miles away in Slovenia.

7) What is life like after completing a big swim? How do you get motivated to do it again?

My feelings are dreamlike. I worked hard, trained hard, and dreamed that someday, I would swim in the great Amazon river. Now my dream has come true. I feel that my mission in life is fulfilled, and should I pass away tomorrow, I am satisfied.
If there is another project I am going to take on, it will have to be an absolute new challenge for me. I have done the greatest rivers on earth. The only way you can devote yourself completely is to challenge yourself to do something unbeaten.

Excerpt from The Man Who Swam the Amazon, written by Matthew Mohlke, who was a river guide on the Amazon trip:

So, why do we follow Martin down the Mississippi, the Danube, the Amazon, or the Yangtze? The answer is simple:

An expedition is 95 percent misery and 5 percent ecstasy. After three weeks of constant motion in a land far way from home, something strange occurs in the sould of a man. He gets broken. The first symptom is a tired or sick feeling, maybe even some fear and a little helplessness. Loneliness. Then something slowly changes within. The old attachments start to fade and he becomes completely present. He forgets about all the crap that keeps him up at night back home. None of it matters anymore.

The same man who may be the shy, passive, no-balls type back home in the office or factory can evolve into a [person] who can share a table with the toughest of hombres and throw back beers with unswerving eyes, enjoying every minute of it.

After going home and dealing with all the meaningless details of electricity bills, lawn mowing, mortgage payments, and an unfulfilling job, a period of depression inevitably occurs. Those people back home can’t understand why he’d leave his cozy existence behind again for three more months to jump at the next opportunity to subject himself to such misery and danger.

But they just don’t get it.

Guess?

2008-06-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

Guess which leg was stung by a nest of yellow-jackets while mowing the lawn?

Best 14 Minutes Investment you can Make!

2008-06-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

Weekend Training

2008-06-24T05:56:00.001-07:00

Everybody always say's if you want to get better you have to train with people a lot better than you. I have definitely accomplished this over the past two weekends. As you might recall, last weekend I trained with two sub-12 hour Ironmen, which 1 was a Kona-alumni. This weekend, I trained with the most impressive line up of cyclist I could even think about. I should note, that although it was grueling beyond belief - I had a ton of fun.

One guy has climbed on Mt. Ranier, one guy just finished the Cohutta 100, in which Floyd Landis was there and the other guy has done the bike and run on the Leadville 100 UltraMarathon and the Leadville 100 MTB. Interestingly enough, Memphis, TN (voted as the WORST city to ride a bike by Bicycling Magazine) was our common denominator - as we have all lived there at one point in our lives.

I started earlier than the others knocking out a painful 25 minute swim. Painful, not because of the distance, but because of the absolute boredom of swimming by yourself at 7:00 on a Saturday Morning.

I then met up with my fellow cyclist as we started our assault on the prevailing Mountains. I knew everyone was going to be climbing faster than me because they were 1)better cyclist, 2) I think everyone had a smaller lower ring and 3) they were better cyclist. So I started to coast a little bit in the straights in my aero-bars. I received the appropriate amount of harassment for being "aero" so I succumbed to the peer pressure and just gave up. We talked throughout the whole ride, which was great, because they all had awesome stories from canoing down a river in Memphis in December and falling out and almost drowning to being slammed face first into a tree while barreling down a hill mountain biking.

After playing around in the flat's it was time to climb, we soon approached Raccoon Mountain. I had never climbed the eastern side before. It was easier to get to compared to the western side, but the climb was just as grueling as there were no switchbacks. I popped in some caffeinated gel and some gatorade, but I was still bringing up the rear and was left in my fellow riders dust. Fortunately for me, they waited for me on the other side after a fun downhill ride.

I actually did pretty well, for me at least, in the flat sections, from Raccoon Mountain to Lookout Mountain. At one point, I almost felt like I was in a movie, as this area was absolutely gorgeous with the morning dew still on the grass, and the sun peeking over the mountain shedding just enough light onto the respective farms. We took a little break to see some hang-gliders take-off and to catch our breath from sprinting away from some incest, redneck dogs. Then it was Lookout Mountain. Not just Lookout, but the Burkhalter Gap climb of Lookout Mountain. I was again, left in the dust, but they waited at the top. At the top of Lookout were some rollers on a nice loop. Usually, these would be fun to ride on, but to be honest, they were zapping energy from me that I didn't even know I had. It was gorgeous on top of the mountain though.

Usually I'm the fastest guy down the mountain, but not in this group. They AGAIN, left me in the dust (are we noticing a pattern here?), but I had fun. We had a fun ride in to downtown where everybody went home. I threw out an invitation to go running, but I think everyone else was pretty hungry. I think I ate a lot more than everyone else.

When I got home I was excited thinking I was going to get to run with my little girl for the first time, but much to my chagrin she was sleeping and Mom was busy around the house. So I just parked the bike and took off running. My wife looked at me like I was about to die, as she repeated several times: "are you sure you want to go running?" I only ran around 3 miles at a very slow pace, but my heart-rate was still elevated, so I was feeling good about it.

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with my in-laws eating some great food and having a good time with family.

my new training partner

2008-06-20T06:01:00.000-07:00

My HRM kicks complete butt. I flew up the mountain yesterday, faster than I ever had before. Instead of worrying about how fast I'm going, and what gear I'm in, I'm only worried about 1 thing, the number on my wrist.

My buddy Chad told me to try to keep it above 180 for short-distances. I didn't get there, but I was keeping it above 170 for the whole climb. I was so focused I forgot to drink water until I got home.

I can't wait to see how it all goes this weekend.

Training with a Heart

2008-06-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

Training continues to go well. Yesterday, I did some hard time-trial sprints and was really stoked to see that my wife and daughter bought me a hear-rate monitor for me for Fathers Day. So I immediately strapped it on and went for a run. I think it will definitely help.

Today, I'm using the HRM when I climb Lookout Mountain, so I'm excited about what I can crank it up to!

I hope everyone is enjoying the great weather down south.

Running Throught Wet Cement

2008-06-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

Per Request, I guess I will spill the beans on running through wet cement.

Most of you know I'm a dreamer. In 4th grade my teacher made my mom pay for a special test to see if I had a learning disorder "because all Jimmy does in class, all day long, is dream." (FYI, I did grow up in Memphis, so it's not like I was really excited about my current environment)
Now I could write a book filled with successfull people that are dreamers, and the problems with current academia, in not allowing dreaming, but I will digress.

I say all of this just to preface this embarrasing story. I met a friend for lunch downtown. After lunch, I'm just walking along the sidewalk, dreaming of-course, and all of a sudden, I find myself sinking. Ugh? I look down and I am right in the middle of a freshly poured wet sidewalk. That's right - no signs, no barriers, nobody around, just me - ankle deep - in the middle of a freshly poured sidewalk. I immediately kicked up my legs and started to run through it. I'm not talking about a touch-up job. I'm talking about a whole, freaking sidewalk, about 20 ft of wet cement sidewalk. Why did I not just hop to the side of the street? Because I'm a MAN, and that would have been the logical thing to do. Now I get to tell this really embarrassing story on my blog! That's why!

A couple of years ago, I had a temper problem and would probably have tried to bury a construction worker in the cement. Now, I just busted out laughing and immediately called my wife to tell her. Unfortunately, I was a solid 1 mile away from my office - and yes, to state the obvious - wet cement - turns to hard concrete fairly quickly, and as such, turns fairly heavy. Needless to say, my knees were wondering what was going on.

My wife came to my rescue and brought me new shoes at work. She of course had to capture a shot.

Weekend Training

2008-06-10T07:44:00.000-07:00

I had some great training this past weekend. My alarm didn't go off (AGAIN!) so I missed out on swimming, but did get in a 90-mile bike ride that was gorgeous. I finished it off with a couple of miles of running.

I started the bike with some true hard-core triathlete's. You know you are riding outside of your comfort zone when 1 guy was describing a little hill on the left (which turns out was Lookout Mountain) and the other guy qualified and participated in the Ironman World Championships in Kona! These pics are from Cloudland Canyon State Park in Georgia.

Random Thoughts

2008-06-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

Well a lot has happened in the 10 days that I have not posted.

I ran through wet cement.

I discovered one of the most beautiful routes in Chattanooga (yes, part of the reason it is so gorgeous is it is "flat" with "rolling hills"

We had a record turn-out for Bike 2 Work in Chattanooga.

I finally feel confident in the water.

I have learned that a community pool is a community pool (meaning: swimming around people, instead of having a lane)

Problem Fixed

2008-05-28T12:43:00.000-07:00

The biggest problem with Ironman Training is time away from family. When I'm on my long bike rides and dwelling in the monotony of swimming, all I'm thinking about is what I'm not doing - which is being with my daughter and my wife.

The other major problem I have is finding time to swim. It's not that I hate swimming, it's just so freaking inconvenient to everything!

Yesterday, my awesome wife fixed both problems. We got a membership to a local pool where my girls can hang out and I can watch them in-between strokes. We tested it out last night after my ride and it was awesome - everyone had a great time. The ride also went well. Although not many people were there I think I finally figured out that I just need to eat more.

Random Readings and Views

2008-05-27T06:28:00.000-07:00

Don't be braggin' about being in the big ring!

“What’s the good of making a living if you can’t live?” - say's the person who commutes by horse!

“An Act Relative to Bicycles”

Chattanoogan's are starting to pedal to work!

Good Training Weekend

2008-05-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

The past weekend could be viewed as a failure by some, or as a great accomplishment. I'm taking the later view. On Friday, we met up with some friends for some carbo-loading and I missed the trail running seminar (where I later found out my buddy won a free pair of trail running shoes - good for him!). I then checked in with a local triathlon buddy Chad that is also competing in Ironman Louisville and he is racking up some major miles on me, with 3 50+mile rides a week, and average6-7,000 meters in the pool! Interestingly enough - he wasn't really running any???

I was going to wake up around 5:00 and tackle Lookout Mountain, then Raccoon Mountain, and then knock-out a half-marathon. However, the alarm didn't go off and I soon found myself struggling to make it in-time to the half-marathon. I knew I was in-trouble, when no one was passing me up the mountain. Either 1) I'm late (high probability), or 2) I'm climbing the wrong mountain (low probability).

Raccoon Mountain turned into one heck of a climb and I ended up being 20 minutes late to the start. The hardest part of the climb (aside from there being no switchbacks) was the fact that I was carrying 7 lbs of food, running shoes, and my lock) much to the chagrin of my back. I locked up my bike when I got there, pinned my number on, threw down some fig newtons and off I was. Interestingly enough, there was another unlucky chap who was just starting. I passed him about a mile into the run, after a couple of miles in I started thinking about what my friend Chad (sub-12 hour Ironman - first time) had told me about not running too much and building your cycling legs.

So I ran back a couple of miles, hoped on my bike, and off I was to tackle the mountains on my bike. The run actually felt great. The trail was very nice, not too technical, and had some good scenery. It was good training. The second leg of the bike was another story. My legs were screaming like a little girl watching a scary movie, my knees were aching, my back felt like it was going to break in half any second. My small little 7 lb pack, felt like a solid 20 lbs at this point. I repeatedly called my wife, to tell her I wasn't going to complete the 1/2 marathon, but I was secretly hoping she was on her way. Fortunately for my training, she was still at the house. So I powered on and the finish was great. According to mapmytri.com, I had about 3,000 ft of climbing and about 50+miles. On Monday, I did some great cross-training (read: wake boarding) with my friend Bill, who is one of the best guy's I know.

On a separate note, the times for 3 State, 3 Mountain were finally posted. I'm really happy I did this race, considering most people didn't even start or quit due to the conditions. I'm being serious as there were only about 1,300 finishers out of 2,500 who registered - and that is counting the people who cut the century short and rode the bus back, or just did the metric!!!

I love this disclosure: "Note: These results are not exact. They are the best we could figure out. This is not a race so exact accuracy is not a high priority."

Mountain Biker attacked by a Mountain Lion

2008-05-20T06:23:00.000-07:00

After the last boring post, I have an inspirational post.

This lady get's attacked by a mountain lion - she prays and the she fights back.

You have to watch the audio/slideshow - but fair warning - it is not for the faint of heart.

Workout Update

2008-05-20T06:13:00.000-07:00

After the century my knees have been suffering from some tendinitis so I took off on a road trip for the weekend to see family and friends, without worry about damaging my workout schedule. Yesterday, it paid off as I had a great run in, a great swim, and a great bike ride. Today I'll hopefully get in a long bike ride.

Boring post, but an update nevertheless. It's also time to break out into some serious distance, as I have less than 100 days until the IRONMAN!

Mother's Day Weekend

2008-05-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

Well this was my wife's first Mother's Day so I definitely wanted to make it a hit. I know any bloke could think of a nice dinner out, flowers and chocolate, but Ada (my daughter) and I wanted to do something different...something from the heart.

Ada proposed that if it was a hit, she would get the credit, and if it was a failure I would take the responsibility. I was too impressed with her keen insight of the risk/reward relationship to argue. And for those of you know wondering if my daughter already has me twisted around her finger - the answer is yes.

But this really was all Ada's idea. She told me that all mom does during the day is hold up a black thing to her face and it makes a funny clicking sound and sometimes it flashes (read: camera). So I picked out some camera accessories, revealed it to my wife on Friday, and told her to get ready to use it the next day.
We then met up with some friends and did some light hiking around Foster Falls and watched some rock climbers. It was a great experience. My daughter found nature so relaxing that she actually went to sleep, while hiking, a skill I know she got from me!
This week, I'm going to take it fairly slow as my knees are still recovering a bit. Yesterday I ran and today I think I'm going to do some swimming and maybe some cycling.
I hope everyone is enjoying this great weather!

3 State 3 Mountain Redux

2008-05-12T07:25:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I participated in my first century - 3 state 3 mountain. As the name implies, it covers 3 states (Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama) and 3 mountains (Suck Creek, Lookout Mountain, and Sand Mountain) and as such riders have close to 10,000 ft of elevation change.

Last year, I uncharacteristically didn't start due to the inclement weather. I had planned to stick it out but was scarred off by my bike-t0-work friends. This year, the weather was actually worse, but I told my wife I was going to at least start. The race was delayed due to thunderstorms and lightening.

The start was very weird, no gun, no horn, no anything. I'm a perennial optimist, but I have to be honest, the first 25 miles were miserable. Several ambulances passed me, and I was fortunate to be riding on my bike and not in their. I would later hear of some horrific stories from hypothermia to a seat-post being surgically removed from a guy's leg. I could barely see in the rain, we were all going at a snail pace, and none of my riding buddies were doing it, so I was riding by myself. My wife wanted constant updates, so I called her after the first mountain and just admitted that I was miserable and was seriously thinking about just turning back and hanging out with her and my newborn. She encouraged me to find a group and persevere.After figuring out that by the time I would get home, she would need to leave for a baby shower she was going to, I made up in my mind I was going to finish, no matter what. I then met-up with my brother-in-law's friend and rode with him and his friends. The next 30 miles were gorgeous passing several rivers and climbing Sand Mountain. The road was rough and met several flat tires. I later heard that one co-rider would have 8 flat tires by the end of the race!

Lookout Mountain was gorgeous as well. By this time the sun was blazing hot. Towards the top I was in the minority by actually riding my bike and not walking up. Again, I was a horrific wreck where a woman could not go any further up, she didn't have the leg strength to push down a pedal, and as such fell on her left side, head first. It was reported later that she got a concussion.

Once I topped Lookout, I was ready to see my girls, so I took off, and blazed to the finish line, while the group I was with was making full use of the SAG. The finish was great, with fellow riders hanging out drinking Cola and beer. The pizza was a little late, but I was just happy to have completed my first century.

Before I started I got a ton of advice from bring the strongest pain medication you can find, to forget the stops ride fast, to make full use of the sags and enjoy it. The only advice I ended up taking was the latter, which was from a friend who is always in-better shape than me. I think this ended up helping me finish so strong. At the end, I really felt like I could have ran a marathon, but my wife and I had dinner plans with friends.

Ghetto Marketing for a Good Cause

2008-05-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

So most of you know that I haven't owned a car in almost 3 years now, and am now a bona fide cycling activist. A couple of months ago, my friend Tim challenged me to create a business that was related to this passion but also made a difference in a tangible way.

After much thought and a lot of research I had some t-shirts made up with a fat polar bear riding a bike that say's Burn Fat not Ice Caps. I then decided to give 10% of all sales to an organization called Bikes to Rwanda, which as the name implies, gives Rwandans bikes.My first approach was to wholesale them off to local bike shops. However, the recession has hit them particularly hard and it couldn't be worked out. They were however very enthusiastic about the idea, and wanted me to succeed, so they told me to try to get into the 3 State 3 Mountain Expo.

Through my friend Phil, the Outdoor Chattanooga Aficionado, I got hooked up, and actually got a booth there. My wife was a tremendous help throughout the whole process and even designed a poster for me.

The expo was quite the adventure. I still had to work Friday, so my dad maned the booth and when I got there around 5:00, much to my dismay he didn't have any sales. However, over the next couple of hours I was entertained to the fullest, with the vast majority of people very excited about the idea of advocating cycling as transportation and helping out a good cause. Let me back up a bit. I described the people as entertaining because when people heard about the project I got responses from: That t-shirt is "FU*#@&G AWESOME! I have to have one" to "What is an ice cap?"

Anyway, I sold some t-shirts for a great cause and hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll be blogging about the fat check I just sent to help out Rwandans. The biggest drawback I had was that people just don't carry cash around anymore. To which, yours truly is definitely guilty of. Therefore, I created a paypal link for anyone wanting a t-shirt.

My current inventory is 3 large blue and 2 large green american apparel shirts:2 medium and 1 small light blue women's rugged hype shirt and 3 medium and 3 large mens rugged hype shirts with worn in look on edges.So that is why this post is labeled ghetto marketing. Because to me you can't get anymore ghetto than posting a paypal button on your blog. But, it's for a good cause and I'll swallow a humility pill and hit "publish post"

Bike 2 Work

2008-05-01T13:56:00.000-07:00

Don’t Forget…

This Friday BIKE2WORK 2008

Bike2Work is the First Friday of each month.

Ride Your Bike & Join Us for Free Breakfast at our location on the

Walnut Street Square - South End of the Walnut Street Bridge.

7:00-8:30 am!

Another Tuesday

2008-04-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

I had a good workout yesterday, swimming a mile and then hoping on the bike. My friend Bill wasn't in the parking lot when I got there so I took off with the fast group (or so I thought). After a couple of miles I figured out that wasn't "the fast group" that I had heard so much about and saw a rider several miles away. I broke away to chase him. And in classic Jimmy fashion - got lost. I turned around and was then wondering around for at least a mile trying to find the right road. The great thing about being lost here, is the fact that the area is absolutely gorgeous. So I was sipping on my custom cocktail of over-concentrated Gatorade, when all of a sudden I heard some screaming coming from behind me. The type of screaming that wasn't some high school girls yelling for fun, but from a bunch of guy's that were about to seemingly run over me. It seems the notorious "fast group" skipped the first loop and passed me going around 30 mph - up a hill! I didn't stand a chance, and it was too late for me to move to the side, so I just tucked in and prayed that I didn't get run over. Within a couple of miles I tried to chase them, to no avail. However, another group passed me, and I stayed with them for awhile. Then a guy bumped into me going into a curve. I'm not going to lie - I was TICKED - I chased after him, and then the guy quits! Are you serious? You have the gut's to try to knock me off my bike while we are racing and then you quit when we get into a dead-on sprint? I looked over at him, and he looked like he was about to call an ambulance to come pick him up. He had clearly just sprinted out of the gate with no endurance backbone (or manners). Anyway, from then on it was back and forth, from then on. Much to my chagrin, I still did not get the chance to climb Mowbry Mountain as I wasn't riding with a group and I was worried about sunlight. O well, I got some good riding in and was able to make it back in-time to go to Wallie World with my little girl and wife. It should be noted that I probably looked a little out of place, even in Wal-Mart, since my lips were turning blue and I was shivering due to the fact that I was still wet from swimming/cycling and I was drinking blue Gatorade.

Some Good News and Some Bad News

2008-04-29T09:16:00.001-07:00

This weekend was packed with events. As usual, my training was seriously interrupted by a seriously erroneous weather report that called for a 90% chance of rain on Saturday and bright and sunny on Sunday. This is what I read on Friday night. Of course the opposite happened, as it was fairly nice weather on Saturday and thunderstorms on Sunday.

Nevertheless, the weather didn't stop my friends from kicking some tail out there as my friends Bill, Brian and Michael ran the Country Music 1/2 Marathon and Kevin completed the Scenic City Triathlon. Although I was in Nashville on Saturday, I didn't brave the 50,000+ fans and runners to enjoy the race. On a personal note, I'm glad all of my friends did the 1/2 marathon as the full marathon was not every enjoyable for me and lacks the support that the 1/2 marathon does.

I did wake up early and watch my friend Kevin compete in the Scenic City Triathlon. It was cold and wet, but it seemed everybody had a good time as there was a short swim, a slippery bike course and a rolling, but fast run set-up. Congrats again.

On a more morbid note, my prayers and thoughts go out to the friends and family of Dave Martin, the triathlete in San Diego that was recently killed by a shark.

Is it time to consider vegetarianism?

2008-04-24T05:26:00.000-07:00

This is a great post from the Clif Blog site that I thought I would copy here. I was actually a vegetarian in high school for 2 years. It's actually a long story as to why I made the switch, but I will tell you that I ran my fastest times and felt the best nutrition wise, while I was a vegetarian. Unfortunately, living in the South, it is very inconvenient, however like most things, I think it's worth it.

It's actually interesting that I read this now. Two days ago at an Earth Day Festival I met a great guy that is highly involved in the Slow Food Movement. And starting June 1, there will be a challenge in Chattanooga to only eat local foods. The challenge is a part of Rock Point's book club and partly based on Barbara Kingsolver's newest book: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Most of you will probably know her as the author of the Poisonwood Bible.

It should be noted however that all vegetables and foods derived from vegetables are great. If you don't believe me, watch this movie!

===================================================================

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote on the FDA's assessment of cloning and the beef recall. Well, it got some folks talking (just read the comments). So, to follow up, I thought there might be some interest in checking out what the USDA and the FDA are up to since...

Just to clarify, the FDA regulates food labeling of prepared foods i.e. breads, cereals, canned and frozen foods, snacks, desserts, drinks. Frankly, their position on cloning, doesn’t interest me as much as the position the USDA might take on cloning. Ranching and meat regulation is, after all, the area of the USDA.

You can comment on the FDA's actions regarding food labeling on their website. The best time to get involved is during their open public comment period. They make sure to address every comment—an added bonus!

The USDA oversees agriculture and food policy, and food safety as related to farming and ranching. To me, the USDA is the more appropriate agency to evaluate and provide regulatory guidelines for something like cloning. The fact that they don't agree with the FDA's position says a lot.

Keep tabs on the USDA, and all that they're up to on their website.

Both of these websites are behemoths and if you dig you will find lots of intriguing and informative facts. You may learn more than you ever wanted to know, but you will be an informed consumer, which is what we need more of to advocate for our food supply!

Killer Training Ride

2008-04-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

Like most people, my schedule has just exploded. I feel like spring just got here, yet summer is about to be over. Anyway, I wanted to do 3-state, 3-mountain, but other than doing a fairly long ride last weekend, I didn't think I had prepared enough. Additionally, my schedule is already full until 3-state. But yesterday, after-work I fixed the problem, with by climbing Lookout Mountain - TWICE!

The second time was definitely the heart-pumper I needed. I even made it back in-time for bible study.

So today, I signed-up, and god-willing, I WILL FINISH one of the hardest centuries out there.

I hope everyone out there is enjoying the nice weather we are having in Chattanooga.

Have a great weekend!

Follow Up to Saturday's Ride

2008-04-15T12:52:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Rich Smith Photography for the great pictures! Go to his site to see other photos from the day.

Running with the Kid

2008-04-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Endurance Planet has a great podcast of Michael Wardian.

Although I'm not as competitive as him, I resonated with him talking about how when you get married everybody tells you you will stop running and enjoying your hobbies, then when you have kids everyone says the same thing. I think I have gotten in better shape since I got married and had a kid.

I'm looking forward to buying a chariot once our tax-refund comes in!

Innovate or Die Winner

2008-04-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

The Aquaduct won this year’s Specialized/Google Innovate or Die contest’s grand prize. A five-person design team from Menlo Park, California designed this pedal-powered water filtration device to improve (and save) lives in developing countries. Watch the video or read more at www.treehugger.com.

Those of you that know me, know that I am particularly happy with the fact that this innovation is related to water and will help end the needless deaths that occur ever year because of polluted drinking water.

101year-old smoking marathon runner

2008-04-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

This is awesome 101 year old marathon runner that doesn't drink water, opting for beer and cigarettes instead!

Sequatchie County Run/Ride

2008-04-14T10:48:00.000-07:00

I had some pretty fun training on Saturday, albeit, cold and windy training it was. I started out at 8:00 an ran 6 miles into downtown to pick-up my bike. I then proceeded up Signal Mountain and then down through the Sequatchie Valley. I was pretty happy with my run time and climbing up the mountain, but I was disappointed once I got on top of the mountain due to the significant (30-40 mph) headwind. In any sense, it was a gorgeous ride. I plan on doing a hard day tomorrow.

Focus of a Tiger

2008-04-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

I'm not a big Tiger Woods fan as I only play golf a couple of times a year. However, I think this is a great interview with Scott Van Pelt for the ESPN Sports Center.

SVP: “So there’s no point when you can sort of put the feet up on a Tuesday afternoon and say ‘Today I’m not going to the gym’.?

Tiger: “No. Because the next…that’s…I look at life as: the greatest thing about tomorrow is that I will be better than I am today. And that’s the way I’ve always lived my life. So I have no understanding why people do hit the snooze button because you have a chance to become a better person, become - for me - a better athlete…all the different things you can do to become better for tomorrow. Why wouldn’t you take advantage of that?”

You can check out the full interview on the video below:

Thanks for the link Adam

Bad Week / Good Week

2008-04-09T06:44:00.000-07:00

Last week wasn't the best of weeks. I won't get into the details, but it wasn't that great. I was determined to make this a good week and so far, so good. On Sunday, my wife and daughter did their first 5K. I was the proud supporter on the sideline as well as a VERY CRITICAL VOLUNTEER.

I was the back-up timer for the back-up timer. Everybody kept asking me: "why don't you run in it" to which I would reply - "but then who would be the back-up timer for the back-up timer?"

Monday, I had a great ride up the mountain which was preceded my a great mile swim, then another ride, then a full 2 hours of lawn mowing and yard work - condo fee's don't seem that high after I think about it.

Tuesday, I met with a friend who has done several Ironman's. It was extremely helpful - not one of those let me share my painful stories with you meetings but a meeting that I think will really help me come race day. I had another great swim with my friend I affectionately call Irish (who can swim faster with 1 arm than I can with 2) who gave me a couple of quick pointers, which helped my time and efficiency tremendously and then I was off to the Tuesday night ride. I'm either late or early and after multiple failed attempts I hadn't found a good group to ride with, but last night was a different story. I found my group and had a blast! I did interval work all through the beautiful rolling hills in the Tennessee Valley. In all, I biked over 40 miles yesterday after swimming my measly mile.

Then a great friend of mine who I rode with introduced me to the best Japanese food that has ever touched my tongue. Much to the chagrin of my friends, I shunned the white sauce, but nevertheless, it was awesome!

Hope everyone has a great hump day!

Interesting Photography

2008-04-07T12:26:00.001-07:00

National Geographic Best Photo Awards Nature

From: spiderweb99, 2 weeks ago

| View | Upload your own

Award Winning Photos From National Geographic

SlideShare Link

Olympic Torch Extinguished

2008-04-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

CNN.com is reporting today that the Olympic Torch has been extinguished during the Paris leg of it's around-the-world relay, as protestors lined the streets to demonstrate against the Chinese Government's recent actions in Tibet.

According to the story, the Torch was extinguished and relit three times before along the route. The first time protestors near the River Seine forced Olympic officials to put out the flame, and then board a bus. Later, an athlete in a wheelchair was forced to douse the flame when demonstrators shouted at her along the route. The third and final incident came when officials saw the flame approaching a bridge where protestors were waiting for it's arrival.

Back-up flames accompany the Torch on it's ritual relay, and the word is that the relay has once again resumed and was back on schedule. Todays demonstrations follow an equally challenging leg through London yesterday. The article notes that it is difficult to know for sure how many protestors were along the route, but their numbers were in the thousands. Some of those are believed to be Chinese supporters of the Olympics however.

While I don't believe in violence for change, I am glad that there will now be more news on the oppression of Tibet. Hopefully, the country will truly be a free country in my lifetime.

Fast Ridin' in Happy Valley

2008-04-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went on my first lunch time ride. I was a bit resentful, due to the fact that I have to change 4 times at work, if I want to workout during my lunch hour. But the weather was GREAT, and I know the only way I'll get faster on my bike is if I start riding with a group.

I had an awesome time. I went out with some pretty fast guys and they showed me a new route, with rolling hills at the foot of Lookout Mountain, GA and through Happy Valley (yea, weird name, huh?). The good thing about these guy's is they are older and wanted to make good use of a measly one hour lunch break, so there wasn't really any talking, we were riding pretty fast.

We covered 21 miles and it took right at an hour, which is a great pace for me, especially considering the rolling hills and traffic. Climbing Lookout Mountain has helped me considerably, just as running up Signal Mountain has helped me with my running. I once had a professor who claimed he qualified for the Boston Marathon by strictly running hills. I definitely think there is something to it.

Popov Swim Technique

2008-04-02T14:02:00.001-07:00

So far this is the best swim technique video out there. If anyone has any other suggestions leave a comment or email me.

Exhausting

2008-04-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

I was looking up some free swim technique videos on YouTube and found this. I love the end!

Rock Creek River Gorge Trail Run 2008

2008-03-31T13:38:00.000-07:00

Trippin' on Acid...

2008-03-31T11:58:00.000-07:00

Lactic Acid that is! What were you thinking?

I had my first organized trail run this weekend and it was the epitome of everything an organized trail run should be. Everything I worried about didn't happen, and everything I didn't think about happened.

Let's first start off with the fact that there was a draconian downpour of rain, all through the night. Clearly God thought we were all going to be thirsty during this race.

I had a great position at the start, right in the upper quartile of runners. After the gun went off, I was quickly passed by a good third of the field as they all sprinted up a hill. Then came my favorite part, we all stopped for several minutes, as this was a single-track trail run, so everybody had to wait in-line. Everybody who just passed me was now out of breath, gasping for air, and I wasn't even warmed up, much less out of air. I got in with a good group. Some older gents, who I could tell had a solid pace and this wasn't their first trail run. Surprisingly enough we all finished within a couple of minutes of each other, which is extremely surprising. Slow and steady may not win the race, but it helps finish it in a fairly respectable time.

The first 3 miles flew by. Under normal conditions, you have views of the river on your left, but under these conditions, you were doing good to see 20 ft in-front of yourself. Seeing the 6-milers split off, I secretly wanted to join them, knowing they had a long, steep hill and then a speedy downhill to the finish.

But like a moth to a flame, I was attracted to the coming pain. The next couple of miles had practiced several times, so it wasn't bad at all. Then came the next check point which read "5.5 miles completed 4.5 miles to go" Of course, if you aren't a runner this doesn't sound like a big deal, but trust me, after running up and down "hills" and through at least 20 creeks, I thought the checkpoint was supposed to mark the 5 or 6 mile mark -arrggghhhh. Then came this torturous hill, that I even saw some elite runners walking. This is when I started to feel my left foot pulsate like it had developed it's own heart. I knew at this point the blister I developed around mile 3 was now quickly filling up with vampire juice, or blood, whatever you choose to call it.
After this arduous hill, it was an easy couple of miles. But then came the crucible. The "rock garden" This was the make or break point of the race - no pun intended. I failed miserably or I passed with flying colors, depending on your views of life in general. What the heck does this mean?

Well, the rock garden is "impossible" to run through. At-best you will hop through it. But it is only to be hoped through by the first handful of elite runners in the race. Anyways, I was passed by A LOT of people - so I failed in this sense (one small detail worth noting, EVERY single person that passed me fell - or seriously slipped). I passed with flying colors in the sense that I didn't break my ankle and I had an awesome time, finishing it up with my friends.
On a final note, I was originally going to ride my bike up there, but considering the thunderstorm, I backed down thinking it wouldn't be that good of an idea, and rode up there with my buddy Jon who is the founder and CEO of iMultisport, which provides insurance to people the insurance companies don't like (e.g. you sky-dive, you swim with Barracuda in the Caribbean, one of your life's biggest dreams is to run with the bulls, even though you used to ride bulls - ok enough about me). Anyway's I think it's a grand idea and Jon's a nice guy if you have any insurance questions.

Have a great week!

Lookout Mountain Cycling

2008-03-30T15:14:00.000-07:00

On Thursday (yea I know I'm behind) I had a great ride up Lookout Mountain. I took the "European route" which is up Ochs Highway, then took the extension over to Rock City and down the mountain. The reason it is called the European route, is during the extension ride you pass several waterfalls on top of the mountain that gives it a little European flare. It's my favorite loop after work. After this I sprint up a couple of "hill" in North Chattanooga and I'm home free to start running with my dog.

I was a bit disappointed at how the video below turned out, as it didn't even come close to capturing the views up there, but hopefully you get the idea. And I think it's ok considering it's my first video.

Endurance Events and the Outdoors

2008-03-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

Last night was an adventure in it-self. For details, you can check out my wife's blog.

We met a great couple and hit it off big time. The guy's main forte was mountain biking but he liked everything from climbing, to hiking, cycling, you get the idea. Oh yea, not an unimportant point - he's climbed Mt. Rainer, didn't summit, but he was there and climbed it!

It struck me as in conventional sports, most guy's only like one sport such as baseball, but dislike another one (or all the rest) like football. But all of the triathletes I have met and other endurance athletes I have met seem to just love the outdoors. This love transpires into many different activities and forms a common bond between friends.

On a different note, here is a pretty inspirational story:

In 2004 he made history, now Ben Saunders, the youngest polar explorer ever to conquer the North Pole is heading back again, this time to break the speed record set back in 1909 with dogs. The difference, however, is Ben is on foot and without a crew! What an unbelievably inspiring endeavor...

Ben Saunders from Ben Saunders on Vimeo.

And on another different note:

Interesting article in the NY Times on a runner's high

Swimming

2008-03-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

First, let me state the obvious: Swimming is really inconvenient. Running is easy to pick up, cycling is just too fun not to do and worth the hassle and gear, but swimming is just really inconvenient. I was going to get up early and be at the pool by 6:30 A.M. , strangely enough my wife woke up and told me it was really cold outside and just swim in the afternoon. As you all know, at 5:45 A.M. I was looking for any excuse possible, and that one seemed perfect. At 7:00 when I stepped outside, I saw and felt exactly what she meant. There was frost outside! It would have been a very cold morning.

So I swam in the afternoon and met a guy who was training for the Sand Diego Half Ironman. I told him that I swam out there under forced conditions once (Marine Corps Boot Camp) and the water was pretty cold. He said he was more worried about the 9 ft. swells! I guess I won't have to worry about that in the river.

Anyway, I swam for 30 minutes straight and felt good about it. I then did a sprint home in the hardest gears I could find. Today, I plan on enjoying the mountain on the bike and then running with my dog.

Running into Work in Perspective

2008-03-25T05:10:00.000-07:00

The below story is from Dan Miller, author of the book 48 days (see sidebar). I thought the story was too good not to pass along. It was particularly interesting to me since everyone thinks I have it so hard running 6 miles into work (when I run).

Lornah Kiplagat learned to run because she did not want to be late for school. Each morning, this little Kenyan girl would help her father milk the family cows as soon as there was enough light from the rising sun. Then she would run the 14 miles from her home to school – where she was an eager student, knowing education was her best option for a better future. At the time she did not realize that her running was laying the foundation for her world-class status as a long-distance runner. She ran because she was poor – but in the process she developed the discipline and stamina to rise above all competition in running.

Could it be that there is an opportunity in something you consider a hardship right now? Most inventions, great books, and leadership skills emerge from those tough times in our lives when we needed a solution or the fortitude to just survive. As I look back on my own early farming days – yes, those days of just looking forward to leaving the farm – I now realize the value of having significant carpentry, plumbing, electrical and mechanical skills. Those insights have saved me thousands of dollars over the years and also opened my eyes to innovative solutions in business. My writing draws from the challenges I’ve faced myself in career and business.

Is the “running” in your own life just a means to an end or is it teaching you and preparing you for something great? Maybe that long commute is giving you time to learn a new language or better parenting skills. Maybe the broken machinery at work is providing you the opportunity for the next great invention. Perhaps your constant struggle with fatigue is positioning you to discover a nutritional breakthrough.

Lornah, that little Kenyan girl is now 33 years old. She holds four world records. She has also established an academic foundation for other little girls in Kenya. They are trained in athletics but also in academics and personal development. Lornah is committed to putting an end to the enduring tradition of female subservience in Kenya and recognizes that her running has given her the opportunity to be that force for change.

A great weekend

2008-03-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

I had a great run on Saturday. I think I ran about half of the trail and then another couple of miles. It was definitely dreadful climbing some of the hills, as my heart was screaming, but considering I was running with some very experienced trail runners, and I hung in-there, (and I biked to the meet-up point, and back) I was proud of myself.

After I got home I got to hang with my daughter while my wife went cycling with her family, so it was a great Saturday. This week, I hope to really step-it up training wise so we will see how that goes. I hope everyone had a Happy Easter...

Getting Away...Sort of..

2008-03-20T05:54:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about working out is freeing your mind from the clutter. BUT, sometimes it is nice to be available for emergencies.

I predict in the next couple of years technology will continue to have a major effect on endurance sports.

I found this from Springwise which is a weblog of innovative products.

Back in 2006 we wrote about the Nike+iPod Sport Kit as an example of the growing number of branded brands—smart partnerships between brands —and now adidas and Samsung have launched an offering along similar lines.

miCoach, which was unveiled just last week, is an adidas-branded Samsung music cell phone equipped with stride sensor and heart rate monitor to provide on-the-go personal training. With one click, users can connect to the fitness features and begin a workout. On their first use, the system assesses their fitness level and places them in one of three categories. Users can then set their own goals, or let the system's personal coach—backed by more than 200 workout plans—guide them. Either way, miCoach provides instruction to encourage and motivate users along the way, such as advising runners to “speed up to power zone” or telling them that “15 minutes is completed.” Tapping the slider phone twice produces instant updates on the workout, and the 2-inch LCD shows a real-time visual display of time, heart rate, distance, speed and calories burned. Users can arrange workout music on the phone according to tempo or motivational value, while a 2-megapixel camera and 1GB memory capacity let them capture their workout milestones. The miCoach also features USB and Bluetooth connectivity for fast file transfers and seamless sync with the miCoach web portal.

The miCoach phone will be available in Europe starting in mid-March, with delivery in the US next year. European pricing will start at about EUR 195, according to the Associated Press. For more on branded brands, check out our sister site trendwatching.com's briefing on the topic. In the meantime, keep your eyes open for more of them!

Website: www.micoach.com
Contact: wos.info@adidas.com

Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen

Sprint Triathlon Completed

2008-03-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

First a little history is needed on how I got into triathlons. I was training for a marathon when a friend of mine invited me and my lovely wife down to Hilton Head for a long weekend. He said he was going to do a triathlon. I thought this would be good cross training for my marathon and an ever better reason to go to Hilton Head, South Carolina. So long story, short I had so much fun training for the triathlon I completely stopped training for my marathon (VERY BAD IDEA!).

Once or twice a week my friend and I would do a sprint triathlon after work. It was a blast. He's a great swimmer, we are both strong on the bike, and we are both strong runners but I've got a bit more endurance for the long runs, so it works out well.

Yesterday, for the first time in 2008, I did this. After work I swam in my old University pool. (for those of you out there that need some boredom in your life- you really need to check out swimming) I was feeling pretty good honestly. I did a quick warm-up and then went into some drills). At this point I'm thinking , "surely I haven't been in here for 30 minutes, but at least 15 minutes" Does anybody want to guess how long it had been?

Anyone?

Yea, a whopping 5 minutes! So more drills and such and I eventually cranked out a little over 1/2 mile.

Then onto the bike. Question: Why is it so hard to bike after the swim, even though I really don't use my legs when I swim? Please email me or leave a comment regarding this. I was planning on tackling my favorite mountain, but got caught in a dust-storm of 30 mph winds and figured that probably wouldn't be the best environment for going down a mountain at 50 mph on a 15 lb bike. So, I cut it a little short and went home and grabbed the dog for my favorite short-run.

In my neighborhood there is a run that truly defies common sense it is only about 2 miles but it takes around 15 minutes and 90% of the time you are going up-hill. So I give myself a little break on the distance since the whole thing is uphill. My 85 lb weimeraner used to literally lay-down and refuse to do it. But now she loves it and I think it is her favorite route as well.

Since I started this with a story about a great friendship I should probably end it with one as well. This morning around 6:30 I got to a local coffee shop for my usual Wednesday morning bible study. I get there a little early to go over my notes and for quite time. This morning I couldn't help but overhear another bible study that hadn't started yet. All the guy's were talking about how the NCAA tournament and how the brackets are wrong, the placing is wrong, the odds are wrong, etc... The whole time I was thinking "if I was over there I would have nothing to say" So when all of my friends showed up we immediately all started talking about the big trail race in two weeks, we were all giddy about it, talking non-stop about our favorite adventure race we have done, and this Saturday we are going to run it together for practice.

In summary, I think the triathlon/endurance racing community is filled with great people and if you aren't involved in some way, you are really missing out on some great fun!

Cheers!

Great Transition Talk

2008-03-17T12:07:00.000-07:00

Hopefully, I will be able to master this in 2008

Training has started.

2008-03-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

This is the week I'm officially starting my swimming training. I had a great run into work today. The weather was so good I actually wore shorts! As for my Nike+iPod it continues to be a Love/Hate relationship. This morning it said I only ran 5.1 miles when other mornings it usually say's something like 5.9 miles. Hopefully, I can get to a track this week and calibrate it.

I'm pretty stoked that I'm going to be using my old college pool and saving around $40/month. I hope it pans out.

This weekend I took a break from my usual trail running as Saturday there was a downpour and on Sunday (knowing the trail would be soaked) I took the day off and spent the entire day at the park with my wife and daughter and some friends and family. It was great!

This one is for you

2008-03-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

I had a great ride yesterday. My wife called at 5:00 and wanted to meet friends downtown, so I needed to make this a quick ride. I went up Lookout Mountain and had some great riding, enjoying both the weather and the views. The real excitement came after though, when I saw a fellow rider in my sights.

Now this rider was no normal cyclist - he was THAT GUY. You know who I'm talking about, because every city has at least one. He was sponsored (or a pro, depending on who you listen to) and he had his matching $250 cycling shorts and jersey on, with his $150 sunglasses and iPod and $200 helmet and $200 shoes. When I saw him, I immediately sped up and was on the chase. As I passed him I asked: "did you just do Lookout Mountain" he said: "Na, just staying flat today"

I want to be clear I didn't pass him to feed my ego, as I know there are and will always be a massive amount of people faster than me. But I passed him for YOU. If you are like me and have some cycling shorts that have holes in them and a jersey that kind-of stinks but you wear it anyway since they are so freaking expensive and got your shoes on clearance because the cleats are missing some screws, and wear a mountain biking helmet while you ride your road bike because, you don't want to buy two helmets, and well o.k., you get my drift.

Normally , the stuff doesn't bother me, but I make it a point to wave or something to everyone I pass. Unfortunately, there is a fair amount of arrogance in the cycling community - for reasons I am much too poor to understand. Nevertheless, I can guarantee I have more fun than anyone I know.

I raced home passing a couple of more cyclist and then went out and enjoyed a smoothie with my wife and friends.

Hope everyone has a GREAT WEEKEND!