For those of you who missed watching the Ironman Championship on TV, I figured I would repost it on Hulu so you could watch it on your computer.

Click through for HD.

Where: American Tobacco Trail – White Oak

When: 6:30 AM

Weather: 40s and light rain likely

In the past, we have carpooled from the Krogers parking lot. Krogers is gone – may I suggest a new forum? Parking at Starbucks just up 55.

View Larger Map

Congrats guys! Looking forward to the race reports.

Rap Master Sass

Hi Training Buddies,

As you may know, I can be followed live tomorrow on Ironman.com or ironmanlive.com. I’m #. 1855. You know the drill.

However, this race is a bit different, since there is no obvious halfway point for any of the legs. The swim is one lap, and the bike and run are three laps each. And I’m running it in a different time zone.

To get done by midnight, I hope to do a 1:45 swim, a ten-minute transition, an eight-hour bike, a five minute transition, and a seven-hour run.

So, I should be out of the water by 10.45 EST, and riding my bike ten minutes later.

Each of my bike laps should be 2:40, getting me around the first by 1:35 EST, the second by 4:15 EST, and off the bike by 6:55 EST. If I have not finished the bike by 7:30 EST, or started the last lap by 5.00, I will be pulled from the race. Remember Lake Placid? I do.

The run laps should be 2:20, getting me around the first by 9:20 EST, the second by 11:40, and done by 2:00 Monday. If I have not started the last lap by 12:15 EST, I will be pulled.

Way too complicated.
Subtract about an hour for each leg for Christophe’s times.

Keep thinking good thoughts.

Jon

Christophe

Tentative durations:
Swim 2.4M: 01h30
T1: 15min
Bike 112M: 7h30 (2h30 per loop)
T2: 15min
Run 26.2M: 7h30 (2h for 1st loop, 2h30 for 2cd loop, 3h for 3rd loop)

Tentative Times
Start: 07:00
End swim: 08:30
End T1/ Start bike: 08:45
End bike loop 1: 11:15
End bike loop 2: 13:45
End bike loop 3: 16:15
End T2 / Start Run: 16:30
End run loop 1: 18:30
End run loop 2: 21:00
End run loop 3 / end race: 24:00

On a dark desert greenway, dull pain in my thigh
Sharp sting of Coppertone, burning my left eye
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a halogen light
Would I make it by the appointed hour
Or stop somewhere in the night?

Would I burst through that archway
And hear the music swell?
Would I get to Finisher’s Heaven
Or wind up in DNF Hell?
Then I heard Mike Riley calling from far, far away
He was summoning the laggards,
I thought I heard him say…

Welcome to the Ironman Arizona
Such a sandy place (Such a sandy place)
Such a friendly race
Sucking it up at the Ironman Arizona
Two times this year (Two times this year)
You can do it here.

My chain was definitely twisted, and then my aerobar bends
I got passed by skinny, skinny boys and all my friends
How they dance on the pedals, sweet autumn sweat,
Some ride through December, just why I forget.

So I drafted some big dogs,,
‘Then I heard Jimmy Riccitello whine,
He said, “you need to sit in this penalty box til 2009,.”
And still Riley’s voice is calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear him say…

Welcome to the Ironman Arizona,
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a friendly race
We’re sucking it up at the Ironman Arizona
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
Bring your alibis

Mirrors on my Oakley’s,
The green Gatorade on ice
And I’m clipped in like a prisoner on a titanium device
And at the last aid station,
We slow down for the feast
We grab Gu with our sweaty hands,,
But we just can’t rip the crease

Last thing I remember, I was shuffling to the tent
I had to get an IV before the medics went.
“Relax,” said the nice nurse,
“We will be here all night.
You can finish any time you like,
But you can never give up the fight!”

Herbs PR NYC Marathon

Fgump chugging along at the City of Oaks Marathon 2008

A big congratulations to the various crew who ran their hearts out today!

Pics? Posts? Humorous anecdotes?

Please post!

Colin Powell has nothing on us! Based on the simple fact that there is no way McCain could beat Obama in a foot race or triathlon of any distance, we are going to have to go with the big O.

Wake County PTA 5K

Just got a tip from a friend about an upcoming race.

Click here for the Wake County PTA Healthy Lifestyles 5K.

Here are the cliff notes:

When – Sunday November 23 at 3:30 PM

Where – NCSU Centennial Campus

Early bird registration $20 – includes T shirt

Congrats to Dr Seuss who ran the Columbus Marathon in 3:46! Very impressive!

Anyone think of a suitable Dr Seuss rhyme to honor the occasion?

This is a quick post to set as a placeholder so people can post their experience about the race today.

Meanwhile, I am going to continue my ice bath. Did I mention it was hot? And steep. And loooooong…

Congrats to Litl’bit for placing not third, or second, but Numero Uno – #1 – in her age group. Litl’bit, when you run out of room for all your trophies, I will be happy to hang them up in my house.

Update! Read Rap Master’s full report after the jump!

From the team that brought you Pathetic at Kinetic.

“One day it started to rain, and it didn’t stop that day, or the next day, or the day after that either. There was big fat rain, tiny stinging rain, sideways rain, and rain that somehow seemed to be coming up from below.”. — Forrest Gump.

As Alan said, the difference between IMLP and waterboarding was the board. About 150 people dropped out some time after the swim, and all of them seemed to be around me.

If your body fat was below 12, forget bicycle and think popsickle. The ambulances were picking up three and four Smurfs.at a time. The medical tent looked like the audition line for Blue Man Group.

Just before seven a.m., we bobbed in our wetsuits, trying to conserve energy while slowly treading water. There is nothing like pounding Smashing Pumpkins, a hovering Versus chopper, and Mike Reilly’s familiar, enthusiatic voice on the P.A. to give you serious butterflies.

At the cannon’s boom, I started wrestling with 2500 motivated athletes for space to swim. I got pushed aside, crawled over, and tugged under. And I weigh 207 lbs.

The first fat raindrops on my swim cap were confusing. Then I was just getting pelted from above and below at the same time. Still, I swam the 2.4 miles at exactly the same pace that I swam 750 meters the previous week at Crabtree. I passed Alan at the beginning of the second lap.

After getting stripped of our wetsuits, we sprinted a quarter of a. mile through town to the transition area. Thousands of screaming fans lined the streets, slapping our hands.

Dale, our first casualty, spent 31 minutes shivering in T-1 while an apparently illiterate volunteer brought her wrong bag after wrong bag. I knew something was awry when I hopped on my bike, and she was right in front of me.

Not only was Dale freezing, but her brakes would not hold. We passed each other a few times going downhill, and I had a NASCAR moment: “Dale’s brakes were fading, so I had to get away not to be caught up in the crash.”

We started up the first hill, and Dale passed me (of course). Then somebody else did, and another, and another. I stopped at the first aid station to check my tires. They were fully inflated.

Alan zoomed past me, and I saw him and Dale conferring at the top of the mountain plunge to Keene. I assumed she was deciding whether to go screaming brakeless for six miles at 50 mph.

I tucked down, held my breath, and let go. As my glasses had fogged over, I had to peer over them or under them. It was like trying to look into a firehose. I did not know one could take so many pellets to the eyes without going blind. Stick your head out the window while driving in the rain, and try to stay on the road.

Every time I came up on a slower bike, there was a momentary panic that they would hit me, and then zing! they were gone. My biggest fear was not merely falling, but sliding across the road and under a truck coming up the mountain. I was not worried about getting hit from behind, as I was going faster than any cars. The only thing that passed me was Alan.

No Dale. I later learned that she turned around and rode home. Smart move.

We took a left at Keene, and zipped another 14 miles or so into Jay. Then the axe fell.

As we turned onto 86 for a six mile climb into Wilmington, the parade formed on my left. Everyone who had not passed me on the hill outside Placid went around me. Mountain bikes, folding bikes, tandems, training wheels, unicycles.

I stopped and checked my tires again. No problem. Then I checked to see if a brake pad was rubbing the wheel. Nope.

I saw Alan before the Hazelton Road turnaround. He was about three miles ahead of me.

As we were coming up the last hill back to Wilminton, a rider got off his bike and started pushing it. At last somebody I could pass. Just as I got to them, my front tire did go flat. For real this time.

It took about 12 minutes to fix the tire, but I could never get it quite full. Each time I took the CO2 nozzle off, some air would hiss out before I could close the valve.

This was at 43 miles. I hunted for a techie with a pump till the 89 mark.

At some point, I had an epiphany. What if my deep dish rims had filled with water? That had happened in a minor way once. Sure would explain the heavy sluggishness. For the rest of the ride, I imagined that this was the problem.

The 12-mile climb through the Notch was hot nearly as bad as I recalled. Soon, I was onto a second lap, virtually solo this time.

On my way back up Hazelton Road, I picked up an NY State Trooper motorcycle escort. It then dawned on me that I was the Last Biker. Smokey stayed with me the rest of the way in. Each time I would pass somebody, I would go another mile up the hill and be passed by a State Trooper SUV with that competitor’s bike on the back..

After the turn at Papa Bear, I had two motorcycles with sirens. We swept up two more competitors in town, who actually finished behind me. People were still cheering, believe it or not.

After I got to the Dismount Line, a nice lady snatched my chip: “Sorry, but your races are over.” No argument from me, but the guy behind me was in tears, pleading with her while I fled to a dry tent.

Epilogue:

Dale spent the day curled on the sofa, watching TdF and swigging hot chocolate.

Alan finished ten minutes before midnight, and rested comfortably in the medical tent till 1:30.

We spin my bike wheels at the Inside Out tent yesterday morning. “Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle!”

People came over to listen. A girl said it sounded like her Sleep Machine.

I felt strong the whole day, even after finishing the bike. I did not plan on a nine-hour weight workout, but it may have been good for me.

Anyone up for a slow marathon this weekend? My body is one short.

Yes those are the air raid sirens going off. Actually, those big sirens are what wake up all the folks in Chatham county when there is a nuclear melt down at Sharon Harris. And they are going off because there are only 245 spots left for the Duke Half Triathlon 2008.

Who is joining? Squeeky, Alfonso???

Several of us are running in support of women’s breasts this weekend.

Yes we all love boobies

Ok all kidding aside, it is a fantastic family event to come to, and a great way to help support the research for a cure.

Who is in?

UPDATE – 6/9/08 – Closed! Charity spots may still be available.

You snoozed.
You losed.
(Psst! Still plenty of room in Duke! )

You know the drill – call all your friends, make arrangements, ponder yet another triathlon. The 2008 Wilmington YMCA Triathlon is starting the closeout. Don’t say we didnt warn you.

Several of you can attest to the end of the season sprint. Squeeky and Litl’bit have done it. Rap Master and KarenG8r?

And before you start laughing at the “598″ number, consider that over 700 people have already committed for the race almost 5 months away.

Get ready to splash in at the Blockade Runner!

Click here for the men’s 2008 White Lake Half Triathlon results

Click here for the women’s 2008 White Lake Half Triathlon results

I am looking forward to posting one of the most interesting photos taken of me in a LONG time – credit to Rap Master Sass.

Full Flickr set here. Email me if you want to upload your pix directly to the group Flickr account.

Click above for high resolution YouTube.com link – give it a few minutes to load before you play unless you have a really fast Internet connection.

Riverwood Triathlon 2008 – great day for a great race!

KarenG8r wins her age group (again). Check out how she was telling Squeeky exactly how much butt she was going to kick in the middle of the race

Squeeky deals with inner tendon demons and was stil able to pull an extremely respectable 14th in his age group, despite fighting a nagging injury.

Sandbagger capitalizes on a great aerobic base built from Umstead Trail Marathon, as well as sandbagging on the bike leg to pull a great (for him) 5k run – and place 7th in the age group. (Beat #8 by 4 seconds – T2 30 seconds faster than #8).

Met some other friends and a large number of Lochmere neighbors at the race. The godfather of the the triathlon groupies, Rick, who apparently is the source of all our Tri-shenanigans.

We missed several of you!

Red White and Through

Check out our post for the 2007 Riverwood Triathlon, or the photo gallery.

Parting Shots:

Hope everyone who wanted to go got in! Here are some pics from last year.

Current roll call:
Herbs
Squeeky
Rap Master Sass
Litl’bit
Alfonso
Sandbagger

Am I missing anyone?

Its been raining. Are you waffling? You have a few more hours and then your next shot at Kerr Lake Triathlon will be in 2009.

Who is in with me? Click here for the website.

For those of you not doing the White Lake Half or Sprint Triathlon on the first weekend in May, an option for those looking for a great local, well-supported bike ride, try the Raven Rock Ramble. Registration is open and the slots will soon close out.

Check out the Raven Rock Ramble website.

Race starts at the Harris Lake County Park (follow the nuclear plant cooling stack steam!).

View Larger Map

Off he goes! It hardly seems more than a few weeks ago – there was Alfonso pulling up short with a calf pull at mile 4 or 5 on the Greenway Trail. Blink a few times and he is humming Weird Al and beating Squeeky to the top of Cemetary Hill at mile 17 of 20. This guy is an animal! Maybe a Leprechaun!

Best of luck Alfonso – your training has been prodigious – the improvement has been rapid.

Looking forward to having another Mitterling Miler join for the Duke Half !