Missing you

I miss Get Your Geek On. The Kahuna & Iron Wil have been with me for every long training run I've done. Tomorrow I have to do 18 miles and it won't be the same without them.

Far Far Away

Is it wrong to be mad about having to park two blocks away from the running store?

Peter The Great

To recap...

This summer my Tri Team had a preview screening of the new Triathlon documentary "What It Takes". Three-Time World Ironman Champion Peter Reid and director Peter Han were scheduled to join us for the movie. I was very excited.

The morning of the screening I found out Peter Reid cancelled his appearance. I made what some might consider "inappropriate comments and gestures" towards Mr. Reid. I was very upset.

Our Tri-team leader showed the director my blog entries. I was very mortified.

Now to continue the story...

What I didn't mention is that when Peter Han was apologizing to me for Reid's cancellation, he promised he would get me my autographed magazine cover. And sure enough, it arrived yesterday. I am excited again.



Now then, the big question is "did Peter Han show my blog to Peter Reid?" I don't know. If he did, then one of the greatest triathletes of all time thinks I'm a psycho. Well he wouldn't be the first. The important thing is that I have Peter Reid's autograph hanging on my wall and I think that's pretty cool.

Malibu

Curse you Jon Cryer! My arch-nemesis (who I crushed last year) has defeated me at the Nautica Malibu Triathlon. It's On, baby. I will see you next year in Malibu, Duckie, or I will see you in Hell!

Mister P. did not win any overall trophies; he did not place within his age group. But if there was an award for "Most Popular Triathlete", Mister P. would have been quite the contender. More on that later.

Woke up at 3:30 am, left at 4:30, arrived at 5:30. The run course follows along the beach parking lot, so I made sure I had a front row spot so that my teammates would have a little inspiration along the way. I hope they noticed.



I did something amazing which I am quite proud of: I only had to go to the bathroom once before the race! OK, technically I went twice but the second time doesn't count. I didn't even want to go, but 15 minutes before my wave started there were no lines at all for the port-a-potties. You had your choice of stinkholes and when life hands you an opportunity like that you don't pass it up.

The swim was a little rough. It was by far the most congested, grabbing, kicking, feeding-frenzy swim I have ever been in. I hated it. I wasn't frightened by it or worried about my time, I just hated the chaos and the frustration of not being able to actually reach forward with a stroke. This was a short 1/2 mile swim, which thinned out after 5 minutes or so, but while I was in the jam I thought to myself "I could never do an Ironman", where the swim could stay congested for an hour or even more. I would go insane. I think I kept a pretty constant pace throughout the entire swim, so I felt good about it.

I had two unforgivable mistakes in my transition. First, one of my bike gloves was inside out, and I had to struggle to invert it. It sounds like a tiny thing, but it was frustrating and cost time. Then, it seems that my bike was racked up all morning with the chain fallen off. I never bothered to check it, so I had to put the chain on right before the ride. Again, it's not a huge deal but it was just stupid time which shouldn't have been wasted.

It's an 18-mile somewhat-hilly course, and I think I was fairly aggressive with it. I admit I am a complete coward going down hills and ride my brakes half the time when I get around 30mph, but I rock going up hills. Maybe it's the way my bike is geared, or maybe it's my iron willpower, but I cruised by a lot of people up every hill. I started losing steam around mile 16, but by then it was all flat so I could just cruise into the run.

The run was a bit frustrating because at some point in the morning I lost my watch. (I later found it buried in my transition bag.) I really like to be able to pace myself along a course without pushing too hard early on and running out steam. Ever-supportive-Annie offered to loan me her watch, but I told her I had enough issues without having to actually wear a woman's watch. Without my watch I just had to guess at a pace. I felt pretty good the entire run, I didn't even remember that I was having problems with my foot. I had some energy left over at the end so I probably could have run it faster. But then again there's nothing wrong with crossing the finish line and still feeling good, rather than collapsing, right?

So, how well did Mister P. do? He was about 90 seconds slower than last year. I'm perfectly fine with that. I was about 2 minutes slower in the swim this year. No problem there; the currents were different, crowds were different, 2 minutes is fine. I was 2 minutes slower in T1. OK, that's not great, but that's mostly poor organization on my part and isn't a reflection of not training enough. I was 2 minutes FASTER on the bike. Frankly, I felt like I was doing ever better than that but it is still an improvement. I was 15 seconds faster on the run. I lost my time in the swim and T1. Not losing any sleep over that.

Since this was my Tri Team's primary event for the season, I thought I'd do the tri in style.



Yes, I wore the ears on the bike and the run. No, I didn't keep the ears on for the swim. Let me tell you, I was HUGE! I don't think 20 seconds went by on the run without somebody yelling "go Disney!" "way to go Mickey!" "nice ears!" It actually became a bit of a problem because at first I would respond to everybody with a "go Disney!" shout out or something, but after a while it was just too tiring having to yell every 20 seconds. I would just give a wave from then on. William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman (husband and wife) were two of the celebrities on the Disney Team. They were running together and passed me on the out-and-back course, and Macy waved at me when he saw my ears. So even the celebrities were drawn to me.

There is one bummer about the day that even now makes me sick when I think about it: I missed the team photo on the beach (there were 270 of us in Malibu yesterday). It was just a stupid misunderstanding on my part regarding when the photo would be taken. We took some other team photos this year, but the beach shot is the definitive one and I'm not in it. Bummer.

On a happier note: after doing a triathlon, the last thing I want to eat is an orange, or a granola bar, or any of that hippie-health crap they have at most races. Malibu had its share of that, but they also had THIS waiting for us:



Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! This is why I tri.

Taper Shmaper

Tomorrow is the Nautica Malibu Triathlon. Last year, this was my very first tri. In the week or two before a race, you're supposed to taper your training- take it a bit easy. Unfortunately, my marathon training schedule had me doing a 15-mile run this weekend. I debated how "fresh" I wanted to be for the tri, and ultimately decided that I'm far enough behind with the marathon training so I did the long run yesterday. We'll find out tomorrow what kind impact it had.

It's tough for me to come up with goals/predictions for the tri because I've been more focused on the marathon but of course I'd like to do better than last year (when I was THRILLED with my time.) Last year, I couldn't swim in a straight line; this year, I still can't swim in a straight line. If water conditions are good, I'll do well. If they're not, I won't. Bottom line I don't expect a big change in the swim.

I've focused more on distance than speed with my running, and I don't think I'm much faster than I was last year. My stamina should be better, but my foot isn't at 100%. Again, I don't expect much difference with my run time.

Now the bike is where I'd like to see some improvement. I have the clipless pedals, I had a bike fitting, and I think I'm generally a better cyclist now. Maybe not by a lot, but better. I'd be happy with a 2-3mph improvement over last year.

Oh, and once again, Jon Cryer is going down.

Santa Clarita Walk-a-thon

I'm still planning on doing the Santa Clarita Marathon in November. Unfortunately, I'm still working with an injured foot. Yes, I know the absolute best thing would be to not run at all on it for a while, but at this point if I don't do some training I'll never make it through the marathon. Unless I injure it more, dropping out of the race is not an option. This is important to me.

To help protect my foot, I've been alernating between running and walking: 40-minute run, 10-minute walk, repeat. I did 12 miles with no problems and hopefully I can extend this for longer runs. With this plan, I will wind up walking about 5 miles of the marathon and hopefully my foot won't need to be amputated.

In addition to sparing my foot, the 10-minute rests may allow me to run a bit faster. I don't think I'll be in a condition to beat my (disappointing) L.A. time, but I will cross the finish line

Iron Wil

This very minute Iron Wil is doing Ironman Wisconsin in a rainstorm. Like many of you, I have been tracking her through Ironman live and following updates from Simply Stu on her blog. It's exciting stuff! It's been giving me chills. At the last checkpoint, she had 2 hours 47 minutes to complete the final 13.1 mile run. It's gonna tough in those conditions. Go Iron Wil!

Must have been cold outside

I'd like to thank my Tri Team for taking such great interest in my nipples last night. I honestly had no idea that my pasties held such fascination for people. And while I appreciate the advice, no, I will not be switching to electrical tape. If it means I have octagonal nipples poking against my shirt, so be it.

And the next time I flash you a titty, it will cost you a buck. Each.

Athletic Supporters

OK, I admit this topic makes me a little uncomfortable, but triathlon is all about leaving your comfort zone. Here's the thing: I don't have any athletic supporters. It's not that I don't think I need them; I know how important they are, but I just feel a little funny getting them. Let's face it, athletic supporters are not something you ask for every day. And it can be intimidating: I know some of the guys on my tri team have HUGE athletic supporters. If I'm honest with myself, I know I'll probably have... well... less support. But I figure it's time I became a man and actually got some athletic supporters. And you can help.

My next event is in just a few weeks. The Nautica Malibu Triathlon benefits the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation which helps children and familieis living with AIDS. Click here to be an Athletic Supporter for Neoprene Wedgie!

Great Movie Advice (403k, Quicktime)