Book: Surfer's Code by Shaun Tomson

Surfer's Code by Shaun Tomson
rules:
1) i will never turn my back on the ocean
2) i will paddle around the impact zone
3) i will take the drop with commitment
4) i will never fight a rip tide
5) i will paddle back out
6) i will watch out for other surfers
7) there will always be another wave
8) i will always ride into shore
9) i will pass along my stoke
10) i will catch a wave every day
11) all surfers are joined by one ocean
12) i will honor the sport of kings

Some of these rules can be carried over into the rest of the world outside of Surfing.

This will make you smile...

iFreakin' amazing!

iPhone, very impressive! Maybe it will "help" me blog more regularly....it does everything else! So far I am a huge fan. (only had it 3 days)

Cold is an understatement...

We are in a "cold snap" here in the Chicago area. Growing up in Southern California near the beach, I would have to call this a "cold thermonuclear warhead detonation." It is crazy... Today was 2 degrees F, and factor in the wind and it was -20 degrees F.
WOW...cold. No training outside for a few days.

2008 the year ahead!

I plan on working on my "race season" plan, what events etc. I hope to put something up soon.

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