WATCH WHERE YOU ARE GOING!!

So, weather is nice and I decided to ride the ole bike to work today. No problem. I have warm clothing, tail light, and a 350 lm headlight. I just have to plan ahead to plant my work clothes at work.

Well, the best laid plans can be foiled by a moron in a SUV that doesn't pay attention to a 2 way stop when I have the right of way. Ya, they just drove out in front of me like I wasn't there with my headlights and reflective bike wear. She just gave me a blank look as I put my hands up to way "what the heck?". If you are going to be driving at 6:30am, drink your coffee BEFORE you hit the road and PAY ATTENTION! Luckily I have my head on a swivel and I had no problem slowing down and avoiding her.

Now, I'm 99% sure I had no stop sign. I've ridden this road 100's of times and recall only one stop sign and I already had passed it. It was dark and I looked before going to assure no stop sign. I'll check for sure on the way home but c'mon drivers! Wake up!

Life is getting back to "normal". Kiddo #2 doing good (except for waking up every 1.5 hours at night for feedings) and kiddo #1 is dealing as well as she can. We try and give her special attention, but she does have moments where she pushes our buttons to get attention. Luckily my wife has been great and gave me the week nights off from kiddo #2 duty. I tried Sunday night and just could not function at work. Need to be on top of my game to get through the work day so we have a "deal". I try and pick up slack when I get home and take on kiddo #2 and help with kiddo #1 until kiddo #2 hits the hey and we transition to bed time.

Signing up for the KC marathon today. I've been able to get some long runs in and I think it shouldn't be a problem with the base I have from the summer. Get an 18 or 19er in this weekend and it's all butter. Check out Operation Jack as Sam will be back to run the KC Marathon as well. 61 marathons in one year. Now that's insane!



I've been successful at keeping my pace up while training. Adding threshold training and maintaining my weight has helped a lot. Last marathon in 2005 I gained some weight (eating too much Chipotle cause I was running so much) and my pace suffered from no speed work. Too many junk miles. This marathon should be a lot better even with only about a month of distance training.

I've worked up to starting with a 7 minute at 9 or 10 effort, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 with 2 to 3 minute rest between at a jog. The overall pace isn't great but holding a 6:30 min/mile pace or 7 for 7 minutes is a suffer fest!

With that, I leave you with this thought - when you are driving to work today, watch out for bikes! =)

Latest Examiner Articles:
Redman Triathlon
KC Events this Weekend

"Injuries" and 2011 Season

So, since my season was ended "early" this year I just haven't experienced the "burn out" I have in the past. Flatting at KS IM, Heritage Park rained out for the swim and Shawnee Mission Park stormed out. I didn't run the KCCC triathlon due to a family reunion conflict and Kiddo 2 in the NICU squashed IM Branson. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. But, of all the years, I was most prepared thus far this year to get after it.

So, it really has not been that hard to find the motivation to keep training right now. It still feels like season training. I've also started eyeing my 2011 events. Here's my partial list (maybe full list if my wife is reading....)

Rock the Parkway 1/2 Marathon - 4/2/11
God's Country Off Road Duathlon - TBD
Groundhog Run 10k - 1/30/11
Trolley Run 4 Mile - 4/17/11
Hospital Hill 1/2 Marathon - 6/4/11
KC Triathlon Olympic Distance - TBD
Kansas 1/2 Ironman (pending how I feel about IM events at that point) - 6/12/11
Midwest Meltdown Sprint Tri - TBD
Boulder 1/2 Ironman - already signed up - 8/7/11
Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race - 8/13/11 - this could be a stretch but I so want to race this!
Jackson County Triathlon Long Course - TBD
Kansas City Marathon - TBD

Too much? Naaaaa =)

Also, suffering through more black toes with marathon training for KC marathon this year. My toenails have fallen off so much and are so disfigured that they will never be the same. Hideous I think is the proper adjective. Even my 2 year old looks and says "ew dadddy owey toes..."

Guess not

So, got a response from IM Branson about possibly looking for ways to offset the fact I missed the race due to my NICU bound son last week. Got this back on my third attempt to hear back from someone:

"Ryan - sorry, but we do not give refunds or transfers of entry fees for any reason. Z

Thomas A. Ziebart"

So that raises a question. I'm curious to see what other AG triathletes, etc, think about the whole IM scene these days. They now have 42 70.3 races... 42!! Do you feel it waters the sport down when there are 42 races that field maybe 2000 or so athletes each? Has IRONMAN turned into the McDonald's of triathlons? 1 million served....

I pretty much banked on the answer I got, but I was hoping in the back of my mind that the red tape would part and a human response would come out to work with me. Do you peeps out in blog land think I should have received some sort of special consideration or one size fits all, rules are rules no matter what? Even Priceline refunded my full price for the hotel due to my circumstances... and they seem to be more corporate than IRONMAN.

I'm pretty much dropping it with the idea of getting anything back or trying since they finally got back to me. But, it makes me think more about racing a "IRONMAN" event. I know there are REV3 and the Redman events that are IM distance without the hoopla of IRONAMN brand. I wonder how corporate they have become...

What day is it?

It feels like a weekend day... took today off to be home with the new addition. He's home, doing good and keeping us up! My wife has been great trying to keep him under control at night so I can sleep and take on our 2 year old all day (sleeps all day, parties all night like he's in college already). The triathlon blog is more like the kiddo blog these days. Here's the latest shot of him hamming it up from our photographer (and college friend) www.photographybybrandi.com- does GREAT WORK!:



Peed on me 3 times before we got this shot. Stinker.

Trying to keep things "normal" but that's hard to do while trying to keep up with work on a limited basis and a newborn added to a toddler (sick one at that) at home. Tack on training and I'm toast. Managed 7 hours last week but a lot was spent on the bike trainer and treadmill in case reinforcements were needed on the home front.

The snooze button is killing me as well. With spotty sleep these days it's hard to get up at 4:30am to run or bike (forget swimming at the moment). Made it up today for a bike ride so hopefully we can keep it up. I'm aiming for the KC marathon as a consolation to missing the Branson 1/2 IM I had to back out of last weekend so i need to get a couple distance runs in... THAT should be interesting.

I also competed in a consolation event this weekend... punt, pass and kick for adults. You read that right! Kicked and punted in high school but they didn't let us wear cleats so it was a little rough. But hey, 9th out of 27 isn't horrible after not touching a football for like 4 years!



And, a friend sent me a link to a "do's and don'ts" website for some learnin on how to handle babies... thought I'd share the important tips.

Here's my latest Examiner article about the Fourmile Fire and the Boulder Marathon.

Joke o the day

Update on the Kiddo - he comes home tomorrow for sure! He's in his own room without an assigned nurse and off the monitors all together! Emily has a bed in the room and will stay with him until he comes home and gets done with all of his antibiotics. Barring any out of the blue issues, home will be a busy place from now on!

Also, Branson 1/2 IM is off for me. Ya, I could make it work but I'd rather be home when my son comes home and help my wife. Still haven't heard anything from race organizers if they will consider a deferment. Not a word... somewhat frustrating. I have no problem if they come back and say they can't help me out, but at least acknowledge I made the request, don't just ignore me. Ironman is coming close to jumping the shark with so many events now saturating the market. Too corporate?? Time will tell.

Here's a little humor to lighten the mood, enjoy. I did.



Manure... An interesting fact

Manure : In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had to be transported by ship and it was also before the invention of commercial fertilizers, so large shipments of manure were quite common.

It was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot less than when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, not only did it become heavier, but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by product is methane gas of course. As the stuff was stored below decks in bundles you can see what could (and did) happen.
Methane began to build up below decks and the first time someone came below at night with a lantern, BOOOOM!

Several ships were destroyed in this manner before it was determined just what was happening

After that, the bundles of manure were always stamped with the instruction ' Stow high in transit ' on them, which meant for the sailors to stow it high enough off the lower decks so that any water that came into the hold would not touch this volatile cargo and start the production of methane.

Thus evolved the term ' S.H.I.T ' , (Stow High In Transit) which has come down through the centuries and is in use to this very day.

You probably did not know the true history of this word.

Neither did I.

Busy week

Well, Branson IM is officially out. Liam decided he wanted to escalate his stay in the hospital and is riding it out in the NICU. He's been there since 3 hours after birth and if things go well, he's sprung Saturday. Some transition issues and difficulty breathing were the main causes. Needless to say he's more important that swimming, biking and running 70.3 miles. Once things settle down, I may run my own Liam 70.3 invitational at home. Who knows.

Priceline was awesome and fully refunded my hotel with the circumstances... however the IRONMAN people haven't contacted me after I sent them a message through the website and the RD that sends out the emails. Hopefully they are receptive to the situation as I would like to defer to next year and still eventually do the race...

But, the taper has been called off. Now I'm transitioning to off season of weights and base maintaining. Hopefully the weather cooperates and I can get back to my original biking love of mountain biking.

May also look into P90X or cross training to build up strength over the winter. Anyone had any luck with either?

Liam - finally!

Liam finally arrived!

7 pounds, 1 oz

20 inches

9/11/10

On to some napping!

Weekend Coming, No New Baby Yet

So we went in Wednesday evening thinking this was it! Well, it kind of was. Dilated to 4-5cm, and good contractions going but the OB that we use and that was on call at the hospital when we went in decided they were not going to help in any way and if my wife wanted to have a kid, she was on her own. So, stuck at 4-5cm we went home. We're not happy with the OB. My wife cannot really function dilated to 4-5cm while still having sporadic contractions and throwing up all the time. Actually we're kind of pissed with our OB that she couldn't even come by in person and assess my wife. She's portrayed herself as disinterested and doesn't really communicate what the plan is. If it wasn't too late, we'd change OB's.

At any rate Emily is home suffering and I came into work today since there's no point in talking with our doctor or going into the hospital. Did I mention we're a little pissed?

Room and now parents are ready to get him here.

Keeping up with taper for Branson but in the back of my mind I wonder if I will get to do it. If Emily goes into labor any time Friday, I'll stay home and ditch Branson and hope the RD will let me transfer it to next year or something. We shall see. at least all this action keeps me away from focusing on worrying about tapering and wanting to train more than I should.

I'll also me missing out on the Wakarusa Off Road Challenge tomorrow and the Patriot's Run here in Olathe. I kind of wanted to do one or the other but we have to pick and choose where the funds go at the moment and IM Boulder just opened up. One race at a time, right?

That's all for now... hopefully the next post is about a new baby!

Busy Busy Weekend

Tis the season! The temps here in KC are letting up and we can get a taste of fall here and there. Makes for some cold morning training rides. It's a little sad reading all the season wrap ups on peeps' blogs. Most people don't race much into the fall unless they are going for mountain biking or cyclocross. I find myself looking at cyclocross, but we need to get past kid #2 coming and see what happens.

Speaking of, not only was this to be the largest training weekend yet, but I needed to jam in some house re-arranging, cleaning, replacing appliances all with the threat of child #2 birth at any moment!

I got in a 43 mile ride, 11 mile run (Garmin died 5 minutes into it so I went by time and MapMyRun.com - kind of neat) and a 20 mile trainer hill workout. It was more of a distance weekend than intensity. But, I got most of my goal in. Layers was the theme for the bike ride Saturday morning. It was chilly!



Basement room officially complete. I'd show a picture but it's embarrassing how jam packed it is... with a treadmill and bike trainer spot, every nook and cranny is filled. Baby 2 room is now housing baby gear only. No computer cables or old text books. Word to the wise, keep paint on hand for touch up. My touch up paint was old and now it's a spotted room. We will eventually re-paint, but lets worry about making sure they kid has a room to come home to!

Ignore the spots on the wall....



5 hours of hard work and the carpet is now CLEAN! Steamed the crap out of it (literally after the puppy we got in March was finally potty trained). I had some before and after pictures, but lost em. It's nice not to be creeped out walking on your own carpet!

Fall also brings fantasy football! Had a draft Sunday and 2 more tonight. 8pm and 9pm. My wife is thrilled...

Latest Examiner Article about a Dude dieing after the Virginia Beach 1/2 Marathon. Scary.

Garmin Contest by DCRainmaker

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/09/september-garmin-forerunner-310xt.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DcRainmaker+%28DC+Rainmaker%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Threshold & baby sitters

So after going to the Jackson County Triathlon "clinic" by Chris Legh, I decided to get some more threshold workouts in my plan these days to help raise my threshold between aerobic and anaerobic.

Went for a 5 minute warm up, 6 minutes all out, 3 minutes jogging, 5 minutes all out, 3 minutes jogging, all the way to 1 minute all out. It's not exactly the 20 / 15 / 10 Chris Legh does, but I have to start somewhere. I'm hoping to raise the threshold to help with the run at Branson.

Check out the splits and speed vs distance. I think it's obvious where my intervals were... =)



And on a side note, my last minute run I ran past the gal that baby sat me when I was in like kindergarten through 6th grade. That was funny as I was almost past her before she realized who I was. Oh the people you run past on a kick ass 70 degree evening!

Also, check out my Louisville IM article. Local pediatrician that works with our family ped came in 25th overall. Now, if a doctor can find the time to train and get 25th, why can't I??? =)

Cannondale Auction

Cannondale up for auction on Ebay! Shedding a tear now but need the funds.

Cannondale Ebay Auction