Ball park review

So we are back from San Fran and the trip was awesome - what a great town. Fun, lots of stuff to do, and super easy to get around. The main idea of the trip was to take a short vacation and to knock off a couple more ball parks from the list. We picked this weekend because it was the one weekend of the year that the A's and Giants were both in town. What an easier way to catch some baseball, stay in a great town, and knock off two ball parks in one trip.

Friday and Saturday night we went to AT&T Park to see the Giants play the Diamondbacks. This ball park is nice - it is right on the bay and has some great views. We took the cable car one night and walked one night so it is very easy to get to also. Friday night we sat in the 3rd deck behind home plate - not a bad seat, good views of the whole park and not too high that you could not see anything. Saturday we sat in Levis Landing in right center field. This was a fun seat and had great views of the field - little restricting down right field line and deep center. Also, you had to walk a little way to the bathroom but awesome eats and drinks by this seat.

The stadium is first class - the ushers are nice, the food selection is good, and the beers were cold. It is a little expensive for e baseball stadium ($8 for a beer) but hey, we were in San Francisco. However, it does get pretty cold in the evening - jeans and long sleeves in the attire when the sun is down.

Sunday we attended the Oakland A's game against the Rangers. This stadium is a 30 minute train ride from SF. The Colosseum has it's own train stop so it is easy to get to and from. The stadium looks like it is still under construction and is one of those concrete structures versus some of the nice brick facade stadiums (Camden Yards, ATT). For this game we sat on the first base side between the first baseman and right fielder - about 20 rows off the field. This seat offered great views of the whole field and was plenty close enough to the action. They had a good selection of food - the super dog was huge! - and beer (local breweries, Heineken, tecate, fat tire). It is usually about 10 degrees warmer in Oakland than SF (that is what the locals say any way)

Out of the two stadiums ATT was the best and nicest but Oakland seemed more friendly and more in to baseball - ATT seemed like a place to go to be seen. Oakland seemed to have more die hard fans. It is really tough to judge though because each team is pretty bad and so they do not draw too many fans. The big food item at both stadiums was Garlic Fries - they smelled pretty darn good but too garlicky for me. Great brews in each stadium and both easy to get to. The tickets are cheaper in Oakland and the views are better in SF - there are better options for things to do around ATT than Oakland.

We now have 17 of 30 stadiums down. There are some tough ones left that will be hard to justify attending a game there (Minn, Toronto) but there are some easy ones to knock off - we are targeting LA and LA next year, Houston and TX, or NY and NY - again, two stadiums we can knock off in one trip.

I would recommend the SF trip to anyone - it was a blast!

Brewery Tour - San Francisco

One of the things we did (which was unplanned but fun) was to visit the breweries while in San Francisco - we managed to hit most of them but not all of them. Here is the review

West to East

Beach Chalet Brewery - did not get to this one

Magnolia Pub and Brewery - this place is on Haight Street right in the heart of Grateful Dead land - it was pretty darn cool. The service in the restaurant was a little weak but the bartenders were great. This place is very old fashion with a great wood bar. This place was obviously named after the GD song Sugar Magnolia and the dead spirit was alive with an old dead concert playing on the sound system. They had man brews to chose from - I had the Dark Star and Beth had the Kalifornia Kolsch. Both brews were very good, I wish we had more time to try more.

San Francisco Brewing Company - this place is between Chinatown and North Beach - it is right on the corner by the Francis Ford Coppola building - it is a cool old building with a dart room upstairs and bathrooms down stairs. It has outside seating and a couple separate rooms - the bar and brewery room. I had the Alcatraz Stout and Beth had the Emperor Norton Lager - we both enjoyed these beers. I had another but can not remember the name - it was good too. The food was average.

Gordon Biersch - we hopped the bus from SF Brew down to Gordon Biersch which is South of Market right across from the Bay Bridge. This place is a little more upscale - not just a brewery but a restaurant too. This place had inside and outside seating and the outside seating would have been nice if it was not 50 degrees - we opted to sit at the bar. The food was good here and the beer was decent too. I had the Marzen (beer brewed in March and served in summer months) and Beth had the Pilsner - we probably would have had another beer here if some crazy dude did not start telling us about micro chips planted in people and a central bank in Luxembourg that runs the world.

Thirsty Bear (certified organic) - moving south from Gordon you come upon Thirsty Bear. we hit this place before one of the games - it was about half way between our hotel and the stadium. This place got it's name from a news article from Russia - a beer bit off a dudes hand to get to his beer - the bear drank the beer and moved along his merry way. This place is a little different - looks like your classic brewery inside but it is also known for Spanish Cuisine and Flamenco dancing on certain nights?? The food was very good here and the beer very good too. Beth had the Golden Vanilla which was extremely tasty and would be a great beach beer and I had the Brown Bear Ale which was a tasty selection too.

21st Amendment - moving a little further south was 21st - very cool place that has started to make some of their beer in cans (see the picture above). Beth had the Hell or High Watermelon (served with a slice a watermelon in the glass) and I had the Brew Free or Die - I am pretty sure I had the North Star Red too. I thought these beers were some of the best we had - delicious. We had a s'more desert treat here - which was ok. There was a big after baseball crowd in this joint - i am glad we got there early to get a seat

Speakeasy Ales and Lagers - we did not make it to this place - it is down by where the 49ers play football - however we did sample some of the beers at the Giants game - we had the Prohibition Ale - it is a classic american amber ale - it was good to drink at the game - better than other selection like Bud Heavy and Bud Light.

Pyramid Brewery - this brewery is in Berkley but we tasted some of this fine beer at the Oakland game - Beth had the seasonal Curve Ball Kolsch and I had the IPA - again, these were decent beers at the ball park - but this park also offered Fat Tire and Skinny Dip so they were high on the beer scale to begin with.

So in 3 days we sampled beer form 7 breweries in and around the area - I am not sure I can pick a favorite because I just plain like beer! I think Beth enjoyed the vanilla a lot. The best part about brewery beer is the increased alcohol content - if you are paying $6-7 for a pint it might as well be good tasting and have some alcohol in it.

I'm back

back from an awesome trip to San Fran - what a great town. 2 more baseball stadiums down and only 13 more to go - I have officially been to 17 or 30 stadiums now and look forward to getting to more over the coming years.

more updates of the trip and our upcoming training groups will be posted shortly - hope everyone is well

Happy Training

have to see this

please click on the link to the right - Sean of Team Hendryx blog - see the awesome pictures of he and Rene' climbing Mt Evans

There is a new champion in the house

Congrats to Bill Wenner (Senior, my Dad) - he won is age group at the Southern Regional Water Ski Championships today in Mens Slalom - he will be representing the Southern Region in the upcoming National Championships - all this at the ripe young age of 75

My blog is on vacation

HI All - Beth and I will be taking a much needed vacation to San Francisco for the next several days to catch some baseball games and just hang out - so my blog will be on vacation also.

Happy Training to all - catch up with you next week

Moss Park Race report

Cooling down after the race


The Moss Park Olympic Distance Duathlon was held on Sunday and I learned a very important lesson - poker until midnight, combined with chips and dip, and maybe a couple beers is not the best pre race plan ever made.

I was using the Moss Park duathlon as a hard training day so Sean and I could see where my training was and what I needed to work on before Powerman Florida. This race is held in and around Moss Park and is flat and fast - the run course actually has a little shade.

The distances were as follows - Run 1, 2.75 miles, Bike, 23.5 (do not let anyone tell you the course was 25 miles), Run 2, 5.5 miles. There were only about 10 of us in the duathlon but the Tri was going on at the same time so there would be many more people around for the bike and run 2 than on run 1.

The race started exactly on time and at 7:00a we were off for our first 2.75 miles. I ran very smooth and actually felt pretty good. It was still pretty cool during this portion. The run is a little hard to judge how fast you are going because the miles are not marked. The only hiccup on the run was grabbing a cup of gatorade and drinking it to find out there was a bug in it - yum, protein! Run 1 time 16:20 (5:56 pace).

The bike was going to be fun because I was going to be the first person out on the bike course. I have never had a vehicle lead me on the bike course - I thought that would be fun. The bike course is a 2 lap affair and is really flat and fast - some of it was just repaved so that made it even smoother to ride on. I figured this is where I would be caught by some of the super fast triathletes but I figured I would ride as hard as I could until getting caught. Well, no one caught up to me and I was fortunate enough to have the lead vehicle with me the whole way - that was pretty fun - sort of like a rock star. Bike time 59:30 (23.6 mph).

Run 2 was going to be tough. I had only been on the bike for about 5 weeks since last November so I was not sure how my legs would react to running hard after a hard bike. I came out of transition not feeling real well but figured of I could keep running hard I would get in to a groove and start to cruise. It was a little lonely being the only one on the course, a feeling that I am certainly not used to. The first lap went pretty well and I was just trying to hang on for one more lap of 2.75 miles. The second lap was a little tougher but I got in to a decent groove and ran as hard as I could. Run 2 time 36:28 (6:36 pace)

Total time for the race 1:53:44, T1 and T2 were 51 and 34 seconds respectively. I was 1st overall in the duathlon and no triathletes caught me on the course.

I was pretty happy with the time and the way I felt. I wish I would have had a little more sleep and maybe a few less chips but I did not feel horrible. I think there are a a couple areas I could improve - run 1 could have been paced a little better, the bike can get faster with some more work, and run 2 will have to be a little faster and more consistent between lap 1 and 2. I will look to improve on those things at the next race in August.

I was pretty dog tired on Sunday but recovered well yesterday - I did some easy stretching and some core work and my legs fell pretty good. I am heading out for a track workout this morning.

Happy training and good luck in your upcoming events.

Team Hendryx is Everywhere

Coach Sean with Judy, Paul and Halstead in Boulder, CO

Coach Bill with Debbie and Whitney in Moss Park, FL

Water Ski Regionals

Good Luck to my dad this week - he will compete in the Southern regional Water Ski Championships in Groveland, FL. My Dad is 75 and skis just about every day - of course that is after a round of golf in the morning. I am very proud of him! He is already qualified to ski in the National Championships so the regionals are just a tune up for him.

If anyone is riding out in Groveland this weekend stop by Sunset Lakes off 33 - you all know where it is, you will see some great tournament water skiing

Good Luck Dad - tear it up.

Race Results - congrats to all

congrats to the TH athletes that raced this weekend:

Moss Park Sprint:

Donna K - 4th AG, 1:40:38
Scott K - 6th AG, 1:17:18

Tiger Shark Sprint:
Alison C - 1st AG, 1:15:43

Moss Park Olym:
Ironmom Relay - 3rd AG, 2:39:46

These are very good results by all Team Hendryx athletes as they are training long and hard and did not take ant time to taper for these races - they are fast training days for the athletes.

Coaches Sean and Bill raced this weekend:

Boulder Peak Olym
Sean - 15th AG, 2:22:00 - awesome result in a super stacked race!

Moss Park Olympic Duathlon:
Bill - 1st overall, 1:53:44

Happy Training.

my punishment for being lazy

this is what happens when i do not get my butt out the door in the morning to go for my ride and I wait until the afternoon when we all know it rains.

I (call me crazy) actually do not mind the trainer - I put 3-4 ride on the trainer when i was training for IM and have no problems riding on it - once I get started that is!

today's workout was fun - 30 minute warm up, 4 x 5 minutes at race pace with 3 minutes recovery, 30 minutes cool down - a nice 90 minute ride while watching all of that court TV stuff that is on in the middle of the day.

indoor trainers are awesome if your race is going to be on a flat course, because you have to pedal right on a trainer and it is boring - just like the nice flat bike course you will be racing on - boring and you better pedal right in order to be efficient.

Two new links added

I added two new links to my blog - one for Team Burnham and one for Endurance Sports Bar - please check these both out.

Look at all the great research that Team B is doing - and 100% of the money raised from this event goes to the research

Sports Bar is a nice collections of sports endurance sports stories

Thanks

OUtstanding pictures

this is the car that hit pro triathlete Richie Cunningham during the run at RI 70.3 - Richie kept running and came in 2nd before getting the glass picked out of his ass and back


this is pro bike racer David Horner giving a fellow rider a hand to the finish - David carried the guy and his bike the final 2k up hill of a race after he had wrecked and mangles his ride.

Pearl Izumi Ads

Have you all seen the Pearl Izumi running ads? I absolutely love them - this is one of my favorites

If You Ran Without Sacrifice, Congratulations You Just Jogged.

Running hurts. Woolly mammoths didn't just roll over onto a plate and serve themselves up to prehistoric man with fries and a shake. They had to be caught - and running down woolly mammoths was a bitch. Guess what? Running is still a bitch. But one with purpose. It teaches us that good things do not come easy. It teaches us the we are capable of more than we think. It teaches us that hard work will be rewarded and laziness will be punished. Don't expect to learn those life lessons from running's shiftless stepchild; jogging. Next time you suffer on the roads or trails, suffer proudly. It means you run like an animal.


Love it - love it - love it!

Burnham update

we had our first kick off for Team Burnham and it was awesome. Baker Hostetler was the sponsor, and we had the kick off in one of their conference rooms on the 22nd floor of the Sun Trust building downtown. The kick off was catered by Goodings and a good time was had by all.

We had 80 RSVPs for the event and my guess is we had 70 people show up last night. We had 50 people commit to raising money and running Disney just last night - what an awesome start to Team Burnham.

Originally we had a goal of 30 people and we have far exceeded that already - we are now hoping for 65 people by the time we start training on 8/11. If you are interested please let me know and I will give you the details on everything you get for fundraising!

Badwater updates

badwater has about 10 hours before it is officially over but the all important time of 48 hours has passed - a runner must finish in 48 hrs to get the coveted belt buckle.

66 of the 80 starters got belt buckles - congrats to them all

of the top 15 finishers 8 were women - the top woman finishing 3rd overall. Jamie D who was leading by a huge margin at mile 120 of 135 last year and got injured and finished as the 5th woman cruised to the woman's victory this year - 51 minutes ahead of the next woman.

Bob B of Ft Lauderdale and the director of the Key West Ultra finished in 40:48:00 - congrats to him. He is 63 years old! Other folks that ran KW that were in Badwater - Alisa S who won KW 100 finished in 37:21:00 and Alan G who was 2nd in KW finished in 41:46:00 and Lisa S-B who had to drop out of KW because one of her crew had an emergency is still on the course at 43:44:00.

Congrats to all finishers of Badwater - you all are truly Bad Ass

When Bob writes his race report I will try to get a copy and post it here - I can not wait to sit down and chat with him about his experiences and to beg for a crew spot next year!

Badwater updates

for those of you who have not been checking out the badwater web site www.badwater.com to see race splits (like the geek that I am)here is your update.

Most of the folks have been running for over 24 hours now - and the race looks like it is going to come down to 2 guys - Akis K is only 17 minutes behind Jorge P - right now in third place is running legend Pam Reed (if you have not read her book you should)- she passed Dean K (self appointed distance running legend) to move in to third place - making over over 50 minutes on him since the last check point.

However anything can happen - last year the lead female at mile 120 of 135 was ahead by a lot and ended up in 5th when she had to walk to remaining miles because of injury.

Bob Becker's last check point was at 72 miles - he has been on the road for about 24 hours now and we will keep routing for him to finish the race.

The race report at the start was great "it is shaping up to be a fast race with a slight tail wind and temperatures topping at only 111 degrees". You should check out some of the runners web sites - these people a truly endurance animals - they train in saunas and have accomplished many crazy things in the world of endurance sports.

Team Burnham

Team Hendryx is now partnering with the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and will be training a group of runners/walkers to complete the Disney Marathon/1/2 Marathon.

Team Burnham was formed for ordinary people to achieve extraordinary results. In exchange for fund raising the runners and walkers will receive professional coaching from Team Hendryx and many other perks along the way.

We are very excited that Burnham decided to hire a professional coaching staff, and is using the knowledge that Team Hendryx has, to design a training plan that will ensure success of the participants.

A Kick off/information session will be held this evening in Orlando - we are looking forward to an action packed season and helping raise a lot of money for the medical research that Burnham performs.

badwater

you all want to witness something crazy - tune in to badwater.com today - this race will take place in temps that will hover around 130. The race director - Bob Becker - from the Keys Ultra is racing today. I am going to beg him to let me crew for him next year if he does this race.

Training weekend

I had a decent weekend of training and feel ok going in to my first race this weekend. I have no goals for this weekend except to set my goals while the race is going on - I will determine how I feel and how hard to push it - the race is only a prep for October.

Sat - ran 9 miles on the dirt road at a comfortable 7:45 pace, rode 15 miles in Lake Louisa State Park, then ran a 2 miles off the bike - 1st mile hard (6:05) and 2nd mile backed it off some (6:35)

Sun - 35 miles on Avalon Road - after a 5 mile warm up I rode 25 miles relatively hard (about 21 mph) then 5 mile cool down.

I feel great this morning and will continue to train relatively hard this week before the race.

Happy training

Race Results

A group of athletes being trained by Team Hendryx went to Sebring to tackkle the Heartland Tri this weekend - here are the results:

Team Hendryx:
Steve G - 2nd age group, 11th overall
Mike R - 7th age group
Kevin - 11th age group

Epic Challange:
Mandy - 1st female
Roman - 3rd age group
Ralph - 4th age group

**Mandy had a nice performance after a tough brick on Saturday

Also, Rene' and sean are in Colorado and Rene' did the Cabbage Head duathlon over the weekend:
Rene'- 2nd age group

Deal of the Day

free Slurpee's at 7-11 in honor of 7/11/08

enjoy

Vans Warped Tour - review

Scotty and I attended Vans yesterday at the Central Florida Fair grounds. We sat in traffic on 50 for about 45 minutes trying to inch our way closer the the grounds and finally arrived about 11:45a for the show. I would venture to guess that yesterday might have been the hottest day of the year - at least it felt like it out in the fair grounds where shade was at a minimum.

We picked up our $28 tickets - which were inflated to $42 with ticketmaster convenience charges (can anyone explain why I have to pay a convenience charge for buying on a web site?)and headed through the gates - 1st stop - get a line up card for the day. One of the cool things about Vans is - you know the bands but not performance time until you get there. Instead of looking at the display board and trying to remember the bands and time - we bought a hand written copy of the line up for $2 from some enterprising soul. I am ok with this as it brought me back to my days following the Dead and selling shirts and other miscellaneous items.

Then to the beer tent - you can not plan your day without a beer. $4 for 16ozs of Bud Light - not bad but not great - it was cold and there are no lines for beer at Vans because the average age is about 16.

The show starts at 11:00a so the bands were in full swing by the time we started to map our course. The great thing about Vans is there are always 3-4 bands playing and there is never a down time while one band tears down and one sets up. The main stages are side by side - while one band is playing on the left stage the next band is setting up on the right stage - as soon as the 30 minute set is over the next band starts - it really does run like clock work. This show was over 9 hours of music and over 80 bands so the price of the ticket is still the best value anywhere.

When we got there Reliant K was on the main stage - they are not too bad - we gave them a listen for 2-3 songs. Then we were off to the side stages to see what was brewing on some of the lesser known bands. We stumbled upon Every Avenue - they were just ok. However, right after they were done we found the first gem of the day - Oreskaband. This is a sextet from Japan - they are all 19 years old and they play Ska - awesome, awesome, awesome. So much fun - it is hard to believe there is such a huge Ska/Punk need in Japan - Oreska along with the Cherry Cokes have a great future.

After they were done we started out tour around the merchandise tents and to other stages - here were some of the real angry bands we saw - Story of the Year, Everytime I die, Dillinger Escape Plan, Confide - these guys all had serious issues.

Couple more bands on the side stages that warrant another listen are Beat Union - Clash influenced band with a nice beat, Pink Spiders - the more I listened the more I liked them, Valencia - not too bad, these guys are form Philly. Jack's Mannequin was decent - their lead singer plays a grand piano on stage and also plays the harmonica - they were decent and would give them another listen. Kind of like an upbeat Cold Play - but different form Cold Play because every song does not sound the same.

Now on the highlights of the show - 3:45p - The Street Dogs enter the stage to Jimi Hendrix version of National Anthem - the lead singer of Street Dogs was the original frontman of Dropkicks (he left to be a firefighter and EMT). This band rocked the house - awesome. They will be at the Social in September and it will be a must see. They gave tribute to the Ramones (the original punk rock band) and just rocked it for 30 minutes.

Reel Big Fish was up on the next stage over at 4:15 - this is a band that I really enjoy and have seen their last 4-5 shows in Orlando - however - they disappointed me. They played the same songs they always do - sell out, beer, ska band, hates me - blah, blah. blah - they even did the Metallica cover again. Hey, they still rock and are fun to see but give me something new for crying out loud.

Angles and Airwaves - 4:45p - switch stages again. These guys were ok - you can tell they were formed by the guitarist from Blink 182 - they sound a lot like blink without the cool edge that Blink used to have. They were more background music than anything else for me.

The last band of the day for us was The Aggrolites - these guys describe themselves as dirty reggae. They are from Cali and they were really good. Very high energy set that was closed with the Beatles cover Don't Let Me Down. These guys would be a blast to see live. It is hard to explain there look but check out their site and see.

Here is what we saw throughout the day: Lot's of Parents following their kids around, Kids I coached in Middle School Track last year (I am old), Lot's of tattoos, very little smoking, very angry PETA shirts, lots of chicks just wearing their bras (their parents were not in tow, why not put on a bathing suit?). Lots of boys in girls running shorts (is this a trend I am not up to speed with?)Lots of Circle Pit, a little crowd surfing, a few injuries and some folks passed out form the heat.

All in all a fun (HOT) day and some great music - well worth the price of admission!

Vans Warped Tour - Photo Journal

here are some pictures from Warped yesterday - a written review will be coming soon

This is my cheat sheet so i can take notes on all the bands

Reel Big Fish - I think?

Street Dogs - these guys tore it up

Shade was at a premium

Marketing his band

No line for beer - all ages shows are great

Here is the line up

Slip and Slide was popular

Oreskaband tearing it up

Who will be the oldest person at Vans??? Not me

I will definitely not be the oldest because I am going with my Vans buddy Scotty C - he is a tad older than me and so i will be the second oldest.

Very excited to see the show as there are some new bands I want to check out and of course I will always pay to see Reel Big Fish!

We have seen some awesome bands at Vans over the years - Flogging Molly on a side stage, MXPX (year after year), Green Day at Bithlo Speedway when they almost rioted because of Billy Joe getting hit in the head with a clump of grass, Dancer Dude from the Bosstones just killing it for the whole show, and who can forget the lovely Monique and Save Ferris.

Any way - tomorrow I am looking forward to seeing - Gymclass Heroes, Street Dogs (a band started by a founder of Dropkick Murphys), Bleeding Irish, Relient K and Horrorpops and who knows what other fun bands will appear along the way.

Cheers

Spin class review

I took the spin class at 8:45a today at that downtown place that has many other location - the instructor was Suzanne (last names left of to protect the guilty. Before I start my review I must preface this with what I did before the class - ran about 5 miles with 4 x 800 at 10k pace (2:55 per 800) and 200 recovery (damn my coach) mixed in - then heading to the gym quickly to change and start pedaling. I started to pedal at 8:00a and was to only do 1 hour on the bike - but since class started at 8:45a I was in for the long haul - 1.5 hours on the bike after my fun run in the morning.

Any way - little miss sunshine (the instructor) shows up and apparently everyone in this class knows everyone else - maybe is was some sort of cult I stepped in to. (Side note - if I seem in a pissy mood it is because every day when I check the Phillies score they are losers - they have gone from 13 games over 500 to 5 games over in a couple weeks - can you say June Swoon - I digress). So there are all these pleasantries going on that I am not a part of and I just want to get this class started and get done. From the way the instructor made the announcement of "we will be doing what i want to do today" and "you nerds to do not have to go full bore all the time to get benefit" it sounded like she has had some issues lately with her "cult"

The class was intervals - ok, I can handle that and I needed some speed work on my bike since it has been since late last year since I have done any serious biking. And the cult was informed that the music selection was going to be a mix - that always scares me because you never know if your musical preference jives with the instructor.

As it turns out - the class was ok - and the music was mostly from the 70 and 80s - I did get every band right when she asked the class "who is this?". However, I have to tell you that I DID NOT LIKE her singing during class. She was way off key and by the end it was kind of annoying - you know the kind, it starts out ok and about 30 minutes you just want to bang the gong and get her off stage??? Here was another thing that turned me off - she started to spew all this meditation, bright outlook, we need to come together as a country, everyone needs to help each other, blah, blah, blah to the class. You can tell she is a yoga and meditation instructor.

I say hooey - if you can not make the Phillies win I do not want to hear form any of you.

So, back to the class, it was actually fun (minus her singing and attempts at motivating me) and I got a lot out of it. I will rate it 3 spin bikes and if she would have been a little more quite she might have moved in to the 4 bike range.

If you attend (which I will not again)say I to the cult - I got out before they could make me one of them :-)

You know you are having a bad when...

this is the cruise you paid to go on in Alaska

You wake up and find out where you parked you car

You are late leaving Disney and the police escort comes to help you out of the park

Time for more bricks

I missed my 40/4 brick yesterday (I did ride 40 miles with some of the Miamiman ladies who are riding strong)so after a conversation with Coach Sean last night we decided to add a brick today.

I rode 28 and ran 4 today - with the first 10 on the bike as a warm up then the final 18 at race effort and then the run would be 2 miles at 90% with the last 2 miles cruising.

The ride went well - the new bike set up is going well and I felt pretty strong. I mixed in some hills to get ready for Poweman in October. After a good warm up i went aero and rode hard for the last 18 miles. Once I got back to the lake I changed into running shoes and was off.

I ran mile 1 in 6:35 and mile 2 in 6:15 - after turning around I cruised home in 7:30 pace - the whole workout felt fine and no problems to speak of. The first two miles were a little tough (but they were at 90%) but I was pleased with the effort since I have had one track session in many moons. I will do a run/bike brick this week mixed with some swimming, running and biking.

Saturday I get to hit the dirt road before our group workouts and Sunday will be a long ride of 35-40 miles with some rollers mixed in to add to the fun.

There is no need for a taper before the race next week since the race is nothing but a tune up to test my fitness level and see where I need work over the next several weeks.

Happy Training

How should we pick our Olympians?

I read an article yesterday about Tyson Gay's fall/injury in the 200 meter qualifier last week and the author was saying that the Olympic committee should still place Tyson Gay on the Olympic team because he is the fastest man in the world. I say BS on that. The trials are in place to see who can perform in an intense, drama packed event (like the Olympics) and can perform at an elite level over multiple days. Swimming is the same way - you perform at the trials or you go home.

I think gymnastics has it all wrong - they have trials but they also have the right to put someone on the team that gets hurt in the trials if they think that person is better than someone who performed well and made the team.

Let's say we put Tyson Gay on the Olympic team - we will cut Spearmon because he was third in the trials. We justify this by saying - Tyson gives us the best chance to win a medal. In the first qualifying heat of the Olympics Tyson pulls up lame and falls - now the US has two guys in the mix and not three because we gave Gay a shot when he did not earn it on the track.

To his credit Tyson Gay says the same thing - he does not belong on the team because the team is chosen at the trials and he did not make it.

To all the people that say the system is flawed and we should always pick the fastest people (based on time not on competition) - what would you have said if Tyson Gay did not advance in his 100 meter heat when he pulled up and finished 4th because he misjudged the finish line? Let's say he finishes 7th and does not move on - would you have let him? Not because he was injured but because he made a mistake. That goes with your theory of picking the best chance to win a medal not on who earns it?

Oh well - just my thoughts on this but I think the trials are awesome - they give the athletes a chance to compete against each other and run personal bests in a chance of pulling an upset and making an Olympic team because they EARN it not get it handed to them based on a past resume.

Olympic trials end tonight

I am very excited to see the end of the Olympic Trials tonight - to see who will be the last folks selected to our Olympic team and heading to Beijing. The final event of the T & F is the Mens 1500 meter - very excited to see this race - but maybe more excited to see the 16 year old Jordan Hasay run in the Women's finals. I do not think she can win or place in the top 3 but she is an awesome runner and someone to keep an eye on - most importantly she looks like she is having a blast.

If you did not catch her setting the High School record the other night you should see the replay - make sure you tune in long enough so you can hear the crowd of 20,000 trying to convince her to attend Oregon when she graduates HS. AWESOME.

Words of Wisdom

"There will come a point in the race, when you alone will need to decide. You will need to make a choice. Do you really want it? You will need to decide."

I love speedwork

I got on the track last night for the first time in many moons. Most of my Ultra training was on the roads since there was not a lot of need for repeat 800s or 1600s. Now that I am getting back into running shape and my base miles are increasing I figured it was ok to hop on the track last night. I would have just run at home but I was really pressed for time so I headed to the track and figured I would run until the training groups showed up.

Here was my workout:

13 minute warm up
400 @ 1:28
400 easy paced (2:00)
400 @ 1:27
400 easy (2:00)
400 @ 1:27
400 easy (2:00)
400 @ 1:26
13 minutes of running
400 @ 1:25
cool down

the 400s were no where near where I was running during marathon training last year but I was not trying to run hard - the key to the workout was being consistent and steady in my pace - i wanted my recovery laps to remain at the same speed and wanted each 400 to get a tad faster each time.

oh yea - I rode for 75 minutes earlier in the day.

I can not complain - I hope the upcoming races will help race me in to shape and will be ready to roll in October.

Steeplechase

The race I am most looking forward to seeing today is the Women's 3000 meter steeplechase. Local racer Jenny Barringer will be the top seed in this event and will be looking to secure her spot on the Olympic team this year. She ran the 3000 meter qualifying heat in 9:48:50 - that is about a 5:15 mile while jumping over high hurdles and water pits.

looks like fun - yes?




The other races that are peaking my interest are the 1500 meter semifinals.

Tune in and catch Olympic fever!

My Training

Things are going ok in my training these days - I am still having a hard time getting back into a good routine but I am getting there. Cycling has been going pretty well - it feels weird getting back on the bike after such a long break. I changed the set up on my bike again last night to get back to a more compact aggressive position to try and be more comfortable. I was getting terrible neck and shoulder pain in my last set up. I will gladly change a little power for more comfort. I will continue to dial in my set up over the next couple of months.

I did a 35 mile bike and 4 mile run brick this weekend that went well. The bike is not too fast yet but staying efficient. However, I am running pretty well off the bike - I ran the first two miles in a medium paced 7:00 mile then backed it down to7:45 for the last 2 miles. I am definitely looking forward to getting in some longer days.

I also had a good 7 mile run this weekend - about a 7:45 pace or so - maybe a little faster - no watch so it is all a guess.

I think my race schedule will be:

Moss Park in July - olympic du
Moss Park in Aug - olym du

Two tune ups ought to be ok for Powerman - we will see- stay tuned.

Happy Training

Words of Advice

"If you start to feel good during an ultra, don't worry you will get over it."

GENE THIBEAULT

Boy, there have never been wiser words spoken. I think you could say this for an Iron distance race and for a marathon too.

The key here is the never be complacent in your racing - things will change always think ahead and stick to you plan - deviation from your plan could lead to a very bad day.

Happy training

Mens 800 meters - Olympic Trials

anyone catch the Mens 800 meter final the other night? If you did not you missed a very special race, you should try to see a replay. The Track and Field Olympic trials are happening right now at Hayward Field in Oregon, a place that Steve Prefontaine and Bill Bowerman made famous. A place were 20,000 people pack a stadium that holds 16,000, and a place that gets so loud the runners say they can not hear themselves breathing.

The mens 800 finals were the other day and it was a awesome race. The heavy favorite, Symonds, was boxed in almost the whole way, University of Oregon student Wheating was in the back but was a heavy fan favorite and all the runners were giving it their all to get a spot on the US Olympic team.

Symonds found an opening on the last turn and broke to the lead and Wheating starting charging hard on the outside, while another Oregon Track Club runner, Smith was fighting gamely to stay in the raca and kick for the line.

Symonds won going away with Wheating leaving the pack slightly for second - the third and final spot on the team came down to Smith and past Olympian Robinson with both of them falling across the finish line in a heap. After sorting it all out - Smith won by 6 1/100th of a second to go the the Olympics.


3 guys who train in Oregon, 3 guys who the fans supported for 800 meters, 3 guys who go the Beijing. Awesome race, awesome drama - that is what the Trials are all about -tune and give them a try.

Happy training