Race Results

I would love to report that I finished on the podium at the Waco Race.  I did not.  This was not really my plan.  When you start doing this stuff in your 30's & 40's, the odds of being competitive are not that strong.  My goal was to finish and finish I did. 

The swim was pretty uneventful except that I had to grab a kayak about 250 yards into it.  I have heard this is common for first timers.  It is hard to get in a rhythm with all the excitement, people and getting grabbed on your face, neck, arms, legs and privates.  Not sure if a triathlete has ever been brought up on statutory molestation charges, but it happens in every race I assure you.

Once I caught my breath everything went fine except for the fact that I do not swim that fast.  Once on the bike, things were going great.  I was passing people and gaining some ground.  About thirty minutes into it, I was moving along at a good pace when all of a sudden I hear a pop, look down, and I had a flat tire.  This by itself is not so bad except that I hit the brakes, stopped pretty suddenly, and forgot about the fact that I had just started using bike shoes with clips.  This caused me to smack the pavement because my feet were locked in the pedals.  This is a novice mistake, so I am a novice.  I wish I had a recorder with me to recall the four letter words that are still part of my "panic vocabulary".  I can recall a few.  Email me if you are interested.

Took almost 30 minutes for me to get moving again.  I had no equipment to change it, and had to wait on AAA roadside assistance (actually the race officials radio the mobile bike assistance car, and they are fast once they arrive.  The course is 26 miles, so it took a few minutes for me to get moving again, 27 to be exact.  This put me in almost last place, except for one person, according to the bike doctors.  By the end of the bike ride, I managed to catch up to a few stragglers, but for the most part I was way behind.

By the time the run started it was pretty hot and I had about an hour left to go.  Keep in mind most people are done or near finishing by this time.  It is quite demoralizing, but like I said, I was only there to finish.  The run started nice, but the middle part was in some hills that were a beating.  I was not prepared for this, but got through it. 

So I did finish, I did hit my target weigh in of 188 (BTW, I still have a long way to go here, more on this later), I did NOT finish last, I got a cool scrape on my knee, and got to eat a free slice of crappy pizza at the end! 

Bring back the 80's

Just a matter of time before my scale will no longer be reading in the 190's.  See ya fat-a$$!  190's may be a desirable price range for a home, but not where you want your scale to appraise when you are standing on it. 

All that to say, my morning weigh in was at 190.  This has not been the case since the last time I caught the flu and puked for 3 days straight.  So I am bringing back the 80's (well, 180's).  My desire for race number 2 (this Sunday, July 24th) was a 188 weigh in.  This may be possible as I have 3 days to make it happen.  I am sure I will hit this target in the next week or two regardless, and blow past it!

Speaking of blowing...

Please don't forget that the point of this endeavor is to raise money for starving kids.  You may like the pic above and remember some of the dumb songs you used to sing during the Reagan Administration.   Remember the days when you had posters of these guys hanging on your bedroom walls and no one bothered to question your sexuality?!?  I also want to remind you that you wasted a lot of money on records, tapes and cd's of these idiots who blew it all on hotels and heroin.  Well, you now have a chance to redeem yourself and direct some of your money to a better cause. 

And the good thing is that you don't have to admit that you owned all of Poison's albums.  Geez, look how bad they look!

 

Looks like a drag version of Hillary Clinton with some sorta Keith Richards/Steven Tyler bleach-blonde grandma.  These dudes should not be posing in the same picture.  You do have to hand it to them, though, even with their drug induced crows feet farms, they can still pull off a Blue Steel that would Ben Stiller jealous.  Wait, is that Neil Diamond?  I could hardly see him due to his camo scarf.

http://www.active.com/donate/timsmfo

If you have yet to do so, clink on the link above and donate to some needy orphans.  I am a long way from the $10,000 goal.

Race this Sunday

Traveling to Waco this Sunday for my very first Olympic distance Triathlon event.  I am excited and a little apprehensive.  Last Saturday was the very first time I swam in open water.  It is quite different than swimming in a pool (I got bit by a fish), and I do not sight very well.  No problem, because the strategy they teach is to follow someone else.  There are (at least) two benefits of this:

1.  You use 30-35% less energy drafting off of another swimmer
2.  You save a lot of hamstring use by not having to look up and ahead.

So, the trick this Sunday will be if I can stay disciplined enough to swim in someone else's armpit and not continuously look up.  I was really amazed at how well the drafting works.  I am going to implement this strategy in traffic and see if I can save on some gas.

I do not have a still photo to post that is recent, but I did appear in a youtube video of my brothers making over the weekend.  It is really cool because it involves our kids and their cousins doing some pool/camera tricks.  Worth the watch!  I appear shirtless at about the 2:30 mark for a few frames.  Not yet the buffleupagus (Big Bird's Friend) I will be by October, but better than my original photo that got this train moving. 

At least now I can look in the mirror and say "Hey dude, your not that Fat!"


BTW, the guitar solo with the brush on the butt is our oldest son Hays. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP2c-GkQTyE&feature=youtu.be

New Bike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some awesome news. I have a new bike. I got an email this week from a triathlon coach to come get fitted for a bike that someone gave to me. What a plus. My old bike was borrowed and not the greatest. The new one is pretty bad ass! Th best news is that it was free. It rides much faster than the other one.

I also got to meet some of the kids that are part of the Belize orphanage last weekend in St. Louis.  It was amazing to hear their stories.  The lady that runs it has taken in over 600 children who are unwanted, abused and worse.  The work that she is doing is awesome.  Some of the kids are now attending the University there.  This gives them a HUGE advantage as few people get to do this, especially those from difficult circumstances.

The TriWaco event is a week from Sunday.  I will post results and a pic after the event.