Unbelievable!

Danny Macaskill's talent and skill on a bike are unreal. I could only dream of riding like this. I must have watched this a dozen times. Enjoy.

Susan G. Komen's Race for the Cure 5K

This race was more than a hard run for me. It was for a cause that is very close to my heart and that of my wife's as well. A large portion of the race fees are donated to finding a cure for breast cancer.

You see, a very dear friend to us was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and is currently fighting to save her life. We only found out about Erin's condition a few months ago. While my wife has been making meals and regular visits to Erin, I felt I wanted to contribute something myself. When the Race for the Cure was about six weeks out, I had in my heart that I wanted to race for a reason this time around. To show Erin our support, I designed a race shirt dedicated to her. I shared my ideas with my wife and eventually I had fifteen shirts made for other supporters of Erin.

I had also decided to make this race a priority to run my fastest and hardest in Erin's honor and to celebrate doing this for her on my 40th birthday. I'd even been cutting back on my unreal cravings for sweet treats in the weeks leading up to race day. If you know me, this is quite a sacrifice for me. :)

Race morning came and Natalie and I drove downtown to the race site talking about the cause, trying not to get teary. I got a good warm-up with some teammates and eventually stowed my Brooks warm-up gear and laced up my Brooks T6 racing flats and headed to the start. Standing behind the timing mat at the starting line with over 7,100 other participants, my adrenaline got going, heart rate climbing, signaling that I was ready to race.

The gun went off and I was out front with a couple of other guys in tow.

Snake River Triathlon

This is a unique race... Participants swim on Friday night in the Clarkston Aquatic Center and receive their official timed 500 swim results. The following morning, participants line up on the bike transition starting line according to how fast they swam the night before. When your swim time appears on the giant chronometer, you take off for your bike and begin the last two segments of the triathlon to ride and run.

On Friday, my wife and I drove down to Clarkston and arrived at 4:00 to do our swims. After a solid warm-up, I was ready to go. My swim was a 500 yard PR for me at 6:18, and I was pleased with the effort. After both our swims, we were able to hang out at the pool and cheer for almost 25 of our teammates. Eventually, we all convened at the local Tomato Bros. for a great Italian dinner together and then off to race prep and bedtime.

Saturday morning we woke up to drizzly rain and cooler temps outside, again typical spring in the northwest. When we got to the race site, only four other bikes were set up in transition and they belonged to some teammates of ours. So, after setting up a good transition area, I began my warm-up routine to ready for the rest of the race.

The clock counts upward from zero until the first place swimmer runs to their bike and continues until all participants have taken off. I was fifth on my bike and ready to ride. The ride is the same out and back 12 miles that I rode at the duathlon two weeks previous. Nothing changed, same rain, roads and scenery. After making it through this ride three minutes faster than the last race here, I was able get into transition and take off running.

I got my legs under me and felt pretty good heading out on the two mile run. I settled into my pace and ran strong.

Overall, I finished the race in fourth place and I was first in my age group. Our team did so well that we garnered the top 11 places and accounted for about 15% of race participants. This was a great day for Tri Fusion, topping it off with pizza at Fizarri's and a milkshake for the ride home.

Kinda seems like the training day could stop there. However, in true Ironman training form, we met up with some teammates when we got back to Spokane to run another 1:20 before finally resting for the day. No regrets.

Midnight Fools

At midnight on April 4th, Natalie, Nate, Merissa and I drug ourselves out of bed (not the same one:) and onto the streets of Medical Lake. The temperature was only in the early 30's, the night dark, but our spirits were lively and ready to run. Nate, Nat and Merissa decided to run for enjoyment, but I was racing this late night run. After a good warm up I changed out of my Brooks Adrenaline GTS 9's into my Brooks T6 racing flat and my (extremely warm) Brooks Wanganui pants into my Brooks ID short and singlet and headed for the start line. At the sound of the fire engine horn, we were off! The course took us through the residential streets of Medical Lake proper, where neighbors were whooping and hollering from their porches and yards for the runners.

I finished the run in fifth place overall and first place in my age group. We were glad we did this community event, as we've talked about participating in year's past. Honestly, I think all four of us were really looking for an excuse to eat breakfast at 1:00 am, which we did!

Early Season Du

On Saturday morning, I drove down to Lewiston, Idaho, with my wife and our friend, Nate, to compete at my first multisport race of the 2009 season. Upon leaving Spokane, the weather was sunny and mild. As we reached the Lewiston grade, our cheerful smiles turned to frowns as we watched a storm of rain/snow mix unfold. After making the wrong turn (we accidentally headed to the Clarkston indoor aquatic center two weeks too early :), and asking for directions, we made a much later arrival time than we hoped. Instead of finding a parking spot, we stopped the truck right outside the transition area, unloaded our gear, Nat registered us and we racked our bikes. Then began the mad scramble of changing in the truck, sticking race numbers on bikes and bodies, and having the world's shortest warm-up ever.


Run #1: I decided to go out and run my butt off in my flashy Brooks racing flats and ended up leading the first two mile run segment. I entered transition, glad to put on my Rudy Project Syton aero helmet, with a short lead and was out on my bike.

Bike: After leading the bike...for the first mile, my glory day was over. The ride is an out and back 12 miles, all 6 out are uphill with a screaming downhill back half. Roads were wet, rainy and slick, typical spring weather around these parts. Back into transition, now in seventh place after the bike ride, my strategy was to at least hold my own on the run, but hopefully pass a few on my way.

Run #2: After a speedy transition, I found my legs again and set off to get this race over with as quickly as possible. I settled in to my pace for two short miles and managed to pass two competitors on the way to the finish line.

With the last segment out of the way, finishing 5th overall, and winning my age group, I can't really complain about my first duathlon of the 2009 season. :)

Once back to the truck, ready to change out of cold, wet clothes, I noticed my underwear, previously on my body, were now missing. So, I searched the truck twice, and asked my wife about the missing skivvies, to no avail. Again, I inquired as to the whereabouts of my blue underwear, and apparently this finally sparked Nate's memory. He fessed up that my underwear mysteriously ended up in his transition bag, so he tossed 'em out and into the general transition area for the race. Eventually, Nate and I stealth-like meandered into the near-empty t-area to quietly grab my undies, while we noticed a small group of athletes very nearby. Pretty sure no one saw this scene, but who knows.

Overall, my Tri Fusion teammates and I came home with three first place age group awards, and a first place co-ed team award. We celebrated a great day with good pizza and amazing company. Thanks to Erica, Craig, Mark, Nate and Natalie for making this experience worthwhile.

Spring Training?

Sure, spring officially began last Friday, some wee hours into the morning. But IS IT actually spring here in Spokane? How we generally decide:
1) is it raining? was it raining? will it rain?
2) is the grass orange and soggy?
3) do I have the flu or allergies?
4) are the Christmas decorations still on the house?
5) could I start an outdoor ride in clear weather, only to be blown off the side of the road and drenched, all in 5 minutes time?
6) am I constantly checking http://www.weather.com/?
If any of the above questions can be answered "yes" then it is spring in Spokane.

So, Saturday I was planning to ride outside for the second time this season, but when we were scheduled to start our ride, it was already raining. Since my bike is important to me and cost my wife a ton of money, I decided not to take it through the mud and silt for the second weekend in a row. What happens after we begin our 2.5 hour indoor ride? The rain goes away, sunshine comes out and we've missed our meeting time with our triathlon club. Another damn training day inside. We did manage to get outside for our 30 minute transition run and the weather was perfect. Thank you, spring.

Swimming is coming right along, as I'm at the pool with my clubmates at least 3 times/week. It's tough sometimes, but well worth the gains.

That's all for now, but I hope your training is going strong and your first races are all winners.