Mentally hard....

I had a really hard time after the Chicago marathon. I trained harder than any other marathon, and was really hoping for a PR. It has been difficult not realizing my goal. In this crazy endurance "lifestyle" there will be bad days, and down right "bonks/blow-ups." I will try to not let it deter me. I have been taking it easy this time of the year with the approaching holidays, and winter weather. I am excited to do a couple of half's this coming summer, and get back into the swing of things. I want to see how the new bike does!

Great KONA video by Mark Allen Online.com

Great to be able to see some of the action.

Halloween

Halloween has come and gone, the year is moving rapidly towards its' end. I was happy to be home and enjoy the good weather, and happy time with my family!

Macca wins in KONA!

Chris McCormack wins the Ironman World Championship! I am very excited to see my favorite kick ass triathlete win the big one. He has won practically everything else, and now this... Also exciting to see that the current 70.3 World Champ for men and women both scored 2nd places respectively! Craig Alexander & Samantha McGlone

My Weekend Part 2.

Last nights Cubs game was sad. Today things will go my way...or so I hoped. I was running the Chicago Marathon for the 5th time, and put in the most training. Today will be my PR. Normally you are freezing at the start, but this year it was warm. I trained all summer in the heat, this would just be another day. My Garmin 350 was keeping my on pace. At mile 9 I was starting to work pretty hard. I think it was mile 11 where I "blew up." Then it was survival mode, running as much as I could and walk breaks. I became one with my bad day pretty quick, let's face it when doing endurance sports you will have bad days. Now I went on to finish the best I could and try to make the best of it. At mile 22 the aid station said the race was cancelled, but the info was skectchy at best. Soon we heard the police over their loud speakers announcing the race is cancelled and we were told to walk to the finish. Crazy heat and humidity made for a hard day. Although that is all relative...many people went to the hospital! One man died, and was later found to have not been caused by the heat. I was upright and "finished", but I did feel bad for the next day or two. Part 2 of my weekend equally sucked. It was a bad time for me, our family was sad.

My Weekend Part 1.

We were very excited to see the CUBS make it to the post-season! Not too happy that the Arizona Diamondbacks won both games in Phoenix. The CUBBIES come back to "the friendly confines" of Wrigley field, and home (best fans ever) crowd. It was rediculous to get tickets, but we lucked out and found some...at face value no less. We had a great dinner with friends and we walked to the ballpark, the atmosphere was great. Excitement was thckened the air...it was crazy! I was taking it as easy as possible because of "My Weekend Part 2." The cerimonial first pitch is throwen out by "Mr. Cubs" Ernie Banks, how fitting! The team is annouced and the crowd is loving it! The first pitch and the Diamondbacks hit a home run...the ballpark went VERY quiet. Things didn't go our way. Any opportunity was not siezed, and any questionable call didn't go our way. The CUBS were "flat" nobody seemed to be fired up. It was a sad night...by the end of the game they were swept, and the season was done just like that. My Weekend Part 1 sucked!

Cubs post-season starts tonight!

The Cubs head to Pheonix to take down the Diamond Backs. Go CUBBIES!

WORLD Champion...pretty cool title.

The 2007 Road World Championships just took place September 26 to 30, in Stuttgart, Germany. Six highly prized rainbow jerseys were contested over two disciplines (time trial and road race) and three categories (elite men and women and espoir men). The 2007 road race champion is the same as the 2006 road race champion Italy's Paolo Bettini(pictured here.) Back to back world champs! I am excited, I think Paolo does a great job bringing the honor and repect the rainbow jersey deserves.

The 2007 Time Trial World Champion is the same as 2006 also! Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara does it again, and beating second place by a surprising 52 seconds! I was sad to see Dave Zabriskie did not improve on last years third place, but instead he fell to 12th place.

Always exciting to see who will sport the rainbow kit for the following year!

Triathletes: Wusses or Bad Ass?

Many of the worlds top triathletes look about 150 pounds wet with rocks in their pockets. Often referred to as "tri-geeks," we are some what nerdy...easily excited about the newest gear. The September issue of "Outside" magazine may change a few options...(maybe not but we can hope). In the article "Swim. Bike. Run. Shoot. Kill." The Navy tells of some of it's difficulties in finding the "right" people to achieve the very sot after position of Navy Seal. Captain Duncan Smith, 48, an adventure racer who joined the SEALs in 1985, served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and has headed the Recruiting Directorate since its inception. "Navy recruiting complained that 'We send you good guys and you break them,' " Smith says. "And our answer was, 'Well, you're sending us the wrong guys.' " The seal initial screening to become a seal yous go through "BUDS." "BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training), is a notoriously brutal selector, intentionally designed to disabuse the vast majority of its initiates of their SEAL daydreams." "The graduation rate at BUD/S has historically stood at around 26 percent, which, though low, was enough for the SEALs to maintain their 2,300-man force. But then they became, in a way, victims of their own success." "When Smith started looking behind the numbers at BUD/S and discovered that triathletes were graduating at a rate of better than 40 percent." HEY! We might just be a little bit bad ass... "Smith is convinced that the right guys are endurance fiends like triathletes—wiry all-arounders who tend to be focused, good both on land and in the water, and largely indifferent to physical discomfort. Contrary as it may be to our cinematically sculpted notions of them as neckless linebacker types, typical SEALs are around five foot ten and 175 pounds. "Bigger guys are mostly weeded out," an instructor told me at the BUD/S compound on Coronado Island last spring. "Too much body to haul around."" Maybe we are a bit more gnarly than we appear...just in spandex..."the required uniform."

365ish days later...

The Ironman was an incredible expeirience. I did as well as I thought I could with the time I could find to train. I have nothing but great memories. Last weekend was Ironman Wisconsin 2007. I wasn't there... I was a bit sad... I missed the freaky nerves, the excitment & being in Madison. I miss being in such great shape, or as coach Sue called it "ironman skinny." I hope to do another Ironman.

She did it!

Here we are before her big race. I am excited and proud of the hard work put in to obtain her goal. (see 3 stories down)

Chicago Cubs fans rule!

Cycling needs help not abandonment!

Our sport is in a difficult time. I am confident that eventually we will come out the "other" side bigger and better. It is a time when we need support and guidance, not abandonment...Lance Armstrong & Tailwind Sports (Discovery Channel). I agree strongly with Chris Horner's quote: "Come on, you've made your career in cycling. and now that the sport is trying to clean itself up, you're just walking away?" (race radio, Velonews Spet. 10th). Although difficult to stand out against doping when your team was just "duped" by Ivan Basso and his doping "attempt." If anyone can gain attention (the good kind) and rally people around cleaning up cycling it's Mr. Armstrong. If it's a sport you so strongly care for and love, why not try to help fix it?

P.S. Dopers Suck!

A lofty goal...you say?

This year my wife decided to become a runner. A goal was set. A training program was obtained. The Chicago Half Marathon was the prize. I tried to do what I could to help and provide guidance. Before this my wife "didn't like running." Her new goal helped motivate, her cousin was a training partner on the long runs, and I filled in on some too. A LOT of HARD work was put down...then sickness. About 2 weeks prior she got a cold. I tried to point out that it was good "forced" rest and to have faith in all the hard work already in the training log. A last week filled with some short runs, and the big day was here. We swept through the race expo soaking up everything. Some special Chicago 1/2 Marathon gear was purchased in honor of the big day.

Race morning was filled with quiet calm. At the race we found her cousin & friend, then the usual potty break quest came up before the start. I had a minor GU explosion while trying to put it into my race belt "holster." When all was done we where crossing the start line. There were the usual race ups and downs. We ran the whole thing side by side. She did a GREAT job and I couldn't be prouder!! I am so happy that she now enjoys running! Also, she looks great in all her new running gear!! She is a great lady, and I am delighted to be her husband.

Ad for the guys at Ironman Talk podcast

Discovery no more...

Armstrong and the owners of his former Discovery Channel team said Friday the squad will disband after this season.
"It's a sad day for cycling. Certainly a sad day for American cycling," Armstrong said. "We're proud of our record."
The decision shuts down the sport's only elite professional team based in the United States.

Team General Manager Bill Stapleton
"It's not an environment right now that's conducive to a lot of investment," Stapleton said, adding the team was in talks with several potential sponsors. "This was a difficult decision, not made any easier by our recent Tour de France success."

Armstrong said he believes a sponsor could have been found, but the ownership group decided now was the time to quit.
and team director Johan Bruyneel is retiring.
"The team was a dominant force in cycling for nearly a decade.
Discovery will still ride in this year's Tour of Spain and the Tour of Missouri, but the shutdown means Contador, Leipheimer and the 25 other riders must find new teams for 2008.
"They leave with the Discovery stamp," Bruyneel said. "I'm sure they will be very wanted."

Bruyneel oversaw each of the team's eight Tour victories.
"I'm going to miss the staff, riders and the excitement of the races, but not all the infighting between the teams. This team has become my family and it is very sad to think that we will not be together next season," he said.

NUUN. Funny name, Great Product

About a month now I've been using NUUN hydration drink. I am really happy with the results! Great flavor, unique packaging, and a very clean after taste! I highly recommend it!

Becoming an Ironman.

Say It Ain't So Vino....

Most in the know picked him as their Tour favorite. Stage 5 we all gasped when Vino crashed and lost time. Hard work lay ahead... The time trail win by 1 minute 14 seconds was awsome! Then the next day was the first day in the Pyrenees he lost almost 29 minutes...all hope was lost for a high position in the General Classification. The next day (Tuesday) he attacks to a solo victory..it was sweet! And now the rest day brings this news...

PAU, France - Tour de France rider Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for a banned blood transfusion after winning last weekend's time trial, prompting his Astana team to pull out of the race, a team spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The positive test of the Kazakh rider, a one-time favorite to win cycling's premier event, dealt a heavy blow to a sport already reeling from a spate of doping scandals.
"Vino has tested positive having to do with a blood transfusion and the team is leaving the Tour," team spokeswoman Corinne Druey said, using the rider's nickname.
The positive test took place after the Kazakh rider's victory in the 13th stage time trial on Saturday, L'Equipe newspaper reported on its website.

Floyd Landis's situation is still unresolved, and now this...I am really sad & mad about the sport I enjoy so much.
In anger I held my own silent protest today running in my "DOPERS SUCK" socks.

Gear Review - Garmin Forerunner 305

I received a new toy for my birthday, a Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS with heart rate monitor. This thing is great! The new antenna is much stronger than my earlier version the Forerunner 201. It acquires satellite signals faster, and has yet to get the "weak gps signal" message. You can "build" speed work workouts on your computer (on the provided program/it's MAC compatible) then upload them to the wrist unit. I have nothing but good things to say about the 305. Also it can plot your course on a map after you upload it, which can be cool to check out after workouts. It also can change to Bike mode, and could take the place of a bike computer. If you do a Goggle search you can find it at a much better price than advertised.