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DeMaio event

// May 14th, 2012 // No Comments » // finding fun

A couple of weeks back I got an invitation to a “coffee with Carl” event in my neighborhood.  City councilman Carl DeMaio is one of the mayoral candidates for San Diego.  He’s a libertarian-leaning Republican so he’s a bit far to the right of this centrist.  Nonetheless, I thought it was cool that he was doing this so I happily attended.

Before this night I thought of DeMaio as the “nut on the right” kind of like I thought of Donna Frye as the “nut on the left.”  But I will say that I don’t think he’s a nut any longer.  Carl doesn’t come across well in the sound bytes but he’s alright…for a libertarian.

signage was up

First of all, I learned a lot about him.

• He started a company at 23 that consulted with local governments and sold the company
• He started another at 28 that did Sarbanes Oxley consulting
• He helped author the 2006 managed competition bill passed by San Diegans.  He claims that for each implementation the average savings has been 30% whether the winner was private or public.
• The county library provides 25% more hours with $3.7M less budget than the city library. He’s trying to change the way the city library system runs.

His current focus is proposition B which would implement certain pension reforms.  For non-locals, our public pension plan was severely underfunded in the early part of the decade.  The NYT exposed the problem and our city got the nickname “Enron-by-the-sea.”

According to Carl (I did not fact check)

• 12 years ago, the pension payments were $48M, this year they were $232M
• The average city employee retires at 55 with payments of 129% of their highest salary
• Due to union influence, not just salary but skills pay and bonuses count towards the pension formula. Of course he gave a couple of ridiculous examples of what “skill pay” might be
• New hires get a 401k, not a pension
• Prop B would make the pension less attractive and incent current employees to voluntarily switch over to a 401k plan

yes, there were snack. an auspicious start to the night

Generally, Carl was preaching to the choir in this room.  It wasn’t quite “Amen,” but I heard lots of “that’s right” and “oh my God!” from around me.  I guess there are a lot of Republicans in my hood.

The Toastmaster in me has to speak up for a bit.  Carl’s talk was about 15 minutes which was a good duration.  He finished with a call to action (asking for volunteers and donations) which is a good thing to do as a speaker.  He was a little “um” heavy but otherwise he was smooth.  (The “um”s increased noticeably during the Q&A.)  He had a good repertoire of memorized facts which gave him an aura of competence.  For all the “grass roots” language, I could tell he was a pro politician.  His image and brand were very packaged.  If I were him I’d work on dialing that back a little bit.  Also, during the Q&A he liked to say “great question” before giving his answer.  But I didn’t get a “great question.”   What’s up with that.

folks filtering in

Probably the most impressive thing to me on the night was the book he published giving his plan for San Diego.  He wrote it a few years back so some of the ideas have been implemented already.  May is going to be a killer for me schedule-wise, but I will be reading through that before the fall election so that I have a better sense of his plans.

One of the messages I didn’t like was his focus on pay for performance.  I am a Drive devotee and I think this idea is misguided.  To be fair to Carl, a lot of city workers are blue collar and pay incentives work better for those kinds of jobs.  BTW, if you’ve never seen the Drive 10-minute whiteboard video, do it!  It’s really enjoyable and informative.

best shot I got with my waterproof camera

With the new election laws, if one candidate gets 51% in the primary, he’ll be mayor.  There are 4 serious candidates and nobody is polling that high.  If the current numbers hold, DeMaio and Democrat Bob Fillner will be the top two and have a runoff in the fall.  I have to say, if that comes to pass I will vote for DeMaio.  I am not a Fillner fan.  Not at all.

forget 11, i turned it up to 70

// April 1st, 2012 // 5 Comments » // finding fun

Yesterday I finished my first half Ironman race. That’s a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run for a total of 70.3 miles.  The longest triathlon I had done before was just over half that distance.  I’ve been joking for a while that upon completing a half Ironman I will be just half a man.  I guess if Tyrion Lannister is a halfman that puts me in good company.  But Christine noticed that nowadays they brand it as “Ironman 70.3.”  Maybe not everyone thought it was as funny as me to be half a man.

Let’s start with my official results which I’ve summarized here.  The third column is how I placed in men 40-44 and the fourth is how I placed overall.

What was it like? Read on to find out.  This will get long but there will be pretty pictures.

The pre-race events were super smooth.  In fact the whole day was very impressively organized. Upon arriving in Oceanside I parked in a garage and walked over to T2 to drop off my run bag.  (T2 was not the same location as T1.) Then I realized I forgot my wetsuit so I walked the 2 blocks back to the parking garage. Good thing I realized that before heading for T1 which was over a mile away!  Wetsuit in tow, I rode over to T1 and set up there.

Next was body marking.  They write my bib number (1014) on my arm and my age on my leg. I don’t understand the age thing.  I think it’s so you feel shame when someone older passes you but I’m not sure.  Every triathlon does this.

Then I had some time to find friends.  Much of my swim masters class members were doing the race too. First I found Randolph and James. James has done this race before and he gave Randolph and I good tips on the bike course elevation profile.  A bit later I found Cat along with her husband and friend as well as Vanessa.  The gang was all here!  I have a couple of coworkers who registered as well but neither were able to compete.  Missed seeing you guys!  Everyone asked if I was nervous but I felt ready.

I gathered with the light blue heads which was my wave consisting of men, 40-44, N-Z. I saw 3 women wearing light blue caps which made me laugh. A few minutes later we were in the water.  I acclimated to the 58 degree water quickly (I had practiced that) which was good because in about 2 minutes we were off!

not my race but this is what it’s like

The beginning was a mass of bodies which is never fun.  It’s a grope and collision fest.  Those poor 3 women!  Eventually it thinned out which was an improvement but swimming in the ocean is not my favorite.  Over at the far (less protected) end the water was more rough and noticeably colder.  The swim seemed to take forever but I never tired which made me happy.  I beat my budgeted time of 45 minutes by 2.  Yay, good start!

Next up was transition #1 (swim to bike). I took almost 13 minutes which was about what I expected.  I think the average time is ~7 minutes but I don’t know how anyone does it in less than ten.  I am a little bit handicapped because I do a full towel change rather than wear a tri suit under my wetsuit.  Also I ate half a brownie to get that crappy ocean taste out of my mouth.  It was heavenly and worth the 30 seconds without a doubt.

my bike splits, I accidentally hit the lap button after 0.17 miles

I was surprised by my bike performance. It took me 3:15 and I had budgeted 3:30.  That’s a big difference!  I felt strong the whole time.  I should say my legs were fine but I was tired of holding my head up and my butt was tired of sitting in the seat (despite wearing my nice and oh-so-attractive shorts). There was a light drizzle much of the time and thus a spray of mud all over all of us. But the temperature was great, low 60s.

It seemed like bikes were passing me constantly.  I was wondering where all these cyclists were coming from, how could there be so many back there? I didn’t see a single other Litespeed bike during the race; I guess I’m the only cool one.  I saw tons of Cervelos (so many Cervelos).  Also Kestrels, Quintanas, Felts, and others.  I really wanted to touch the Felt bikes.  Lots of money out there between peoples’ legs.

Christine thinks I’m pretty cool stuff which makes me happy

I did fine on the three hills and passed lots of people on the way up.  I’m built for hills.  But of course they all passed me back later.  With the drizzle I saw lots of sweat and mud-sprayed people. I remember one lady wiped her runny nose and wiped it on her bike shorts.  These endurance events don’t tend to show us at our most attractive.  Even considering the shorts.

But if you don’t get inspiration from an event like this, you must be dead. I saw super-fit people passing me by. When I looked at their legs, they were often in their 50s. Studs!  There were also people with prosthetic limbs and/or hand-powered bikes competing.  Wow!

When the bike leg was finally done I put on the run clothes and stepped out. I spent 5:58 in T2.  I can see getting that down to 4 minutes.  Yet lots of people get out under 3 and again I have no idea how.

run splits, notice the deterioration after 6 miles

As I began the run I knew I was in trouble right away.  My pace was fine, even good early but I was hurting right from the start and I knew it was only going to get worse.

Nothing to do but steel myself for 2 hours of pain and carry on. I actually ran the first half in about 55 mins but that was the end of me.  As the miles wore on I took more and longer walking breaks.  I honestly had nothing left.  With two miles to go, a 2 hour finish was tantalizingly in reach but I knew there was no way.  I was done.

There’s really no way to describe the run other than miserable.  I knew I was getting closer to the finish of a great accomplishment but it was so painful.  Lots of people called out to me, “let’s go west coast” – referencing the jersey I was wearing.  Later it was “west coasters don’t walk, let’s go!”  But they were wrong this time.

displaying the hardware

But I’m not sad.  I knew it was going to be tough because I never did reach my goal of a 50 mile bike ride being “easy.”  A 1.2 mile swim? Easy.  A 10-mile run, easy.  But I didn’t quite get there with the bike.  I crashed harder than I expected but I knew I would crash.

I just walked when I needed to and ran when I could – making sure I ran at the very end.  I beat my expected finish time by 7 minutes so that’s still really awesome.  I finished middle of the pack which isn’t so bad for a first timer.

Christine arrived during the run and snapped some great photos of me.  Then she came and found me, Cat, Mick and Steve patting each other on the back.

Cat and I are ready to eat after the race!

And what do you do when you’ve just burned nearly 4000 calories?  Why you go eat barbeque!  Phil’s delivered the goods as they always do.  Our friend Roby met us there; apparently nobody else wanted to take advantage of my pain to get some great grub.  He patiently listened to me drone on about the race in my exhausted state which I really appreciate.

At this point in time the question is always, what’s next?  I am going to focus on the bike for a while.  You can see from the results that the bike is relatively my weakest sport of the three.  Run is the strongest despite the numbers.  If I hadn’t run out of gas it would have easily been the strongest of the three.  The improvements I’ve made in swim are nice to see.

I might find a century ride and do that but for now I’m just going to do some interval training on the bike to increase my strength and efficiency.  If you asked me today if I’ll do another 70.3 I’d say no.  That painful run makes me not want to repeat the experience.  But if my biking dramatically improves I will change my mind and see how I can do with a higher fitness level.  So time will tell.

For now, I’ll just revel in this accomplishment for a little while.

reach for it! (btw, my wave started 25 mins into the race)

hey, was this staged? the clock didn’t move!

that guy is crazy

// March 16th, 2012 // 2 Comments » // finding fun

A lot of people tell me I am a crazy fitness guy.  Here is the schedule I am following to train for my first half Ironman.

1. Sunday: long bike (worked my way up from 40 to 55 miles which takes me about 3 1/2 hours)
2. Monday: off
3. Tuesday: lap swim, usually 2000 yards, about 40 minutes
4. Wednesday: 2 miles on the treadmill and some weight training, about 1 hour
5. Thursday: lap swim or masters class. Plus 45 minutes of “hills” on the bike machine
6. Friday: off
7. Saturday: long run (worked from 5 miles to 10, I run about 7mph)

Does that make me “crazy?”  It all depends on where you sit.

It seems like all the time I run into others who do more than me.  If we include friends of friends I know of people who have done Badwater, Western States, the San Diego 100, the Race Across America, and more.

I think blog posts without photos are boring.  I’m going to intersperse photos of things I’ve cooked recently.

panko-crusted salmon – a good weeknight dish from CL I happened to cook to perfection this time

Aside from those really exceptional folks I know plenty of marathon runners which is a distance I have never run.  Not to mention those who have completed full Ironman races.  I know people who’ve done Boston and Kona.  I seek advice from swimmers who are much stronger than me and do things like go for a 2-mile ocean swim with regularity.  I know people who do crossfit and p90x every day.  Heck, even the people I swim with jump on the treadmill afterwards when I go home and take a shower.

Sometimes I feel like an underachiever rather than a crazy fitness guy.

spring vegetable pasta – a surprise winner from ATC, loved this

This reminds me of driving.  People who drive faster than you are “crazy” and those that drive slower are “idiots.”  And those who drive the same speed as you can get in your way so they become “annoying.”

This language helps us dismiss those other drivers as inferior.  It’s partly an emotional response.  Yes, very fast and very slow drivers can be dangerous.  But I believe part of the response is the same thing we do when watching reality TV, put down others to feel better about ourselves.

pesto alla trapanese – a solid dish that comes together quickly from ATC

When people look at my schedule and say I’m “crazy” I don’t think they are calling me inferior.  But they are calling me different.  They are emotionally separating from me.  In their minds I have become something other.  I do the same thing when I talk about full Ironman participants or those who run Badwater.

Why do we do this?  Well it’s a shorthand way of saying, “I don’t want that.”  If I think hard about it, I really don’t want to train for Badwater.  But rather than thinking about my fitness level and/or weight, the improvements I would like to see thereof, and whether training for Badwater would help me get there…it’s easier to just say “he’s crazy.”

spicy turkey tacos – an all-time fave from CL

I have faced similar thinking in other areas.  Such as when I used to play music out and people told me I am “so talented” (as if I never practice).  But I’ll stop here, I’ve made my point for today.  Taking a trip into other minds is one of my favorite hobbies.  I hope you enjoyed this foray with me.

the most banana-y banana bread ever – delicious by ATC

hangin tough

// February 27th, 2012 // 6 Comments » // finding fun

A couple of years back I came across the wackiest-sounding race I had ever heard of.  It was called Muddy Buddy and I did it with my Ironman-friend, Ashley.  A few months later I heard that like North Carolina, San Diego has a Krispie Kreme challenge, albeit a smaller one.  I signed up immediately.  Last year, I did the Red Dress Run and the KK Challenge part 2.  Wacky races were becoming a thing with me.

Then my friend Anne mentioned on her blog the ultimate in crazy endurance races, Tough Mudder.  10-13 miles with 20-25 very difficult/muddy/painful obstacles.  Muddy Buddy sounds quaint anymore, doesn’t it?  I’m not sure Anne approved of the increasing insanity these kinds of races offer but to me the idea was like catnip and I could not stay away.  Yesterday I participated in the first of Tough Mudder’s So Cal races in 2012.

TM likes to poke fun at easier races

Despite my gung-ho attitude, I was starting to have second thoughts as the date approached.  TM sounded brutal and I’m not particularly strong or flexible outside of my endurance sports.  What if I fell and broke my ankle?  My first Half Ironman is coming up in a month and I’ve been training really hard for it.

Then I did something truly crazy.  A couple of days back I Googled “tough mudder injury.”  And read the horror stories.  Yep, it was scary.  But in a way it was empowering.  Knowing the worst that was out there gave me the information I could use to mitigate potential risks.  My intention was to go out there and skip a few of the scarier obstacles.  Unless the temperature was below 45°.  Then I was going to turn around and get back into bed.  So how did it go?

In short it was way more fun than I expected.  I had psyched myself out; thinking the obstacles were all going to be sadistically brutal.  In the morning I steeled myself to be tough. But once I was out there nothing was too hard for me.  I was a better runner than most of the participants and other than wishing I had stronger arms I breezed through most everything.

TM was held at a scenic place

I woke up at 5:15 to drive up towards Temecula.  I was solo today because there is a $20 charge for spectators (lame!) and for that Christine would just be waiting the 3 1/2 hours for me to finish.  I arrived at 6:50 and the thermometer in my car said 38°.  But I knew the high was 60 and I hoped that it would warm up by my start time of 9:00!  I rode the bus over and quickly breezed through the registration.

more scenery

Once ready I had about 75 minutes to wait for my starting heat.  I’m glad I arrived early because by 8:00 there was a long line at the registration table.  At least I could sit while I waited.  And there was entertainment.  Bic was offering free head shavings and/or mohawks. I declined that along with the free finisher’s tattoo BTW.  The early heats were starting and the MC was an entertaining guy.

we had to scale a wall just to get to the start line. Yes, that guy is wearing a sports bra

1) energy abounds at the start line, 2) duh, 3) a proud headband-wearer, 4) at mile 9 i was still running

In the start area I found myself next to a team that was dressed in scrubs. I later found out they were pre-med students.  I like to think I was the first to joke that I was going to hang out next to them just in case…but I probably wasn’t.

my med-student buddies getting ready to climb

Sadly, the day before TM I suffered muscle injury.  It was a spasm or strain of either my pectoral muscle or an intercostal muscle (rib meat). It was uncomfortable to breath in deeply.  Not ideal for athletic endeavors but hopefully manageable.  I didn’t yet have a professional diagnosis and I was a little worried about obstacles that made me pull up with my arms. And there were plenty but I did fine overall with those. I did wince many a time while running though.

Due to my paranoia I was planning on skipping any obstacle that scared me.  (See my obstacle photos below.)  For instance, I didn’t think I was going to do the Funky Monkey (greased monkey bars).  But the water below looked deep and safe.  Sure enough I fell in after 8 rungs or so and no harm done.  The worst obstacle for me was the Arctic Enema which is an ice water obstacle. I didn’t think I was going to be able to climb out.  Brutally cold!  Lots of people thought Walk The Plank was tough.  But for a swimmer it was easy.  Close your eyes, jump, and swim.

arctic enema – the worst obstacle

walk the plank

I only skipped two obstacles. And here they are.

i didn’t think my hurt shoulder/arm could handle Everest so i skipped it

the electroshock therapy obstacle took many to their knees. no thank you

I was ready for mud and 55°-ish water. For climbing, balancing, swimming and claustrophobia. Here are a few other obstacle photos.

head down, that’s barbed wire!

over, under, over, under

other obstacles

If I can express some pride for a moment… I definitely feel some toughness-vindication after tackling this course. Not bad for a computer programmer who normally lives his life in comfortable soft shirts. And doing so with an injury just adds to that. Does that make me a super-tough mudder?

More…

i love her determined face. oh yeah, those are electrified wires and yes, i “got shocked in the buttocks”

getting ready to crawl through the Boa Constrictor, there is muddy water and very little airspace in those tubes

Honestly the worst part for me was at the end.  After the race I was standing around soaked and shivering in the strong breeze.  My strained muscle really tightened up during this wait and was quite sore the rest of the day. On Monday (today) I went to urgent care and got some proper drugs to heal up.

More obstacles…

carry the wood was no trouble

couldn’t superman just fly over? Batman take his sub?

the water was a little to cold to swim in without some acclimation time so i waded

After cleaning up I decided that In-N-Out was not going to cut it and made the drive to San Marcos to finally get some lunch at Phil’s.  It was about 2PM and I was starving!  The oatmeal and 3 GUs were long gone.  Soon after my food arrived, I heard my name.  Lo and behold it was my buddies and fellow Phil’s lovers Roby and Dejah and a friend of theirs.  It sounds like quite a coincidence but I am starting to suspect if I go to Phil’s on any given day I will find them there.

the phil’s regulars, me with some outstanding hair

The only injuries I suffered on the day was a raspberry on one elbow and a bit of sunburn on the face.  The raspberry was my fault; I had rolled up my sleeves and forgot to roll them down during the first crawling obstacle.  Not much I could do about the sun. No way to carry sunscreen and that first application was not going to last 5 hours.

Would I do it again?  Well it was more fun than I expected.  So maybe.  OTOH, I’ve been there done that.  If someone is organizing a team and asks me to join then I probably will.  But I am not likely to be the initiator next time.

Oh, and if I do it again I’m skipping the Enema. I’d take the electric shocks before doing that again!

and I thought tris were hard

// November 12th, 2011 // 2 Comments » // finding fun

Last year I ran San Diego’s second Krispie Kreme challenge.  It was a fun experience in many ways even if I barely managed to finish the doughnuts.  After last year’s race I wasn’t planning on doing it again.  But as I told others about the event, many people said they wanted to do it with me.  So I figured with friends I’m in for round two.

But when it came time to put their money where their mouths were, folks suddenly got much less brave.  Haha!  I guess I am tougher than some – especially in the stomach.  But my buddy Ryan did come out to give it a go.  And on Thursday I learned a running buddy, Becca, also signed up.

yep, ryan runs barefoot

Ryan’s girlfriend Monica came out to cheer us on (in the rain) as did Christine.  It’s thanks to them I have some photos.  Thanks so much, ladies! Here is Christine’s account of the day.

feeling brave beforehand

There were participant introductions but they were pretty brief because of the cold.  Like last year, ultra-marathoners and ironmen were well-represented.

the guy in the black ran western states – a 100-mile race!

And we were off – through the wet ground, mud, and flowing water.  I made the first loop in 6:30 which was a little suspicious. I later heard that the route was incorrect, only 0.92 miles.

just before eating, Ryan and I feel great here!

2 miles and 13-some minutes later I grabbed my dozen.  This is where it gets nasty.

after 3 it starts to get gross

Let me explain.  When I describe this race (2 miles, 12 doughnuts, 2 miles) people think it is difficult to run after eating a dozen doughnuts.  No way!  The eating is harder by far!  After 3 doughnuts or so it gets hard to swallow.  Your body starts to rebel.  And you think it’s hard to swallow then.  It gets worse.  And then worse yet.  I was consciously forcing myself to swallow on those last three.

…really gross

Both Ryan and Becca quit in the doughnut stage.  It’s hard to blame them.  I barely made it.

ryan came over to tell me he was bowing out

this is about how i felt on the last three

Last year I ate a dozen in about 16:30. I think I took 25 minutes this year.

how come everyone else has finished?

finally!

A couple of times during mile three I felt like things might come back up (just like last year) but it eventually settled and running felt pretty good. This time, the course had been corrected and I ran a full 2 miles. I finished at 58 mins compared with 48 last year. Yikes! The difference was all in the eating time. Results for 2011 aren’t up yet but they will be here.

still managing to smile at the end

And my second doughnut race is a wrap.  With my diminishing performance I think it is time for me to retire from the Krispie Kreme Challenge.  I still enjoy the event (minus today’s rain) but I don’t think I can put myself through that again.  Maybe I’ll be a volunteer next year so that I can participate without the grossness.  We will see.

the sci fi top 100

// November 9th, 2011 // 2 Comments » // finding fun

So I’m married to Listgirl, I think everyone here knows that.  So when I found the Top 100 Science Fiction/Fantasy Book list from NPR you know I’ve got to talk about that.  It’s my marital duty!

Here are the books on the list that I’ve read.  Almost the whole top 20 and then a few more.

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony

I don’t want to comment on every one, that would be boring.  But I have a few notes.

• Of those on the list, my favorite recent reads are #5 and #18 and obviously #2.
• I read #90 as a child and recently scanned it only to find it didn’t hold up well IMO. I want to re-read Foundation (#8) to see if I still like it as an adult. I have high hopes.
• Did anyone see the syndicated TV series based on #62? I kinda enjoyed it.
• I started but couldn’t get through #87, same for #62

10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman (nobody told me about this but I must finish off the top 10, right?)
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman (how have I not read this one!?)
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks

i tri again

// September 18th, 2011 // 4 Comments » // finding fun

Earlier this year I decided I would do an Olympic distance triathlon again in 2011.  (That’s a 1500m swim, 40k bike, and 10k run.)  My first triathlon was last year.  I looked around at some other races but I enjoyed the one I did so much I decided to go for round two.  I guess I should hang on to that $20 off the 2012 race coupon that they were handing out just in case.

For those of you here just for the facts, I finished in 3:03:15 which was good enough for 376/668 overall. Last year I finished in 3:05:53 or 509/770 overall.

On Friday, I had my pre-game meal of Smashburger.  Yeah, I’m not going for world records here so I pick meals I will enjoy.  After that I got my stuff together and tried to go to sleep early.

getting things lined up the night before

before

Going to bed early helped me to get up at 7:30…er, 7:30 eastern time that is.  It paid off as unlike last year I wasn’t setting up in transition at the very last moment.  I got a good spot in transition and noticed I was a couple of slots down from my swimming masters-class-mate, Brad.  I never saw Brad again even though according to the results we finished 2 seconds apart. Then I got marked up.  It’s still weird to me they put your age on your leg.  But of course it’s fun when I am passing the 27-year-olds.

I was the 7th heat.  With 3 minutes between heats that means my start time was 6:48.  But at 6:30 I made my way towards the start so I could see the start of it all.  On the way there I heard my name and saw my old Toastmasters buddy, Jim.  He has run marathons before but this was his first Olympic distance race.  Soon after that I also found my co-worker Peter.  Peter is very fast.

but for me we could have been the three filipino amigos. sorry guys for my extreme whiteness

The photos here were taken by the lovely and super-supportive Christine who also got up at 4:30 with me even though she was not racing.  You can read her account of the day with videos too.

my photographer

swim

1500m (about 0.9 miles) 33:18, Placed 400/668

did I forget something?

I was much stronger in the swim compared with last year.  I was a little surprised to be only 3 minutes faster.  But then I realized that is a 10% improvement.  So that’s cool.

Last year in the water I was kicked in the head.  This year I avoided that but did catch an elbow in the nose – luckily not hard enough to break it.  I really wanted to pee during the swim.  Many of you will know that peeing in a wetsuit, while gross, feels fantastic.  But it was not to be, I couldn’t do it while exerting myself.  The song “Can’t Let Go” by Earth, Wind & Fire was running through my brain.  It’s a good song so that was a consolation.

happy it went well and my nose is intact

By the end of the swimming rectangle it was chaos in the water.  By that time I was catching up to the slower swimmers from the previous heat or two.  And faster swimmers from subsequent heats were passing me.  I’ve never been groped so much in my life, even more this year than last.  But I got out feeling good and headed to…

transition #1 (swim to bike)

7:18, Place 647/668

I was a minute faster in T1 than last year but still really slow.  For comparison Peter did T1 in about 2:30 and Jim in 2:43.  How are they (and everyone else) so much faster?  Most people buy tri-suits so there is less clothes changing. And less public nudity BTW.  I did improve by a minute by bringing my cookies along instead of eating them in the transition area.

my new cookie pouch

bike

40km (about 25 mi) in 1:27:08 or 17.0mph. Placed 418/668

let’s test out this leg of mine

On the bike I was about the same as last year.  This made me happy since I haven’t been cycling much for the last 3 months.  I felt good the whole time and the views at the end of Point Loma are spectacular.

On the way up the hill I saw someone pull over to puke.  I didn’t laugh because last year I ate too much for breakfast and nearly did the same.  This year I avoided that pitfall; I spread out my cookie eating!  At the top of the same hill I saw an ambulance tending to someone who had crashed.  No idea what happened but he had a bandage around his head.  He was sitting up and alert so I assume it was nothing serious.

i found Christine!

transition #2 (bike to run)

2:34, middle of the pack

The only noteworthy thing here is I forgot to change shorts so I had to run in my bike shorts.

run

10km (supposed to be 6.2 miles but it was 6.35) in 52:57 or 8:32/mile. Placed 254/668

The funny thing about the run is last year I was really tired by then.  I even walked a bit.  That didn’t happen this year but yet I was still slower by a minute or so.  When I get off the bike I feel like I have springs in my legs.  But I have to watch it because I feel like running 7:20 miles and I can’t actually keep that up.  So this year I did a better job of keeping the pace steady but I guess it cost me a little time overall.

at the end I was still able to sprint and smile

I was thinking about what a half Ironman would be like during the run.  I could have run farther but probably not twice as far on this day.  And obviously the bike leg would be longer too.  So it will take some training without so many interruptions to get to that level.

after

we are ready to eat!

Afterwards I was hungry of course.  We headed over to Pt Loma Seafoods and I chowed down on their wonderful halibut sandwich.  And fries.  You know I’m hungry when I eat more than that huge sandwich!

hey fish, I just swam in your ocean!

Nothing was too sore. After some rest I was up and making some delicious cobbler.

And now I will take a week off before starting to train for my next couple of events…Tough Mudder and the California 1/2 Ironman!

the naming

// September 14th, 2011 // 2 Comments » // finding fun

Remember when I ran the Red Dress Run? That event is put on by the Hash House Harriers which is a drinking and running group.

When I heard about red dress I knew I wanted to do it. But a drinking/running group? I’m not much of a drinker, especially beer. Gross! But I’m tough (as long as we’re not talking actual, physical strength) and I thought I’d visit a local club and see what’s what.

The red dress run was my 5th run with the group. If you go 6 times, they induct you into the club and give you a goofy (usually sophomoric) nickname.  But I was so close! I knew I needed to visit again and see how bad the hazing is when you join. Hint, I had to drink beer. :-s

hares are away

Here’s how the club works. Everyone arrives at the meeting spot and the run leaders, called “hares,” take off to finish marking the trail that we have to find and follow.  My buddies Ryan and Monica were hareing this run which is why I made this night my 6th run.

gathering and chatting

Along the way, a couple of the veterans started asking me for interesting, or better yet embarrassing stories.  Uh oh.  I honestly don’t have many embarrassing stories.  I’m a “keep it under control” kind of guy which doesn’t lend itself to that kind of thing.  But they warned me if I didn’t give them something to work with they’d give me a horrifying and rude name.  So the rest of the run I was nervously thinking…

we’re away too

Four miles later, we arrived at the bar. After everyone settles in, the questions started again about my embarrassing stories.  Here’s what I came up with:

• I’ve never dated a white girl – they loved this
• My favorite 80s song (off the top of my head) is Our House and favorite 80s movie is Strange Brew.  Not sure why this was so interesting to them.
• My first car was a 79 grey Chevy Van – so gloomy!
• I claimed I have the same birthday as Snoop Dog.  In fact, a friend of mine has the same birthday as Flavor Flav so I stole that one.  Exaggeration is the name of the game at this point.

running through nature

The hashers decided they had enough to work with and sent me away while they came up with name candidates.  I hoped it was a name I could tell my friends and coworkers.  You just never know.  For instance, one guy had two transmissions go out on his car withing a couple of months.  His hash name was “blows trannys.”  Gulp.

…up hills

Finally we got together for ceremony time.  Many creative awards were conceived of and handed out on the spot. The winners “got” to drink beer.  When they were done with those they called me up and had the crowd vote on my name from the candidates.  I hadn’t heard them yet and was extremely nervous.  And the winner was Lady Boy Layaway.  It doesn’t really mean anything, it just rolls off the tongue and is vaguely insulting.  And at that point I had to drink some beer from a plastic cup without using my hands.

…and into a watering hole

And I’m in!  And I’m pretty pleased with my name. As a non-drinker, I won’t likely ever be a regular hasher.  But I do like the spirit of the group in a lot of ways.  They aren’t afraid to be goofy, people from all walks of life are accepted, and they are all into fitness.  So I’ll keep in touch and will absolutely plan to head out to Red Dress 2012.

back to theology

// September 5th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // finding fun

Does anyone remember my theology series?  Just me?  OK.

Last year I wrote a couple of blog posts on religious issues and promised a series.  Or over-promised as it turns out.  It takes me a while to research, write and edit one of those posts and it is often hard to commit that kind of time.  Today I was catching up on some RSS feeds and in taking notes this post about wrote itself.  It is a bit hodgepodge as a result.

First, how have I not yet read John Polkinghorne?  He was an award-winning physicist who left the field in his 40s to go to seminary.  He’s written dozens of books on science, religion, and the intersection thereof.  A couple of his books are now on my wish list.  The link is to a profile of him.

It’s often reported that Americans are much more religious than say Europeans.  But is it true?  According to studies mentioned in this article, America (and Canada) are not so much more religious but rather like to portray themselves as such.  If you compare how many people say they went to service last week and actual attendance, the report is twice as high.  Apparently, we like to claim we are more religious than we are.

But maybe that will change.  More Americans are willing to say they are not religious than ever before. It’s always hard to say why these things happen but this idea posited in the article was intriguing.  More than 20 years ago, it was not such a source of cognitive dissonance to consider oneself Catholic or protestant and yet be pro-choice or agree with evolutionary theory.  But with the rise of the vocal and politicized religious right, it’s harder to do that anymore.  You might see the position the Evangelicals are taking publicly and say, “that’s not me” and start identifying yourself differently.

One and possibly two seminary professors have lost their jobs overy evolutionary theory.  A sad story for those of us who live in both sides.  That NPR coverage includes quotes from Reasons to Believe which I am familiar with and the BioLogos Forum which I am not.  I like Reasons when they stick to astrophysics.  But even I can tell their anti-evolution platform is weak and I don’t even care about the topic.  Nonetheless, they were the best org I had found in the area of harmony between science and religion so I’ve stuck with them.  But I’m going to check BioLogos out.  Maybe I’ll like them better.

I’ll finish with a fun one, the top 10 mistakes atheists make.  Keep searching out there.

back in the saddle

// September 4th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // finding fun

On May 21st, I cycled 66 miles, my longest ride to date.  A couple of weeks after that, I rode 50.  Two weeks later, I rode a mere 22.  But on that ride I pushed the pace up a 7% hill and felt some soreness in my left quad.  I thought nothing of it.

Until the following weekend when I rode a hilly 40 mile route.  At first the same muscle felt stiff and eventually it was full-on pain.  I had to go one-legged for a while and I also stopped for a while.  It seemed like it hurt less if I only “pushed” rather than “pushed and pulled” but it hurt no matter what.  So I took the following weekend off and then rode a short 20 miles the next weekend.  But the stiffness and pain were still lurking even on that short ride.

By now it was 7/10 and I decided I had an overuse injury and I needed some time off.  So I rested.  A sprained ankle and a calf strain increased my rest time until 8/21 when I finally went out again.

That ride was interesting.  For 45 minutes I thought I was fine but the last 20 the same muscle started to get sore.  I didn’t feel stiff this time, just tired.  I wondered if I was just out of shape but that didn’t really make sense given the history above.  So a few days later I headed to the bike shop where I was fitted to see if they had any ideas.  Maybe I have a bio-mechanical problem.

My fitter noticed right away that my seat was tilted upwards and felt that could cause an issue. I had put the seat on myself which bolsters the theory.  But I did so back in April when 50-mile rides were a regular occurrence which harms it.  He said the back bolt was loose so perhaps it had shifted over time.  Then his buddy came by.  Upon hearing part of the story he asked if my issue was with the “teardrop” muscle.  I asked what that was and it turns out he guessed exactly where I am having pain!  (If you look down at your knee and flex your quad, it’s the muscle just to the inside of your kneecap.)

happy times

After my fitting I didn’t have time to ride so I didn’t get to test the seat-angle theory until today.  For the first 30 minutes, I was worried that there was no improvement.  I felt the beginnings of stiffness coming on. But as I continued the stiffness mostly went away. There was still a little bit but I felt much, much better than last time out.  Very exciting.  I may be cured!

I’m somewhat convinced that it was never tiredness I was experiencing but 100% a bio-mechanical problem. Sometimes today I pedaled hard and it didn’t hurt or feel stiff. Other times I pedaled lightly and I felt a bit of discomfort. And other times they coincided.  My best guess is there is something still wrong mechanically though it has mostly been alleviated.

Maybe when I am sitting upright there is something awkward in my movement.  It’s all kind of a guessing game at this point.  So the next few rides I’ll spend more or less time up and down and see what happens.  I’ll build up conservatively and no more pushing up the hills!  Here’s hoping it really is better because I’ve got something coming in March that I’ll talk about later.