Twoasone93

A Whisper to a Scream

2011-09-21T23:02:00.001-07:00

The first few drops preceding a summer rain storm in the north east are often times heard before seen or felt. Densely packed leafy trees invite the falling water scouts to perk up our ears as they race to earth pinball style. It's often only upon tuning to our awakened senses of the increased humidity, darkened skies, and textured colors of impacting rain do we scoot to cover or toss on a coat sheltering ourselves from the impending natural shower.

A keen observer, however, open to all their senses knows the army is coming from the shifting winds, darkened skies, sticky skin and scent of moisture even before the clouds above consider tossing down their musicians to tap out a tune on the trees below. The simplest moments stitched together empower awareness to see the whisper become the scream, to enjoy the notes played upon the leaves as those early droplets dance to the ground before they actually begin their song.Simple elements of being in the moment are easy when we are on Walden Pond, but amidst Modern Multitasking Mania how do we retain the ability to connect the whispers that often lead to screams, both good and bad? Instead of hearing, smelling, seeing and maybe even touching indicators of the quickly approaching drench we carry multiple what-if protectors that numb owning the responsibility of moment by moment stitching. A buxom blond, or befuddled comb over city slicker forecasts for rain and without even acknowledging that they are right less than 50% of the time we rush to grab our jackets, umbrellas and plan routes for wet travel.

Some feign surprise when the sun shines all day and we are left shuttling our accoutrement's back to where we could have left them had we done our own evaluation using the tools at our disposal. Yea, it's nice to see Doppler radar on the 42" plasma, but how about reconnecting with the senses that every lesser intelligent beast possesses on our planet when rain is about to come...Dogs know, cats know, cows even change the direction they face when wet weather approaches.

Why have we collectively negated owning those moment by moment evaluations of our chosen environment, our chosen life? Not sure about the societal tendancies for this. Maybe it has to do with the exponential population growth in the past 40 years.
Maybe the disconnect is due to the explosion of information sharing that is mostly incomplete, like the weather persons view of how the day may unfold, or may not. I can only guess.

What I do posess is the ability to own my stitching efforts. Own being in the moment. Own my decisions. Own the impact of those decisions. Own the outcomes whether a whisper or a scream of my stitched together moments. It is through this life long ownership that I will always maintain control, not of the world around me, but rather how I respond to the world and apply myself to any given situation as my own.
A rain drop hits a leaf and I am surprised by the gentle popping sound it makes. Well, if I chose to not pay attention to the darkening sky, and rising stickiness on my skin then the surprise is welcomed, and embraced. If, however, I get irritated that the rain is coming and my preparation is poor, then shame on me for not hearing a whisper to a scream.

Change whispers

2011-08-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

First whisper of change comes with a sense of unease, followed by indifference, then resistance, ultimately defiance, which inhibits teamwork and joy in ones work. The whisper that finally becomes a bellow leads to full scale action. A necessity of change not only for the welfare of one, but for the welfare of all within ones impact crater.

Robert Burns wrote,
"The best laid schemes of Mice and Men
oft go awry,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!"

He wrote those lines as part of a poem that flowed from his powers of observation after destroying a mouse nest while plowing a field. What's this got to do with change? Well, I say bad move on the mouse....It resisted acknowledging the changing environment that it's home was built within and paid the price. Farmer Burns destroyed it, and then the mouse had to move as a result of destruction; unprepared, ill equipped and probably at great cost to it's family.

Not changing for the welfare of a dream is a lesson worth experiencing. The mouse had to of seen the field under construction but obviously enjoyed being so close to the food and the water. Well, young tailed rodent, unheeded risks to live the dream led to your demise.

The metaphor here, on a personal level, is tied to taking the risk of breaking my three quantifiers tied to a dream job or career.

Great product-easy to investigate
Great customer base-one builds within the career one chooses selling the product that was investigated.
Great leadership-is least likely to change just because one loves what one does---high risk when it does not meet the litmus test.

Enter at ones own risk and with eyes wide open when a scheme is laid out that goes against ones instincts. Be ever observant of ones self so when the need for change wafts by in the shadows it is quickly partnered with to preclude the wasted time traveling the path from unease to defiance.

Defiance has passed, change is embraced, and now the litmus test is back in action. Who shall I bring value, passion, loyalty, commitment, sacrifice for the risk of reward to next?

...tbc...

Daily World

2008-04-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer….nothing in this daily update may even come to reality….or….it may already be reality….or it might become reality with time, more thought, and discussion with the team…Disclaimer

Daily report-1

Communication
Proposition. How do I manage the perception of broken communication regarding updates and team direction? Solution. A daily update of thoughts, possibilities and concepts to create awareness of what has been, currently is, or could become. The potential for a dead end is real, as is the potential for some thoughts that will not become any more than just that, thoughts.
Proposition. How do I manage the routine implosion of emails. Intent, perceptions, and the potential for threads to get way off target before the root of the first email even gets addressed has been very real since early in the birth of our store. Solution. Let’s limit all emails to those that ask a question with only a numerical answer, a yes answer or a no answer. If a sentence involves the ingredients that could lead to misinterpretation then that means a phone call or in person visit is prudent. I think this would lead to more personal interaction resulting in better resolution to all our situations that require problem resolution.
I think if I can facilitate daily updates of observations, directional insights, and other areas that will impact future decisions there might become awareness that I don’t make decisions in the dark, quite opposite actually. I make decisions based on repeated observations tied to the wisdom that is garnered from those around me and my own base of experience.

Teamwork
Teamwork from my perspective relates to the ability of a group to do more collectively than the sum total the individuals efforts. I expect team members to voice opinions but upon doing so acknowledge that once a direction is taken that support is rendered for that direction.
Teamwork only happens with trust, shared responsibility, sacrifice, and acknowledgement that what is best for the team is more important than what is good for the individual.
I am at a loss at the conclusion of today’s session regarding how to better build camaraderie than to put together these observations and thoughts in an effort to show complete desire to make all our interaction better than what it is now.
Proposition. Group interaction will spur group communication, which will invoke trust and ultimately a strong team. Solution. Weekly meetings will be a reality. The time will fall between Monday and Thursday given Friday through Sunday are busiest of times at the store and in the field.

Processes
Proposition. The end result of our journey to a team of booking coordinators and event facilitators will empower all of us to balance life and pursuit of professional development at Sports Basement. Solution. I will keep the direction as clear as possible given the inherent challenging nature of change.
I always take a moment and reflect on day to day efforts with my eye on the long term ball which is to have a team working together for the success of the store by bringing as many new customers through the door from all walks of life within the communities that surround our location.

Personnel
There are changes that have occurred. ML is a coordinator who is hourly compensated covering triathlon and back country. She works parallel with PM. DH is a coordinator who is hourly compensated covering PT/Chiropractic. DH is managed by BB, reports to BB, is rated by BB. BB is overall responsible for success not only in her channels but also those of DH’s , PT and Chiropractic. BR is Event Lead, responsible for developing the concept of event facilitation through the remainder of this quarter so that by 3rd quarter the coordinators have complete confidence in the execution of their booked events without having to attend the events in person.

Supplies
Proposition. Convergence of suppliers will streamline expenses and reduce the burden of supplying events. Solution. Costco is a great option. Tying the employee food order into the event supply order has been a thought on my mind for months, but have not had the opportunity to act upon it. Now that we have Ben in place the process can get engaged for possible execution.

Paperwork
Next round of expense reports are due on the 3rd of May. The deadline for this round was today.

Performance
Proposition. The team is performing well despite the interpersonal havoc that occurs on a daily basis. Solution. Keep working potential solutions to the interpersonal challenges and at the same time keep eye on the performance ball, one and all. This means that everyone needs the opportunity to see daily sales reports, tied to our codes in the system.
Proposition. Awareness of daily sales will allow individual awareness of efforts within channels.
Solution. Every week use the newest, simplified tool to account for our contact lists and our customer tracking to raise awareness of the team status. We will open every weekly meeting with this, and then go into the review of upcoming weeks events followed by an open dialogue about whatever needs to be discussed given the state of the store on that given week.

Disclaimer….nothing in this daily update may even come to reality….or….it may already be reality….or it might become reality with time, more thought, and discussion with the team…Disclaimer

Geez, what a job does to the blogging time...

2007-12-03T03:20:00.000-08:00

Well, All of October and November was spent working seven days a week at my new gig. Marketing manager at Sports Basement in Walnut Creek is a hoot, but full of time requirements. Not a hard job, but a time consuming one. More to follow on all fronts, including the completion of my IMC adventure way back in August. I still have the bike and the run to share from a racers perspective, just might have to jog a few memory cells to regurgitate the good with the ugly of the day. Until then, just a little notification that I am hosting two parties at the Basement in the coming weeks.

1-December 9th at the WC Basement, 2pm till ???, complimentary food, drink (alcoholic and non) along with door prizes and plenty of holiday atmosphere. 20% off all purchases!

2-December 25 at the WC Basement, 4pm till 7:00, holiday turkey and ham dinner, wine, beer, soda, and an ornament exchange. I close christmas eve so I am throwing a party at the store! Another night of 20% off all purchases.

Slick and in the Groove

2007-09-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

Walking alone, down a dark path that happens to cut through a cemetery gives most folks the willies. To do so with a large group of people suppresses the willies with the belief that safety lies in numbers.

Transition to an early morning, 62 degree, open water swim, a mile from shore, with 2500 other people and most would rather be alone! The more the less merry. I have done dozens of group open water swim starts, mostly mixing it up with the front of the pack. For this Ironman, however, my plan was was to be the last person in the water, swim to the right of the buoy's, and take my time. The goal was about a 1:14, which is around 10 minutes slower than my typical efforts. My plan called for me to stay very relaxed on the swim and support the plan for my bike and run.

Here we all go! The canon booms, my lips gently touch Sheila's one last time, and off to the waters edge I trod. The orca size eight wetsuit snuggled from neck to ankleswill yet again comfort me with the familiar benefit of buoyancy keeping me hoisted in the most efficient position as my freestyle stroke propels me from start to finish.

My casual saunter at the back of the swimmers gives me the opportunity to view the pack as each athlete transitions from vertical to horizontal at the start of their 2.4 mile entry ticket for Ironman Canada. I walk until the water encompasses both legs up to my hips where I pause, take a relieving pee, and then with a few more steps I tuck my head between raised arms and dive in to feel the water glide from head to toe. The plan is to stay about 5 meters on the right of the buoy line along the first leg of the swim. Most swimmers stay to the left of the buoy. The rules only specify that swimmers take each turn buoy on the right shoulder, it really does not matter what side of the buoys we swim on between turn buoys.

I start my rotation of 10 breaths, sight for direction, adjust and repeat plan. The rhythm it induces relaxes my mind and reminds my body of the training investment for the task at hand. Each cycle of breath-sight-adjust is smooth and without drama. Within 200 yards of the first turn buoy I begin slightly angling toward the left of the boat that marks the first right hand turn. Like driving up an on-ramp to enter rush hour traffic, I surge into the flow of racers and enforce my will upon the group to ensure the movement around the buoy is as swift as possible. I bump, I stall, I shuck and jibe but the craziness is done in less than a minute and I take up my breath-sight-adjust rhythm towards the next turn buoy a mere 400 yards away that will send us all back towards shore.

The trip back to shore is not much different that the outward bound experience. I release my focus on action and let the stroke and rhythmic breathing lead my mind from buoy to buoy. As I pass the first marker, I notice a kayaker to my right that is pacing my movement back towards the beach. She becomes my sighting marker. Her position is just to the right of the buoy line, and she does not waver. I roll over once with a backstroke to see who is behind me and notice 4 swimmers in tight formation tagging along my clean water path. No worries, my stroke is comfortable and clean of thought so I accept the drafting company tight on my heals. I roll back into my freestyle, take a glance to my right, and feel confident of my course as my nameless kayak guide is right where I knew she would be. I feel great about my progress on Ironman #6.

Each buoy comes and goes at the pace of my plan. I get closer and closer to the hotel skyline where the swim ends and the days true physical effort begins. 1000 yards, 800-600-400-200-100 yards, the bottom of the lake comes into focus and I know the swim is almost over. I pause amidst the effort, thank my silent kayak guide for the company, and then take another dozen or so strokes to bring me arm deep water in Lake Okanagan. I tuck my knees, touch a foot down, pair it with my other, and push up as I lift my head. Scott Bergman, Kris Besley, and I all exit at each others shoulders, which is pretty cool considering we all started at different points along the mass of swimmers over 70 minutes earlier. We share congrats for a well done swim and then head towards the finish archway. Before crossing the swim exit, I look for Sheila, who I know will be somewhere near the exit. I find her smile knowing that a rejuvenating kiss awaits my swim weary mind and body. A quick touch of lips, and I am off the sand, touch the grass and the clock records my time just under 1 hour and fifteen minutes.

I pick two volunteers standing away from the mainstream of the swim exodus to get my wetsuit quickly pulled off. Down to the ground, lift the legs, off comes the suit, and up from the ground I come, and gently pointed in the direction of my swim to bike transition bag. All is well thus far. The weather is cool, the sky partly cloudy, and 112 miles await my spinning legs.

The 6th Incarnation

2007-09-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

Ironman is within me, encourages me, and surrounds me. It is who I have always been, what I am, and who I have yet to become. The 2.4 mile swim simply anoints me with the right to meet the challenges of a 112 mile bicycle odyssey. A physical, emotional and visual stimulation that calls for moment by moment awareness and appreciation for every breath my body uses. The controlled burn enters my being as mile 114.4 invites me to swap spinning for striding. The emotional tide of covering 140 miles on sheer physical energy commutes to a tidal wave for the final 6/10ths of a mile as Sheila joins me and we drive toward a simple arch in the middle of an otherwise nondescript road that has been transformed for the moment we hear, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!

Today it all happens in my mind with the rhythm and imagery of the previous paragraph. The truth to the poetry, however, is in the months of training culminating with the minute by minute management of energy output, nutritional intake, and mental fortitude. The finish line does not come easy for anyone who crosses the line within the allotted 17 hours. August 26th, 2007 was challenging at times yet each moment is imprinted with intrinsic rewards. I dedicate this, my sixth Ironman race report, to Sheila for her unwavering support and love for that which is Iron within me.

The journey for me always starts when the decision is made to take on another Ironman. For the IMC-2007, my day for inner promises was a mere 24 hours after IMC-2006, or about 12 hours after this finish line cheering shot was taken!

Embed...Empower...Encompass...

I scooted from a breakfast buffet with the 2006 Ironteam for a mere 20 minutes to get my voucher for registration. The date was set, so from that day to race day 2007 I was yet again "in training" for another Ironman.

Well, each month from the voucher morning, till race day morning included swimming, biking, running, strength training, sleeping, eating, and prioritizing work with social obligations. All the while knowing that each moment is at least partially dedicated to one day of putting it all together between two randomly drawn lines in the town of Penticton, British Columbia, Canada!

THE NUMBERS
2,500 other trainees got in the water and prepared to cross one line in an attempt to make it to another line within 17 hours if we were to hang our hats on the title Ironman. So, before I go into the details of the day for each leg, here are the numbers from the day:
Wakeup-3:00am
Breakfast-3:30am
Walk and sip-4:00-5:00am
Head to the venue-5:00am
Starting gun goes BOOM-7:00am
Sheila and I cross the finish line-7:40:44pm
NAME:WAYNE SPAULDING, BIB NUMBER:1148, AGE:42
PLEASANT HILL CA USA
SWIM-1:12:45, BIKE-6:27:13, RUN-4:51:56, OVERALL-12:40:44, POSITION-1171
T1-SWIM-TO-BIKE: 4:24
T2-BIKE-TO-RUN: 4:26
Total calories burned for the day-7,855
Total calories taken in for the day-2,375
Total mg of electrolytes for the day-12,400
Total fluid ounces of water for the day-375, that is just under 3 gallons!
Weight started-215 (with clothes), Weight ended-207 (with clothes)

So there are the numbers, and here is the result just after Sheila and I crossed the line. A great day, with loads more gained in the wisdom column. More pictures and leg by leg details to follow!

Strictly by the numbers

2007-09-04T22:09:00.000-07:00

Well, IMC 2007 is in the books. A race report is in the works, but until then here are the details of the outcome in time.

Subaru Ironman Canada 2007 Results

OVERALL PLACE 1171
TOTAL TIME 12:40:44
RACE DIVISION M40-44 226 of 393
SWIM TIME 1:12:45
T1 4:25
BIKE TIME 6:27:14
T2 4:26
RUN TIME 4:51:56

More to follow, including pics and some video!

From the ashes

2007-08-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

Reintroduced as a popular icon during the movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, the Phoenix is best known for its ability to learn, grow and then erupt into flames prior to becoming a pile ashes. It then will reemerge a young Phoenix with new opportunity and energies for more growth and accumulation of wisdom.

As the X-8 titled update a few weeks ago denoted, my inner Phoenix has been amidst the fizzling pile of ashes stage. From the ashes, emerges a new young spirited Phoenix ready for exhilarating challenges, unknown opportunities, and most importantly the interaction with a team of professionals that I can build a long term relationship with. The same clues apply as to what this is from the X-8 update, only now the situation is concrete.

20/20 hindsight now displays that which the moments of life I have been stringing together most recently did not; I was simply meant to be amongst the ashes of past experiences mulling over my strengths, weaknesses, and how they will allow me to shape my future from today forward.

Now, the Phoenix rises, to the next level of experience. We shall call this new level, community.

Peaks and Valleys

2007-07-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

Tour of the California Alps...aka The Death Ride.

My feet moved effortlessly on a misted beach. The soft sunlight suggested a pre dawn hour and an occasional soft mumbling of voices just out of earshot meant others enjoyed the serenity of this site. A low hum from behind me indicated a road not too far away, but the noise was intermittent, indicating light traffic in the early morning hours.

As I put one step in front of the other, with cool sand migrating between my toes, I felt a twang in my back that caused me hesitation, followed by a gentle stretch. The movement only heightened the irritation. I lifted my hands to the dark sky as another noise, closer than the others caught my attention. It was a mobile phone, somewhere off in the distance, but the ringing was getting closer. Closer still, but no owner emerged from the lifting fog.

Then, as if pulled from a gentle dream...I was pulled from a gentle dream to realize it was my cell phone alerting me to the time. 4:30 AM, and I was not on a beach, listening to softly spoken voices but instead resting on a thermarest pad under a sleeping bag in a tent on the side of the road. The voices were cyclists already gobbling up the miles in the early morning darkness. The Whirring tires and occasional gear changing mingled with my subconscious dream state making for quite a nice image in my mind, right up till my sprint phone blabbed at me that it was my time for joining in on the fun known as:

Miles, altitude, elevation gain & loss, passes, time, water, pb&j sandwiches, cookies, sweat, chammy butter, blackened toes, etc etc. All was waiting for me as I conjured up the desire to get back on that now distant beach and just wait for the fog to lift and the warm sun to greet me. Nadda. Time to ride.

I rolled off the mat, and then realized why my dream included a sore back. My back froze with the first attempt to sit up in the tent. I do mean froze. No bending, no moving, nothing.I had just slept on the ground, albeit under a beautiful cloudless starlit night, but still the ground for the past 7 hours. No wonder a smile was millions of miles away as I thought about a 5 inch wide slab of leather that my butt would know for at least 11 hours over 15,000 feet of mountains above 6,000 feet of elevation. Nice. How can I ride with a back that has just frozen me in a hunched over caveman position.

In spite of the back pain, the Carson River Resort is a friendly little diversion from the road that leads from Nevada to South Lake Tahoe, over Monitor Pass.

More movement, a little gentle stretching in the tent, and then I could at least get up and walk around, again still bent over. I was still in no way confident that I could ride 129 miles, let alone over 5 category 1 passes. Oh well, the band was booked, the stage was set, so I might as well make my curtain call.

I muddled around for about 30 minutes eating a little something, unlocking the bikes from next to Paul's Taj Mahal, and getting dressed. Paul and Scott wandered out at about 5:00 AM, 30 minutes prior to our planned departure. I must have looked hilarious walking around like a hunchback, but they did not chuckle. They merely asked why I was bent over. After a thirty second anguished explanation they just stood there with understandable pity on their faces.

No time for excuses, 20 minutes and we were riding. We finished putting our clothes on, guessing that the warmth of the valley would extend up most of the climb and then the sun would take over to keep us toasty for the rest of the day. Nothing heavy was put on, nor taken. The most we decided to ride with were wind vests, arm warmers and some light gloves. More than we needed as we would later discover.

The departure point was a gravel strewn trail leading out from our evenings abode, so we gingerly walked our bikes to the pavement shoulder and then each in turn threw a leg over our rides and started pedaling. I was still hunched over, but the locked position of my back was close to the regular position I ride in. I at least thought I could make it to the first pass without too much fanfare. Time would tell, as this story will in days to come. For now I have to get back to some business at hand. Not that important business, more like busyness. Oh well, the story is etched forever in my minds eye, what's a few more days before it gets etched in cyberspace.

X-8, the phoenix rises

2007-07-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

Patience is a virtue. One that I have never really embraced to the fullest. The universe knows best that my intuition has tried to tell me wait and hold, wait and hold. Well, all too often I would ask my intuition, "wait and hold for what?" only to be told, "that," you silly Neanderthal.

Well, I believe this past 12 months have delivered to me a new kindred relationship with my intuitive patience. X-8 is becoming more than just a foggy sense of opportunity. Here is a little fun with the world on just what the phoenix rising might be.

I know, I know, what about the rest of the magical weekend. Well, as with any good soap opera. We shall get back to that in due time. What the heck anyway, I have a whole 5 weeks or so prior to the Ironman Canada adventure so might as well drag out the Death Ride magical weekend story a little bit more.

Whisper to a Scream, at 55mph.

2007-07-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

Well, Another descent video is complete. Check it out and have at me with your video editing critique. Loads of fun to climb then reap the rewards by speeding through the tall pines of high alpine pavement. I know I still have more to update on the grandeur of the overall weekend, but for now I shall leave you with more visual stimulation!

An epic weekend

2007-07-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

String together moments of our sensory perception and memories form. Most memories as we slog along day after day are lost to the monotony of our daily lives, but some input is striking. Some input is strung together with so much newness that it forms what I think of as an epic memory. This past weekend was an epic memory.

But before we get to that, this coming weekend will be the last before the world knows what happens to Harry, Ron, Hermoine and the rest of the characters that have indelibly become part of our literary hearts. I listed the countdown to the book sale here the week of 18 July, but now there is no need, so I removed it. Suffice it to say Sheila and I are trading the book back and forward as each daunting chapter is covered!

Back to the weekend, in a quick draft, journal mode for the sake of time, of which I don't have a lot of. I still want to get the grandeur of the weekend captured for all time.

Friday AM: woke up without an alarm clock. Snuggled, cuddled, and made some good love. Uhuh, that is a good way to start off a Friday. We followed it with Orange rolls and relaxing discussion about trivial stuff.

Friday Midday: headed off on the BMWGS650F with not much more than my wallet, some warm clothes, a few bottles of water and a camelbak for the ride.

Friday PM: cruised from Pleasant Hill to Markleeville CA via Rte 12, 88, 50, 207, and 89 with a warm sun, clear skies, minimal traffic and a light wind to escort my love for twisty mountain roads.

I stopped at the Paradise Cafe in Minden. I had a good sandwich with some rice to pump up the carbs in prep for my long day in the saddle on Saturday. I filled up with gas in Nevada, at $3.03 per gallon as opposed to $3.89/gallon in California. Nice. My ride up and over Monitor gave me some insight into what I would be experiencing the next day, except I would be powering the effort rather than the smooth 2 spark BMW that powered me up and over on Friday.

Paul, Scott and I were staying at the Carson River "Resort", loosely meaning a bunch of concrete slabs near the road across from the river. A place to park, set up a tent and get ready for our adventure on Saturday. Paul and Scott stayed in Paul's palatial palace, and since Scott's dog did not care much for me, I stayed in the tent. We had a little bite to eat, chatted about what the Death Ride might be like the following day, and then turned in for some shut eye at about 11pm. More of the EPIC weekend story when I next get a chance to jot down some thoughts and impressions.

A few more races for 2007

2007-06-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

Alcatraz and Tri 101 are now in the history books. Good events, good days, and great memories. More to follow from our experience at both venues. For now here are the finish line images.

A solid 2:36, faster than in 2007. Very happy and so is Sheila that we were able to spend another day with each other.

Here is my finish shot and fellow racer shot from the inaugural TRI ONE-O-ONE event in Clearlake a few weekends ago. It took me about 8 and 1/2 hours for the 1.8 mile swim, 80.6 mile bike and 18.6 mile run. Great venue, great organization, and first class experience through and through. HIGHLY recommend any triathlete to enter this event for 2008 so it becomes a stable on the calendar year after year. Long course distance in our backyard.

Here are the two of us pre race, great weather while at Clearlake too. We stayed with our good friends, the Shaws, while up there. Big thanks to them for their hospitality.

Finish shot, looking pretty fresh for almost 9 hours of aerobic effort in the sun and wind of Northern California.

Sleepless night on June 4th

2007-06-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

So, not a lot of interest, probably because we don't have a lot of viewership, but there was interest regarding the sleepless night.

The ingredients.

3 teenagers
1 video homework assignment
new hardware for project
new software for project
fellow teen advice that creating a movie with new Hardware/Software is E.A.S.Y

Move to execution mode:

9:30 PM, I get back from a 16 hour day and is asked to aid the troubled youth.
9:40 PM, I grumble over to the youths abode, a weakness of mine, since he is unable to turn down a call for help. It is my martyr way. A way that I have since aborted mainly due to this experience.
9:55 PM, realize that the software, hardware, and computer the group is trying to use to get the video imaging they need downloaded is all dicked up and in-compatible.
10:30 PM, after trying to make it all compatible, realize it is a loosing proposition and move to my house where I have movie making software to at least get their video into a format they can edit and finalize the product with.

Move forward to 1:30 AM: I realize that the video is going to take over 4 hours to convert to a usable format for the troubled procrastinating teenagers to use. So, I go downstairs to take care of some other projects while the teen angst effort drones along.

Sheila innocently comes down at 1:45 AM and asks a question of me while I am in the midst of a frustrating task with another inanimate object (lesson point coming) and the question invokes a response but the response further invokes a failure to complete the other task and ensures I must start the 20 minute process over again.

The sanity twine fails, the object of my effort is accelerated from standstill to mach one left and low from my seated position. It impacts with brilliant effect the window. Smash goes the object through the $350 window and plunks down unharmed. It is a Wayne proof object. Lesson point...Ask politely that someone not expect an answer for a few moments while wrapping up other tasks..

The sanity twine is still unraveled and now the physiological impact of the adrenaline rush takes full swing as the neanderthal drags my knuckles to the kitchen mumbling loudly how dicked up the situation is and how tired I am, blah, blah, blah. Should have just said NO to the call for help from the teens. 20/20 hindsight is always so easy.

The kitchen table gets a brutal shove trashing a few of Sheilas nice pottery pieces. Value, unknown, but it did get made up while away most recently at Half Moon Bay. Ultimate value-$1,245.00, way more than the price of the pottery...

Move your timeturner 3 hours later, 4:50 AM. Video download complete. I take the DVD over to the three SLEEPING teens, and they say thanks and move to their computer room for editing. I move back to the house, jump into my truck, head to BART and scoot into the city for a 7:00 AM appointment. Later that night, about 9:30 PM, I lie down with a broken window downstairs, a pissed off Sheila, and 48 hours of no sleep all due to the inability I used to have at saying NO, I just can't help out tonight. Martyrdom is no longer residing in me, and I am grateful for the lesson.

Most recently, I did get to send the object hurled at the window back for warranty replacement, not from damage incured while in-flight, but from the defect that was causing me the frustration to begin with before the neanderthal outbreak ocurred. Too funny. The Window is replaced, and all is well again in the Spaulding house.

As for the video; they turned it in, got their passing grade and are moving on, probably with more procrastination in their future. Should have let them fail. Better lesson for them, and more sleep for Sheila and I.

The Log+Teenagers+Homework=no sleep

2007-06-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

Just a few lines to validate that it was a good choice not to have children. I would long ago have lost most of my hair as my father has if I had chosen otherwise...

I should just buy one of these for nights like I experienced last evening. Drop us a comment if anyone wants a followup to this rather cryptic update.

Race One, UVAS 5-20-07

2007-05-29T08:28:00.001-07:00

Great day for sure. My training has been about 50% of last year given the new job, the lack of an early season Ironman, and just a general choice to go easier earlier since my Ironman this year is at the end of August. With that said, I was a mere 5 minutes slower at UVAS this year vs last year. Very content with my result, which is:

#731 Wayne Spaulding
age:42 gender:M Category placement 4th
Swim 00:21:01.0
T1 00:01:13.7
Bike 00:46:00.3
T2 00:00:56.2
Run 00:35:39.7
Finish 01:44:50.9

The swim was a new route, which is rare in triathlon, since the reservoir we swim in was almost 40 feet below normal levels. We did a counterclockwise triangle vs the historical circumnavigation of the peninsula. The water was just too far away from the shore to use the standard route. Made for a fun swim. Here is a shot of the start.

The bike was the standard time trial go till you blow effort. I blew about 1/2 mile from the finish. Just had nothing more in my cycling legs. I was about 1 minute slower this year than last, again I chalked that up to no long rides building up through the winter. I was still over 20 mph avg, which makes me content and confident in the computrainer development that I followed through the winter months. Here is a shot at about mile 3 on the bike. Feeling fresh and looking focused.

The 5 mile run was taken at a steady pace, and I was about 11 seconds per mile slower than last year. I did not finish as hard as I did last year given my competition was about 4 minutes in front of me, and the extra 11 seconds per mile would not have gotten me in front of them. I settled into a steady 7:00/mile effort and was very smooth in my new asic race flats. A whopping 10 ounces for the pair! Here are a few shots going out on the course...

...followed by a shot getting ready to head into the finish line chute. All zippered up and ready to cross the line!

Next on tap is Alcatraz. Coming fast, this weekend, the 3rd of June, to be exact! We start at 7:00 off the boat, which means a 3:00 AM wakeup, drive to the city by 4:45 AM, set up transition by 5:00 AM, and then to the boat by 6:00 AM. The boat departs at 6:15 for the ride out to the Rock. I figure my finish will be right around a 2:55 or so.

If you are interested in tracking me via text messaging, then just click on this link and accenture will sponsor your updates! Pretty cool indeed.
Track Wayne at Alcatraz!

BreakAway SF is up and Running!

2007-05-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

Well, time to put some reality to the vision. Here are some shots of our digs. Great shots indeed of the various angles and space that creates the excitement of BreakAway Performance.

This is an image of our computrainer studio. The state of the art 16 rider center allows not only group interaction, but also coach interaction to facilitate realtime improvements in cycling skills. No more, well it "looks" you could...Now we can say definitively what needs to be done, and immediately see the impact a change in technique solicits. Very useful indeed.

Here we have our strength and conditioning floor equipment, or at least a sampling of it. There is a total of 6,000 sq feet just for the conditioning of your body. This makes for wide open spaces to do drill work, cardio/strength activities on the fly as well as the standard free and dumbbell weight activities. We also have kettle bells coming onboard by the end of July. Why the wait? They aren't cheap and we want there to be users when the come in so the overhead is covered.

We are indeed more involved than just computrainers and fitness floor equipment though. We have invested heartily in pilates and a gyrotonic studio. Very effective tools to aid our clients in gaining strength and flexibility. We have a host of instructors that lead either individuals or small groups in classes. If you have an aversion to using weights, or just want a new way to feel great and learn about the movement of the body, then these tools are the best to aid you in your quest.

Lastly, we have a modest retail section to primarily meet the short term and emergency needs of our fitness professionals and clients, not to mention Joel's fetish for bicycle's and the sports associated gear. I have a tight finger on inventory though, as that does nothing but drain cash flow. The BreakAway race frame is very sharp indeed in its' white and fade to blue livery. Very sharp, and the frames will look great out on the road at races and training events.

Race Season is upon us!

2007-05-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

April was one of those months that has many days, but no time was made to simply put some thoughts into cyber space regarding what Sheila and I were doing with those days. Now we are already half way through May, so we figured it is time to update our journal as we jog through life, sometimes out of sync, but most of the time right in step!

Coaching, working, teaching, training, with the occasional break was pretty much what each day filled up with and before we knew it, April had come and gone.

So, coaching; We continued training athletes for races within Team in Training. This past weekend (May 4-6) was the Wildflower Festival, which many of our team members competed in the various races offered during the 3 day festival. Over 50 athletes to be exact. That leaves another 20 or so athletes who are still waiting to participate in their culminating event. The 20th of May is the Hono Triathlon, on the big island of HI. Good fun, lots to do every week. The season still goes for another 3 weeks, culminating with with Escape from Alcatraz, which I am taking part in with members of my team.

BreakAway is going gangbusters with the operational activities, hiring activities, client and professional solicitation, and all the little things that go along with a new organization. I pretty much spend 10 hours a week commuting, and another 52 or so hours per week at the Center. Some of those hours include training as I do get to lead the Tuesday and Thursday computrainer sessions.

Sheila's teaching has been going great. Her first year at her new school, Carmen Dragon, has settled into a bit of a routine, and her plans include returning there next year. She still has about another month of classes, and fun with her group. She has a few field trips, along with her open house later in the month.

My training has continued on par with the challenges that lie ahead. On the 20th is UVAS Reservoir Race, where my goal is another Clydesdale podium. Each year that gets a bit harder because the Clydesdale division has no age bracket, only weight. That means I race against 30 somethings that are the same weight as me, but possibly 10-15 years younger.

It is fun to unleash my own little GO FAST MONSTER and kick their ass from time to time. If nothing else, I start at the end, and get to pass loads of people in earlier waves.

Two weeks later I am participating with my team in what will be my eighth Escape From Alcatraz! Love the race, the challenge and of course the fun. Can't wait. Here we are post finish last year, and it was a great day for sure given the opportunity to race healthy and fast in a great city like San Francisco. Fun for sure. This year the boat leaves at 6:00 AM which makes for an early start to the day. No clydesdale division in this race for me, so that means a two week weight loss program prior to the adventure. Target weight is 190 for Alcatraz. 12 or so pounds lighter than what I will race UVAS at.

Moving on to the 10th of June, one week after Alcatraz is Tri OneOOne, a new event in the states. It is a 1.8 mile swim, 80 mile bike, and an 18 mile run. Should be a ball. The race venue is north of Pleasant hill by about ninety minutes. Clearlake is where we swim, and then we ride and run near it's cooling waters. Looking forward to the mid distance adventure. I am a clydesdale in this race, so I get to eat some donuts and icecream between Alcatraz and OneOOne!

Sheila will be cruising around on the motorcycle to keep me cheery on the bike and run. That too will be great.

After Tri OneOOne, we have quite a break before the culminating race of the season, Ironman Canada, in Penticton British Columbia. We already have our little cottage for a relaxing stay, and plane tickets to and from the adventure. I will use Tri Bike Transport to ship my bicycle. We will spend a week in the Penticton area, and look forward to the escape coupled with the challenge of the race. More to follow on this and all our adventures throughout the summer.

Sheila is a trooper through the entire race season, riding while I run, motorcycling while I ride, and helping keep me on track with moderating the FIVE things we all must prioritize daily; eating, sleeping, training, working, and socializing...

Be well world, Sheila and I are on track for continued long life and buku adventures.

Authority+Power-Intelligence=Oligarchy (TSA)

2007-03-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

Give me a break. I am a pretty mellow person when it comes to traveling through airports, well most of the time anyway. I know that security is a part of todays world, and that the greater good is held high by the perception of security through inspection.

But as my simple equation illustrates, when an agency is given authority and power, but has substandard expectations regarding the intelligence of it's ambassadors, we are left with Oligarchy. My simple explanation for the TSA.

I was traveling recently, put my electronic goods and metal items in a tub as per the instructions I have followed hundreds of times before. The TSA agent, we will call him Tubby, for the way he grabbed the tub, yanked the tub from my hands and attempted to thrust it into the x-ray machine. Well, his un-intelligent thrusting caused the Shure headphones that were nestled in the tub to dangle out and get caught on a protrusion on the side of the x-ray entrance. Needless to say the light duty wire did not take Tubby's handling and the headphone cable was ripped. I was already in and through the metal detector thanks to Shovey (the TSA agent herding us through prior to checking that our belongings were safe)but was waiting to inspect the potential damage on the exit of the x-ray machine.

Upon close inspection, well not that close as I could see the damage prior to picking up the headset, I noticed the tear in the left earphone plug. I asked for a supervisor and a complaint form. The simpleton immediately got irate and acted with power+authority-intelligence and proceeded to question my integrity by;
1) saying the damage was there prior to me sending it through the machine.
2) saying it was my fault the headphones fell out of the tub prior to him grabbing it forcefully from my hands.
3) saying I was a lier that the Shure E4G's that I have were not $300.00 headphones. Here is the link verifying that Tubby..you dick head. E4G PRICE! I even told him and his boss to go across the hallway to the inmotion store where I bought them to price them. What a dick head.
4) after eloquently telling him that the headphones were not from Target, but were 300 dollars, and I telling him that I did not like to be called a lier and I was simply looking for restitution for his negligence...He told me he would take me outside and show me some negligence. Verbal bodily threat. Dude, you are so toast. It might take me a year, maybe two, but I am going to pursue you with all the legal power I have and you will not be working for TSA or any other security agency when I am done.

Suffice it to say the shift manager was intelligent, in which case the equation does not equal oligarchy, but democracy. He provided me with the proper forms, helped me fill them out, and then told me the proper numbers to call for follow up with this case. It might be slow, but I can move glaciers with enough time.

Here is my current opinion of the typical TSA low IQ ispection agent...

X-rewind

2007-03-05T07:07:00.000-08:00

February was a festive, exciting, busy, engaging, willful, insightful, sharing, frustrating, and trail blazing month for Sheila and I.

First off, the X-factor project list has ended at X-7. For those of you who this means nothing too, I will fill you in:
X-1 involved the conversion from Bandag to BreakAway Performance.
X-2 involved the investigation and pursuit of a position within the City of Pleasant Hill, corresponding to the same time line that I was being courted by BreakAway.
X-3 involved TNT approaching me to become their version of an UBER coach in the Northern Bay area, a coordinating coach to facilitate the growth and success of the organization from a coaching standpoint.
X-4 involved the opportunity to really pull tent stakes and move abroad in support of our government. A return to similar footings when I was a Cpt in the Army.
X-5 was a whimsical foray, investigative only, into snotblow.com. Don't ask.
X-6 egaged my psyche into the realm of returning to corporate America. As if the unbrella there is any less risky given the state of our nations disregard and disrespect for anyone other than the CEO regarding financial security. Cutbacks? No problem just cut benefits. Foreign competition? No problem just cut back on the sales force. Bottom line, there is no security in any job, other than that which I create for myself and Sheila.
X-7 was the ego boost I needed to unleash the true potential for movement forward that started last August when I departed Bandag. I was offered a senior level position at USA Triathlon. The pay was substantial enough above the BreakAway journey that I am on now to take a look at. The ultimate decision to not accept the position was based on things other than pay, which brings me right back to ground level, and project X-1, where I am very happy to say my hat will rest in success.

Bottom line our pro and con list for moving has so many pros for staying in the Bay area that we just don't want to investigate further X projects. Will we sit on our haunches and be submissive? No, but as Sheryl Crow sings in her song Soak up the Sun, "Its not having what you want, but wanting what you have."

The end.

PS, Last week, on the 1st of March I became a former Ducati owner. I sold my 916 to a former Marine, who is going to love her just as Sheila and I did for over 7 years. With that, we are now the new proud owners of a GS650 Dakar! Check out the pic!

Family-Dinner-cable car ride

2007-02-04T10:38:00.000-08:00

Work, coaching, and our personal schedule of togetherness has meant minimal updates in our virtual journal.

Here is quick one. First off we spent a great weekend late in January with my brother and his family. It was the first time we got to spend time with Lizzy, our newest niece, and only the second time we have seen Emy since her birth over 9 years ago. We treated them to a late Christmas, which went over very well. The time in Tahoe was spent in a relaxed atmosphere at the Grand Residence Lodge. A wonderful resort right on the strip, at the base of the Heavenly gondola. Here is a link to that location in case you too would like to visit and feel the energy of mountains and clean air.
Grand Residence Inn, Lake Tahoe

Next we worked, coached, and spent more time together. Some dinner with my current boss at a great restaurant called Frascati. The service, food, and atmosphere was five star. We started with a well prepared bread salad, some steak tartare, a cheese plate and a very tasty white wine. For dinner Sheila had a moist, succulant port chop with some very well prepared potatoes. I had a great smoked cod served over scalloped potatoes. For dessert we had some chocolate bread pudding and apple crisp. Great dinner, great company, and a memorable evening.

From dinner, our adventure of firsts continued. Believe it or not we have spent over nine years in the bay area and never rode on the Cable Car system. So, given the opportunity, we waited for our ride, and jumped on the cable car for our first San Francisco treat! It was about 10:30 pm so the car was empty and we got to roll right to our waiting BART train at the Powell street exit. Good fun rolling up and down the streets of the city.

Well, on another front, I am up to project x-7 or 8 or something like that. Project X-2 is going well, and I see it continuing well for sometime, just might not be proceeding with me. The latest project has the potential for more involvement with coaching, so we shall update this guide of our lives as time allows.

One cool short term development I will engage in soon is a Rhino Liner for my Tundra. Nice addition to the fun truck I have.

Rockin towards Alcatraz and a cure

2007-01-11T07:41:00.000-08:00

Well, 2007 is upon us and with that another opportunity for a tax deduction. No big change on the method, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, #8 for the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, and another fabulous season of coaching team in training athletes. Quick update just to post the fundraising link, so with that, have a great January and check back often for updates regarding the team and my progress.
Wayne's 2007 Alcatraz Fundraising endeavor

Our National Capital

2006-12-26T20:22:00.000-08:00

Sheila and I have spent the past 4 days in Maryland and Washington D.C. It has been a fun filled holiday with family and we have a few pictures to post. The family holiday pics will follow, but here are some shots of day one from our two day whirlwind tour of D.C.

We drove into the Capital from the north via I-95/495 along New York Avenue and parked at Union Square. From there we walked towards the capital building where we clicked this shot. You can't see if from this pic but the security is incredible in and around the areas that our nationally elected officials work, which makes the reality of our current world situation even more apparent.

From the capital building we headed to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Cool stuff, but it is much smaller than I remember from my visit as a youth over 30 years ago. Funny how contrasting in size the world appears when the wisdom and experience of age sits down next to the memories of youth. Here is Sheila hanging out by the prop that was once attached to the very first Wright brothers plane.

We also got in front of a camera that displayed its data onto a screen based on heat signatures. Sheila and I are HOT HOT HOT!!! Notice the blacked out aspects of my eyes given the coverage of my glasses. We were also very bundled up from the chill of wandering around DC, thus the low levels of heat signatures from our bodies.

We headed to the International Spy Museum after the Air and Space visit, but there were no pictures allowed in there so the only image we have is from their website. Cool stuff, but a little too tedious for my attention span so late in the afternoon. On a scale of 1-10, I would give a 4 for visits that are limited to 3 days or less in the D.C. area.

From the spy show we stopped at Starbucks for some sustenance. Some hot chocolate, a few muffins, and we were ready to head back to Union Station and our moonlit tour of the DC memorials.

Mr Holiday from Old Town Trolley was our tour guide and it was scheduled to depart at 6:30 PM. The plan was 3 stops, and about 2 1/2 hours of adventure under the crisp, breezy DC stars. We saw the loads of emotionally stirring sights, but these images capture the essence of those emotions best. Each of the memorials has to be seen to really appreciate the grandeur of their design, but here are some shots that hopefully transvey some of their majesty.

The Lincoln Memorial

The Marine Corps Memorial. This picture belies the fact that these soldiers are seven and one half times the size of the soldiers they immitate. It is truly larger than life, and it looks down over the Potomac river towards the capital. The wind carried the flag on a picturesque route with each gust that passed the Memorial.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was our next stop. Here is the wall of names and Sheila walking towards a Christmas Tree that is right at the central point of the wall.

This is a shot (rather blurry) of the frozen moment that has come to symbolize the Vietnam war. The three soldiers face the wall of names.

Here is a faint picture of the memorial Sheila and I were most impressed with, the Korean War Memorial. The display sits off to the side of the capital mall, with the Lincoln Memorial on its shoulder. The darkness of the site lends itself to an eerie feeling that the statues want to tell their tales from the soldiers who went through the challenges of the Korean War.

After this stop we drove past the WWII memorial, and then back to Union Station and the end of our evening tour. Our car was right where we left it, so we grabbed another round from Starbucks and headed back to home base, 45 minutes northeast of D.C. Tomorrow it is more of D.C. with the Natural History museum, and a walking tour of the Capital. G'night and happy holidays to our faithful few who actually catch our blog updates from time to time.

No cobwebs in the closet

2006-12-18T16:35:00.000-08:00

Well, I am sure for those who read this the whole Project "X" stuff has been a bit of a bother given the lack of details. Well, I ask that all 7 of you, maybe 8 if I count my mom, prepare yourself for a new wave of information! Yes indeed, here is a link that takes you to the new, working, and much more savy web page of Project "X", BreakAway Performance Center. Please send your comments, especially critical ones, as this is our major portal of marketing for the fitness professional and fitness client alike.

BreakAwaySF

Go till you blow, snot-blow that is...more to follow on that little comment too. We shall call that um, Project "X-4" or are we up to 5 by now. Hell I don't remember, it's another "X" and it's a good one...

New Digs

2006-12-07T08:44:00.000-08:00

Well, the cat has been scratching and howling to get out of the bag.

"Key leader resigns, Bandag opts for sale to Bridgstone for 1.05 billion dollars!"

Looks like they just couldn't take my departure. Just like Carlos Gohn's departure from Michelin to Renault, I too had to take my personality and drive to other ventures. BreakAway Performance is where I have decided to write the next chapter of my life story.

More to follow, but we are a team of fitness professionals focused on aiding people from all walks of life realize their true potential for a healthy lifestyle. Joel is the President, I am the operations manager, Cheryl is the project manager, and Dena is our office manager. Together we support all types of fitness professionals in the quest to meet their clients needs. Chiropractors, massage therapists, personal trainers, strength and conditioning specialists, nutritionists, etc. can all find a home at BreakAway Performance. Good fun, and good karma is free, the professionals only pay for renting our space. Find out more at www.breakawaysf.com. Oh, and the website is in its infancy so check back often for the porsche model to soon creep out from the IT garage!

150 Columbus Ave
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-788-4778
wayne@breakawaysf.com

Words for Thought

2006-11-10T09:51:00.000-08:00

Friday, November 10, 2006

A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.
Will Durant

It is with a word as with an arrow - once let loose it does not return.
Unknown

Never argue with a fool. Listeners can't tell which is which.
Unknown

In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.
Franklin D Roosevelt

Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.
William Butler Yeats

Keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final.
Roger Babson

The most important things in life aren't things.
Anthony J. D'Angelo

Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.
Abraham Lincoln

It is better to rise from life as from a banquet - neither thristy nor drunken.
Aristotle

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
Thomas Jefferson

Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.
Theodore Roosevelt

Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty.
Plato

He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.
Elbert Hubbard

He who considers his work beneath him will be above doing it well.
Alexander Chase

A false friend and a shadow attend only while the sun shines.
Benjamin Franklin

Silence is not always tact and it is tact that is golden not silence.
Samuel Butler

Behavior is a mirror in which every one displays his own image.
Goethe

The faults of the burglar are the qualities of the financier.
George Bernard Shaw

Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy.
Jaques Maritain

The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.
Henry Kissinger

Be wary of the man who urges an action in which he himself incurs no risk.
Joaquin Setanti

Character is power.
Booker T Washington

The greater wealth, the thicker the dirt.
John Kenneth Galbraith

There are no ugly loves nor handsome prisons.
Benjamin Franklin

Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it.
Benjamin Franklin

Losers visualize the penalties of failure; winners visualize the rewards of success.
William S. Gilbert

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Of course I'm ambitious. What's wrong with that? Otherwise you sleep all day.
Ringo Starr

A Little test

2006-11-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

As I move more and more through my X-Plans, I am discovering the vastness of what can be done with the internet as a communication and information source tied to endeavors. Here is a link that will take you to a spreadsheet stored in google-spreadsheets for the 2007 multisport races in Northern California. I will also put this link into the link portion on the sidebar. I have amassed loads of information over the years of coaching and want some way to share it without sending emails back and forward through cyberspace. Let's see how it works!
MultiSport Races for 2007

Marinating

2006-10-28T13:39:00.000-07:00

The great Ron-Stoppable is my recent advisor on philosophical matters. According to Ron, I have not been unemployed, I am not in the midst of a mid life crisis, and I am by no means done exploring the adventure life has to offer. I am simply marinating. My marination advisor, best friend, and sometimes fellow marinator is Sheila. Well, that's all for today, just wanted to get that out. Now back to marinating. Ciao.

Project X-Blog Direction-Where we are & Where we are going

2006-10-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Project X
The project is moving forward and as of November 6th, project X will be initiated in first gear. The activities will be quick and meaningful as I move through the second, third, fourth and possibly even touch fifth gear come the end of January 2006. What is project X & why the motorcycle gearing comparison? The what is yet to be divulged. The reason for the metaphor is because I like motorcycles and it is more fun than the typical crawl-walk-run comparison. By the way, there are six gears in my metaphor and sixth gear is reserved for confirmation that the straight has the potential to be long and smooth. We shall see about using sixth gear upon spending time in fifth gear.

Direction
With all the philosophical meanderings I have been exploring I thought it might be useful, at least in the short term, to just let the sleeping cusp snooze. Cusp? Ahh yes, that is what Sheila tells me I am in the world of astrology and thus my torn nature from time to time as to which instinct is right to follow. I was born a bit before six AM on March 20th. That means I am sometimes a poetic pisces and other times a short tempered aries. Symbiosis is the direction I am attempting to practice. Philosophy just sheds light on the different aspects of my inner self. So, the direction will be less "directed" and more observed and managed day to day. More fun and less stressful.

Where we are & Where we are going
Wherever you go, there you are. That is the general mantra of each day. I plan on incorporating more details of my coaching knowledge in coming weeks, especially given Project X. The sharing of knowledge is something I believe betters those who pursue like interests. If more than just an awareness of the knowledge is desired, that is where I come in, as the teacher of knowledge application, i.e. coaching.

Next installment will be an update on my first gear in Project X. Oh, there is a project X-4 in the works. Since X-2 did not pan out, and X-3 is in the works, we have labeled the next possible adventure as X-4. Fun fun fun!

Patriotism

2006-10-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

Many meanings to many different people. Your personal interpretation of what Patriotism embodies is just that, yours. Mine relates to the connection with and belief in that freedom is not free, that sacrifice is part of liberty and justice is only for one and all when those it protects respect those who fight for those rights. I can relate to the group who can be found at this link:
Patriot Guard Riders

Gems and those I mined them from...

2006-10-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

Today I enter into the fringes of plagerism, but do so with no claim to the origins of the quotes at all. I will provide the author's name, his titled work I am quoting from, and my full endorsement to any and all regarding the purchase of their works. This is my way of putting a framework around what has so often seemed like random blurbs of insight into myself and the world around me. So here goes, author number one is a new find. I was put upon his ingenious insights by my neighbor and friend Linda. I have only read one of his works, entitled "Crossing the Unknown Sea, Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity" His name is David Whyte and his bestselling predecessor to this book is The Heart Aroused.

The gems I have mined from his Pilgrimage work are threefold:

1) Listen to your heart and gut regarding what you truly love to do. The quote I will illustrate this thread with comes from page 13,"At its simplist, good work is work that makes sense, and that grants sense and meaning to the one who is doing it and to those affected by it."

2) Next in my line of gems is that the journey through life need not always be understood by anyone other than the adventurer. No need to keep up with or even worry about the Jones. This quote comes from page 136,"If the goal is real and intensely personal, as it should be, others naturally should not be able to understand it the first time it finds its own voice."

3) The last gem from David is that which centers around my instinctual awareness of me time each day must start with. He has given me insight into the regularity of this much needed start to each effort we call a days work. On page 198 David says this,"Without a personal sense of investigation that a silent, spacious beginning to the day can give, we feel besieged from the beginning by everything and everyone in the office or the organization that seems to stand between ourselves and everything we have to do."

Next I will share some personally mined gems from a longtime favorite of mine, Ken Wilber's, A Brief History of Everything. Many consider him one of the greatest modern day systemic philosophers. I quite agree with my own humble ability to integrate his thinking into my life. Here are three gems from this one of many works he has dedicated his life to producing.

1) Education is key in the betterment of self and the world around us. This is especially true as we move through the epochs of evolution in the way our society lives, works, and interacts across a global community. Ken reinforces this awareness I have on page 56,"Ignorance backed by primal or tribal technology is capable of inflicting limited damage. But the same ignorance backed by industry is capable of killing the entire world."

2) On page 130 Ken is in the midst of discussing the shortfalls of systems theory. His analysis covers about 5 pages, but I like this excerpt for its "in your face" obviousness toward the need for looking beyond the material nature of the world around us. Gem two from Ken; And if you think the great it-domain is the only reality, then you will maintain that all values and all virtues are merely subjective. That is, they are personal choices not anchored in any sort of substantive reality. You will not see that depth is instrinsic to the Kosmos. You will not see that value is intrinsic to the Kosmos. You will not see that consciousness is intrinsic to the Kosmos.
All of that is lost, denied, erased from the shiny monochrome world that you now triumphantly inhabit. And once you have carefully scrubbed the Kosmos clean of consciousness and virtue and value, you should not be surprised if your own lifeworld starts to look completely hollow and empty. To complain about this state of affairs is like murdering your parents and then complaining you're an orphan."

3) Authenticism is key for the interaction between we humans to be meaningful. Ken talks about this awareness and importance of birthing our own authenticism on page 193. "The finite self is going to die; magic will not save it, mythic gods will not save it, rational science will not save it; and facing that cutting fact is part of becoming authentic. Coming to terms with one's mortality and one's finitude; this is part of finding one's own authentic being-in-the-world.

For today the last mountain where gems have been found was mined by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Now there is another favorite author of mine of the same last name, Lennard Zinn. But his mountain deals with bicycle maintenance, the good the bad and the ugly. Jon Kabat, however, authored a book entitled, Wherever You Go There You Are." A movie star, Peter Weller, spoke these words in his movie The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai which is another tangent one could divulge into from this thread, but for now lets get back to the three gems I have kept in my pocket from Jon Kabat-Zinn's book.

1) Jon's book is a laymans user guide to meditation. Not the zen like state one thinks about when the word meditation is spoken, but rather a tool we can mentally equip ourselves with to manage the day to day actions called living. From the introduction on page 16; "Meditation is simply about being yourself and knowing something about who that is."

2) Karma is sometimes spoken of as a balancing point between giving and receiving. Jon talks about something a little more concrete on page 162. "We resonate with one another's sorrows because we are interconnected. Being whole and simultaneously part of a larger whole, we can change the world simply by changing ourselves. If I become a center of love and kindness in this moment, then in a perhaps small but hardly insignificant way, the world now has a nucleus of love and kindess it lacked the moment before. This benefits me and it benefits others." Karma.

3) I now look forward to each challenge every day can afford me, but I do so on my terms, not on those terms that others may assign me. This last gem encapsules much of what I have transveyed here today. On page 211 Jon speaks my lingo regarding the prioritization of challenges in day to day life. "The mountain climb is a powerful metaphor for the life quest, the spiritual journey, the path of growth, transformation, and understanding. The arduous difficulties we encounter along the way embody the very challenges we need in order to stretch ourselves and thereby expand our boundaries. In the end, it is life itself which is the mountain, the teacher, serving us up perfect opportunities to do the inner work of growing in strength and wisdom. Ultimately it is the climb itself which is the adventure, not just standing at the top."

For those that actually peruse these pages, hope this was insightful in how many of the previous posts have come to be. The authors I have quoted from have numerous other works, and I am sure you could do a search for those other efforts.

Immortality...

2006-10-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I have arrived, I am immortal. My vessel of immortality is a bobble-head likeness of me. Ironteam's past and present somehow managed to keep a "going on sabbatical" party secret from me and part of the surprise party last night (Sep 30th) was the unveiling of bobble-head Wayne. What a wonderful, humbling, and extraordinary life memory last night was. I have a day++ of composing and sending out thank-you notes to those involved, those present, those who passed memorable little gifts to Sheila and I and to those that offered their hand or hug in thanks for my small part in their success related to Ironman and Team in Training. It was a magical evening, one that I am sure won't be repeatable in any way shape or form. So, without further adieu, here is the Immortal Wayne, and for $30.00, which includes shipping, you too can have one. ALL of the money for the sale of these go right to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. GO TEAM! Thanks...

Motionbased Link

2006-09-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to the data I have been downloading for the past year or so from my athletic activities. Cool website for the athlete with a little tech geek in 'em. http://actionmultisport.motionbased.com

Infineon Raceway 9-22-06

2006-09-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been over 18 months in the making. In the end it took nothing more than a firm acceptance to put off all other opportunities in life to spend a day at Infineon Raceway and play boy racer on a Ducati 916. What a blast. Thanks to Tom, Glen, Sebastian, Tony and Mike for befriending me both on and off the track and sharing their day. Pacific Track Time puts on a first class day so thanks to them as well. There were seven 20-30 minute sessions starting at 9AM and concluding at 5PM. All said and done I put just about 130 miles of race speed track time on my Ducati. My best time was a 1:57:32 which I am very pleased with given the lack of track time and road time I have had on my motorcycle. I think I put more miles on it Friday than I have in those 18 months it took me to get on the track. For a comparison, my Ducati is a 1998 916 and puts out about 110 horsepower. The current outright track record is held by Matt Maladin on a Suzuki 1000 which puts out about 175 HP and he ran a 1:36:019. The AFM (local club level racers) Formula Twins class winner runs in the 1:42:00 range on a 2005 Ducati 999 which puts out about 150 or so horse power. So, I am very happy with my sub 2:00 minute time with very little practice, street compound tires, and a pretty much stock Ducati.

Enough of the statistics. Here are some pictures of the day on track. First is a shot at the turn that most of the crashes happened. There were about six riders that fell, no one was hurt, other than egos. Here is track map so you can be familiar with the turns as I roll through the pics.

Back to turn 2. It is entered from an uphill turn 1 at over 100 mph. Two downshifts get me into second gear and the trick of turn two is stay close to the curb so the off camber nature of the corner does not bite ya. The exit is blind so a turn entry reference point is critical as is a little bit of trust in the grip of the tires. I never did take this corner as fast as I could have mainly because there was no trophy, no money, and no reason to go beyond my comfort level at managing the turn. Probably the best "E" ticket corner on the track because of the high speed entrance, the blind exit and the off camber nature of the road.

The next corner that I got some shots from is turn 3A. It too is a blind exit slightly off camber right hander but it comes at the rider a little slower since turn 3 is not as fast as turn 1 is. The exit is downhill out of 3A and a bit wider than the exit from 2 so that also helps.

Moving on, the photographer next placed himself at the second apex of turn 7. A fun, flat U turn connecting two fast portions of the track.

The straight leading into the turn gets me up to about 110 or so mph before easing onto the front brake and then downshifting twice. I take the turn wide and let it drift outside between the two apex's and then clip the curb on the second apex all while slowly cracking the throttle open through the turn.

This is an easy turn to drag the knee all the way through the corner. Helps to identify when the throttle can really be opened as the knee comes off the tarmac telling me the rear tire is ready to take more aggresive acceleration. Love the angles the gotbluemilk.com photographer captured.

From 7 I rocket down the part of the track that is fast and challenging, the S's. Here is a shot on the first right hander in the S's.

I run right over the yellow like just missing each curb edge to properly and quickly set up for the second left which is much tighter than the first left-right combination.

The second left is taken very quickly and the bike is leaned over sharply. It is important to stay on the gas and accelerate through the S's or the front end will start skipping from the downward force of deceleration, not a comfortable feeling. This shot is coming out of the second left-right combo and heading down towards 9 and 9A.

The last corner that will forever be etched in time through the eye of the photographer was turn 9A. It is a slow, second gear quick right and then left from the S's onto the right arcing turn 10 that leads to the hairpin turn 11 and back to do it all again.

I love coming down towards turn 9 and 9A at breakneck speed, squeezing the front brake, trailing it off as I push hard on the right bar to drop the Ducati into the first right hander and then wrestle over the seat locking my right knee onto the tank dragging the left knee on the curbing and cracking the throttle open to the edge of grip for the rear tire as I push my eyeballs back into their sockets with the acceleration. Cool feeling for sure.

So a successful track day, great fun, made some new friends and kept it on two wheels the whole time. Total expense for 130 or so miles was as follows: $290.00 for the track time, $35.00 for gas in the rented pickup and motorcycle, $101.73 for the rental truck, and about $35.00 of wear and tear on the motorcycle. All in all great bang for the buck!

Paint and X-3

2006-09-13T17:22:00.000-07:00

The profession of unemployment has many virtues. The most current virtue is the development of my artistic self, specifically my interior painting skills. The downstairs entrance room is now complete! Over 3 years in the making, and after about 4 gallons of Benjamin Moore paint the downstairs is done! Lets see, downstairs kitchen-livingroom-dining and bathroom painted. Upstairs we have the office, the two spare bedrooms and the bathroom are also complete. Still remaining are the hallway, master bedroom and the little nooks and crannies of the upstairs. About another 5 to 7 total days should see paint on all walls we want it on.

The second virtue I have continued to develop is patience. My patience has indeed uncovered X-3. It involves a lot of pieces integrated with a network of past efforts done for a worthy cause. More to follow as it becomes more than an idea.

For now, be well.

$#!^

2006-09-08T15:03:00.000-07:00

Found out that project X-2 will not be moving forward. Time to regroup, work some on X-1 and see how a possible X-3 could play a roll in the coming months. Political impact, historical experience shortfalls, and not being from the right professional background all aided in the X-2 failure. Not the first plan anyway, as it's name implies, so we continue efforts with X-1. More to follow, and one day the cryptic nature of my future plans will be divulged.

As my previous post highlighted, patience is my mantra, being in the now is my action plan, and knowing that all of me in the now with persistant patience will lead me to success!

I'm going to bed...

Early September Chillin'

2006-09-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

With time more flexible and thoughts more unstructured, I have been able to breed those thoughts with time and have given birth to insights into personal motivations historically mired in the mud of doing. So here is another birthing, pained by a lengthy gestation, but rewarding none the less for it's final appearance.

Hmmm, my incescent occupation with accomplishment coupled with the subsequent flow of rewards has precluded me from; one, using the goodies the rewards help accrue, and two, slow from the "doing" to actually just stop and smell the proverbial roses. Patience is clearly what I have lacked within the skill of living since I can remember. Remember what? Remember life before actions connected to other actions for yet more actions to execute, over and over.

It has taken 30 some odd years to appreciate the flighty foggy days in elementary school where I was productive, useful, and very content. I did not feel each action needed to have a connection point with the future. Memories form from connections, or so Scientific America purports. It would then figure that strong memories form from strong connections. I have no strong memories from my adolescense, other than contentment; an abstract but very comforting memory, one that I must thank my parents for. In spite of the typical family dysfunctions, my youth was very uneventful and truly full of contentment and love.

I am not sure when the conversion developed, but somewhere between elementary and high school I became convinced that actions ALWAYS required motivations, and more importantly present actions should have motivations that tie to future actions, and so on and so on blah blah blah. The "man" had grabbed me, but to this day I do not know how or even why. I was so content in the early fog, and have been so discontent since.

Sheila and I talk about happiness and initially my disatisfaction with doing-doing-doing and no non-doing (it's roots began over 10 years ago) was interpreted as unhappiness. Of late I have re-interpreted it as simple discontent. Not unhappiness. This is a grand realization in that for me I believe discontentment is much easier to change than unhappiness.

I have journeyed with many amidst the bumps of discontent. I appreciate all their rolls as I lay to rest discontent and ride a new wave of contentment; from the bullies of jr. high school, to the men and women I interacted with through high school and college, to the authors who began my movement to contentment. Ken Wilbur, Jon Kabat-Zihn, Sun Tzu, Patrick Lencioni, John C Maxwell, David Hackworth, Zig Ziggler, J.R.R Tolkien, David Whyte, Nicholas Bate, and quite a few others who have a gift with words that allow personal growth in a private setting.

Past friends and jobs have also lent their push to influence my arrival in the here and now. Brian, Steve, Bob, Ed, and Phil each had their roll, and now I see just how friendships tied to experiences form the path that we choose to move forward on. Like friends, camp counselor, machinist, salesman, leader, coach, and simple data processor all were titles within jobs that helped me arrive here and now, and find contentment.

This brings me full circle with this pontification, back to the word of the millenium, Patience. Patience in dealing with difficulty, patience in dealing with success, patience in dealing with everything allows me to shape the present, be aware of the present, and know in the here and now that the future will take care of itself. This probably seems so simple to anyone reading here and now, if anyone at all is reading this, but to me the future has always pressured the present; attempting to steal the here and now to maximize some future return. Some future that may, or may not..come to be realized.

I will no longer be discontent making present connections for some future end state. I will no longer be discontent because the present is not fulfilling some need for an unrealized future opportunity.

The future will happen because my psyche has given birth to an awareness between the here and now and contentment. I have managed to uncover the seedling that became discontent in my life due to historical connections between present actions for future success. More introspective research is in store as I am still unsure how or why I made those connections. Before I close on this entry, here is one author that I will use an excerpt from one of his works.

"Sooner or later a person begins to notice that everything that happens to him is perfect, relates directly to who he is, had to happen, was meant to happen, and plays its little role in fulfilling his destiny.

When he encounters difficulty, it no longer occurs to him to complain -- he has learned to expect nothing, has learned that loss and frustration are a part of life, and come at their proper time -- instead he asks, why is this happening? ... By which he means, what can I learn from this, how will it strengthen me, make me more aware? He lets himself relax and enjoy (and grow) when life is gentle to him.

Strengthened by this simple notion, simple awareness, that life is perfect, that all things come at the proper moment, and that he is always the perfect person for the situation he finds himself in, a person begins to feel more and more in tune with his inner nature, chance events appear to him to be intended; all intentional actions he clearly perceives as part of the workings of Chance. Anxiety seldom troubles him; he knows his death will come at its proper moment; he knows his actions are right and therefore whatever comes to pass as a result of them will be what is meant to happen.
When he does feel anxiety, he realizes it is because of that thing he has been meaning to do but hasn't done, some unfulfilled relationship he has been aware of, but... He perceives the anxiety as a message that he'll have to stop hesitating if he wants to stay high... He knows that he is out of tune because he has let himself get out of tune; and because he knows he can, he begins to take action. He enjoys his high life; does not enjoy anxiety; so he stops hesitating and does what he has to do.

He does not live in a state of bliss, though perhaps he feels himself moving towards one -- or toward something, he doesn't know what it is but it is the way he has to go, the journey towards it is the only life he enjoys. It is hard; it is exciting; it is satisfying; lonely, joyous, frustrating, puzzling, enlightening, real; it is his life, that's all. He accepts it.

Sooner or later a person begins to notice..."

-- taken from Das Energi, by Paul Williams

Until then, my diary for the early stages of Fall, 2006 are complete. Time to get back to the here and now, and contentment through patience because I have taken notice.

IMC, home, and now what?

2006-08-31T15:48:00.000-07:00

Here I sit enjoying time as it casually strolls by with the swaying of trees, arcing of the sun, and arrival of the daily mail. Everything has a rhythm to it's action and I plan on finding my rhythm again. For starters I am in the final phase of my project-x! Not sure what the end result will be but know that it will be 100% my choice how it unfolds. My days will be guided by my own hand, not one of money or status or prestige; but one of satisfaction that the effort put into the day helps to make the world I live in a little better than when the day started.

Ironman Canada was a rousing success for the team. In fact, IT2006 was a rousing success as a whole. Over 3/4's of a MILLION dollars have been raised. That is a boat load of research, patient care, and family support to help those afflicted with blood related cancers. We will find a cure, time is all we have as a challenger.

The only souvenir we came home with from Canada was a badge of honor; one that I have been holding off on getting since my first assault on Ironman in 1999. The time was right, the appointment was available, so with 5 stars beginning the inevitable circle, I have the badge, and the journey will continue as the stars accrue. Be well.

A week of Lasts

2006-08-20T22:09:00.000-07:00

No pics tonight. No real indepth stories of adventure or excitement. Just a reflective rumination of lasts.

A last week to do many things that have directed the experience called life since I was in high school.

Philosophy has always intrigued me; I find myself a living bundle of philosophical experiences. Since Jr. High School I have pursued a path laid out with beliefs fostered by society and parental influence, probably like all of us. The philosophical questions of what makes us (me) choose directions, and how those directions morph into lifestyle pursuits, career developments, and relationship passions all get raised when my mind has time to dwell on such things. For many years the questions have been logged, but not addressed.

The focused mental time I have spent since 1999 swimming, biking, and running within the sport of Triathlon has allowed me the self indulgence of inner conversations that are now manifesting themselves in life altering actions. Why has it taken so long for action to come from this introspection? Is this what America calls a mid life crisis? Is this the merging of wisdom, education and experience? Not sure on any of those counts, but it is fun and exciting for sure. This week will be remembered as a culmation of activities that are truly a week of lasts.

Many lasts occured this week, some too private for this public assimilation of consciousness but suffice it to say that I am only minimally bereft. Excitement abounds as Sheila and I embark on what will for sure become future success. I have no concerns on this concluding evening of my week of lasts. I leave today much as I did over 20 years ago when my college major sucked, my grades sucked, and my desire to listen to a boring calculus IV lecture was zero. Back then my week of lasts resulted in a premature departure from college to reasses my major along with the future I was building for myself. The experiences and good advice from my dad that grew from my twenty-something flight out of college helped me become who I am today; a successful leader, loving husband and passionate careerist desiring to live each day as selflessly yet successfully as possible given it is the only life I have been gifted to live.

I have a plan, and that plan is to take one day at a time for at least the next 30 days. Between now and then I have a team of athletes to watch become Ironmen and Ironwomen, a wife to help move into a new classroom, and a corporate sheath to shed. Fun, fun, FUN! No idea what the flow of information will look like in this blog, but time and creativity will undoubtably deliver.

Be well.

How about a little IRONMAN Entertainment!

2006-08-09T07:56:00.000-07:00

Hover and click your mouse on the link for your 9 minute dose of Ironman Germany in all it's glory! Enjoy and comment freely on our video production.

IRONMAN

Catching Up...

2006-08-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

We continued our trek through Italy for another 3 days, and we were so engaged with our travels that we did not get the chance for updates. Also challenging our day to day updates were internet connections. We stayed at a B&B in Florence so internet was restricted to cafe's which we did not choose to spend our time at. We have returned home since our last update, but not to worry, the memories are still fresh and the pictures immortalize our final days in Europe.

So, after our rest day we hit the road and headed SW through Balonge. No, not a huge piece of meat, but a semi industrious town in north central Italy. The focal point of the stop was to locate the Ducati Factory. We did indeed locate it as you can see in these pics, and we also saw the shadier side of Italy, hooker lane. As we turned left, and right, and rotated traffic circles we noticed a few gals rather hanging out of their clothes. Not until we saw about a dozen more did we realize it was too coincidental that all the gals were more out of their clothes than in. We have no evidence other than assuming they were hookers based on their nonchallant spaced out positioning along the roadway. Too funny. Well, we did a u-turn figuring the Ducati factory was not close by, and sure enough, the factory appeared like Brigadoon as we negotiated a few more corners away from hooker lane. Here it is, my personal motorcycle holy grail.

After realizing that Mondays are not good days to try and buy stuff at the Ducati store, it was closed, we headed to the local McDonalds for lunch prior to remounting the Italian Speedway (highway) for our journey to Florence. Here is the way our lunch providers decorate, pretty cool.

Back out to the Renault Modus and out-a-here...

The drive onward to Florence was greeted with a mountain highway route much like driving through Donner pass between Sacramento and Reno, NV. Beautiful through and through. Here is a shot from one of the roadside rest areas we stopped at.

Our arrival into Florence was greeted with spaghetti. Spaghetti roads that is. One ways, no lane markers, Italians that don't adhere to stop signs, bla-bla-bla. Bottom line it took us about an hour to go 9 miles across town after we got off the autobahn. Too funny. Sabrina was our hostess at the Hotel Ungherese. She speaks fluent english, and in company with her husband runs a very accomodating B&B. We stumbled upon their hotel through Rick Steves Italy guide. Great place to operate out of for touring Florence.

Sheila and I relaxed morning and evening on the back patio of the hotel. Very comfortable. Similar to the back yards of those found in most big cities. Small, but well decorated for relaxing.

After a restful nights sleep in a phone and tv-less room (by choice) we ate a quick breakfast and headed out determined to see the major sights of Florence before out time in Italy came to a close. A bus ride, followed by a short walk found us entering the city center and the start of our tour day. No guide today, just a book, our adventurous spirit, and enough money to shop, eat, and have fun!

Sabrina made us a noon reservation to tour the Academy art center so that meant we were able to do some touring prior to our viewing of Michael Angelo's David.

We wandered past the Duomo, along city streets that were 700 years old, and stood in doorways that predated anyone but Native Americans wandering around United States.

Of course the call of Ghelatto had to be answered, so we did in true style, not once, not twice, but three times as we meandered amongst the history of Florence.

This serving involved some great flavors as we wandered around the Piazza by the Duomo, which is the Florence equivelant of St Marks in Venice and St Peters in Rome. It is obvious that the devout want to see the inside since there was a 2 block line waiting as we licked and slurped our tasty treat.

Here is solo run on the Ghelatto as Sheila did some leather coat shopping. She came across Marco, who did a great job of selling her not one, but three beautiful hand made jackets each with their own purpose. The greatest part of the shopping gold strike was the on site custom tailoring she received as I slurped away on my melting treat.

Our last stop was just prior to crossing the Vechio bridge. Vechio is the last and oldest standing bridge across the Arno river thanks to the Nazi's and their handiwork during WWII.

Florence's first bridge was probably built in about 50BC, roughly where the ferry that had been used until then to cross the river was located. The bridge was made of wood, with stone pylons, and was located slightly upriver from the present Ponte Vecchio, in line with Via Roma and Via Calimala del Cardo Massimo.

In the II century AD, following the opening of the Cassia, the bridge was replaced by a stone bridge slightly downstream of the present Ponte Vecchio, though it still was in line with the present Via Guicciardini.
Though it was swept away many times it was always rebuilt, and remained the only link between the two banks of the Arno until 1218.

The position of the present bridge dates to the flood of 1178, which swept away the IX century bridge; during the same year many of the houses along the streets leading to the bridge burned. Faced with the prospect of rebuilding the bridge and the houses, the city government decided to build the bridge perpendicular to the course of the river.

The XII century bridge had five arches, and was half as wide as the present bridge.

It was swept away by the flood of 1333; Vasari says the present three-arched bridge was built by Taddeo Gaddi in 1345. The reconstruction was made possible by the rent from the shops opened on the bridge. There were originally 43, in wooden buildings that were subsequently replaced with stone ones arranged symmetrically around a small square in the middle of the bridge; the shops were occupied by butchers and greengrocers until 1495, when Archduke Ferdinand I ordered that jewelers and goldsmiths take their place. Here we are on a bridge just up from the Ponte Vechio which is over our shoulders in the shot.

We visited a small church off the beaten path that is reputed as the oldest in the region and had been commissioned by Charlamagne himself pre AD. A very modest church hidden on a narrow side road in a small piazza, the Santissimi Apostoli is a beautiful example of Romanesque history frozen in time.

Below is a shot of one particular perspective in Piazza Signoria, right next to the Ufizzi gallery. The Uffizi Gallery covers an area of about 8.000 sq.m. and contains one of the most important collections of art of all times, including classical sculpture and paintings on canvas and wood by 13th to 18th century Italian and foreign schools. The Gallery of the Uffizi was also the first museum ever to be opened to the public: in fact the Grand Duke granted permission to visit it on request from the year 1591. Its four centuries of history make the Uffizi Gallery the oldest museum in the world. Oh well, maybe next time. I had just as much fun eating Ghelatoo!

About ten hours had rolled by since we headed out so we headed back to the main plaza near the Duomo for dinner. Gavino delivered a wonderful meal of pasta, cheeses, breads, and of course a bottle of chianti.

Our day rounded out with a bit of excitement in a way that only Italy can provide. Jostling along on the bus, halfway back to our stop, the doors opened to let another group of people on and off. As I moved aside to let some folks off I felt a nudge that was closer than common for the typical "excuse me I am going by" sort of nudge. I instinctively put my hand down to my cargo pocket to protect my wallet and sure enough the little bastard had a hand in my pocket and was trying to slip my wallet into his ownership. I grabbed his hand with part fury and part astonishment and ripped it away from his target. The wallet again safe I headed into a tyrant of red faced hollaring to alert the whole bus as to the presence of a thief. He was dumbstruct unsure what to do now that the door had swung closed again. I kept my glare on him, as his eyes turned down and continued to keep a finger pointed at him as I threw more warnings around the crowded bus. Brits and others who spoke good english shared in my anger by telling the driver. The next stop was as if the fox got his tail shot off by the farmer in the hen coup. He was a slippery, short, well dressed shithead that missed his target but will live to strike another day. If it had not been for the bottle of chianti at dinner I daresay I would have broken his hand and allowed my clenched fist a little play time on his face. Oh well, in hindsight good karma rewarded us for my passive method of belittling the Italian mafia midget. We got out of Florence and back home safe and sound. The experience nothing more than a story of good fortune and sharp instincts.

After 20 hours comprising of a drive back to Venice and a subsequent flight to Frankfurt, Darren greeted us with a smile and his supertruck for a drive to Heidelberg. Our last two nights were spent at his place relaxing, repacking and enjoying each others company. We met Liz, his good friend, dined at some nice places and rounded out our stay with a bbque of brats, steaks and beer. We arose at a modest hour on our final day, jumped in a shuttle, and spent about 22 hours traveling back to our home in California.

All in all the best adventure we have been on yet. It is one thing to travel to and compete in an Ironman, but to tie it in with a truly grand run through a foreign country makes it tops for sure! Ciao until our next update.

Venice & a Tour De Spaulding Rest Day

2006-07-31T00:48:00.000-07:00

Well, the day after our arrival into the north east of Italy saw us head to Venice mid-day, shoot a bunch of pictures and do another forced road march style walking tour. It was nice, but by no means Rome. Maybe we were set up by the beauty of Rome, or the heat effected our ability to enjoy Venice or we just plain were too tired to see it for what it had to offer. Anyway, we did get loads of pics to reflect upon this part of the trip, but if I had to recommend Venice for visitors I would say pass on it unless you are absolutely set on the Lagoon in Italy. The shots below are of Sheila and I taking our water taxi ride from the bus depot to St. Marks Square,

Sheila and I wandering around St Marks Square in Venice,

A typical waterway when you look around any corner in Venice,

and finally the bus ride back to our hotel with the famed Ghellato!

The next day (Sunday) was a rest day, one that we celebrated with sleep, eating, and relaxing around the air conditioned hotel. Ciao...Off to Tuscany and Florence in the coming days to round out our Italian tour.

Dolce & Gabanna-Prada & Madonna

2006-07-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

Yes indeed, there are ancient places that the Romans displayed their wealth and there are modern places that Romans display their wealth. Via Condotti is that place in Rome. It's not the site of a modern coluseum, or a new fountain, or a revived church, it is simply the opportunity for excessive consumerism. Bulgari, Diore, Vuitton, Burberry, Versace, Ferragamo, Mont Blanc, Cartier, Gucci, and of course Prada-the list goes on and on. It goes on and on for about one cumulative mile of parallel and intersecting streets throughout the area called Spagna. This is where the Romans and world citizens alike can display their wealth in material acculumulation!

We are ahead of ourselves just a bit though. The morning started again at the buffet line where we fueled up for the day. Good fuel too, fruit, cereal, cheese, some delicate cuts of salami and ham, along with the typical fare of Italian breads and pastries. The plan for the day was drafted as we ate and watched people come and go for breakfast. Families, business people, couples, even individuals wander in grab some grub and head out on their missions for the day. Our plan developed along the lines of seeing the last site on our list, the Spanish Steps, and getting to the shopping district. Both of these targets are in the same square mile so the plan was deemed sound, and off we went.

The temperature since we arrived in Rome has been hot and the air heavy with humidity. 90 plus degrees by 10:00 Am with the humidity that of an African jungle. It makes for slow steady movement and lots of water intake. Availability of water is simple since there are fountains all over Rome that the millenium old aquaduct system still feeds with fresh spring water. We carry water bottles that were 3EU each when new and simply refill them with free water. Silly Americans are probably the reason the bottled water industry is in business here in Rome, otherwise there would be no market since we see all the locals just carrying water bottles and refilling them at will all over the city. On a similar note, it seems the Romans are accustomed to the heat. They apprear to sweat less even though they wear dresses and suits with ties. Mopeds zoom by all day and evening with folks dressed to the nines, helmet in place, and no sweat drips. Oh well, we are resigned to sweating and drinking, so be it.

11:30 and we were out of our hotel for another adventure. I was also focused on having more gellato, the cream of the gods as I have coined it. The equivelent, though by no means the same in taste and shear eating pleasure, of stateside icecream. It is heavenly, or sinfully good depending on your relative feelings about eating such foods. Closest in proximity to gellato is Cold Stone Creamery stuff. Never frozen, smooth, not too sweat nor to overrun with taste, just right. The big difference is the heft. Even Cold Stone has a certain heft to it's ice cream, a heft that makes you feel like you ate the cow that provided the milk to make the ice cream. Gellato is different. It is light AND creamy, something I am not sure how they do, but they do it well. So well that I partook of the gellato supply three times today. Once I had gellato on a stick, like a dove bar, but better. Second in the hopper was gellato in a large cone, creamy chocolate with swirls of fudge, and lastly I had a small bowl of it as an evening capper! MMmmmmm good. Well, back to our plan, shopping and the Spanish Steps.

We maneuvered our way down, up and along city streets as the map willed us along. A quick stop for some funding resupply rewarded us with a better rate than we got from our stateside bank. Cool. Further along our route we came across a cool shot of an arch that led into a small hall that opened up into a courtyard where a fountain could be seen from the street. I snapped a quick shot of it, looks pretty cool.

Our relatively short hike led us to the top of the Spanish steps, near the Church of Triniti dei Monti. The chapel and obelisk are both mostly obscured by scaffolding as they undergo repairs, but their imposing position overlooking the roman city is still impressive. The French own the land around the church, and the Spanish own the land beneath and around a wider aspect of the church. The French would walk through the Spanish square every day on their way to the church and thus named part of the area they passed through as the French Square. Not to be outdone, the Spanish decided to build huge steps, with miminal reference to the French, that lead right up to their border with the French plot of land, all on Roman soil remember. So, the Spanish steps were built, and today remain one of the many distinctively roman sites that the romans had nothing to do with that all tourists flock to every day. Go figure.

Here is Sheila walking down the steps with a begger near by. I did pass her a Euro. When I bent down to drop the money in her bucket I could see her hand, and it looked to be the hand of a 13 or 14 year old. Nice way to spend your day, bent over, waiting to make your play money for the upcoming weekend. Whatever it takes in the city of Romans I suppose. Got a Euro from me anyway.

The walk down the spanish steps is greeted with a full bore view of Via Condotti, remember, the one where wealth is absorbed by designer caches. Flocks of people roamed the street, neighboring streets and the fountain filled Piazza Di Spagna. The sounds, the images and the shear volume of people moving and interacting ensure any onlooker that this is Rome as only Rome can be, filled to overflow with tourists and natives alike. The sun is now at it's highest point in the sky so the pictures are pretty washed out with brightness, but the shots below are good depictions of the busy nature this and all areas in Rome incur during the height of the tourist season.

We mingle, refill our water bottles at the exquisite fountain and then head into credit card heaven. First and foremost we must stop at Prada. In, around, up the elevator and like a moth to the fire a pair of boots calls out Sheila's name. Thirty minutes later we emerge from the flames unscathed yet a little lighter in the pocket but laden with boots from Milan! Beautiful Prada for the princess. We do a little more looking up and down the streets but the mission of the day has been accomplished so we head back up the Spanish steps, past the church and back towards the Marriott. Here is a shot of the days accomplishment packaged nicely in a glossy white bag emblazoned with the Prada logo. Well done Sheila, well done.

Lunch is another wonderful affair for the taste buds. Capresse, wine, water, and pasta to appease the pallet and fill the gut. Mmmm good.

At about 5ish we jump into a taxi and head to the airport. Our own macho, yet in his 50's, driver hooted at every pair of hooters we drove past, stared with one eye at the gals just as well as he drove with the other eye, and had us to the airport in less than 30 minutes. Half the time we estimated, and with our E-Ticket taxi ride checked off the to do list we disembarked a bit frazzled but no less so than from a roller coaster at Disney! The worst part about getting to the airport 2 1/2 hours prior to our flight was no airconditioning in the facility. Hot, sticky and irritable is all I can say. The good part of getting there early was that they had booked us on the wrong flight so we needed to get a few things sorted out but that went well if not slow and then we were on our way to the departure gate. Another 90 minutes of hot stickiness finally saw us get on our Aerobus 310 heading NE to Venice. The flight was about an hour. An uneventful but long wait for our luggage at Marco Polo International led to the next mission which was securing a rental car which also went uneventfully.

We got a cute little 1.6 liter Modus. Cool car, very Italian. That pretty much led us to our bed and the end of another whirlwind day. Tomorrow the plan would be decided upon waking. Nothing but more sightseeing and with Venice a short 20 minute bus ride away there is little doubt that we will find our way there at some point during our waking hours. Ciao...

14 Miles In Roman Sandles

2006-07-28T03:01:00.000-07:00

We are actually on day 12 of our adventure now, but we were so occupied with our Vatican tour and subsequent hike that we did not get back to the room until midnight. We showered off the dust and sweat of the 15 hour jaunt and hit the sack. This morning we voraciously dined and now prepare to head out again for some shopping Rome style and then transfer to the airport for the continuation of our Italian trip into the NE of the country. I am sure we will get some time to update our journal more as we find some free time, but for now here are some shots of yesterday, day 11.

We toured the Vatican with Daphne as our private tour guide, which included the museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peters Basilica.

To gain entrance to the Sistine Chapel and St Peters Basilica the Catholics put you through a 12 EU fee each, so 36 EU for the three of us. They get about 1,000,000.00 EU each week just from folks like us, not including the private tours of the Sistine Chapel and St Peters that can run up to 6,000.00 EU each. That's some serious change for a church that says they are broke. One of the coolest parts of the maze that we walked through was The Hall of Maps. All along the walls are frescoes telling the history of Italy, from the beginning of time, the spread of the Roman Empire, and the unification of Italy. The ceiling is covered in frescoes telling bible stories that correspond to the map painted on the wall below it. Pretty cool stuff and all throughout the inventory of artwork, sculptures, tapestries, and frescos is mind numbing. Here are some different shots as we meandered through with the masses.

This sculpture is done by Bernini, the same one who did the Apollo and Daphne from the Berghese we visited a few days earlier. Another beautiful image pulled from the mind of an artist and transfered to marble. It depicts the death of the poor dude who knew that the Trojan horse had a bunch of greeks in it, but since the gods were in support of Greece they sent some nasty serpants to kill the guy and his sons. Pretty dramatic stuff here!

The Sistine Chapel, a rectangular hall with a barrel vault that gets its name from Pope Sixtus IV, contains the famous painting of Michelangelo from the creation of man to the last judgment. The paintings took nine years to complete in two sessions that were 25 years apart. It has been called "perhaps the greatest artistic achievement of all time." It was restored between 1981 and 1994 and the original bright colors are again visible. The paintings include those of the prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Zachariah, Isaiah, Daniel, and Jonah, interspersed with those of pagan prophetesses called sibyls. Daphne told us to resist temptation of looking up as you enter the chapel since the entrance is behind the pulpit at the front of the chapel. Michael Angelo wanted the viewer to first see his work from the front entrance. We therefore entered, kept our eyes straight forward and walked to the front of the Chapel. Upon getting to the door we turned, took a breath and slowly began to look up.

The walls, the arches, the ceiling are all breathtaking. Not pursuing my catholic roots much after the confirmation process has left me less than impressed with the way the catholics are running their program, but they did well in forcing Michael Angelo to put his artwork into this place. The impression of beauty and imagery from one mans artistic capacity is truly daunting.

From the Sistine Chapel we strolled along with the masses once more to St Peters Basilica. Another HUGE place that is almost to HUGE. It says, "we have a lot of money and power and want to make sure you know that, so come join our church or you are going straight to HELL." Oh well, does not make me want to renew my weekly tithing or head off to confession. It is pretty cool though knowing it took the catholics of the time over 100 years to get it done. Pretty indecisive bunch if you ask me. I don't feel so bad now about our debacle in the bay over the East Bay expansion of the bay bridge.

Back to the Basilica. The artwork inside is no less than extraordinary. Here is another one of Michaels works. This was hacked away at in the early 70's by a mad Hungarian artist jealous of Michaels status in the artistic community. The dude hacked at Mary's face and chipped away over a dozen pieces before he was cold cocked by a guard. They resurfaced it using molds that had been made. Now it is behind bullet proof glass and about 20 feet of baricades. A shame there are &*%holes in the world that ruin it for the sane.

Here we are enjoying the sights with the rest of the folks.

We then strolled up to the Piazza Girabaldi for an overview of Rome from one of it's seven hills. Hot, sticky and getting tired we forged on! The views were nice, but the sight of food and drink was nicer. We stopped for some cookies and gatorade and then headed back down to Rome level in search of the dinner place we were told to visit by Daphne. Here is a shot from the Piazza with the Forum way off in the distance.

We wandered down past the Spanish embassy, along city streets in the Trastavere section, which is know for it's Gypsy population. We then found our dinner sight but had to wait about forty minutes prior to dinner service starting. So, we did what any good stalwart tourist would do, we TOURED!

More sights on the surrounding area and then we finally were seated at 7:30 for some dinner. Robert was a our waiter, and he snapped a great shot of us as we drank wine, ate dinner and enjoyed the atmosphere of Rome.

Sheila picked up a hot pink belt from a gypsy selling high couture fashion on the entrance to Piazzi de Fiori and I almost got myself a rolex but for 15EU I don't think it would have worked for more than 15 minutes. Ah Rome. Off to more sightseeing!

A full day in Rome

2006-07-26T15:01:00.000-07:00

Mmmmmm...Italia knows how to do it right. Let's see, where shall we start with our recollection of Day ten, the 26th of July 2006. A modest wake up call prepared us for the day. Breakfast at the Hotel consisting of breads, meats, cereals, yogurt and other standard breakfast stuff got us energized and ready for whatever adventures we would collide with.

What a day it has been! We started out with Ringa at about 10:00 AM. Here she is with Sheila and I while we toured through the Roman Forum.

We booked her through Lovely Tours in Rome. We used our hotel concierge to arrange the tour, so we do not know the exact name of the tour company, but she was excellent. 23 years old, a history student, and she plans on heading to Oxford early in 2007 to get her masters degree in Political Science. Best wishes to her in future endeavors. She speaks 5 languages and does so well.

We started the tour heading up the stairs to the Campidoglio, or Capitolo as some call it. The stairs are wide and expansive, speaking largely to the grandness of the city and it's history. The monuments at the top of the stairs (seen in the first picture) guard the entrance while in the center of the square Marcus looks out over the city from atop his mount. Here Ringa tells Sheila a little history about the square.

"The Capitol was the head of the world, where the consuls and senators abode to govern the earth." And the US Congress building stole its name, the Capitol, from here. In 1536 Michelangelo designed this magnificent stage set to crown the Capitoline, smallest of Ancient Rome's 7 hills, but the most important since it was the seat of power. From busy Piazza Aracoeli you mount Michelangelo's graciously sloping stairs (the Cordonato). Michelangelo was inspired by the two millennia of Rome's glorious history that revolved around this hilltop. Being a sculptor, he used it to showcase great Classical Roman statues, notably the equestrian one in the center of Emperor Marcus Aurelius apparently in amicable conversation with the populace.

In terms of dramatic symmetry, the space of Piazza del Campidoglio is rivaled only by Piazza S. Pietro, which was laid out over a century later by Bernini who was inspired by this masterpiece. The square we stood amidst is Rome's first planned piazza. It is just how Michelangeo originally conceived it - except that the Marcus Aurelius statue is a copy, and the original (with its gold leaf partially intact) is inside the Museo Capitolino. In 1536 there were two existing buildings, the medieval Palazzo Senatorio at the back, and the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the right, projecting out at an acute angle from the first. Michelangelo drew formal Renaissance facades for both of those, and added the Palazzo Nuovo on the left, a mirror image of the Conservatori, making two symmetrical arms gathering us into Rome's City Center.

Next we walked behind Marcus to overlook the forum iteself. A slow approach is best as it allows the grandeur of the image and sense of age to fully sink in as the scene opens itself up to the eyes. The mondern world has been held at bay in this relatively small corner of the world.

Tourists wander and we spy an archeologist or two doing work but with a little imagination we can see Julius Ceaser or a simple Roman citizen walking along roads that were once lined with beautiful imported marble as they go about their business of the day. If goosebumps don't rise on ones arms as the Forum presents itself, then history just ain't your gig. Above is the view Sheila and I took in as we looked out from behind Campodiglio onto what once was the center of the Roman Empire.

Ringa talked as we cascaded along the ancient roads of Rome. We spied Roman seals, chess boards scribed into benches once played upon by citizens of the city, and heard stories of myth and legend. The Romans enjoyed life. Even though much is not left of their grand city one can still see remnants of their style and grace. In the next shot get our first glimpse of our next stop, on the tour, the Coluseum.

It is not far from the Forum, but does require the purchase of an entrance ticket. Ringa recommends we buy it at the Forum ticket office so we don't have to stand in the long line at the Coluseum itself. Five minutes in line and we have our tickets. Time to hike the 15 or so minutes to the Coluseum.

Since it was over 90 degrees in the sun, Ringa chose to grab a seat on a bench about 5 minutes from the Coluseum and give us a little history about the site. It took 10 years to build and upon it's completion the city celebrated with 150 straight days of competitive activities ranging from animal hunts, naval battles (yes with water in the center) and gladiatorial battles to provide the entertainment. We learned about the different columns, the underground structure and even the retractable roof to help sheild the sun from fans during the hot summer days. Ringa stated that it took over 900 people just to retract the roof as the heat receded and the need to air out the coluseum returned each evening. Arches, columns, numbered entrances, segregated seating, and even conscesion stands make this the equivalant of our modern day stadiums.

Here we stand inside the coluseum. Next shot is of the outside just to show the depth of construction incorporated into the structure.

The last part of our tour with Ringa was to the Pantheon. The only remaining building from the Roman Empire that was not sacked, destroyed or otherwise defaced by invaders or the Catholic church. The walk was brisk. The tour was planned for four hours but Ringa wanted to ensure plenty of time for showing us the last ancient wonder on our list.

Here you see the first glimpse of the Pantheon as we meandered through Roman streets much like it's citizens did some two thousand years ago. Here is a full view of the marval. Notice the white out sky. It is really a blue blue sky but I could not effectively adjust the camera to account for the brightness of the sun. Hot day for sure. Notice too how small the people are in the shot. The place is EXPANSIVE!

From here we parted ways with Ringa and jumped into a Taxi so we could make our appointment at the Borghese mansion and museum. The goal was a viewing of Bernini's famed Apollo and Daphne. The taxi ride took about 8 EU and 20 minutes mainly due to a bus accident close to where we grabbed the ride. After the Roman drama, go figure, the driver dropped us a mere 2 minute walk from the museum. We got there at about 2:45, got our tickets and waited for our entrance time, which was set at 3:00 PM.

Here is a shot taken from the internet of the statue, as cameras are not allowed. Goose bumps flared again. The realism is magical, but both Sheila and I agree that if it weren't for the Bernini sculptures the time spent on the visit would be better invested elsewhere in Rome.

The next shot is the outside of the gallery which is itself quite a place.

With all the action of the day we had worked up quite an appetite. So, off to Girarrosto's for dinner we strode at about 8:30. Remember, Romans love to eat late. We were still early and got a great table in the back of the place watching all the people come in for their dinners. Our little Flamingo friend joined us for a house bottle of the Chianti. Thanks to Doc Scott, our Dentist, for the restaurant recommendation. FOUR STARS for sure! Tomorrow is sleep in, tour the Vatican and see what else we can fit into our already wonderful time in Rome. chow...

Into Italy

2006-07-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

Last night we spent with my brother and local Heidelberg tour guide, Darren. Here he is with his super car just prior to heading off for some dinner. Nice car, great guy, and loads of fun while in his town. We are looking forward to a full day with him upon our return to Germany after our two week stint in Italy.

Ahh Roma...We arose with a clatter at about 6:00 AM for some breakfast and a final packing. The Shuttle departed the Marriott at about 7:50 AM. We arrived at Franfurt International Terminal 1 a little after 8:00 AM. We had a short delay as we were specially screened at the security station and then it was down to gate 28 for a ninety minute wait until our departure.

We grabbed some breakfast and watched the varied planes come and go. Here is a huge intercontinental Lufhansa flight getting ready for departure.

Our flight Steward, Nicholi, was very accomodating, and even gave us a bottle of champagne to celebrate our arrival into Rome. very nice indeed. We were in coach class but managed to sit in the exit rows so the the leg room was plentiful. This was a good thing seeing as how my legs are bit sore from Ironman. The flight was uneventful as was the $100.00 taxi ride to the hotel with Alfonso. He spoke about as much English as we do Italian but we managed to make out his generous nickle tour of the main sights as we blasted through downtown Rome at breakneck speed.

The hotel is right at the boundery of the Borghese park on Via Vittorio Vento. Excellent location from which to see Rome. I was all up for a little nap and some relaxing time, but Sheila was ready to go so I took advantage of her zest for action and off we went to get some books and a little scouting of our AO (old army acronym for area of operation). We found a little book store and picked up a phrase book and a Roman food cook book for a friend and then hiked back to the Hotel. On the way we spied many cool images of Rome. A scooter brigade, the US Embassy (tried to get a closer shot, but the Italian Police would have none of it) and then a typical sidewalk cafe.

After a short nap we decided to walk through the park for a little Ironman recovery and sight seeing. We strolled NE along Via Pinciana to the entrance up the road a bit from our Hotel. There is an entrance right across from our Hotel, which is seen here with Sheila standing out front of, but I wanted to walk a little along the wall surrounding the Borghese Park to locate a restaurant the Scott (our dentist) recommended. We found it (see the pic) and will probably eat there tomorrow night. Good menu, opens at 7:30 PM. Late eaters around here.

We entered the part on Viale dell'Uccelliera and headed NW towards the Borghese Mansion. Pretty park and Sheila and I both commented on how if we were in the bay area it could very well be Golden Gate Park except for the smaller cars and slightly older architecture. We walked past an open air theater, the zoo, and then a small lake with a temple in the middle.

That was about the extent of our legs so we headed back to the hotel. On the way back we spied an aquaduct fed spring water fountain so took advantage of the opportunity and refilled our water bottles. Cool and refreshing water for sure. All gravity fed by ancient Roman aquaducts. Pretty smart folks these Italians, wonder why they let their ancient society got to hell in a hand basket.

We rounded out our walk back at the Tempio di Diana, Temple of Diana, honoring the hunt. Sheila posed, and I snapped a shot of my blond huntress.

The added shot is a career idea that we came across while walking through the park.

Joe, what about a traveling camera and film supplier? You can ask wandering tourists if they would like their pics taken in front of all the famous sights!

If not, here is a car that you can replace the volvo with to save on some gas.

One final note, we get matching potties! makes for a good way to pass the time while sitting in the bathroom. Love the thought, and the opportunity for a clean bum. Hmmm, good thing we have access to the internet here so I can look up how to work one of these things.

Tomorrow it is off with a tour guide to see some sights, and then a different guide recommended by Mitch and Denise for the Vatican. Be well!

A day of reflection

2006-07-24T05:12:00.000-07:00

All is well in Germany on the day after our race adventure. Here is a shot of Sheila at the awards ceremony hall earlier today. More pics below are from yesterday, race day, and then a few more are of today’s activities at the award ceremony location. Upon our arrival in Italy we will get to write the actual race day report as there are so many engaging aspects of the day that both Sheila and I want to get down in words. Know that it was fun, hard, rewarding, challenging, wet, tiring, painful, entertaining, bonding, educational, insightful, and a load of other adjectives that I am sure will come out as we navigate through the memories of the day. Until then, enjoy the few shots of IRONMAN Germany.

Here we are heading off to the race start on the shuttle bus. It took about 30 minutes to get there. We headed out from the Hotel with Darren in tow at about 4:15. Caught the bus at about 4:50 and got to T1 just prior to 5:30. NO WETSUITS was announced so the race plan changed, but we shall get to that in the race report. On a side note, look at the brow tines on my forehead. The flash truly reveals my neanderthal heritage. Good place to rest the sunglasses though...

The next shot is the swim start. Long line of people through the artfully framed arch moving from left to right as we begin our 2.4 mile swim. People were much more mindful of contact in the no wetsuit swim. Good space in the water which made for an easier swim in the respect of contact, but harder since I love the buoyancy the wetsuit affords.

In this shot I came across Sheila and Darren just as I exited the Berliner Strasse tunnel through Frankfurt. Good to hug and kiss her as I headed out on lap 2. The first lap saw us ride through torrential rain, which made the roads quite slick. A couple of pretty bad bike crashes happened on course so I took it easy on the slippery parts. All in all the coolness of the weather helped me to put together a great first lap. Unfortunately the rain stopped but the humidity stuck around on the second lap. Between mile 78 and 83 all I wanted was a breeze, some cold water, and a nap. Unfortunately no one provided them so I just kept pedaling back to Frankfurt and the waiting marathon.

The last shot from race day was taken by Darren as we were wandering to get the bike and bags post race. The athlete’s village was the best I have ever been in. Massages, hot tubs, beer, food, showers, FREE and RECOMMENDED IV-Yes I needed one and got one. The European Ironman organizers have their proverbial shit together hands down over the North American organizers. Sheila thinks the North American races are better for spectators and I would agree, but from an athletes perspective I am doing another one in Europe just for the overall experience.

Today's first shots are of the Frankfurt Festhalle where the award ceremony took place. Nice place for sure. Again, way better than a gym or a big tent like at the North American races.

We picked up race day pictures and they got some good shots of me and most importantly of Sheila and me crossing the finish line. We will be sure to get them scanned upon our return to the states.

Tonight we are heading back to Darren's place for some dinner and repacking for our trip to Italy. We head out on the shuttle bus tomorrow morning at 7:45 for the Frankfurt airport. Our flight lands in Rome at about 12:15. From there we are going to relax for the rest of the day, really our first day of not doing anything has not yet arrived. As the old saying goes, being on vacation is exhausting. Exhaustingly wonderful though!

#5 Accomplished, Ironman Germany, but worried about my Placid Teammates

2006-07-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

Well, Ironman Germany was a success for Sheila, Darren and I. We had a challenging day with three weather fronts moving through the region throughout the day. It started raining just prior to the swim start. The rain continued for most of the first loop of the bike course, and was torrential at times. Some drops made me think it was hailing! The rain stopped, clouds stayed overhead, but the humidity hit 100% on the second loop. Then, at about the time I started the run the clouds parted, the humidity stayed and the sun beat down on us. Great challenge throughout the day that tested the race plan to it's fullest. 12:01:51 final time. The third loop on the run was a complete disaster with dehydration setting in, no sweat, and dizziness, but Sheila walked with me for about half the third lap which helped to keep me focused on working the recovery plan. Darren then ran with me the entire fourth lap for a successful end. One IV, and about 2 hours in the athletes recovery area saw me back up and at em to round out the days activities. Pics and a full race report will be forthcoming.

On another note, I am heartbroken over the DNF level I am seeing on the webcast for Ironman Lake Placid. Seven folks that I know of have not come up on the bike completion list. That is truly sad given each of those that are showing as not being allowed out on the second loop of the bike all worked very very hard in the past several months to attain their goal. I know they are probably heartbroken too and both Sheila and I are worried about their moral. More to follow on this as I get more info from my coaches on site, Monica, Tom, Alex, and Mike. Time to hit the sack and get some rest.

Be safe. Wayne & Sheila

Rest day prior to IRONMAN!

2006-07-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

We are up and at em by 9:00 Am after a midnight date with sleep from the adventures on day 5. A quick shower and then breakfast time at the Marriott. Good food to get our day started. The plan for the day pretty much has only two must do activities. Bike and transition bag drop, and search out some type of electrolyte replacement supplement. All three sports basement locations were out of my typical e-caps so I planned to search for something here. Given the time we have spent gallivanting around the countryside there has not been the time nor the focused effort to locate a suitable replacement. I have 30 or so e-caps left, plus another supplement that will allow another hour or so of electrolyte replenishment, but that leaves about 9 hours of time that I could potentially be out of balance. So, today we diligently search for some type of electrolyte supplement.

The other "nice to do" activities that are on the agenda involve a recon of the parking area we are going to drop the red-sled into tomorrow, recon some sights where Darren and Sheila may be able to see me as I make my loops on the bike and then the same for the run. Other than that my focus will be to stay off my feet as much as possible, stay hydrated given the heat and humidity that is already weighing the air down and take a nap or two if possible.

My race plan on this adventure is pretty simple.

Prerace: Wake up at 3:00 Am and take a walk. While walking I have two Harvest Bars that sit well with me for my prerace intake. By 4:00 AM have a good old morning "movement" to start the emptying of all ballasts in my body other than those that will propel me, oxygenate me, or cool me. At 4:15 we depart for our planned parking spot for the day about 4km from our hotel. By 5:00 are be at the Intercontinental Hotel shuttle point for pickup to the swim start. Darren and Sheila will try to get on as early a shuttle as possible so they too can meet me down at the swim start. I want to arrive no later than 6:00 Am at the swim start so I can drop suit up, drop my white post race bag off and then get in the water by 6:30 AM for a warm-up swim. All the while sipping about 20 ounces of water and taking one last power gel prior to the swim. I will also take a sinus tab, and a Dramamine to help with the typical motion sickness that I get while on long open water swims.

Swim: Start in midpack, goal time is slow for me, a 1:15-1:20. Mainly because I am shooting overall for a marathon PR which is sub 4:50:41. So, that means ez on the swim, ez on the bike so I can retain some hydration levels, energy levels and a balanced gut seeing as how my visits to the porta potties on every previous Ironman has been a good chunk of time for each marathon. Swim will be smooth and ez by sighting every tenth breath and then rotating what side I breathe on after every cycle of 10 breaths. Mantra throughout is EZ.

Bike: My transition bag will be on the bike rack. No change for this transition. Out of the wetsuit, socks, shoes, helmet, and sunglasses on. Gloves, wrist sweat band, GPS and sun block on as I move out of transition. First 12 K into Frankfurt will be to get into my HR rhythm between 140 and 145 to see how well I stayed ez on the swim. Two fuel bottles on board will give me 4 of the planned 6 hours of nutrition. No special needs at this race so it will be self supplied and picked up at the aid stations. I have tested the Doc Scott mixture along with power gel and it worked well on training days so that is my plan to come up with the 200-240 calories per hour (depending on heat) throughout the 6:00-6:15 hour bike ride. Every 10 minutes 2 glugs of liquid fuel and 3 glugs of water. At every 60 minute point on the bike I will take in one power gel depending on how my body is responding gastro-intestinally with the heat and the planned nutrition. One spare water bottle on the down tube will supplement what does not fit between aid stations in my aero bottle up front. There are about 6 hills per loop, nothing to big, or too long, but my goal is to keep the HR below 150 on those hills regardless of how many people are cheering me on. We shall see how that goes. I expect to come around on the first loop between 11:45 and 12:00 AM. Second loop and off the bike between 2:45 and 3:00 which will be between a 6 and 6 1/2 hour bike ride. Mantra remains EZ.

Run: No change other than shoes and helmet off. Swap GPS units for the run and grab a new wrist sweat band. Start the marathon by finding my legs the first 2-3 miles with a 4'walk2' run planned pace. Then after 2-3 miles pick it up to 3'W3'R. Then after the first of 4 loops see how a 2'W4'R plan goes for lap two and three. Plan is to run all of lap 3 in under one hour, which is a sub nine minute mile pace. That will allow a 4-4 1/4 hour overall marathon, thus achieving my overall race plan of a PR on the marathon on an Ironman race. Overall time is immaterial here; goal is a marathon PR with a finish time within the acceptable 16 hour time limit. Food and hydration plan on the marathon is simple. Take in what my body allows to stay in balance from what is offered on course. Plan is power gel, whatever I come up with for electrolytes, and for the last loop RED BULL!

So there you have it, my race plan for Ironman Germany. Time for some breakfast, more picture taking, bike drop, park platz recon and whatever other adventure presents itself on another 90+ degree day in beautiful Germany.

Well, the day has gone well in spite it being the hottest in the region for over 35 years. Yup, 112 was the heat index reported today. That is a combo of the temperature, 97, and the humidity, 99%. It is like a fat berry about to burst, and burst it did tonight at about 6pm the heavens opened with rain, lightening, thunder and wind. We were at the indoor pool with Darren when it struck. The temperature has since dropped about 20 degrees. Now we just wait and see how the evening turns out for race day weather. Back to the days activities.

Breakfast was the typical Marriott fare, yummy and plentiful. From there we headed off in the red sled with all the race gear bags for T1 and bike/bag drop. We got there at about 10:30 and had no problem walking the 1 mile from the parking lot to the transition area. Here is a shot of the sign on the path from the parking lot to T1, way down in the distance.

The next shot is of Sheila and me at the entrance of T1 where they have a sponsor Opal. Nice car, but not sold in the states.

The entrance was well guarded by volunteers. They checked the bike out, checked the helmet out and then escorted me to my rack position. There they covered it with bag, covered my gear bag with a bucket and then took my run bag to a truck which will carry it back to Frankfurt for T2, which is 12 kilometers away, in Frankfurt. Here is my bike on the rack all snug for the evening.

While there we checked out the beach and the swim area. An old quarry is what the lake used to be. Now a major area for the locals to relax in the summer. This picture is of the swim start and exit area. The lake actually extends over to the right quite a bit farther.

Half the beach, as illustrated in the next image, is a fenced in Nudist beach. Yes indeed, full nude beach right off the French Riviera. Sheila and I were going to head in and do some nudy sunbathing but our lack of any tan in certain private parts had us choosing otherwise.

From the lake we headed back into town to locate some salt tabs, and do some touristy stuff in the general vicinity of Ironman Village. We found the German equivalent to a pharmacy and they had just the supply we needed of salt and electrolyte replacement caps. Here is the gal who kindly took my 3.50 EU in exchange for the saving grace of salt for race day.

We had lunch at a local imbiss, schnitzel and chicken sausage, and then another visit to the local Starbucks where we caught up to one of our neighborhood pink flamingos! Don't ask if you do not live on Flaming Oak Drive. Otherwise you know the likelihood of finding a long lost relative in Germany!

I also partook of an ancient good luck custom, drinking from the Church water fountain. Phew, almost missed out on that opportunity. Quite tasty and now Sheila and Darren will have a place to refill water bottles on race day. Bottled water is a LOT more expensive over here than in the states, sort of like gas.

The last shot is the daunting reason why my plan to go easy until the last lap of the marathon is so wise. Look at the size of the cheering area for the finish line! I want to be sure and make it here at the end of an Ironman. The stands are 10 times the size of any Ironman race I have yet competed in or attended, so the sound within the area of the stadt platz is going to be incredible tomorrow night. Incredible...

Well, that pretty much sums up day 6 on our adventure. It has been relentless up to this point in adventure and travel. Tomorrow I am sure will prove to be no different. In closing, I must comment that many people will be on my mind and at my back pushing me along the course tomorrow. Sheila as usual is my dearest training partner. Not in body, but in mind and spirit she is with me always, and for that I thank her. For my brother Darren I thank him for the use of the Red Sled and the excellent adventures we have shared in just 6 short days here in Europe. Thanks too for his attendance at the race for support, both to me and to Sheila. Cheering is a tough job! To Kelly and Keith, my state bound siblings, I know you will be cheering me on so thanks. Mom and Dad, thanks for having me.

To Ironteam! Thanks for sharing your passion of triathlon and the cause with me these past six years. I will miss being at Lake Placid with the team, but know they are going to have a great day, GOOD LUCK to each of you. My thoughts will wander to the honorees that we on the team, and I personally race, train, and raise funds for. In Memory of Louie Bonpua-who has been my personal honoree since first meeting him in 2001. Rest in Peace Louie-I'll be talking to you tomorrow sir.

Lastly, thanks to the neighbors and friends Sheila and I have sharing in our adventure back in Pleasant Hill. Joe, Linda, John, Chet, Margaret, Jack, Tali, Doug, Justin, Tammy, John, Yesame, Bill, Denise, Lorraine, Steph, Gregory, Allie, Dem, and of course the future Tour De France Winner-Zach Bigelow-Thanks to all of you for being good friends of ours. Not sure why I love thanking everyone prior to a race, but heck it's fun while it rolls of the fingertips in WORD.

So, tomorrow will be a long day, loads of pics and video will be shot but I don't expect to get another update on the blog done until sometime Monday or maybe even Tuesday. We are hanging in Heidelberg with Darren on Monday evening, and then he is driving us back to Frankfurt where we are staying the night prior to our departure Tuesday to Italy for the next two weeks. We will be sure to get a quick update at least regarding the race and of course the finish! Until then, be safe.

Back to Germany and Ironman...

2006-07-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

Another "Great American Race" like day in that we awoke at 6:00 AM, breakfast at 7:00 AM, and departed at 7:30 AM for Germany. The drive was pretty much uneventful and we arrived at the Ironman race registration by 3:30 PM. Darren is still listed as a racer so he too registered just to get his money's worth of free schwag. Good schwag too! A backpack, shirt, and a bunch of other little stuff. Now we just have to remember to turn his chip in on race day so he does not get charged the 50EU fee for keeping it.

Our next four nights are going to be spent at the Frankfurt Courtyard Marriott. Nice place, no frills, but new and comfortable. The heat has been scorching, coupled with the 100% humidity means even higher on the heat index. Air conditioning in the room is a good thing. Not sure what the weather is going to be like come Sunday but it will be what it will be.

Some pics of the day include a random road side snapshot of one of about a gazillion sunflower fields.

We then opted for a shot of a beautiful Porsche as we cruised along at 90 mph on the Swiss autobahn.

The remaining shots are of our arrival and subsequent fun at the race registration in
Frankfurt.

Could not miss out on a trip to Starbucks either!

Well, tomorrow is bike and transition bag drop day. Two transition sites makes the
logistics a little trickier but with the Red Sled and plenty of time we should be able to figure it out by the end of the day. Maybe tomorrow we will be able to get some more words into the update, but the last 4 days have been pretty much a whirlwind of flying, driving, standing at the Tour De France finish line in 90+ degree heat and then driving again.

Whirlwind of fun, adventure and over 900 miles of drive time and 2700 miles of flight time. More to follow in the coming days. For now, guten abend vom Deutschland.

TOUR!

2006-07-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! Quick update post Stage 17 prior to our weary bodies heading off to dinner. Floyd staged a great comeback. Sheila, Darren and I were so close to the finish we could have touched any of the riders if we had been so inclined. Here are a few shots from the days 6 hour standing at the finish for a 50 minute flow of riders coming across the line. Priceless. Scratch another one off the life to do list...

Into the Alps!

2006-07-20T03:25:00.000-07:00

Phew, it is now 9:30 PM and fatigue is still with us from our flight in yesterday. What a grand day it has been though. From a good breakfast this morning in Heidelberg to a drivefrom Germany, through Switzerland and into the French Alps; all has gone splendidly.

We are safe and sound in Hotel La Combre Humbert, 593 Route Dela Combe a Zone, Morzine. Darren is a short walk away (short for an Army Ranger) at the Hotel Le Grand Tetras.

Each place had only one room with a single bed available and apparently here in France they do not like it if folks sleep on the floor. So we succumbed to French rules, yes I know sacrilegious as an American, and got Darren a room of his own.

We arrived after about 6 or so hours of mostly autobahn travel time. We went through
Geneva, and many other beautiful European country side cities and villages.

Beautiful for sure. $100 US to refill the tank, with 50 liters, thats a little over 12 gallons so figure about $8.40 per gallon. I'll no longer whimper about our gas prices...We did buy beer for $.39 per litre which is about $1.60 per gallon. Good beer too. I guess if it costs too much to travel there is always beer to stay satisfied with!

The rough plan is meet at 9:30 AM tomorrow next to where D' parked his car and then...well come up with the plan! The tour finishes here tomorrow, the 20th, and then departs from here on the 21st. We hope to see both events as close to the action as possible, but we will see how the crowd is, the timing for return to Germany, and the general sense of what we want to do come the time to finally decide.

Loads of pics that I have dropped in here. Some are from the Drive down, others are from the picturesque drive up from the autobahn into the Alps to Morzine. Still others are just snapshots of areas that I thought were noteworthy for a picture because of the building, the plant life, or just the plain old sense that everything in Europe is worth taking a picture of.

It seems Morzine does just fine in the summer in-spite of winter sports being their main attraction. Check out apres-mountain bike spot we came across!

Time to call it a night and work some more on getting rest for the Ironman this weekend. There are few internet cafes here in Morzine so I hope to get this out in the morning while we wait for the tour to show up. Be safe.

Post Script: 2AM and was awoken by the sound of traffic. Opened our street facing door to see a convoy of Tour De France TV and support vehicles moving in and through Morzine. The convoy lasted for hours so thank goodness we packed accordingly with earplugs and eye masks. Pretty cool sight to see the mobile nature of the tour rolling right by our hotel. Back to bed...

DAY4 Primer...No pics yet, but Sheila, Darren and I are about 10 meters from the finish line in Morzine! As the riders come through we are on riders left side, right in front of a camera. We will have a yellow Tour De France flag to wave as the finisher comes through so look for us! More on a tour day adventure in Day4 blog.

The foot of LUXury,

2006-07-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

Ahh yes our slight incursion into the upper middle class, afforded only by 7 months of saving funds to get us into the first class cabin, has paid huge dividends in comfort on our trans-atlantic flight. The meals are well prepared and apetizing. The space between passengers allows individuality, versus feeling like a cow traveling 550 miles per hour on the way to the slaughter house. Our flight steward, Mike, has been excellent and the inflight entertainment system is the bomb. We both got about 4 to 5 hours of sleep which is not too bad. The goal will be to stay up until at least sunset tonight prior to going to bed so we can push through the nine hour time change with minimal effect to our sleep pattern.

The sun is up as we fly over Ireland and then England with just an airborne channel crossing all that remains for our over water portion of the flight. Then it is France, and on into Germany for 9:00 AM touchdown in Frankfurt. Darren is meeting us at the airport which is way cool given his super busy job. The plan for today is...NO PLAN! Footloose and fancy free is the moto for the next eighteen days. 45 minutes till wheels down so it is time for a towel shower in the mini-restroom. Brings back memories of toweling off while on maneuvers during my days in the Army, right back here in Germany. More on day two as we get settled into our European digs.

Our arrival into Frankfurt, followed by the link up with Darren and the subsequent drive to his place went off without a hitch. All our luggage has made it safe and sound too. We cruised along the autobahn at a sedate 105 mph quickly covering the 45 or so K's to Heidelberg. We stopped at a market and purchased some Bratwurst, brotchen, good German mustard, and some fresh German Weiss beer for our arrival barbeque lunch.

Darren's new car is a beaut! Very stylish, roomy and comfortable. Some joker ran into him in a parking lot this past week but it is just a slight scratch so very minimal. We drove to his place, unpacked, and enjoyed our first meal in country. Very tasty indeed. We then conspired to add even more onto our already full plate with a trip to Morzine where the Tour De France is passing through this Thursday and Friday. So, the plan is to hit the road on the 19th (wednesday) at around 11:00 AM and spend 6 or so hours driving through the Black Forest, Switzerland and then into the French alps to watch the tour finish one stage Thursday afternoon and then start the next stage on Friday morning. Should be a hoot and a great road trip to boot! Here is a shot of the HOT RED Super Couch in D's apartment. Sheila loved lounging on it, as I am sure the young lady friends of my brother do too!

We are now only spending one night in Heidelberg at the Marriott and then it will be a crapshoot while on the heals of the tour as our reservationist in Morzine speaks no english and we can only hope that the words exchanged amounted to,"yes we have a room reserved for you." More to follow. It is 6:30 PM now in Germany and we have pretty much been up since 4:00 Am Monday so it is time to shower, and take a walk as we countdown to our self prescribed bed target time of 9:00 PM.

The walk was along the Neckar River right behind the Marriott. Barges would occasionally steam by and the walking paths were jammed packed with bicycles, walkers, and joggers. The park along the trail was full of people enjoying sport, picnic dinners, and socializing. The turnaround point got us within view of the Heidelberg castle. Pretty impressive. Well, it is a bit beyond our self prescribed bed time so into the bunk we go. Tomorrow through Friday we are Tour chasing so not sure what type of day to day coverage we can provide, but we will certainly update post road trip.

Off and Away!

2006-07-18T12:50:00.000-07:00

Time has continued its indifferent move forward and found us once again traveling for the sake of travel. This time we are off to a point about 1/2 way around the world, Europe. Specifically Germany, France, and Italy. So, in Jules Verne time it would have taken about 40 days to reach our destination. For us a mere 18 hours is all we need to dedicate to the trip.

The first stage has thus far involved a wonderful farewell dinner with our diehard neighbors Joe and Linda on Sunday night. We had yummy Safeway steaks, grilled to perfection with veggies, pasta and ice cream. I know, ICE CREAM! Yes indeed the diet I followed leading up to Ironman Arizona has not applied for the lead up to Ironman Germany. My tummy shows it too, by about nine pounds bigger. No worries though, my brother has decided against racing so I only need to keep up with my own ego. I get ahead of myself though. Back to day 1.

Alarms chimed at four AM today, Monday the 17th, so up we got; we completed the morning routine and were headed to the airport by five. Light traffic, easy airport checkin, and a little breakfast followed. Wheels were up at 8:30 and the target dot on the map was Atlanta. We had another small breakfast on the Boeing 767 coupled with a good movie, 16 blocks starring Bruce Willis, and some great cookies-Gourmet Center Biscoff, yum...

As I type this on my newly acquired Lenovo X60s I think about the adventure ahead of us, the time Sheila and I have shared since planning this trip, and this new method of not only journaling but keeping friends and strangers included in our fun. Prior to the start of this open ended journal back in 2004, it had been the 90's that last saw me scribe travel experience to paper. The last entry I made in that book was a purging of emotion as I recounted the loss of our friend to a motorcycle accident while stationed in Germany with the US Army. I wrote about that since the entry was recounting our return to the States after stationing in Europe for four years. The standout memory was Dan's passing. Our humanity demands we recall drama but our ability to moderate the reactions to that drama is what makes life enjoyable, and always challenging.

Hmmm, how did I get off on that tangent. Oh, I was talking about journaling. Well, back to journaling then. Ironteam had the final ALL TEAM workout this past Sunday and it was great. Our annual trip to Louie Bonpua's grave site is meant to memorialize each of our honorees, share our passion for the cause (Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) and wish best of luck to the first group of athletes as they head off to Ironman Lake Placid. This is the first race that Sheila and I will not be present to cheer our racers on. Sad, but Ironman Germany calls and it is on the same day. My fellow coaches have everything covered so I will just monitor their progress via IRONMANLIVE.COM at the conclusion of my race in Frankfurt.

Well, the flight has gone smooth as an androids butt (inside trek joke there) thus far. We will update more upon the next leg of our journey as the target dot becomes Frankfurt Germany! Onto Day 2.

June Update

2006-06-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well, Project X is well underway. Details sometime in the coming weeks. Suffice it to say fun and adventure is in the air.

UVAS Triathlon went well, which seems like months ago, but it was actually in early May. I got on the podium in the Clydsdale class (big boys over 200 pounds) so that was rewarding for the training I have been able to squeeze in. The race temperature was very mild, only 65 degrees, and the sun stayed hidden most of the race. Perfect conditions for me. Here is a shot of the excitement near the end of the bike ride.

My results are as follows:
Swim .75 mile 19:10 2.35 miles per hour pace
Bike 16 miles 45:40 21 miles per hour pace
Run 5 miles 34:13 6:51 pace per mile

I then busied myself for 2 weeks with Sheila, work, Ironteam, and my continued training. Next on the list was Alcatraz. What a blast that day was! I experienced a very rewarding day. Many cheering friends, family and fellow teammates were along the course. Here are some shots of the swim from Alcatraz Island.
This shot is of the 1600+ swimmers doing a mass exodus from the boat, AIRBORNE Ranger style! The jump is about 10 feet into 59 degree water. I usually pour some ice water down my wetsuit prior to the jump just to acclimate a little prior to the plunge.
This shot says volumes for the expansiveness of the crossing from Alcatraz back to the San Francisco Yacht Club. Open water for sure. The next shot was snapped by a friend of me going from the water exit point to the transition area and the start of the bike ride.

Then it was onto the bike ride, through the Presidio, Golden Gate Park, past the Legion of Honor and then back to Marina Green. This shot was taken someplace in Golden Gate park. Feeling FAST!!!

The left picture below is of the finish chute. Loads of bikes to the left, fans lining the finish area, and plenty of sunshine on a great day. The pic on the right is me and my baby after the finish, and prior to heading back home for a relaxing afternoon. Good race for sure. I finished 132nd out of over 1600 people. Very happy with my results given the sparse training I had accomplished amidst the excitement in our lives.

My Escape From Alcatraz results can be reviewed at the following website: http://www.tricalifornia.com/alcatraz/2006/
My bib number was 956. Until the next update, be safe, and be aware. Make it a great day.

IM Germany Primer

2006-05-26T15:48:00.000-07:00

Here we point out interesting facts and figures of IRONMAN European Championship (IRONMAN Germany) (sources: see below, Date: January 1, 2006)

LOOK AT HOW MANY PEOPLE LINE THE COURSE!!

230'000’000 is the total amount of published copies of German print media
34'920'000 listeners experienced the radio broadcasting around the IRONMAN GERMANY
23’400’000 people were watching the IRONMAN GERMANY in the TV
6’000’000 Euro worth are all bikes of IRONMAN contestants in Frankfurt am Main
6'000'000 hits werde counted on www.ironman.de over 12 month (January 1 until December 31)
1'600’000 hits were counted on www.ironman.de on race day.
1’200’000 listeners were registered at radio station hr3 within the 12 hours covorage on race day
450'000 visitors were recorded on the website www.opel-ironman.de
350'000 spectators watched IRONMAN GERMANY along the course
150’000 cups were used in the 10 aid stations
140’000 watt of power has the public address system at the finish line area and elsewhere alongthe course. 80 km of cable were used for connections
100'000 US$ worth is the prize money for the winners
40’000 Euro is what waste disposal costs
40’000 programmes are printed
30’000 hours total is the workload of the 4’000 volunteers during the race week
25’000 drinking bottles are supplied to the athletes along the bike course
17’000 sponges are used by athletes along the course for refreshment
15’000 energy bars are eaten by the athletes
15'000 energy gels are needed for the athletes
13’000 liters of mineral water are handed out to the athletes
12’000 bananas, 7’000 apples, 5’000 oranges, 1’500 lemons, 1’000 pears, 250 water melons, 90 kgs of grapes are consumed by the athletes
11’000 liters of energy drinks are used by the athletes
8’000 liters of Coca-Cola are supplied
5’600 accomodations are registered in hotels and guest houses in Frankfurt and nearby communities during race week
5'000 pieces of cake are eaten by the athletes
4’000 whistles are given to the spectators on Römerberg
4’000 volunteers make IRONMAN GERMANY a warm and friendly event
2’500 meters of banners are fixed with 8,800 cable clips
2’050 athletes compete in Frankfurt
500 doctors and massage therapists are at hand for the athletes’ safety an comfort
318 journalists and photographers are accredited
320 Euro is the entry fee (2004 + 2005 + 2006)
120 slots are at stake for the IRONMAN World Championship in Hawaii
60 Minutes three times of tv-coverage by ESPN in Northamerica, Southamerice and Asia
55 exhibitors are registered for IRONMAN Expo and IRONMAN Village
41 nations (approx.) are represented in the race
32 km of tape for fencing-off are used along the course
20 seconds only needs the time-keeping company for printing a beautiful certificate with all intermediate times of an athlete
17 trucks, 5 mini vans, 3 cars, 1 motorcycle are ridden by 25 volunteers for 10 days covering 35,000 km
16 presenters are at the mics along the course for spectators’ current information and entertainment
10 hours was the presence of Ministerpresident Roland Koch on race day
10 aid stations are set up along the course
8 TV stations covered the race for more than 10 hours 30 minutes
6 hours of live coverage in the german television
0 Euro is the admission fee for spectators along the course

Round, black and good for the environment

2006-05-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

Thought a little update regarding what I do day to day would be useful for those of you that wonder. For that don't, well, this is a short update so figured you could snooze until the next one.

Bandag is the leader in retread technology and products. For that title we garner business from the best fleets in the country. One of those fleets is Jim Aartman Trucking, located in Ripon CA. Here is a picture and some of the text from a recent article in one of our company newsletters. Enjoy, or not, your the one clicking on this so you hold the power of choice.

The Aartman fleet was founded in 1973 and has grown from a single truck to 635 tractors and 800 tanks. Today, the fleet operates out of 12 terminal facilities in a six-state area. Wilson Way Tire Co., Inc. in Stockton, California, has been supplying the fleet with quality Bandag® retreads from the fleet’s earliest years of operations. Referring to his tire program, Aartman Corporate Director Maintenance and Purchasing, Randy Joaquin said, “We turned it all around over the
past two years.”

BETTER UTILIZATION
That turnaround was accomplished not by changing tire suppliers, but by better utilizing the capabilities of their existing supplier. Joaquin said, “In the early days of our relationship with Wilson Way Tire, we simply purchased their quality products. Today, we also rely on them for programs, information, service and tire expertise.”

He added, “Wilson Way Sales Manager, Scott Graham keeps us on the cutting edge of tire technology. During the transition of our tire program, he introduced me to Bandag District Sales Manager Wayne Spaulding and Bandag Fleet Development Manager Justin Mehlhoff. In a team effort, Wilson Way and Bandag helped us implement programs like Yard Check and started supplying us with Bandag BASys Fleet Analyzer reports that contain valuable information about the condition of the tires in our fleet.

That is just about enough on my day to day professional life. More can be found at www.bandag.com. Our company recently spruced up the website to be a bit more intuitive.

Rockin' with Fund raisin'

2006-05-07T15:37:00.000-07:00

Wahoo! Got another large anonymous donation this past week. The total is up to $3,750.00. We are so close to the $5,000.00 goal. Check out the details at http://www.active.com/donations/fundraise_public.cfm?key=AlcatrazWayne. We can taste the finish line for sure! Thanks to everyone who has donated thus far. Keep the faith and pass the word to anyone who cares to help in this world of need. More updates soon, with pics and good tales from the history books.

Just Checkin' In

2006-05-03T21:28:00.000-07:00

Another week has blown by, and we are back in the thick of everything. We are also in search of the next theme to carry on with our journal format blog. So, how about a look back in time. To start off, here is a shot taken back in 2003 during one of our trips to the Tahoe region. This is taken from the gondola while at Heavenly.

Our adventures pretty much started when we first met way back in college. Our creative minds will delve into old photo albums and see what we can come up with. Stories too will be shared, but all in good time. For now, check out our other activities at www.ironteam.net. Here is a shot at the end of a workout as we do our "GO TEAM" cheer for the world to hear.

It is the team I am fortunate enough to be the head coach for. It is a job of passion, one that fulfills us on many different levels.

Time for some sleep prior to an engaging meeting with my "real job" management team in the morning, and then I am off for a few more days working with clients while Sheila fixes toilets and teaches 4th graders the ways of the world.

The Home Stretch

2006-04-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

I believe sport is inbred in humanity. We flip coins for the front seat, we race to get in a line which results in a longer wait since we just raced to get there, and CNN routinely reports how a parent got way out of control over some bad call a coach or ref made at a youth sporting event. It's in our genes I tell you. Genetically we are or aren't blessed with the stuff to be number ONE, but we sure as hell are blessed with the desire to compete.

Often times I wonder if those that do vs those that watch is due to a fear of knowing number one may never be attained so a sideline seat is easier to deal with. I say those that take a seat are missing out on life. I choose to get off my ass and compete to the best of my genetic capability, win loose or draw. If someday I ascend to a level of achievement that puts me on the top rung then yahoo, but that is not my goal.

As George Mallory so eloquently put it when asked why he wanted to climb Mt Everest, "Because it is there."

That is why I compete, because the opportunity to do so is there. I live, move, breath, and am blessed by whatever created us to be an active participant in life. Ironman is one of the richest ways I have yet found to exercise those gifts. So, now that I have infused a little opinionated rhetoric into my race report, I will share with you the final stage of Ironman Arizona. A marathon to the finish line awaits your scanning eyes.

Now it is important in retrospect to tell you, the casual reader, that my inner goal was to break Twelve Hours. The holy grail for Ironman athletes is to successively hear fewer hourly gongs prior to crossing the finish line. A successful PR with a foray into the next lower hour is huge. I silently wanted to crush twelve hours. My previous PR had been at Lake Placid in 2004, with a 12:42 and some change.

I chose, however, to not watch the clock beyond the moment I was in. During the swim my focus remained in each stroke, and I was rewarded with my goal swim time. On the bike I followed my HR protocol goals, and was rewarded with fresh legs for the marathon. I resisted looking at neither my cumulative time nor my bike time since I could not change either. I went into the marathon with what I wanted, a chance to run as much of it as possible.

I jogged towards T2 and Sheila was there to see me in, I told her I felt great and with a kiss I was into the transition area. I found my bag and headed to the men’s changing tent. Again, within thirty or so seconds I was stripped from the waste down with the contents of my run bag dumped out in front of me and the ride gear I would not need shoved back in. I slipped into my Ironteam run shorts. My feet where feeling fine so I did not change my socks but rather saved the time and just donned my white and blue Asics 2100’s. The sneakers had only 100 miles on them so they were fresh for the marathon. I strapped on my runner’s fuel belt that housed electrolyte pills, some spare water, and liquid nutrition. I traded GPS units, don’t ask; it is a technical issue regarding memory points, and out of the tent I went. Volunteers again lathered me in sunscreen, offered me water, and pointed me in the right direction.

The wonderful sight of Sheila, greeted me near the exit of T2 and I told her I am hot, but felt good and ready for the marathon. A kiss, a quick hug, and off I went. Three loops, 26.2 miles, at a planned pace of four minutes of running for every one minute of walking. Well, after about 30 minutes I realized the 4 to 1 ratio would not work. The one minute of recovery did not allow my heart rate to stabilize nor for me to get the water and electrolytes in that I required to go the distance. I decided to do a 4 to 2 ratio. I settled in with that pace for most of the first lap.
The miles passed by, in spite of the high sun and radiant heat rising from the pavement. Again, my leaner body paid off with more efficient heat dissipation. I felt a bit under nourished as I headed back along the lake at mile 8 so I decided to take in some of the coke and pretzels offered at the aid stations.

I am still not sure what caused it, but by mile 10 I was in dire need of a porta pottie, this time for a #2. It could have been my body still in recovery from the food poisoning, or the moderate amount of protein in my liquid food, how about the coke, or the fact that my body was just done digesting stuff properly. Whatever it was, I plan to work on fixing it in future races, but at that moment I had no choice but to deal with it. About 3 minutes later I came out of the jon with less gastric distress, but I knew future visits to the plastic sauna booth were a sure thing.
4/2 off again. Shortly after the mile 10 stop, I was blessed with a visit to Sheila for a kiss and a hug. She looked tired, but my eyes were simply too happy to see her to really acknowledge the challenges she was facing throughout the day. I knew that a full lap was down and only about 15 or so miles remained. 4/2 off again.

At least for about another 11 or so minutes and then it was into the jon again at mile 12. Yup, same thing, pull down shorts, grunt, rest my head on the door, and when I thought I was able to stand without more coming out, I did so and headed on course again. My fear of dehydration started to surface. I made the next 10 or so miles a tactical problem with solutions required for maintaining water intake, electrolyte intake, and keeping any type of food down long enough to provide energy. It then came down to how far I could go before I absolutely had to make a sauna room stop.

Throughout the run I wore a cool little neck wrap that retained water in hyper expanding gel beads. I soaked the wrap with ice cold sponges handed out at each aid station. The combination helped to keep my core body temperature manageable. I also had my GPS sounding an alarm every 10 minutes which alerted me to take one electrolyte pill and about two ounces of water.

Many can attest that marathons are brutal. I liken it to the stories I have heard and read concerning the importance of saving energy for the descent on a major mountain climbing expedition. The euphoria of reaching the summit can cloud the judgment on maintaining the requisite energy and mental acuities for the duties of descent. In Ironman, the lure of a fast bike can often cause meltdown on the marathon. Had I done this? Had I gone too hard, thus getting a PR on the bike to only implode on the run? A question that at mile 15 I decided not to worry about because it was time for another sauna room visit. Yank, squat, grunt, rest, stand, exit…Mile 18, same thing.

By now I had tried coke, cookies, pretzels, hammer gel, oranges, bananas and soup broth. The tactics were working which at least kept me nourished enough so I did not bonk. Nothing, however, stayed put. At mile 21 I made another stop, and while I rested my head upon the door I decided to make a change in my nutrition. Stop. Stop eating, minimize drinking to just enough for swallowing my electrolyte pill, and power through the final 5 miles of the marathon with the plan of running between aid stations. The plan called for walking the 100 or so yards of each aid station plus, if needed, an additional 30 seconds to get back into a running gait.

So with a plan in mind, I pulled up my pants and headed out on the final 5 miles. Sheila was at the point where only 4 more miles stood between me and another Ironman finish line. My focus was explicit, my desire to keep the momentum high, plus I was unsure if stopping would allow unwanted movement within my bowels, so I nodded in her direction and kept going. My desire was to see her, hold her hand, and cross the finish line in as short a time as possible.

Bobbie and Larry gave me a hurrah as I passed them by, and off I went on my final 4 miles. Up to this point I had not even given time a consideration because there are so many things that can affect the outcome of the day. I simply focused on each segment of my marathon tactics, but now I was 4 miles away and my curiosity was aroused. What would my final time be? What would my swim, bike, and soon to be completed run result in? I tapped the mode button on my GPS and it said the time was about 6:03 PM. Could that be right? Could I be just over 11 hours with only 4 miles to go? I hit the mode button a couple of more times and then did a mental calculation of all three efforts. I knew I did a 1:06 or so swim, knew that my transitions were both under 10 minutes, but was entirely unaware of my bike time.
The bike GPS was in the transition area, and I had not looked at the clock when I finished the ride. So, I estimated that I did a 5:45 bike, which when added to the time I had been on the run course did not add up the time my watch said. By now all this mental exercise had occupied me enough to get to the next aid station; I walked 100 yards, sponged off, took in a sip of water, swallowed a pill, and took inventory of my body. Everything checked out and off with a jog I went.

Back to the mental exercise of time. 3 or so miles to go, the last mile took me a little over 9 minutes, so I was set to finish in about 30 minutes or less. Another mode button tap and the time said 6:13 PM. Well, no need to worry about it I told myself and I tapped it back to the pace and cumulative run time screen content that the time must be wrong. I was satisfied that I would have a good finish time at or below my previous time attained at Lake Placid. My silent goal would wait until another day, or would it?

Mile 25 came and went; I hit the last aid station with tired legs, a tired mind, and a hungry stomach. No need to stop at the sauna so I got back into my 9:00/mile pace quickly. A race clock a little more than ½ mile from the finish line read 11:53. I struck up a conversation with the racer pacing next to me and asked him if that clock was based on the pro start time or the age group start time. He informed my jubilant legs that it was the pro time, and a rough age group time was 11:38. 11:38? Holy shit, that gave me 22 minutes to break the 12 hour barrier! With renewed vision of my personal holy grail I thanked the guy for the great news and headed off on the freshest legs of the marathon.

The final 6 minutes were euphoric. I got a little choked up, which is tough to manage when running on tired legs at 8:00/mile. I held onto a sense of satisfaction that my mind and body were able to stay unified throughout the day. I remained focused on each stroke in the water, turn of the pedal, or step on the run. I enjoyed the day, the challenges, and the highs and lows that etched the memories of the day in my minds eye. I was in each moment of my fourth Ironman, and the reward was a PR; a crushing PR!

Sheila was waiting at the perfect point as I turned the final corner heading into the Finish Chute. She and I took hands, and headed down the lane. I looked up at the clock, clearly visible and it said 11:43 and some change. I had done it, beaten 12 hours by a country mile, and I was enjoying the finish with Sheila and the crowd. I slapped high fives, low fives, and everything in between fives on everyone’s hands. Sheila had the video camera and shot the victory celebration. As we closed in on the finish line we look down at the tape, grab hold of each others hands, lift them high, and cross into the finishers’ book, 11:44:00 even.

It is only then that the rigors of those final 4 miles hit my body. Low on food, I felt dizzy and almost fell over. Volunteers were again there to grab me, put a medal over my neck and hand me a finisher’s bag, with a T-shirt, hat, and other cool stuff that made the days pain a little more bearable. The volunteers offered to guide me into the athletes’ recovery area, and we gladly accepted their help. Sheila on my right side, a supportive volunteer on my left, and me with a grin ear to ear. First stop was a post finisher’s photo, and then it was off to the massage tent. I took a seat, Sheila got my name on a list, so I waited in quiet celebration for my 20’ minute rub down. In those minutes that led up to the massage, I ate two pieces of pizza, drank 1 bottle of water, 2 bottles of Gatorade, and conducted a bunch of stretches with Sheila’s support. She got me a blanket since I was a little chilled. I slipped out of my race singlet and put on my finishers T-shirt.

The massage went great, which then allowed us to visit the “formal” dining area for finishers. I loaded my plate up with a hamburger, fries, pizza, bananas, and more water. The volunteers in the dining tent were great, and they refilled my plate twice before my stomach was finally content. We headed out, my legs worked pretty well. First we stopped to pick up my bike and bags. My wife and chief race support manager (Sheila X 2) helped me manage the pickup and carried all the gear. From there we made a slow but methodical march back to the car.

With gear loaded, bike strapped and locked back in the van, it was time to search for Bobby and Larry to get an update on Stan. We found them at Fat Burger, just down from where we parked. Stan still had two laps remaining for the marathon, with about 4 hours to go. Bobby, Larry, and Stan’s Son James finished off their burgers and headed out to hook up with Stan prior to his final lap. James was there to run in with his dad. They wanted to be sure he saw him for some added motivation for a good pre midnight finish. Stan finished just before midnight, with James by his side. In a race that had an 11% attrition rate, Ironteam hit the nail squarely on the head with a 100% crossing the line! Granted their were only two of us, but who is counting.

Thanks for immersing yourself in our tale, and if nothing else I hope that it may be just enough motivation for you to go out and find a little bit of that competitive gene inside yourself and have some fun with it. Not sure what forthcoming updates will entail, but Sheila and I will conspire to make it entertaining!

The force is with me...

2006-04-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

Pre-race, swim, T-1, is where I have left off with my tale of Iron. The meat of the Ironman is next. It is time for the 112 mile bicycle ride. One hundred and twelve miles. It even writes out long when put into it's proper english form.

The relativity of time and experience draws me to the weekends as a kid riding in the back of my folks Oldsmobile station wagon on our way to my grandparents house. We trekked in the wood panel super mobile from South Glens Falls to Albany on the "North Way". Even though we headed south from SGF to the State Capitol of NY, I-87 has always been affectionately called the north way. Fifty miles from door to door. As a nine year old that is like..FOREVER! Now, over 30 years later, the post swim-pre marathon 112 mile bike ride is just that, 112 miles on the way to the coveted Ironman Finishers Medal. Perspective is a funny thing.

...I felt light on my feet; my HR was only 92, and my inner coach was ecstatic about the minimal energy expended while swimming. The Aegis gets pulled from the rack and I moved with a purpose along the grassy area to the bike mount line. Up I get, slot my butt comfortably onto the saddle and barked another hearty, "I Love YOU," with a kiss as an added bonus while I passed by Sheila standing beside the bike exit area. Video camera in hand, she smiled and shouted the same back as I headed off. Cool; off and riding with nary a hitch.

First goal, get the heart rate into a rhythm between 130 and 135 beats per minute, my first of three lap planned exertion level. That happened within the first ten or so minutes and then I turned to getting my body into a balanced state of hydration, nutrition, and electrolyte stability. I set My GPS alarm to chime every five minutes, which was the reminder to take in one electrolyte pill, 2.5 ounces of water, and about 25 calories of liquid nourishment. I settled into this monotonous labor of efficiency by about mile 7 of the bike, or roughly 25 minutes. As the photos shows, I was feeling pretty good.

My legs started off a little revolutionary with fits and spurts of tightness, and mild ghost pains. Typical for early in the bike, so I just let it happen knowing that the realistic evaluation point on how my body was responding to the rigors of the day would come at about mile thirty. I monitored my positioning on the bike, ensuring I did not stick to anyone’s wheel too closely. Ironman is not a draft legal race, and I believe it should be kept that way. I did, however, use the “rubber band” theory of catching and passing those in front of me. I imagined a long rubber band pulling me from rider to rider as I progressed at my pace always staying lose in the upper body and fluid in the lower.

The course is an out and back loop so I could see people going in the opposite direction the entire time. The out portion is all uphill, with the return to Tempe portion all down hill. The first loop had light winds, and temperatures at about 80 degrees. No clouds for protection from the sun, but my new found leanness meant my body dealt with the heat much more efficiently than in the past. At first I thought I was not taking in enough water since my sweat rate was very low, but as I continued to monitor my awareness level, pace, and sustainable HR, I knew that I must be hydrated since all systems were operating where I wanted them to be. I kept the HR right at about 135 the first loop, with one spike at about mile thirty.

The spike was caused by an errant cone catching me off guard as it passed dangerously under my front tire when I rode smack dab over it while not quite paying enough attention to where I was going while taking in some water from my aero bottle. Phew, the whole damn race passed in front of me at the moment, and it involved an ambulance ride, numerous contusions, and probably a bunch of skin left on the pavement. I was going 25 mph when I hit the cone, and luckily no one was close by since I did a major swerve and out of the saddle save. In retrospect, the only thing that saved me was that my hands were positioned on the bars, not in the aero position and I had just stopped pedaling. My weight was evenly distributed and I had good leverage to control the errant direction the bike wanted to go in, upon impact.

Bike catastrophe diverted, I settled back into my planned first lap rhythm. I lost my refill water bottle in the near crash, and my aero water bottle was empty so I went for about 10 minutes without any water. That meant I was five or so ounces down upon arrival at the next water station so I took in the extra water in about 3 or 4 swallows to ensure my hydration levels were topped off. The need to pee started to rise in my awareness of each moment, so I made a mental note to monitor my fluid intake. As the feeling to pee rises, the desire to drink sometimes diminishes. My plan was to pee on the bike sometime soon after starting lap two. Once into town, I did the double bridge crossing mini loop that allowed us to get a whiff of the finish line prior to heading back out for lap two. I got another grand, albeit quick, exchange of love vows with Sheila and headed off.

I decided on this race to stow my very light Panasonic video camera in my food carrying pouch on the bike. What a hoot. I took it out at about mile 40 and did some shooting, mainly practice to see if it would be viable to use often in the race. It was fun, took my mind off the monotony of the poor scenery, and my use of it throughout the ride will provide good shots for the forthcoming IMAZ movie.

The miles zipped by as I rubber banded past rider after rider, with my second lap HR ceiling being 145 bpm. My bike lactate threshold is about 155, so I was still 10 beats beneath that critical number. The out portion of the ride went a little quicker on the second lap, with a slight tailwind uphill helping the effort. I traded places with a few people during our second exodus from Tempe with a growing need to pee. The plan was to relax the lower body, and pee. Well, easier said than done on a relatively flat course. No time to stop pedaling! Can’t pee when the pedals are engaged; confirmed that one for the coach’s notes. So, rather than waste the time waiting for the downhill, which would now be into a headwind, I chose to pass my bike to a helpful TNT water stop volunteer as I rushed into a porta pottie and quickly made a deposit. Thirty seconds later and I was back in the saddle. Pee was only slightly yellow so I was content that my 30-32 ounces of water per hour was the right amount. No need for #2 while stopped so I assumed the food intake was proper as well. The mileage for pee one was 55; good timing.

Mile 55 to 87 went great. I continued to increase my average mph from 18.9 to 19.5 and the legs were responding with only mild fatigue. Again, a sign that my patient taper was paying off. My longest bike prior to Ironman was 96 miles, and it was 6 weeks out from Ironman, done at an average of only 16.2 mph. My fatigue, both mental and physical, on that ride had been heavy. I had been a bit worried about my overall fitness after that day. I chalked it up to overall training fatigue and told myself to trust the coach in me. Taper would allow my body the rest and recovery it would need for optimum race day performance.

I saw my friend and fellow teammate Stan the “Pretzel King” Travers near the end of lap two and we exchanged a few words of encouragement prior to me putting my head back down and charging on. He looked good, was steady in his mind and effort so I knew he would finish, even given his light training load for the season. Sheila was ever present in my minds eye as I pedaled back towards Tempe. We exchanged quick words of love as she ran the camera and I headed back out for loop three.

My plan for loop three was to close within 2 beats of my LT, or 153 beats per minute. I started to drink about three ounces of water and take in two electrolyte pills every other 5 minutes since my skin had a lot of salt on it, and the temperature had raised into the 90’s. I was not getting any sensation to pee again, so I knew my body was using every drop of water I was putting into it. I tracked and passed people as my rubber band kept pulling them in. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap started playing in my minds stereo system. I am a child of the 80’s and AC/DC was to us as Eminem is to the 21st century breed of music lovers. I was happy, peddaling with a purpose, and just having a great time in the saddle!

As for the scenery, see the cactus in the background? That is pretty much the scenery. I am not a big cactus fan, but as far as desert vistas go, this race has 'em. Glad I live somewhere that gets rain often enough for real trees to grow.

The out portion went by crazy fast since the tailwind was at about 9-10 mph. A few riders passed me and I passed a few as well while going up, but all in all I was at that point in the race where those in front of and behind me were at a very similar pace as mine. The turn around point came and went and I was heading downhill with a headwind. I kept in a tight, efficient aero position so as to maximize the energy my legs were still producing. No back pain, no problem maintaining 100 rpm, my HR was right at 152, I passed a few stragglers that had hammered too hard on the first two laps, all the while with my average mph hovering at about 20.

I saw Sheila again before I headed along the short out and back over the bridge in Tempe. I did a little more videography work on the final bridge crossing into Tempe while trying to get the crowd cheering by hollering at them all as rode past holding the movie camera aloft. Bobbie and Larry, friends from the bay area, shouted out my name as I sped by and then I turned off the camera and banked the Aegis into the final chute toward T2 and the marathon.

I handed my bike to a waiting volunteer, not even glancing up at the clock. I felt fresh, I was hydrated and fed, and all I had left was the marathon; I really didn’t want to worry about the time. As long as I kept the system fueled, hydrated, and electrolyte balanced, I would be able to keep going.

So there you have it, one-hundred-and-twelve-miles, turned into "112" miles. Over twice the distance to Grandmas's house. By the way, Grandma lived to 102 glorious years old. She passed away just after we turned headlong into the 21st century. She was adventurous to the end, something I am sure I inherited from her. Next in the hopper is the marathon, 26.2 miles of ground pounding fun.

Eat-Sleep-Train-Work-Socialize...

2006-04-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

"The five things", as I like to refer to them, come in different waves depending on the phase of training I am in. Less than 18 hours from my two week recovery anniversay, and loving it! I would say that my order of priorities have been SLEEP-SOCIALIZE(Sheila time)-WORK-EAT-TRAIN. Here is an overview of what the days have entailed since Ironman. The days with the little hearts have been off days; no activity other than some stretching or light walks.

So you can see that recovery is not all about satiating my taste buds and sleeping in. There are still three races to come this season, maybe four if I am talked into Pacific Grove this September. I plan on racing UVAS at an even 200 pounds. I have a few more pounds to gain to be "legal" for the clydesdale event on May 21st.

The last race update started with the pre start portion of the day. Now we await the starting gun for the IRONMAN ARIZONA SWIM. Here is a great pre start shot of the mass swim like only IRONMAN can deliver! I was way off in the distance in this picture; my position perfect to swim the buoy line the entire 2.4 miles. The following excerpt from my race report takes you from the shot of the starters gun right up to my departure from the changing tent which we triathletes call T1 (transition one)in preparation for the bike ride. Enjoy.

A deep water start is a little less hectic than a beach start given everyone has to tread water and thus is less likely to huddle together as is the case when everyone is standing in shallow water for a shore start. My warmup went well. I swam out and back for about 400 yards along the south edge of the starting area to get my arms accustomed to work, and then looked for a good starting point.

My swim plan called for a 1:40/100 yard pace so there is plenty of energy for a good bike. I have learned that swimming on the inside of the buoy lane between the turn buoys offers clean water and good opportunities for sighting and drafting. Not many use this tactic as it is not widely publicized as being race legal, but I have been instructed by race officials that as long as the turn buoys are negotiated properly, how a swimmer gets there is immaterial, as long as he or she swims to them, that is.

The bridges above the start line were crowded with people, and I lay on my back looking up at them. Some waved signs, other took pictures, and still others were just observing the spectacle of 1900 or so athletes bobbing at the start line. A local belted out the National Anthem and the race announcer sent off the pro wave at 6:45 AM. Some more warm up yardage, and then I headed back to my chosen start point with about 4 minutes to go till 7:00 AM. 5-4-3-2-1 and GO! My plan was 10 breaths and a sight, 10 breaths and a sight, over and over for 2.4 miles. I got into a rhythm, and if a draft opportunity came up, I planned to take it.

I noticed the smoothness of my energy flow, the ease of movement through the water, and I relished in the payback of a patient taper. I observed the mass of arms rotating over their swimmers heads. I had a perfect sightline along the buoys as well as great opportunities for watching the shore line go by on both sides of me. The water temperature was perfect, the wetsuit was brand new and it sealed around my body like a custom made glove. A little bit of cooling water came and went regularly at the zipper line along my back, but other than that I reaped the benefits of flotation and slipperiness from the TNT Orca size 9 suit.

The ASU Sun Devils Stadium is right by the lake. I watched it go by as I continued with my 10 breaths and a sight rhythm. It felt great, I felt great and a sense of comfort like when just waking from a good dream kept me calm and in each moment of the swim. Goal attainment at this stage of the swim was incapable of being monitored since I instinctively executed the swim based on perceived exertion, and a focus on form. The end time will take care of itself.

The first turn is usually the most hectic in an Ironman swim, but as I approached the big orange buoy I barely had to slow down to take it on my left shoulder and headed towards the next turn only 200 or so yards away. It too came and went without any fanfare. I headed back along the yellow buoy line with the same rhythm. 10 breaths-site-1.2 or so miles to go. My arms had no fatigue, no form breaks, my hip rotation was smooth and I was able to draft off a few people throughout the first half of the swim. The starting area bridge slowly got bigger as I glanced up every 10 or so breaths and for awhile I even got into sighting every 30 breaths since my directional abilities kept me wondrously straight on the return to T1.

I made the last left turn with the buoy on my left shoulder and my next look up rewarded my eyes with the first sighting of the finish area. I put my head back down and for the final four or so hundred yards kept a steady 20 stroke per sight effort. My arms felt fatigued but by no means heavy so I knew I had kept close to my goal pace.

About 100 yards out I changed my kick at a 6 count vs the 2 count that had been used throughout the swim. This got blood back into my legs. I closed in on the stairs leading up out of the water and easily found my land legs as I lurched up to the first step. A volunteer hand greeted mine and she helped me up the 10 or so steps to the paved trail leading to the wetsuit strippers. The clock said 1:06 and some change. Perfect, that meant I was right between a 1:35 and 1:40 per 100 yard pace. Good news for the energy level needed for the 112 mile bike ride.

Turf carpet lined the route back to T1. I chose to run in farther down the line in search of an uncluttered wetsuit stripping crew. My search was quickly rewarded so I slid down to my butt, where the strippers grabbed the top of the suit that I had already pealed off and with a twin set of mighty heave hoe’s off it came. Good thing I tightly tied my bathing suit on or I would have been naked given the force the suit came off with!

The two helpers heaved me up to my feet and off I trotted to the transition bag coral and change number one. I saw Sheila, gave her a grand smile and an, “I Love You,” and moved along the path to my bag, then the tent, followed by a quick plunk into a chair where I proceeded to change. In about twenty seconds I was naked from the waste down, had the contents of my bag dumped in front of me, and subsequently stuffed my swim gear back into the bag.

For the next five or so minutes I dried off a little, shoved some clif bloks into my mouth for a little sugar and electrolyte replacement. I pulled on my riding shorts, socks, shoes, helmet, sun glasses. I turned on and wrapped my GPS onto my wrist. I then stuffed my gloves into the pockets on my race jersey and headed out of the tent. The volunteers were great along the way, shoving water into my hands, applying sunscreen, and pointing me in the right direction. Now it was time for a ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE mile bike ride...

A Sailor on Shore Leave!

2006-04-21T10:48:00.000-07:00

Just about two weeks since Ironman. As you can tell by our lack of updates, we have been spending loads of time together. Sheila purchased a new car, and I have been specifically ingesting the food and drink that does nothing other than satiate the taste buds. My training has been light, but still pretty much on a daily basis. Easy swims, bikes, and my first run of 6 or so miles was successfully accomplished this morning at a leisurly 9:00/mile pace. It felt good so in a little over one week, I will be back at it in preparation for Ironman Germany on the 23rd of July.

I have been ingesting a cornacopia of tasty morsels. Let's see:
McDonalds Big Mac and fries
Cold Stone Creamery GOTTA HAVE IT sized French Vanilla with cookie dough, hot fudge, nuts and peanut butter
hot dog, and not just any hot dog, the 1/4 pound size on a HUGE bun
Top Shelf Chevy's Strawberry/Rasberry margarita, oh, the HUGE size
chips and salsa, times about 5
My favorite donut shop-providing me a chocolate covered buttermilk biscuit
Newmans Own chocolate chip cookies
Chili
BREAD
Corn Bread
French Onion Soup
Bloomin' Onion
Steak cut french fries
Waffle
Pancakes-big un's
Gargantuan bowl of fruit loops
Root Beer Sunday
Bottle of Wine
German made hefeweizen beer-with a little limo flavor, called a Raddler
hot chocolate
girl scout cookies-specifically a full box of the peanut butter ones

Well, that is pretty much an overview of enjoyable, yet bad for the body, foods my taste buds have experienced. My weight is up to 195, and I am scheduled to race at UVAS on the 21st of May at 200, so I can enjoy a little more food between now and then. Satiation has been achieved, and the celebration has been fun.

Below is the pre race intro to our race report for those that have not recevied it yet in an email. I have pics and a movie project is in the works right out of the Bark'n Wave Studio's! Since the race report is ten pages in total, I figured we will ease you the reader into it over the next week or so.

PRE RACE

Words of encouragement are selfless little wonders, motivators to aid in the attainment of a goal. The focus required to attain any given goal, however, is sometimes thought stronger when one is able to focus their inner voice of encouragement. The energy to acknowledge a cheer or a loving message for success may seem insignificant as you sit here reading this now, but at mile 22 of an Ironman marathon it feels like a sizable diversion from the task at hand. So, as I start on this reflection of my Ironman Arizona experience, I must first and foremost heartily acknowledge that Sheila’s “energy beam” supported me throughout the day, and hit me when I needed it most at the twenty two mile marker. In spite of giving her barely a nod as I went by at my lightening fast pace of 9:06/mile (he-he), her words were the key shots of glue that formed the strongest bond between the pieces of my race plan. She enabled me to achieve a personal IRONMAN race record of eleven hours and forty four minutes, even. So it is to her that I dedicate my rousing success on that fine 9th of April, 2006.

The travel and days building up to the race are well chronicled in our fun attempt at a blog. So, I will spare you the details, but provide you with a link. http://twoasone93.blogspot.com/. This story will pick up with the melancholy notes of Mozart brought to life through the technology of my “bestest” x-mas present, a Sony PSP.

3:45 AM: the Salzburg Austrian native’s Piano Concerto No. 25 slid out of the small speakers. I gingerly eased out of bed preserving Sheila’s early morning slumber. Her day was set to start at 4:15. First to the toilet, and then to the mini fridge for my breakfast. Three medium sized frozen Aunt Jemima pancakes, with one ounce of real Vermont made maple syrup got popped into the microwave and two minutes later out came 350 calories of warm race day fuel. After round one, I popped in another load to reap my necessary calories. I took in some water as I finished off my cakers and then pulled on my race day outfit.

Sheila stirred and mumbled, “I love you,” as she too prepared for the challenges of the day. Her story unfolded just as mine did with each passing minute. There are times, however, that our tales are vastly dichotomous in scope and perspective.

Breakfast consumed, some final packing checks conducted and a walk around the parking lot kept breakfast moving. We headed out at 4:50 AM toward Ironman Village. A right, then a left, followed by a little search for some close parking and our rented Pontiac Montana got locked up for the day. The secret to good parking combines the road closure listing, a map of the available back streets, and a good estimate of how sore the legs will be with a realistic understanding of how far the post race walk can be. Our car was staged about a half mile from the transition area. A doable distance no matter the level of soreness once it was time to head back to the hotel.
We moved south along Mill Street, as did other early risers, soundlessly merging toward the transition entrance. A small line had us wait for body marking as Enya played on the Ironman Village sound system.

“One-six-zero-zero,” I tell the volunteer body marker.
She asked, “age?”
I replied, “forty one,” and she marked the number on my left calf.

A fleeting image of my first Ironman body marking back in 1999 pranced past my minds eye as a smile creased my jaw line and I thought about how far I had come since then. The wisdom of experience, brought about through my coaching, my other competitive activities, and most of all the patience that simply happens as age progresses all weighed into what I call anxious confidence.

A “1” gets drawn beneath a “4” on my calf, the moment is passed and it was time to move on with the morning. We walked to where the T1 and T2 bags were set up and I recheck the locations, find my bearings based on where I will enter from the swim, exit to the bike and do the same between the bike and run stage of the race. The male tent is beyond the female tent, so I ensured that fact was firmly etched in my mind so I didn’t make a directional error while moving into the changing tent later that morning.

We moved to the bike lot and I find the #1600 Aegis T2 where I left it the day prior. I poured water into the aero bar water bottle, inserted my first of two planned food bottles into the rear bottle cage holder and checked my air pressures to ensure nothing caused a flat over night. With the bike checked out, I moved towards the drop point for the special needs bags. The volunteers were still assembling the boxes used for the bags, but they instructed us to drop them in designated piles. I did so and then moved back to where Sheila was waiting by the bike lot.
We silently hugged and exchanged a kiss. Here is where the first and only miscommunication occurred between the two of us. Our warm silence brought on by the early morning hour dismissed my verbal opportunity to inform Sheila of my subsequent plans. THE PLAN: A walk back into the bike lot, donning of my wetsuit, and packing of the warm clothes bag. This level of detail did not make it between my brain and my vocal chords however.

All Sheila got was, “I will be right back, I have to go the bathroom.”

The long and short of it is that I went back into the bike lot, visited the porta pottie line, and then put on my wetsuit. I then pulled my cap, goggles, earplugs and planned supplements from my backpack. I rounded off my solo time in the lot by packing the Dakine backpack into the “dry clothes” plastic bag supplied by the organizers. I then dropped it into the appropriately labeled box and headed back to where Sheila was waiting.

We haggled about me now being in the suit vs her understanding that I wanted my incursion into rubber on the video that she was so diligently going to keep throughout the day. We talked it out, as only the two of us can, as we walked to the swim start area. The waters edge greeted us with reconciliation and another pre race smooch and hug. From my perspective I did not want any wayward tension simmering up to the start, since that would breed unnecessary nervousness in both of us. Over 18 years together has, among many other things, given us the ability to repair our communication missteps.

6:20 AM and the need for another visit to the porta pottie line grabs my attention. My food poisoning bought still had some remnants left which gurgled and wanted freedom. I had no arguments against flushing those remnants prior to 7:00 AM. The visit was fruitful, and my final squirm into the rubber cocoon was with a body at about 191 pounds, down 19 pounds from just 6 weeks earlier. Don’t fret, the weight loss was planned and monitored by my family doctor. I went from about 19% body fat to 13% focusing on a complete deletion of processed sugars, breads, and carbohydrates unless they were used for pre, during or post training activities. The goal was to be as lean as possible come race day, and I was happy with that portion of my overall race plan.

Sheila and I stood by the area across from the swim exit as the announcer worked on corralling 1900+ athletes across the timing mats and into the water. As the crowd thinned we gave each other one final pre-race hug and smooch. I moved to the back of the pack and initiated the beep that meant my chip had been registered. Time to get busy. I courteously moved amongst my fellow competitors and jumped from the cement walkway into the 67 degree water. No frigid Aquatic Park temperatures here so I quickly got into a long fluid freestyle stroke and moved about 200 yards towards the start-line...Next the gun goes off and the swim will begin!

Headin' Home

2006-04-11T22:47:00.000-07:00

We started recovery well while still in Tempe on the 10th with a trip to Cold Stone and some cold "spiked" beverages clad in Ironman garb. We then headed West for LA and some Bandag work. Yup, I do have a real job, and it pays the bills quite nicely.

A fleet inspection is when we check our customers tires for air pressure and tread wear issues and then provide them a customized report generated from a fleet analyzer tool we use while conducting the inspection. Sheila and I looked at over 160 wheel positions on Aartman Trucking vehicles in Corona CA, which is just outside LA. Not a bad time at all considering it was a sunny afternoon and we were together.

After sharing dinner, and saying adios to my customers we headed west and spent some time with Sheila's sister and brother in-law, Tory and Matt. They live in the LA area, and we were happy to spend some time together catching up on what each of us are doing in our lives. Funny how at first siblings grow apart as we leave the parental nest, but once we find our own ways and gather the resultant personal confidence, it seems we huddle back together with warmth and far more sincerity than we probably ever had in the past. At least that is from my perspective both from personal experience and observations of other siblings. Anyway it was nice to share time together, as I think the picture below shows.

Tomorrow, the 12th, we head north, and back to the Bay Area. We are both excited to see how our bathroom project has turned out. That is a complete blog posting in and of itself, of which I will leave to my lovely wife. We are already talking about our race report digest which we plan on composing over the weekend. Time for bed and Ironman recovery sleep.

Raw Race Results

2006-04-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. Your positive vibes were felt and very helpful on our quest for Ironman #4 and a PR. Here are my results, of which I am ecstatic with. Sheila and I had a great day and we will post a more complete race day report from her perspective and mine, along with pictures upon our return to CA. In the meantime, here are the stats:


NAME:  WAYNE SPAULDING
BIB NUMBER: 1600 
AGE:  41
PROFESSION:   COACH 
STATE/COUNTRY:  PLEASANT HILL, CA, USA 
SWIM       BIKE       RUN       OVERALL FINISH       POSITION 
1:06:36    5:34:50    4:50:40   11:44:00             369 
RACE LEG               DISTANCE   PACE               POSITION 
TOTAL SWIM             2.4 mi.  (1:06:36) 1:45/100m  373 

 
FIRST BIKE SEGMENT     18 mi.   (1:03:32) 17.00 mph 
SECOND BIKE SEGMENT    52 mi.   (1:45:02) 19.42 mph 
THIRD BIKE SEGMENT     86 mi.   (1:48:33) 18.79 mph 
TOTAL BIKE             112 mi.  (5:34:50) 20.07 mph   308 

FIRST RUN SEGMENT      8.6 mi.  (1:27:00)  10:06/mile 
SECOND RUN SEGMENT     17.33 mi.(1:42:47)  11:46/mile 
TOTAL RUN              26.2 mi. (4:50:40)  11:05/mile 369 
    
TRANSITION TIME 
SWIM - TO - BIKE (T1) 6:51 
BIKE - TO - RUN (T2) 5:03 
    
PENALTY TIME 
TOTAL PENALTIES --:--

Bike & Tbag Drop day

2006-04-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a good day on all fronts. We relaxed, my food poisoning faded away as the hours rolled by, and Sheila got a new pair of shoes to break in for our summer trip to Europe! A good day for sure when the shopping gods are smiling on you. No pics today as we focused on taking video for the post Ironman Arizona video production.

We parked in downtown Tempe to walk into Ironman village for bike and Tbag drop. We then ate lunch at Mill on the Grill, where Sheila had a sumptuous ceasar salad and I dined on a fine selection of grilled chicken, rice, beans, and salad. I stayed away from the pizza, as I am likely to do for sometime in the future. As a matter of fact I have not had an omelet since I contracted salmonella over a year ago from less than thoroughly cooked eggs. Bastards...

Near the end of the day I rehearsed my race plan in my mind as we watched Underworld-Evolution on the hotel pay per view movie channel. Anyway, my race plan looks something like this:

Swim = Form
My pace is defined by an ability to maintain good form. Only swim as fast as I can and still maintain good form. I plan on about a 1:35/100 to get me out of the water between 1:05 and 1:10.

Bike = Patience and Discipline
Exercise patience and discipline to ride my race and ignore the athletes around me. My goal is to ride an 82 mile bike after a 30 mile warm-up. I can make or break my bike leg in the first 30 miles. Be patient.

Miles 1-30

• Overall Goals: Settle into a comfortable cycling rhythm, establish food and drink strategy.
• Effort Guidelines: Pace should feel easy.
• Heart Rate Guidelines: Once the heart rate has settled from the swim, typically upper heart rate Zone 5.
• Notes: I should be holding back through this whole segment.

Miles 31-60

• Overall Goals: A continued emphasis on nutrition and hydration, as well as an overall assessment of how the day is progressing.
• Effort Guidelines: Pace should feel easy.
• Heart Rate Guidelines: Typically, Zone 5-5.5 effort.
• Notes: The goal of this stage is to maintain a steady effort at goal Ironman-distance bike pace, which for Arizona is 19-19.5 mph.

Miles 61-90

• Overall Goals: This is the meat of the ride. Here is where early ride pacing pays off or takes its toll. Goal should be to work a little harder than goal effort. Athletes that have paced properly will begin to move up the field.
• Effort Guidelines: Pace should feel steady. Hills and rollers will see efforts up to moderately hard intensity. Avoid hard intensity.
• Heart Rate Guidelines: Typically, Zone 6 effort with short periods of Zone 7 effort when climbing, which is little at Arizona so primarily a solid 6 effort
• Notes: This is the key stage and where I will have to concentrate to maintain my focus. Early ride pacing starts to pay off and I receive a mental boost as I start to move through the field.

Miles 91-112

• Overall Goals: maintain my cycling momentum and continue to eat. Almost all athletes will have lost their appetites and continued nutrition is essential for a strong run.
• Effort Guidelines: Pace should feel steady to moderately hard. There will be fatigue and stiffness associated with the ride. However, these should be manageable.
• Heart Rate Guidelines: Zone 6 effort with periods of Zone 7 effort when climbing.
• Notes: Maintain my focus on pacing, nutrition and aero position. Race fatigue can cause the mind to wander. Maintain a task orientation. If I have paced the bike correctly I should feel like I am "racing" the bike while those around you just want to get off. Take these good feeling with me off the bike and into the run course.

Ideally, I should get off the bike feeling as if I could have gone 5-10 minutes faster. Keep this fact in mind: it takes quite a bit of sustained effort to go 5-10 minutes faster on the bike. But if I walk one mile of the run, I give this all back. It's OK to feel a little cheesy when I get off the bike. A 42k run is a long time to make up for riding too slowly, and passing people on the marathon feels soooo good.

Run = Focus and not slow down.
Remember my goal: to arrive to the Mile 18 aid station in a mental and physical condition to not slow down. Until that point, run comfortably, focus on form, and get what I need from the aid stations. Then just bring it home as best I can. Expect waves of positive and negative feelings. Anticipate internal conversations questioning my commitment to the One Thing.

NUTRITION & HYDRATION
Pre Race:
7 pancakes @ 80 calories each
2 servings of syrum @ 110 calories each
Total of 780 pre race calories taken at 4:00 AM
Drink 24 ounces of water from approximately 4:00 AM till 6:30 AM

T1: 8 ounces of water, and 4 Clif Bloks to promote caloric and electrolyte intake.

Bike: 15 to 20 minutes into ride, start the following protocols using the following standards of onboard Sustained Energy, Special Needs Sustained Energy and on course Power Bars.
.8 ounces per "glug" test.
6 scoops of SE and 2 ounces of Hammer Gel/24 ounce water bottle
Timer set for alarm every 5 minutes
3 "glugs" of water equaling 30 ounces of water per hour
1 Endurolyte, for a total of 12 per hour as it is going to be 85+ degrees on race day.
1 "glug" of SE/HG mix equaling 4 more ounces of water per hour and 300 calories per hour. If I get "sick" of SE/HG then I will eat 1/2 a powerbar which supplies 115 calories, and I can do take this over the course of 5 bites and 30 minutes.

Run: Wear fuel belt with 8 ounce water as backup for in between aid stations, and one 8 ounce HG for fueling. Plan on 100 calories per hour taken in form of bananas, 1/2 each @ 60 calories per, 5-7 salty pretzels @ 70 calories total
16-20 ounces of water, taken with "glug" test every ten minutes, 3-4 glugs.
1 endurolyte every 10 minutes
Last 8 miles start taking in flat coke for caffeine and some caloric intake. Stay on top of sweat rate, sense of cramping in legs, and overall ability to maintain focus which will indicate possible dehydration or bonking state.

It's now about 9:00 PM or so, and my AM clothes are ready to slip on as are Sheila's, on her that is. Wake up at 3:45, eat at 4:00, walk around and stretch for about 30 minutes prior to a final bathroom visit and then head to Ironman Village. We will head to transition via 5th Street where we hope to find some good parking nice and close to downtown so Sheila has something to do in between the brief Wayne Sightings.

Stan, Bobbie and Larry are in town, as they have left messages on both our mobile phones. It's a bit late to coordinate anything now, so we will see them in the morning.

I have nervous excitement regarding Ironman tomorrow. It will be the first race at 190 pounds, which is 10 pounds lighter than my nearest race weight, and over 15 pounds lighter than my most successful Ironman race. To say I don't have expectations of myself tomorrow would be a lie, but with Ironman the best "One Thing" is to stay in the moment, and be flexible as the day unfolds. The perfect case scenario would see me finish the swim in 1:10, T1@12', Bike at 6:10, T2@12', and Run a 4:20 marathon for a total of 12:04. Yea, Yea, Yea, 4 minutes faster in any of the areas and I break 12 hours, well, I am taking it one minute at a time tomorrow and we shall see when that brings Sheila and I across the finish line. Look for us on IRONMANLIVE. COM. We will be there. My number is 1600.

Sheila Arrives!

2006-04-07T18:42:00.000-07:00

At about 8:30 on the 6th of April, Sheila wandered out of terminal 4 into my waiting arms. We headed back to the hotel, and in celebration of our 13th year as a married couple, exchanged some gifts, hugs, and then settled in for a relaxing evening together. Unknown to me, however, was that a small discomfort in my stomach would rapidly deteriorate into food poisoning.

Wouldn't be an Ironman if either Sheila or I did not get ill in the chute leading up to race day. Earlier on Thursday I was looking for a place to get some pasta, but the one strange aspect of Tempe is that restaurants are all crammed into one place, and then void in other spaces. After driving for about 15 minutes, I chose to pull into a Red Brick Pizza shop and just get a slice of cheese pizza. Big mistake as I can tell you right now. By 11:00 PM, I was doubled over in front of the porcelain alter like a Freshman in college. 3 hours later, or around 2AM, I was able to crawl back into bed for some on again off again sleep.

I crawled out of bed at about 8:00 to get ready for our massage appointments, and we headed out at about 8:30. As you see here, I was not in much of a mobile mood. One good thing about this episode is that I have been forced to rest.

The massage was great, and Joe did some work on my lower lumbar area to try and release the toxins from the crappy RED BRICK PIZZA still left in my system. Immediately upon completion of the massage I spent another 10 minutes in the bathroom, good in that it got it out of me.

We then wandered down to registration where I got my bracelet, #1600, all my stickers, transition bags, and a swim cap. We purchased the small plaque, sort of positive thinking that this whole food poisoning situation will clear itself from my system in time for the race on Sunday.

After registration I needed another break from the action to get some energy back so we sat in a shady spot in Ironman Village. Loads of activity, great displays, but no energy to look at any of it. Oh well, I am here to race, so I guess healing by Sunday should be my focus now.

Swimming-Shopping-Modeling!

2006-04-06T18:40:00.000-07:00

Today started with a moderately late wakeup, 7:30 AM! After a casual roll out of bed for my morning oatmeal and juice I headed down to Tempe Lake for a swim at the site of the race.

I chatted with Matt from St Louis, and Tara from Maryland, then spent some money at the wearables tent coupled with a little bike ride to test out the machine prior to race day. I have no needs for more fitness wear, but the stuff is cool, and it sort of links me to the memories of the week. My modeling poses are weak for sure, but you get the idea of the schwag.

Here I am leaning upon the Aegis Stealth T2 Bullet with my Black wicking shirt on. Loads of comfort, even when the sweat starts flowing!

While spinning with groups I love to wear the tri shorts as they are light, have a little bit of padding, and can be kept on for those quick transitions to the treadmill for indoor bricks.

How about a paper thin wick shirt from Brazil? This is the first time I have seen these type shirts at the store so my "gotta have it" screamed for one more shirt.

Then of course there has to be the shirt that can scream I AM AN IRONMAN even when I have a pair of jeans on while out and about. This shirt goes well with the scream...

In the background you can see the decorations I spent a few hours putting up in celebration of our 13th wedding anniversary! Sheila gets in tonight, and I plan on surprising her. Flowers, gifts, and the such. Turns out the 13th "gift" is lace, so let your imagination run wild as to what this catholic raised boy wrapped up!

The bike is in tip top shape, and I am looking forward to the next couple of days of rest, relaxation, time sharing with Sheila and a fun emotional buildup to the race. Racing Ironman, in an abstract sort of way, is like getting a beautifully prepared meal or desert or something else that can only be consumed but once. After the last bite, it is gone, it is a memory , and can not be repeated in the exact way ever again. My true goal is to be in each moment of each day as it unfolds, ultimately leading to the finish line, for once I step across it, Ironman #4 will be done and all that will be left are memories. I want to have loads of memories, so that is my race day goal, enjoy each moment of the time Sheila and I are here.

Even though we have two days till Bag and Bike drop, I still like to prep everything in one place that is going to be used for the following activities:
1-Wearing down to the race in the morning.
2-T1 bag
3-T2 bag
4-Warm Clothes bag
5-Special needs bike bag
6-Special needs run bag

I put it all in one place and then once I get the official bags, load them up as I check off what I planned on putting into them. Anal as a type A slightly OCD triathlete can be!

Tomorrow is registration, massage, and more relaxation. Now it is time to head to the airport and pick up my mate.

Into Tempe!

2006-04-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night, 5 April, 2006.
The drive here was uneventful, with one night spent in Ontario so I could take care of some Bandag business on Wednesday morning and then I rounded out my desert crossing by late afternoon today. I headed downtown to shop for some anniversary surprises and then headed back to the Marriott for relaxation and rest.

Wait, the drive was not quite uneventful. Morning feedings for the past month have routinely consisted of Jamba Juice, power sized, with fiber-performance-and immunity boosts. Well, no Jamba close to the hotel I was at this morning, but there was a juice outfit called Juice It Up.

So in I go, out I come with a SUPER sized, great tasting fruit breakfast. I mix in my Race Day Boost from E-Caps and place it in the cup holder of my super dooper Pontiac Montana rental Mini "I-Am-Married" Van.

Well, SUPER size cup too big, backed up too fast, SPLAT...Yup, all over me, the floor and after only one sip taken. Well, I recovered quickly by scooping what I could into my two IRONMAN water bottles and then soaked the remaining bright red mixture off the carpet with some paper towels. All in all I only lost about 4 ounces, not too bad considering the mess it made.

The rest of the ride truly was uneventful...

Time for sleep, restful, healing, no alarm clock on a Thursday morning SLEEP. No idea if anyone is even reading this, but it is fun recapping the day, and chuckling at how the time passed. More to follow.

Much is happening in the coming 4 days. First off, Sheila arrives to kick off her Spring Break, and celebrate our 13th anniversary. A nice dinner of Oregano's Chicago style thin crust Pizza. http://www.oreganos.com/main.html

Some surprises not to be divulged here will await her as she arrives in Ironman City, Tempe Arizona both while at the airport and then of course in the Hotel Room.

Friday will be an AM swim, followed by a relaxing massage and then race registration. Not a whole lot, but just enough to keep active, alert and engaged with the purpose of being here. IRONMAN! Friday afternoon we will probably visit the schwag tent, and then sort out where the best places to share a kiss will be during the race on Sunday.

Loads of best wishes have funneled in through email and voice mail. I am excited to focus that supportive energy into my adventure while on course this Sunday.

The Bell Tolls...Ironman is at our doorstep!

2006-03-31T06:09:00.000-08:00

Busy, Busy, Busy !!! That is what we have been since our last update, just about 7 months ago. I am not sure how career bloggers keep their sites updated daily, do their real life job, support their family emotionally, and do the added activities that being a productive member of society warrants, but they must have some trick I do not know. This is the first real time I have had, granted it is 4AM leading into the final week of my Ironman taper, so I have energy, have been sleeping well, and want to do it. Anyway, short update here. This is to post the cumulative totals from when I started focused training for Ironman Arizona up to the last week of taper. Next week is very light, so the additional time will not be much. I have posted the graphs as well as week to week totals. My 1st qtr 06 training has been right on schedule, so I am very pleased with my preparation and ability to balance all other aspects of our lives while being so fortunate to prepare for another Ironman race. Enjoy, and I will be updating a few times in the coming 2 weeks so the Ironman adventure is fresh for you to enjoy.

This data and bar chart pair illustrates my training from September of 2005 till Christmas of 2005.

This data and bar chart pair illustrates my training from 1 January of 2006 through the end of March.

The Training has already Begun!

2006-01-13T07:04:00.000-08:00

Well, Post Ironman Idaho04 (see previous post) I took about 4 weeks off for rest and recuperation. I started back up with training in September of 05. My goal is more INclusive for the 2006 season rather than EXclusive. I will be competing in four triathlons for the season. The first is Ironman Arizona, second is UVAS Reservoir, the third is Alcatraz and then I will top off the season in July at Ironman Germany where I will be racing with my brother Darren.

By Inclusive I mean that I want the season to be successful, not just any one race. Health, success, and adventurous fun being the INclusive goals. With that said, training since September05 has been excellent. I have plotted my course day by day on a new web site called workoutlog.com and it is there that all my mileage, yardage, and hours put into physical and mental readiness are lockered. If you the reader are interested in seeing the details of my training, drop me an email and I can easily grant you access to the site with viewers rights. Let me know.

I am averaging about 350 miles on the bike, 60 miles running, and 20,000 yards swimming per month currently. The distances will increase by about 100% come the months of February and early March leading into a 3 week taper starting in the middle of March. IMAZ is on April 9th, in Tempe AZ. All in all I am healthy, injury free minus a few minor aches and bruises from a December bike crash, and very motivated to attain my goal, a successful season in 2006. I will post information weekly as the journey unfolds. Thanks for visiting, and be sure to drop a comment or two if you feel the inkling. The picture I posted with this update is from last years IMC where soon after I began my training for the 2006 racing season.

Moving on in 06

2006-01-12T15:52:00.000-08:00

Well, with a grand summer, a great fall and holiday season, we are now moving into 2006 with vim and vigor!

Holloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas were fun for both Sheila and I. Ironteam 2006 is back at training and knee deep in the middle of the program with over 80 athletes on the team. Sheila's 4th grade class is up to 29 students, and they are a great bunch. We have plenty planned in the coming months to include skiing in Tahoe (Wayne & Keith), A Bandag trip to Phoenix, and our birthday month in March.

We will update more often in the coming months since this is going to be the update tool I use for the Alcatraz race in June for keeping all of you who have donated to the cause in support of our endeavor to find a cure for Blood related cancers. You too can donate at http://www.active.com/donations/tntgsf/AlcatrazWayne

Stay safe, and be sure that there will more updates in the near future.

Costa Rican Adventure!

2005-07-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

Costa Rica for 11 days was a hoot! We stayed at the Marriott in Playa Heradura. The "compound" was safe, relaxing, and had plenty of things to do. We got to fly first class since it was the off season, and that made the trip even more relaxing. Zip line, Tram rides, car rental, croc watching, toucan spotting, thunderstorm watching, boogie board riding, and tropical drink slurping all amounted to a relaxing time. Next on the agenda are the two Ironteam Ironman Races in Lake Placid and British Columbia. Makes for a busy summer for Sheila, but all in all we have a ball when we are traveling and together. Wayne is going on a Colorado Elk hunt with Wayne Sr in November, but that still seems like an eternity away.

Ironman Idaho

2005-07-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

Race Day STATS:

This is for those of you that just want the skinny on the numbers. Read on after this if you want the depth of the experience.

Wakeup Time: 3:30 AM, after 5 good hours of sleep.
Breakfast Time: 4:00 AM
Breakfast contents: 12 mini Aunt Jemima Pancakes, with light syrup, 420 calories, and started drinking water.
Starting weight: 212
Transition arrival time: 5:00 AM
Bathroom visit to get out yesterdays 5:00 PM Jamba Juice dinner, 6:00 AM.
Wetsuit donning time: 6:40 AM, completed a 20 ounce bottle of water started at 4 AM.

SWIM
Swim warmup time/distance: 6:45 AM for 5 minutes, peed second time in wetsuit.
Swim Start 7:00 AM, starting position right on the buoy line, about 20 deep in line.
First Lap: 34:30 or there about, right on target.
Second Lap: 35:23, with a resultant 1:39 per 100 yards, on target for race plan.
T1: Drank 6 ounces of water, took one endurolyte, ate 1 bite of clif bar. 6:28 in T1, inside goal of 10 minutes. I changed bottoms to century shorts.

BIKE
Bike Loop 1: 3:05, avg 17.8 mph, ate SE at 270 calories/hr, 600 mg sodium/hour, 150 mg potassium/hour, 28 ounces of water/hour.
Bike Loop 2: 3:26, avg 16.7 mph, ate SE at 200 calories/hr, 1000 mg sodium/hour, 250 mg potassium/hour, 32 ounces of water/hour.
Bike Overall 6:31:13, avg 17.2 mph, slightly faster than race goal of 17 mph.
T2: Drank 6 ounces of water, ate banana, 2 endurolytes, 7:42, inside goal of 10 minutes. I changed from race top and century shorts to short sleeved IT shirt, and run shorts. Put sun block on, no plan to wear hat.

RUN
Run Loop 1: 3:15, avg pace/mile 14:40 min, took in 6 ounces water/hour, 400 mg sodium/hour, 100 mg potassium/hour mg. Well over target of 12 min/mile
Run Loop 2: 3:06, avg pace/mile 14:25 min, took in 8 ounces water/hour, 4 ounces of chicken broth/hour, 10 ounces of cola/hour, a few pretzels per hour. 400 mg sodium/hour, 100 mg potassium/hour mg. Well over target of 12 min/mile.
FINISH TIME: 14:16:45. I utilized about 8000 mg of sodium, 2000 mg of potassium, 290 ounces of water (2 ¼ gallons) Peed twice during the day, ate about 2100 calories, and burned about 10,400 calories.
Ending weight: 204
The capper of the day was to finish hand in hand with Sheila, my “One Thing”. All in All, a GREAT DAY!!! Now for the details in a narrative fashion…

The Road Less Traveled
“Waye Spaudin”, that is what Paul Lundgren heard me say at mile 12 of the marathon in Penticton during Ironman Canada in 1999. I could just about relate to that sense of exhaustion near mile 12 on June 26th, during Ironman Idaho. But alas, as this is a complete race report which encompasses the trip up, the time in Couer d’Alene, and the return to the Bay Area, I will hold off on the gory details of the marathons first lap until the appropriate time.

Ahh, taper, that was all I could say on the day that was a week from what was to be my third Ironman race. The Ironteam Acalanes swim/run workout that started the 19th of June was a good one. I had loads of energy, and the turnout of Ironteam participants kept me engaged throughout the morning and into the early afternoon. Sheila was at home packing, so upon completion of the workout I headed home with many well wishes, put the final touches on the packing list, loaded all the stuff into the trusty old trailblazer, and the two of us headed north.

The first night we stayed in Red Bluff, CA since I had to take care of some business there on Monday morning. Business went smooth and we were on our way to the next stop, Medford OR, for night two. Taper week is not completely training free, so I dismounted the Iron Steed off the roof and rode for a couple of hours along the Shasta River near Klamath National Forest. Then it was back in the car to complete our daily mileage into Medford.

I had business in Medford the following morning, but we were able to enjoy a nice taper afternoon consisting of a movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, as well as a good dinner at Schlotzsky’s Deli. The Albuquerque Turkey was to become a stable in my diet leading up to Ironman Idaho! The next morning I took care of business and we headed out on my first official afternoon of vacation enroute to Idaho! I painted up the car windows with Ironman insignia and other fun motivational stuff, and then realized that I am now in a fully targeted DINK mobile (Dual Income No Kids for you gen-xr’s).

With the sun up, paint on the windows and our overnight stuff repacked into the car, and we headed north. Just outside Portland the map pointed us east along the Columbia River valley. Beautiful mountains framed the river valley as we headed closer to IRONMAN village. We stopped for Buffalo burgers in Cascade Locks at Char Burger. Then for kicks we drove over to Washington on the Bridge of The Gods, and at the other side, did a uturn, and headed back into Oregon, at $1.00 per way.

The rest of the day was spent winding along the Columbia River until our trek came to a close near dusk in Kennewick, Washington. The wind had picked up, but the warmth of summer still hung in the air. Kennewick is nestled amongst the convergence of the Snake, Columbia, and Yakima rivers. This makes for a great water sports town, evident by the boats and jet skis in everyone’s driveway. Sleep was afforded us at a Marriott hotel, and the next morning welcomed us with more sun and a visit to IHOP for juice and pancakes.

Spokane, Opportunity, Post Falls, and finally Coeur d’Alene came into view as we sped along I-90 from Washington into Idaho all in a little less time than it takes me to ride 50 miles on my bicycle. Snuggling into Coeur d’Alene on Wednesday afternoon was a good feeling. The weather teased me with puffy clouds, light winds, and forecasts of the same for race day.
We pulled into our hacienda for a week, the Day’s Inn, and started unpacking our stuff. We spent some time trooping around Ironman village, buying swag, scouting out race day morning vantage spots, and driving routes that would allow Sheila to move around on race day. Joe and Maria called us as they too closed in on Coeur d’Alene as we headed to where locals suggested we could get a great pizza, Valentino’s on the north side of town. They were right, nice atmosphere, nice people, and good pizza.

Unpacking, organizing, and bicycle cleaning occupied the remainder of the afternoon, but the day did not end until another run to a prized find, Schlotzsky’s, for yet another Albuquerque Turkey. We forgot our favorite German “Cow Bell” so a quick call to our neighbors, Joe and Linda, in Pleasant Hill set up a quick shipment for delivery on Saturday. Can’t go without the bell! A nice hot tub soaking soothed the leg muscles, calmed the mind, and weighted my sleepy eyes. Bed time came at about 10.

Thursday was a day for registering, revisiting the swag tent (they bring in new stuff every day) and getting a massage. We did not walk around too much, as it is easy to pile on leg miles, and I was still nursing a sore hamstring from the run-in at The Escape from Alcatraz just a little less than two weeks prior. Janet, the massage therapist, did a great job of actively stretching my legs, and easing my body’s tightness. The typical twangs of taper came and went, but all in all I was feeling good leading up to Ironman day.

Sheila found a great little garden shop in town, where we met Petal, a 31 pound cat, and wound up buying some garden stuff. Good thing we drove, as the sunflower posty thingy would not have been allowed on an airplane, and the antique watering can would not have fit into our luggage! We gave one last pet to Petal, and headed next door to the local Harley shop so I could buy a friend a T-shirt. Albuquerque Turkey filled my tummy prior to a late afternoon trip to the movie theater where we entertained ourselves with Batman Begins. A great show, that is nothing like the original comic book style Batman movies. And as it turned out, we viewed the last showing in the movie theater we visited. The very next day the town was welcoming a new stadium style theater with a grand opening celebration. Out of the theater, into the hot tub, and down for another night of sanctifying sleep.

Friday welcomed fellow Ironteamers into town. Mike Wasserman, Jeff “Doc” Sankoff, Missy, Nargis, Dave, Brooke, Cullin, Becky, Terry, and others past and present to Ironteam flowed into town as Sunday’s homing beacon continued to sound. Ironman village was in full bloom, as the festival offered plenty to do. Careful selection, however, must be taken to ensure not much time is spent on the legs. Joe, Maria, Sheila and I decided to drive the course late morning, so off we went in separate cars, with walkie talkies as our umbilical chord. The course drive is always useful, and this one proved likewise. First off it allows non racers to visualize where the racers will be at given moments during the day, and secondly the racers get to see first hand where the bike course will demand certain aspects of riding skill and effort.

Upon completing the drive, we hunkered back down in the room to pack transition bags, apply stickers to bike and helmet, and double and triple checking the gear. I like to lay everything out on its appropriate bag, and then pack it in. I decided to video the process to help give a sense of the process to our team members who will be attending their first Ironman later this summer. This proved to be a fun process, with the commentary often leaking into the silly. Sheila and Maria stepped out to paint up the bike course, while I slipped a movie into the DVD player and relaxed. STAR WARS Episode V if you must know. “Luke, I am your father”. Dinner on Friday was takeout from Olive Garden, a good pasta feed. We opted out of the Ironman Pasta feed dinner instead favoring a quiet evening at the hotel.

Saturday was upload day. Take the network of gear, the bike, transition bags, and upload it into Ironman Village. Much like building a new computer, you hope that all the parts you put in their place, work right when the “on” button is pushed. Granted, access is available on Sunday morning prior to the race, but by then you want to be focused on racing, not finding and re-aligning gear. Remember that comment, tomorrow holds a bit of reshuffling for me.

Anyway, Sheila and I walked down to the village after parking only 2 blocks away. The transition area is in the shade of a park, very comfortable. I placed my bike on the rack, pumped up tires, dropped my transition bags, and moved back out of the athlete only area. We inspected the race route from swim to bike, from bike to run, and look for good spots that Sheila can post at to receive mid-race kisses and hugs. We took pictures, shot a little video, and of course visited the swag tent again. All in all we scoot away about half a months worth of mortgage payments on Ironman gear. Those bastards just keep forcing me to spend-spend-spend! There must be a drug in the Albuquerque Turkey. Our bell arrived late Saturday afternoon, with a little hitchhiker, Chatty-Bitch the chomper. She would play a roll in keeping me focused on Sunday’s forthcoming Ironman bike leg.

We partook in another of our pastimes, geocaching, on Saturday afternoon which allowed us to see some of the other natural beauty of the area. Cougar Bay is part of Coeur d’Alene Lake, and that is where our little GPS pointed to for our geocache treasure. We had a travel bug to deposit, which was initially placed by a marathon runner in the Bay Area. She had asked that anyone finding it drop it near a race they take part in. We took a picture of the “bug” near Ironman village, and dropped it off upon locating the cache. For those of you not familiar with geocaching, just visit the website at www.geocaching.com for insight, otherwise you probably just read blah, blah, blah, blah…We did meet a nice gal walking her dogs at the Cougar Bay park, and as adventure usually shakes hands often with Sheila and I, we wound up helping her with Aspen, her large dog who had run into a porcupine and was wearing some quills as a keepsake.

We rounded out Saturday with a late afternoon dinner of Power Sized Jamba juice cocktails that sat well with the final Albuquerque Turkey that had served as lunch. The people at Schlotzsky’s and Jamba Juice bring about a sense of small town, very friendly and open to conversation. The folks had asked for my race number and name so they could cheer on race day. Phil, at Schlotzsky’s even set up a banner with race names and numbers so other patrons can cheer us on as well.

Race Day started as most do, with the chime of Mozart in my ear as an alarm. 3:30 AM, and I felt rested upon rolling over and quieting my German composer. Sheila stirred slightly, but I quietly slipped on my swim trunks and grabbed the room key to let her sleep a little longer. The walk down the hallway was quiet and comforting, as was the slow slide into the hot tub to warm up my legs in preparation for an early morning stretch.

Stretching complete followed by a quick and silent change out of my swim trunks found me tossing my frozen Aunt Jemima mini pancakes into the Microwave. The night watch person, although cordial, was annoying the shit out of me by asking way too many questions for my sleepy brain to attend to. All I wanted was warm pancakes and silence, but being an out of towner, talking to a race volunteer EMT, I thought it bad karma to blow her off. Who knows, I may need her help later that day. Thankfully two other OCD-anal retentive-type “A” triathletes wander into the breakfast area and occupy her with their presence as I finish off my pancakes and head out for a digestive walk around the parking lot. The walk goes well, and I am rewarded with a good “movement” upon my return to the room. Sheila is now up and moving; it is 4:30 AM.

4:45 AMish: I look out of the window and see Joe departing. Other cars are heading out too. Sheila and I pack the car with special needs bags, the goodies of the day, and wearables that may or not be needed given the variable weather that is possible for the day. Forecasts call for partly cloudy with 10% chance of showers, and a high of 80 degrees. All in all it looks like a perfect day for Ironman. We park in the same place we have for the last few days while visiting Ironman village and walk quietly to the village. Sheila is outlined by her bright pink backpack and Boston Red Sox pink hat, as I walk beside her with my special needs bags, warm clothes bag, and wetsuit slung over my shoulder. The morning is quiet as are the others merging to where our war paint will be applied in the form of race numbers and ages. Sheila captures the moment in time as 953 is carefully scribed onto each shoulder, and 40 is put on my left calf. The thought of my first triathlon at the age of 24 in Furth im Wald Germany wanders into and then out of my mind. My gaze wanders from athlete to athlete as their bodies too are marked for the day.

After the body marking, we walk to the special needs area and drop the bags in their appropriate box. A walk to the wall overlooking the swim start affords us an opportunity to refine the selection of where Sheila will be. We pick right at the inflatable that will mark where we exit the water for the first lap and at the end of the swim. It is a good point to see each other prior to the bike. I sit next to her and we look out over the lake as other racers walk by. We see the two Jeff’s, Joe, Missy, and the rest of the Ironteam members as they wander around in their way of preparation. I walk to my bike to check tires, and realize I have left my food (sustained energy) in the cooler back at the car. It is 6:00 AM and I have plenty of time to walk back, get the bottles, and put them onto my bike. I drop Sheila a call on our walkies, and head to the car. By 6:15 I am back near Sheila with my tires properly inflated, food in place, and Chatty-Bitch taped to the top of my aerobar hydration system.

6:30 I start to slip into my wet suit and focus on my swim goal, which is to maintain a steady 1:40 pace per 100 yards. At 6:40 I give Sheila a long hug and kiss, and head into the swim coral. I beep across the matt, hit the sand and wander into the water. The silence of ear plugs is soothing amidst the loud music and voices of fans and racers. The warmup strokes feel great, and the water is a perfect temperature for my needs, in the low 60’s.

I watch in subtle amazement as three quarters of the racers fill in far to the right of the starting line on the beach. I plan to start about 20 people deep, right on the buoy line. With only a quarter of the racers, or 450 or so people, in the general area I decided to occupy, I was confident that the swim would be moderate in terms of combativeness. The National Anthem is belted out by two young gals, and I sing along in perfect harmony. “Oh, say, can you see!” Well, I do have earplugs in so I tone it down since I am sure my tonal quality is about that of screeching nails on a chalk board. The voice of Ironman, Mike Reilly, gets the crowd going and before you can think again about doing vs not doing, BOOM, off goes the canon and off we go for the first lap.

I use the same strategy I did at Lake Placid and swim just to the left of the buoys on the way out of the rectangular two loop course. Some bumping, some groping, plenty of drafting, and a few knocks to the head find a pack of 1700 people focusing in on one point to make a 90 degree left turn. If it sounds daunting, then I have done my duty in describing the first turn point at an Ironman. I can’t swim forward because of the traffic block at the buoy, I can’t go vertical for fear of getting run over, and I can’t move left or right due to the mass of human bodies. The image of salmon swimming up stream while bears swipe at them for lunch is what I see in my mind as I turn the corner. The next left is only about 150 yards away, and it too is full of bumping and thumping. Once that turn is done the 800 or so yards back to shore is fairly smooth. I stand up as my fingers brush the bottom of the clear lake and jog through the blow up archway marking the end of lap one. Sheila is placed perfectly to wave and blow kisses as I share a big YAHOO and thumbs up to affirm her confidence that my first lap was successful.

The first lap strategy is employed flawlessly on the second lap, with not one bump or tap throughout the swim as I stay slightly left of the buoys. Enough other people do the same thing so I have few draftees as I move through the second 1.2 miles of the swim leg. During the last 800 yards I notice a slight ache in my hip flexors, and my training log entries, or lack thereof, that relate to swimming start muddling through my mind. Hmm, seems like my last long swim was, er, Alcatraz, and that was only 1.5 miles. Overall I know that my training has been less than last years, but enough to keep a pace that will allow a race plan finish for the swim.

For a brief moment, however, I wonder how the sore muscles are going to respond to the bike and run yet to come. As these thoughts roll through my mind, I come back into the depth of water that allows me to touch the bottom so I stand, find my jogging legs, head back under the archway. Just under 70 minutes, right on target and my legs feel good. Sheila is again the highlight of the loop, waving and blowing kisses as she snaps a shot with her camera. Her position was perfect, such that the local news grabbed her image and posted it later that night on the evening news! Those Ironteam wearables really do catch the eye!

I slip the top of my wetsuit off as I jog along the carpeted beach leading to the arms of the wetsuit strippers. I get stripped; give the old ladies who stripped me a peck on their cheeks, and then head to the transition bag line. Yellers call out my number, and another volunteer hands me my bag. It’s time to head to the changing tent. I take a seat near the door to keep things speedy, and immediately pull off my swim shorts, the volunteer opens my bag and hands me my helmet and a towel. Well, not quite what I planned on covering up first, but oh well, the helmet goes on and the towel dries off my legs. Pre-chamois buttered century padded shorts slide back up my legs quite easily. I put on sun block on, lip protection, and take in some water as well as a bite from a Clif Bar and an endurolyte. I strap my GPS onto my wrist, slip into my baby powdered socks and shoes and grab my race number belt. It is time to head out on the bike course.

It is now about 8:20 AM and there are 112 miles of biking ahead. As I head out of the bike coral I see Sheila and we kiss and hug over the fence. I mount up and as I start to speed away I hear a “GO TEAM”. I look around to see one of Sheila’s fellow teachers who traveled up to Coeur d’Alene to see her mom who is battling lymphoma. Karma, and timing make me smile and holler back her name and a loud “Thanks”, for the cheer.

My plan is to negative split the two laps, starting at about 16.5 mph avg for the first lap and 17.5 for the second lap. Well, Robert Burns said it in words we all remember: "The best laid schemes o' mice and men Gang aft a-glay". My gaft went a-glaying right awaying. My legs felt good, the sun was still low, and the wind was calm. The first portion of the bike is an out and back for a total of about 15 miles. There is one hill in the middle, which is about a 4 minute climb each way and a hoot and hollering aid station. I am at about 19 mph by the time I zoom back through town and see Sheila, Maria, and a host of other friends cheering me on. Like I said, gang aft a-glay. Once the zeal of the start and all the cheering fades away we are greeted by the first real climb. It starts after crossing a bridge over the Spokane River where you then take a right on Upriver Road, aptly named. The climb is in the shade, maxes out at about eight percent grade and goes on for a mile or so, not bad compared to what we train at in the Bay area.

I manage my average speed down to about 18 miles per hour over the next 50 or so miles. The time rolls by nicely. The down hills are fun and curvy, and the only other uphill is similar to the first, but this one is un-shaded and has a few more degrees of incline to deal with. As usual I get passed by loads of people, being a relatively quick swimmer, but not a very svelt cyclist. I don’t let it bother me as given my conditioning and race plan I am still on track for a good bike leg.

On the out and back in Washington I see a flaming Ironteam jersey fly by, but don’t recognize the person. He is going quickly so I surmise it is Doc Jeff. He is on track for a great ride. I see other Ironteam members as I too traverse the out and back. We ride along a bike trail, through small neighborhoods in Post Falls, and even around a dog track before heading back into Coeur d’Alene for the end of lap one. All in all I am feeling good; I averaged a little less than 18 mph for the first lap, but I am worried that I have not peed in spite of taking in 6 endurolytes and 28 ounces of water per hour.

The second lap is more challenging. It starts off well, and I adjust my fluid and electrolyte intake levels up. My goal this lap is to pee, stay at or slightly above a 17 mph average, and stay on two wheels. The short out and back along Lake Coeur d’Alene passes nicely, but I do notice the heat starting to weigh me down, as my sweat rate continues to rise. I zone in on 10 endurolytes per hour, and 30 ounces of water. I have been taking in about 250 calories per hour via sustained energy, but must drop my hourly intake since my gastrointestinal system is becoming slightly gassy due the increased stress of the heat. I decide to take in about 200 calories per hour.

Prior to heading out of town toward Washington I stop for a kiss and hug from Sheila, give Maria a high five and then head back out for lap two. Close to the top of the first hill I notice a tightness creeping into my right hamstring, and my left quad. I ease back on the pressure and roll over the top in a steady manner. I keep up with hydration, fueling, but no need to pee has yet arisen. A little rain falls between the hills but it is minimal and barely wets the road. The second hill is not nearly as nice the second time around. My left quad tightens every time I try to put increased pressure to climb upon it. I guess I am about 2-3 teeth to short on the rear sprocket given my leg power. A 25 or 27 vs the 23 I chose would have worked better. But I roll over the top of the last real hill and head towards Washington.

A portion of the route that is in Washington runs on a road that heads due west out and due east back. The trade winds of the season blow right into our faces for about 4 miles leading into Greenacres Washington. I put my head down and just pedal, at about 7 miles per hour. The head wind affords some cooling properties, but the slow speed allows the mind to wander, the leg aches to creep into the forefront of thoughts, and motivation to wane. For about two seconds I think of wandering off into the gravel on the side of the road, just enough to get a flat or two so I can take a seat and fix my tire, but more so for the break! Well, those two seconds pass quickly and Chatty-Bitch takes over rattling away into the headwind to keep my mind occupied on something other than useless thoughts.

At the turnaround loop in Greenacres I smile knowing a tailwind is waiting for me to aid in covering the final 15 or so miles. Yahoo, I sit up to let my body grab the wind like a sail and cruise back at a wonderful 23 miles per hour. Much like 210 pounds flowing downhill real fast, my big ass is like an America’s Cup yacht catching a prevailing wind. On the second lap I have settled into seeing many of the same people in a little cat and mouse game all the way back to Coeur d’Alene. James, Charlie, and Benson are my fellow Ironriders, heads down when possible, riding back to our marathon.

Close to the end we ride by a pulp mill that is still heavily utilized in this day of protected forests, which makes for a very bumpy road on sore butt muscles. The rippled pavement is the ticket home though and I push through to once again enter the town of Coeur d’Alene. 112 miles, my average a little over 17 miles, no flats, no crashes, but I still have not peed. Sheila is waiting by the entrance to the bike end point, so I stop, exchange hugs and kisses, some words about the ride, and then head into the bike coral. Sheila’s presence is motivating, comforting and most of all rewarding. To know that she is sharing in my success is very fulfilling.

I hand my bike to a volunteer, and head to the T2 bag area. Another stellar volunteer hands me bag #953 and I head into the changing tent for a second time. A volunteer hands me a cold soaked towel which I take and drape over my head to cool my body off. Still another volunteer helps me open my bag, and empty the contents. I strip to my birthday suit with the intention of toweling off the sweat and salt remnants from my body. I use another towel to quickly dry off, then I start donning my running gear. Ironteam shirt, run shorts, powdered socks and shoes, and reset on my GPS for the run. The volunteer helps me up, and sends me on my way. I ask him if he would rather run the marathon but he jokingly says he still has enough brain cells to choose otherwise.

The heat, lack of urination, sun burn (that I have yet realized is a bad as it really is) and the promise of a marathon between me and another finish line really hits me hard as I exit the tent. The one thing I know I need is another hug from Sheila. Funny how deconstructed willfulness can become when physiological changes incurred by dehydration invade the psyche. The run has a short out and back on a bike trail prior to heading east through Coeur d’Alene and that is where Sheila, Maria, and other supporters were cheering us on. Another big hug and kiss sent me out on the 1.2 short leg prior to the longer out and back of lap one.

As I head through downtown Coeur d’Alene I see the male race winner hit the chute for the final quarter mile just as I am heading out on lap one. DAMN him and his skinny little cheetah ass. I am able to manage a 2 minute run, 3 minute walk pace. I do this for about the first 3 miles of the marathon as I leave the housing part of the community and get on the lake side bike trail while seeing the 2nd and 3rd place men heading for home. The sun is directly overhead; the heat off the pavement is hot on my feet, as well as my body, and my stomach is rejecting food and water.

The initial part of this stage is slightly uphill, past many of the inspirational posters that were made earlier in the week at the Janus Tent. I pass the Louie Bonpua poster that I made, and it gives me a boost. I then pass one with WAYNE in big bold colorful letters, and I take a little sniffle breath in that causes my back to slightly spasm given the light shuffle jog that I was working on maintaining. Heat, sun, heat, sun. I focus on the ski trip I took with my brother in February. I remember the snowstorm that enveloped us at Kirkwood and how cold I was, hoping to moderate the effect of heat my body was experiencing. I focus on the feeling of satisfaction I get from working with such a wonderful group of athletes and fellow coaches on Ironteam. I think about the difficulty that our honorees go through during their battle for life, and it all helps. My body still hurts, is out of balance, and definitely not happy, but I am here by choice, able to embrace life and I am going to work through this.

There were no breaks from the heat from about mile three, out to the turnaround, then back to mile twelve. Ahh, mile twelve. That is where the memory of this grand trip started, and where we have finally caught up too. This time, unlike in 1999, I knew my problem was an imbalance in heat dissipation and heat retention. I was dehydrated, plain and simple. I had only peed once since the marathon started, but it was very yellow and only about three ounces. I had managed to maintain about a 11:30 minute per mile pace the first 6 miles, but dropped to a dismal 15 minute mile the second half of the first lap.

Given my depleted condition, I was looking ever so forward to seeing Sheila and her army of fellow supporters at the turn around point. She and I saw each other at about the same time and she immediately wandered out near me to assess my status. Peter, the husband of a past Ironteamer, said I looked good, but the next day he told me that was a bold faced lie! He said I looked like death warmed over, and I felt like it too. Every ounce of couch potato wanted to sit down under the shadiest tree and cool off, rehydrate, and take a nap. Sheila, however, started walking beside me and commented on how sprightly my pace was. We did the out and back together which was invigorating and priceless for my “sticktooitiveness”.

I left her at the point we joined and headed out on the second lap. The sun was lower, the heat index had dropped, and the trees afforded more shade throughout the course. My pace steadied at about a 13 minute mile, all of it done by speed walking. I started taking in water, ice, soup broth, flat coke, and the occasional pretzel or banana. My systems started to renew themselves, and I even peed at mile 20. I continued to thank the triathlon goddess for the invention of ice sponges that kept my head nice and soaked. As it would turn out, the soaking of my head, and subsequent spiky hair style was allowing all that overhead sun to nuzzle right up to my scalp and become bed partners. Bad bed partners. I had sunburn on my head, to the point of hurting during the last 8 miles as I soaked my head with the sponges.

I saw all my fellow teammates, hugged and high fived them all, and continued to the turnaround point on the long out and back, marking less than a 10k to the finish, and another Ironman under my belt. The turnaround cone made the blisters less painful, the heat less daunting, and the fact I was on the tail end of a marathon very satisfying. It may have been the sunburn head though just playing with my pain receptors! Anyway, I was heading home, and I was as happy as could be.

4 miles to go, and I see the last aid station that is fully exposed to the sun. It is about 8 o’clock and I figure I am going to finish sometime after 9 PM but before 9:30. I finish the slight climb up from the aid station and decide to try and run the slight downgrade to the next turn, which is about half a mile away. At first the legs act like a worm on the end of a fisherman’s hook, wiggling to get out from under this silly brain telling them to run. After about 20 yards though I have this Dawn of the Dead shuffle going on that makes me laugh so hard at myself that I hurt my back again giggling down the hill. What a hoot. I get a “that a boy”, from a passing van full of spectators, and keep the momentum going.

At the left turn heading back through the neighborhood of Coeur d’Alene I spy Sheila, which is at about the 24 mile point. We have about two miles to go and Sheila says I can keep going if I want to run, as she does not want to slow me down. I say the opposite, “Run? You have to be kidding, there are no more downhill’s like that last one so it is walking from here on out, together.”

Off we go, with “corniness” oozing from the pavement cracks. On and off we are hand in hand, acknowledging the awesome spectators as we move closer to the finish line. On one corner a family is rocking to KISS on loud speakers, and then the next is blasting the theme song to Rocky, the same theme that I have heard every time I passed them for the past the 6 hours. Hmmm, that means they have listened to one song, over and over, for the racers, for over 8 hours, at the expense of their sanity, that too I would catalogue as crazy!

1 mile to go and the pain is pretty much abated, not gone, but soothed by the magic of the Ironman finish line loudspeakers. Yup, we can hear them about a mile out. The crowds roar, the announcers voice, it is coming and we are going to enjoy it together. Sheila sacrifices countless weekends as I coach and train so I want her with me through the entire experience. We get to move into the finishers lane, which leads to a left turn onto Sherman Ave, 6 blocks to go.

We firmly take each others hand and I look to her and say, “Are you ready for the magic?” She nods with a big smile and we briskly walk through the throngs of well wishers, and clapping spectators. About 200 yards from the finish a person shouts, “Stop being a girly man, and run!” So we agree to run, and kick it up a gear. The next 150 yards go by like slow motion. I hear my name in the sounds of the finish line filtered out like a radio frequency tuned imperfectly to a distant station. My pain is all gone now, soon to return of course, but not for these last steps. We close into the brightness of the finish line and look each other in the eye (good thing we didn’t trip) about 10 yards out from the finish line and then in unison raise our hands in victory and cross beneath the timer at 14:16:45. Ironman we are; Sheila hangs the medal over my neck. A towel is given to me, my legs stop, the timing chip is cut away, a t-shirt is hung over my shoulder and a Mylar blanket is given to me for warmth.

It is time for some finish line pizza, water, a massage, and just general war story time with fellow finishers. Maria, Jeff, and others at the finish line congratulate me, I do likewise. My legs are just shot, my feet are pounding, and the blister pain comes shooting back into focus. I want to support the others yet to finish, but I know a long day of driving is just 8 or so hours away (never could have guessed the full truth of that thought) so we head to transition for gear pickup. Sheila’s fellow teacher, and woman whose mother is fighting lymphoma, congratulates me as well. She attended with her father and brother, and said I am an inspiration. An inspiration, quite a complement, and one I humbly accept while showering them with thanks for sharing in the magic of an Ironman finish line and cheering me along through the day.

Sheila supports me as we shuffle over to where the gear bags are lined up. I get my warm clothes bag, change into something more comfortable, and then collect the rest of my race gear. Sheila helps by carrying my bags, as I don a backpack that I had stored in the warm clothes bag. I get my Cervelo, and we wheel it and ourselves back to the car. We pack everything in, ease into seats, and for the first mile in over 140, use power other than my own to move with a purpose. We get back to the hotel, and I sit in the hot tub to loosen muscles, I stretch, and then take a much needed bath to clean the grime that only an Ironman can paste to a body. The bed is a welcome partner to my weary body, so we take well to each other and I slip into a slightly restless, much desired sleep.

The morning after involves picking up pictures, finisher certificate, hugging fellow finishers, friends, and supporters. We packed everything up, and headed to Ironman Village for pics and more hugs. We needed to hit the road early so I did not visit the finishers swag tent, besides I was out of room and we did need to make next months mortgage payment! We found a few more folks to hug and share war stories with at the award ceremony brunch, which by the way is a way cool idea as opposed to the typical Monday evening shindig. We did wind up eating breakfast there but headed out prior to the onset of the award distribution litany.

Once back at the car we smiled at each other, feeling the weekend’s warm sense of success. Sheila jumped into the driver’s seat, and I took the copilots seat with my Ironman legs in tow. Well, what started out as a plan to stay in a little town called Homedale about 25 miles SW of Boise, turned into a 16 hour marathon drive finally ending in Fernley, Nevada on Tuesday morning.

Amidst the 16 hour drive there was a Wingers restaurant where we ate burgers, wings, and potato skins. We bypassed the planned stop at the Sunnydale Motel when the doors where smaller than us, and the room looked like there had been more visits to the moon than changes to the sheets. YUCK, we scammed quickly, thinking to get another room somewhere close by as we continued south on route 95 through Idaho and into Nevada. Well, no luck, every hotel/motel we passed was either manned by a card carrying member of the Idaho militia, or smelled like a smoke stack. Must drive on, must carry on, must listen to UFO talk radio on AM 740 out of LA, must call satellite radio and complain about lost signal in the middle of nowhere, must…carry….on….

Sheila and I traded driving duties, but come 11PM I was driving since I needed Sheila to be up to duties in the morning whenever we did get back on the road. We put in another hour, no more hotels in sight and nothing else to boot. I decide we might as well push on through to Winnemucca, Nevada since there are over 30 hotels there, and we will still be there by about 1:30 AM. We pull into Winnemucca and I am glad to get some sleep. Umm, NOT. There happened to be a wrestling match, a rodeo, and a pumpkin picking convention, not really but what the hey it sounds good; so all the hotels, I MEAN ALL THE HOTELS, are sold out. We waste about an hour going from door to door with our donkey in tow but there is no room at any inn. On the road again. Next stop is, hmmm, NOTHING, nothing, not a god damn thing between here and wherever west of us is. We relive the breakdown fiasco we experienced while moving down from Montana back in 1997. Since we are both so tired, and the desert looks so much the same mile after mile we can’t quite pin point where our old Jeeps transmission cut out and left a 3 mile swath of burning oil smoke. That is another story though. Back to the Ironman drive after the Ironman race. The last chance prior to just heading all the way home was the Fernley/Reno area.

I approached the exit with trepidation. My heart pitter pattered as I noticed a Super 8 sign, as well as a Best Western sign. Hmmm, first the Super 8, NUTS, a big NO VACANCY sign on the office door. Ok, keep your calm, hold the legs together, and just push down on the gas pedal. Best Western please be my friend, please, please, I’ll eat wheat bread forever if there is just a place to lay my lame ass head down on.

I walk in, and am greeted by a conversation I overhear regarding someone checking out. CHECKING OUT, I haven’t been to bed in over 22 hours and this guy has the gaul to check out. Good, that’s good, if they say there are no rooms I’ll pay cash and bribe the gal behind the desk to let us sleep in this joker’s early check out room! Yea, yea, that will work, I’ bribe her!!!! With eyes wide shut, I tentatively ask for a room. Ummmmm, she says with the drawl that only a grave shift employee can spit out, yes. Yes what? Yes you have a room?
“Yes,” she replies. I smile, check in, park, unpack a toothbrush, Sheila, and our home manicured pillows and head to the room. It’s 4:30 AM and we made it to a bed. I don’t even get my clothes off, I just crawl into bed and am out before I even remember getting a kiss goodnight from Sheila.

We wake at about 10 the next morning, got on the road by 11 and after traveling through the beautiful Donner Pass arrive home at about 3 PM. The last 4 hours are a breeze as Sheila did the driving and I wandered in and out of blissful Ironman mini snoozes. Ahh, home again home again.

Hmmm, I’ve already signed up for Ironman Arizona, and my brother is in Heidelberg, butted up next to Frankfurt which is the home of Ironman Germany during July. Hmmm, we can drive to Phoenix for the Ironman there in April, I can get a good month of recovery and then train up for a month prior to a 3 week taper into Germany. I can help my brother train and he does already have nice bike. He said he wanted to do one anyway, so why not next year? Sheila loves Europe so we can turn the German trip into a European adventure. Yea, yea that’s the ticket. Onward and upward. No time to let grass grow beneath our asses.
“Hey Sheila you got the credit card!”

2004-09-26T16:59:00.000-07:00

On Safari summer of 2004

We're together 4ever!

2004-09-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

Wayne and Sheila here. Since our lives are so wrapped up in the world around us, we decided to share that wrapping with the world. Sheila is a 4th grade school teacher by trade, a wife, and friend of many. Wayne is a sales professional, for now, by trade, a husband, and friend of Sheila. Team in training is one of our big efforts, as is each other. This blog will be used to chronicle our life together, the ups, the downs, and everything in between. Comment on our journey as you see fit. We love the saying mean people suck, so if your post sucks, we will simply ignore and delete, otherwise have at it.