Monday, April 28
Today i swam with a co-worker i've been trying to swim with for a coupel weeks. He's a great swimmer and gave me a couple helpful hints today, as well as told me my form is very good. We swam 2km with a mix of drills and speed work. It was a lot of fun and i can't wait till wednesday when we do it again. Tomorrow i'll ride and run. Not much else going on.
Sunday, April 27
I"m in a pissy mood today. I got up late and have to go to work (where i'm at now) so i didn't get my ride in today. Add to that the fact that yesterday's run (even though i kept my HR down) was devastating to my left calf for some friggin reason, AND a girl i was supposed to go out with yesterday never called back...and you see that my weekend pretty much sucked.
I'm probably going to go for an easy 3 hour spin at 5, but i can't go very far away cause it gets dark around 7:30.
Just generally in a pissy mood. Woe is me.
I'm probably going to go for an easy 3 hour spin at 5, but i can't go very far away cause it gets dark around 7:30.
Just generally in a pissy mood. Woe is me.
Saturday, April 26
Ran 10 miles this morning, i was hurting on the last couple miles, my achilles (both legs) are just totally wrecked. I did however, keep my HR below 150 the whole time with an avf of 146. I have no idea how i kept a 164 avg and 10 minute miles for 10 miles last time, because i was beat after this run. My avg mile was 11:40. Anyway i'm going to push my 5:30 Half IM goal to 6 hours. The run does concern me a little bit. Next week i'll go 11 or 12 miles as my last long run before Panama. Was going to do 12 today but at mile 5 i knew i was running out of gas.
Friday, April 25
Wednesday i went for a swim, and my neck hurt real bad, i ended up with 1800m before calling it quits for the week to let my crinked neck hav ea break. Yesterday i didn't do a damned thing, Viv was leaving and i was starving from mal nutrition that day...so i ate and just hung out at the house instead of doing my tempo ride.
Today i'm going for a run, then tomorrow an 11 mile run with heart rate monitor, also i'm supposed to go out with a girl i met at Starbucks.
Speaking of Starbucks....
.
Each day i go in there, usually the same girl makes my coffee -
Tall hot coffee, poured over ice in a Venti cup with 3 shots of vanilla
It's not that hard
1.50 total each day
Then some new idiot gets in there and they first look at me like i'm stupid, asking for a tall in a Venti, but if i just ask for a venti they charge me for teh Venti.
SO ANYWAY, after taking 5 minutes to explain this difficult surgical procedure, the girl makes it, then starts shooting the price guide with her gun like she's trying to kill a rapist.
*BEEP!*
*BEEP!*
*BEEP!*
*BEEP!*
*BEEP!**BEEP!*
*BEEP!**BEEP!**BEEP!**BEEP!**BEEP!**BEEP!*
"That'll be $6.74"
I stare at her for a second and hope that the absurd price sinks in. She's still staring at me, awaiting my money.
"Um...thats a pretty high price"
"Yeah," she says.
She's still staring at me.
*sigh*
"It's TOO high, i got a regular coffee, even if i bought 3 of them, it wouldn't come to $6.74"
She looks at the register as if the numbers will explain my plight. She just hits "CASH" and starts over.
*BEEP*
*BEEP*
*BEEP*
"Woa stop!" i say. "You should only have to shoot 2 items, i get a coffee here every day."
"Well you got two shots of vanilla"
For christs sake i'm thinking, this girl doens't know that each .30 'shot' accounts for THREE squirts!
"$2.14"
I just want to get this over with.
I hand her the money and just went about my business.
Today i'm going for a run, then tomorrow an 11 mile run with heart rate monitor, also i'm supposed to go out with a girl i met at Starbucks.
Speaking of Starbucks....
.
Each day i go in there, usually the same girl makes my coffee -
Tall hot coffee, poured over ice in a Venti cup with 3 shots of vanilla
It's not that hard
1.50 total each day
Then some new idiot gets in there and they first look at me like i'm stupid, asking for a tall in a Venti, but if i just ask for a venti they charge me for teh Venti.
SO ANYWAY, after taking 5 minutes to explain this difficult surgical procedure, the girl makes it, then starts shooting the price guide with her gun like she's trying to kill a rapist.
*BEEP!*
*BEEP!*
*BEEP!*
*BEEP!*
*BEEP!**BEEP!*
*BEEP!**BEEP!**BEEP!**BEEP!**BEEP!**BEEP!*
"That'll be $6.74"
I stare at her for a second and hope that the absurd price sinks in. She's still staring at me, awaiting my money.
"Um...thats a pretty high price"
"Yeah," she says.
She's still staring at me.
*sigh*
"It's TOO high, i got a regular coffee, even if i bought 3 of them, it wouldn't come to $6.74"
She looks at the register as if the numbers will explain my plight. She just hits "CASH" and starts over.
*BEEP*
*BEEP*
*BEEP*
"Woa stop!" i say. "You should only have to shoot 2 items, i get a coffee here every day."
"Well you got two shots of vanilla"
For christs sake i'm thinking, this girl doens't know that each .30 'shot' accounts for THREE squirts!
"$2.14"
I just want to get this over with.
I hand her the money and just went about my business.
Tuesday, April 22
Today was a pretty good day, what started out as a 'i'm tired, i dont' feel like doing anything' turned out to be a very excellent bike ride. Vivian is here from France with his girlfriend, and we decided we'd go fora ride today around 4. He's tapering for St Anthony's race, but he was a trooper today let me tell you. He arrived late for our ride appointment by about an hour, i was sitting on the couch, slowly falling asleep as my body started to hibernate. Once he arrived i didn't even want to go, but i didn't want to let him down so off we went. The plan: Go easy around the lake once, then hammer for an hour.
First off, Vivian is extremely comfortable on his bike, and has great handling skills. I asked him about it and he said he's been riding his bike since he was 15, and he went through all kinds of cycling drills as a kid, like having to pick up standing bottles while riding and weave through cones. When we were riding, and he'd pull up next to me we were almost touching elbows, and we were both perfectly comfy with that. Most of the triathletes i ride with are jittery, either they don't trust me or i don't trust them. Itw as nice to ride with a confident rider.
Also, he knew when to pull and when to let me pull. There is a stretch of road thats about 1/2 mile long and it inclines quite a bit - and there is ALWAYS a head wind coming down this part of the road. This stretch is my favorite because it really burns my legs as i try to keep over 19 mph up it. The first time around Viv was in front and he pulled the whole way up, then on the subsequent 3 loops i ended up in front because i didn't want him to burn out before the race. It was quite a challenge, and to top it off, while i was riding a red mustang pulled up beside me on the hill and yelled, "Cmon! C'mon! Show me what you've got!" so i obliged and accelerated to 28 mph before i burned out, right at the top of the hill. IT was cool, she screamed, pumped her arms like i had just won the TdF and drove off. I couldn't help but laugh. :And the best thing is, my legs recovered quickly and i didn't really feel the effects of the acceleration.
ANyway it was a great ride, we kept the pace up pretty good, and drafting after a long hard pull intot he wind was a nice relief. Makes me miss training with people, but it's rare i find someone i can actually train with who i'm confident won't kill me hehhe.
First off, Vivian is extremely comfortable on his bike, and has great handling skills. I asked him about it and he said he's been riding his bike since he was 15, and he went through all kinds of cycling drills as a kid, like having to pick up standing bottles while riding and weave through cones. When we were riding, and he'd pull up next to me we were almost touching elbows, and we were both perfectly comfy with that. Most of the triathletes i ride with are jittery, either they don't trust me or i don't trust them. Itw as nice to ride with a confident rider.
Also, he knew when to pull and when to let me pull. There is a stretch of road thats about 1/2 mile long and it inclines quite a bit - and there is ALWAYS a head wind coming down this part of the road. This stretch is my favorite because it really burns my legs as i try to keep over 19 mph up it. The first time around Viv was in front and he pulled the whole way up, then on the subsequent 3 loops i ended up in front because i didn't want him to burn out before the race. It was quite a challenge, and to top it off, while i was riding a red mustang pulled up beside me on the hill and yelled, "Cmon! C'mon! Show me what you've got!" so i obliged and accelerated to 28 mph before i burned out, right at the top of the hill. IT was cool, she screamed, pumped her arms like i had just won the TdF and drove off. I couldn't help but laugh. :And the best thing is, my legs recovered quickly and i didn't really feel the effects of the acceleration.
ANyway it was a great ride, we kept the pace up pretty good, and drafting after a long hard pull intot he wind was a nice relief. Makes me miss training with people, but it's rare i find someone i can actually train with who i'm confident won't kill me hehhe.
Yesterday i ran 3 miles (33 minutes) nice and easy, except for the last 1/4 mile. I tempo'd that part, but running on the track all by myself was nice. I was able to zone out pretty good and just crank out the laps.
After that i planned on a 3km swim in the pool, so i walked up and changed. As soon as i hit the water and did my 100m warm up i knew i wasn't going to make it 3k. My shoulders and upper back are still weak from the weekend, so i decided to just do my first set of 5x200 and call it a day. Something happened in the middle of the workout though that was profound.
I analyzed my stroke as i was swimming and realized my hips weren't rotating that well with my body. I kept trying to turn them but it was taking lots of strength in my shoulders to flick my hips into position.
"This can't be right, i'm using way too much energy to get myself in the hydro-dynamic 'skating' position"
Then i remembered what a good friend of mine who's a swimmer said to me a long time ago. "Turn your hips, and everything else falls into place."
So i started leading with my hips instead of my torso. What a difference. As soon as i rolled my hips, i didn't even have to use any effort, my whole torso just rolled with them. What a great feeling, suddenly i felt like i was using so much less energy but swimming the same speed. I kept this up for awhile and of course my lower back and abs began to tire from being used, so i called it a day at about 1200m to ease into the new technique.
This is really good, when i'm in the open water i'll just keep reminding myself, 'lead with the hips' and that should see me through the swim with little problem.
After that i planned on a 3km swim in the pool, so i walked up and changed. As soon as i hit the water and did my 100m warm up i knew i wasn't going to make it 3k. My shoulders and upper back are still weak from the weekend, so i decided to just do my first set of 5x200 and call it a day. Something happened in the middle of the workout though that was profound.
I analyzed my stroke as i was swimming and realized my hips weren't rotating that well with my body. I kept trying to turn them but it was taking lots of strength in my shoulders to flick my hips into position.
"This can't be right, i'm using way too much energy to get myself in the hydro-dynamic 'skating' position"
Then i remembered what a good friend of mine who's a swimmer said to me a long time ago. "Turn your hips, and everything else falls into place."
So i started leading with my hips instead of my torso. What a difference. As soon as i rolled my hips, i didn't even have to use any effort, my whole torso just rolled with them. What a great feeling, suddenly i felt like i was using so much less energy but swimming the same speed. I kept this up for awhile and of course my lower back and abs began to tire from being used, so i called it a day at about 1200m to ease into the new technique.
This is really good, when i'm in the open water i'll just keep reminding myself, 'lead with the hips' and that should see me through the swim with little problem.
Monday, April 21
Now that i've had the time to reflect on this weekend, here's the full weekend report:
Friday 3pm
I left work to go pack my stuff and get ready go leave at 4. I used the race checklist from www.twothirds.com and managed to get everything i needed. I didn't forget anything. I got in the car at about 4:15 and headed south.
Before i left, i put some oil in my engine...and forgot to put the oil cap back on. Nice.
Half way to Sheldons i looked at my oil pressure and it was low...too low. Then it hit me, "Did i forget to put the oil cap back on??" I stopped on the side of the road to check. Yep, not only was it off, but it was gone, and oil was all over my whole engine. Very nice. I had some quarts of oil in my trunk so i put a quart in to get me to a rest stop.
The rest stop doesn't sell oil caps, but 30 miles to the next exit, and i'm told that there's an autozone shortly after the exit. Nothing left to do but go to the next exit, so after getting a coffee at Starbucks, i rode to the next exit and got off.
Autozone didn't have my cap, so they called Discount Autoparts which was a little bit further down the road and they had ONE.
I went and bought it, got back on the road and ended up at Sheldon's at 8 pm. When i got there i was greeted like i was the president of the US, and treated as such too. Let me tell you if Sheldon and his wife Lucy ever opened up a hotel, it'd be a 5 star hotel where celebreties would rave about. They were the greatest hosts ever!
I ate a bunch of rice and bread, and headed to bed. I've already written about the details of the swim and bike and run but there's some stuff i left out.
Sheldon got Sea Lice on the swim, and that's why our swim was cut short. He was swimming in shallower water and iw as deeper, so i was lucky not to get any. Later the next day he would be all swollen and red under both arms and on the back of his neck. Poor guy.
BUT there is some very good revalation for the swim. I'm confident now, and know to take it nice and easy till my HR (from anxiety) slows down, and then i can push it pretty good. It's all about finding that rhythm first and foremost, THEN i'll be ok to do what i need to do to get a good swim time.
The bike was flat and uneventful, i don't need much confidence there, though it was flat as usual and my hamstrings were very tight on the run. And i can't wait to get out of this aggressive aero position, it kills my neck. After the race i'm going to get professionally fit at the training center, something much more comfy for the ironman.
Oh yeah, and i almost forgot, on my way home i stopped at a rest stop to gas up and get something to eat. While i was eating some deuche hit my car and smashed in the whole rear driver quarter panel. No car next to me when i came back, no note, nothing. if it was a new car i'd have flipped out, but my old beater...still pisses me off a bit. It's not like parking is that hard, how do you ram into someones ass end like that?
Anyway i know where i wnat to be for the race, so i think i'll do well. I'm going to run every day this week as well as swim and bike. I havn't posted a new banner in a couple weeks but i'll post one tonight if i get the chance.
Friday 3pm
I left work to go pack my stuff and get ready go leave at 4. I used the race checklist from www.twothirds.com and managed to get everything i needed. I didn't forget anything. I got in the car at about 4:15 and headed south.
Before i left, i put some oil in my engine...and forgot to put the oil cap back on. Nice.
Half way to Sheldons i looked at my oil pressure and it was low...too low. Then it hit me, "Did i forget to put the oil cap back on??" I stopped on the side of the road to check. Yep, not only was it off, but it was gone, and oil was all over my whole engine. Very nice. I had some quarts of oil in my trunk so i put a quart in to get me to a rest stop.
The rest stop doesn't sell oil caps, but 30 miles to the next exit, and i'm told that there's an autozone shortly after the exit. Nothing left to do but go to the next exit, so after getting a coffee at Starbucks, i rode to the next exit and got off.
Autozone didn't have my cap, so they called Discount Autoparts which was a little bit further down the road and they had ONE.
I went and bought it, got back on the road and ended up at Sheldon's at 8 pm. When i got there i was greeted like i was the president of the US, and treated as such too. Let me tell you if Sheldon and his wife Lucy ever opened up a hotel, it'd be a 5 star hotel where celebreties would rave about. They were the greatest hosts ever!
I ate a bunch of rice and bread, and headed to bed. I've already written about the details of the swim and bike and run but there's some stuff i left out.
Sheldon got Sea Lice on the swim, and that's why our swim was cut short. He was swimming in shallower water and iw as deeper, so i was lucky not to get any. Later the next day he would be all swollen and red under both arms and on the back of his neck. Poor guy.
BUT there is some very good revalation for the swim. I'm confident now, and know to take it nice and easy till my HR (from anxiety) slows down, and then i can push it pretty good. It's all about finding that rhythm first and foremost, THEN i'll be ok to do what i need to do to get a good swim time.
The bike was flat and uneventful, i don't need much confidence there, though it was flat as usual and my hamstrings were very tight on the run. And i can't wait to get out of this aggressive aero position, it kills my neck. After the race i'm going to get professionally fit at the training center, something much more comfy for the ironman.
Oh yeah, and i almost forgot, on my way home i stopped at a rest stop to gas up and get something to eat. While i was eating some deuche hit my car and smashed in the whole rear driver quarter panel. No car next to me when i came back, no note, nothing. if it was a new car i'd have flipped out, but my old beater...still pisses me off a bit. It's not like parking is that hard, how do you ram into someones ass end like that?
Anyway i know where i wnat to be for the race, so i think i'll do well. I'm going to run every day this week as well as swim and bike. I havn't posted a new banner in a couple weeks but i'll post one tonight if i get the chance.
Saturday, April 19
What a day. When i get more time i'll give details, but here's teh skinny:
Total Time 4:40
Swim .9 miles in the ocean. This was terrific. I started to get my anxiety but after about 5 minutes i was fine. I even sped up a bit. But it was tough...my first ocean swim and we swam with the shore. I was rocked like a cradle the whole time, and towards the end , being rocked left, watching the sand on the bottom go right: I started to get sea sick. Also i swallowed a bunch of seawater. BLECH! Overall i was comfy though, and had a great swim.
Bike 47 miles
Ran 7.5 miles
On the bike i started out fast, HR > 160. But i knew that would be a mistake and backed it off, keeping it at around 150 the rest of the ride. Met up with Mark and Juan on the way, got to talk to them a bit. The roads down here are nice and flat, and the view of the ocean is just breathtaking. All the blue's and greens....a great day.
On the run i started out at 166 HR and had a hard time dropping it to 150. But i slowed till i was at 150 and cruised slowly into a new world of pain. At first i was hurting, that first mile you know? But then i got comfy. Well i didn't bring enough hydration for the planned 8.5 mile run, and ran out after about an hour and fifteen minutes. That sucked because i got hungry and couldn't down a gel with no liquid. I was hating life and knew i had about 3 miles to go, but the sun came out (after it rained) and the humidity shot up, and with it my HR shot up too. I had to start taking walk breaks when my HR creeped passed 160. My hamstrings were also very tight...i was getting tired. Without hydration or gels my condition was deteriorating fast. Finally i gave in and called Sheldon on his cell (He'd already finished because he's a beast. He was already in his car looking for me and picked me up about 1.3 miles from the house. I downed a whole bottle of water and we later ate a huge chicken and potatoe dinner. MMmMMM good.
The facts:
How do i know i was depleting, and my performance rested on dehydration? I lost 9 pounds in 4 hours and 40 minutes. Yep, i was in sad shape. I gained 4 of it back already, but shit. You can't put yourself ona diet that loses 9 pounds in 5 hours! heheheh. I should sell triathlon as a weight loss 'product'
"Come with me on a tour of Boynton Beach, and if you survive, you'll lose 10 pounds, GUARANTEED!"
Anyway, it was a tough day, but i'm recovering well, my back was tight during the run, but i think if i have a good 45 minute swim, 19mph avg on the bike and 11 minute miles on the course, i can get what i want to get done at the Half in a few weeks. For the next couple weeks i'm going to run every day, some ez some tempo. And that ocean swim was what i needed for my swim confidence. I'm ready to go!
I think since the swim is a reverse triangle where you go out passed the breakers and then swim with the shore then back in, i'll have a better swim because most of it will be in slightly calmer water, where i can really do some pulling and focus on my form. when you're getting beat up by waves it's hard to focus on your form.
Total Time 4:40
Swim .9 miles in the ocean. This was terrific. I started to get my anxiety but after about 5 minutes i was fine. I even sped up a bit. But it was tough...my first ocean swim and we swam with the shore. I was rocked like a cradle the whole time, and towards the end , being rocked left, watching the sand on the bottom go right: I started to get sea sick. Also i swallowed a bunch of seawater. BLECH! Overall i was comfy though, and had a great swim.
Bike 47 miles
Ran 7.5 miles
On the bike i started out fast, HR > 160. But i knew that would be a mistake and backed it off, keeping it at around 150 the rest of the ride. Met up with Mark and Juan on the way, got to talk to them a bit. The roads down here are nice and flat, and the view of the ocean is just breathtaking. All the blue's and greens....a great day.
On the run i started out at 166 HR and had a hard time dropping it to 150. But i slowed till i was at 150 and cruised slowly into a new world of pain. At first i was hurting, that first mile you know? But then i got comfy. Well i didn't bring enough hydration for the planned 8.5 mile run, and ran out after about an hour and fifteen minutes. That sucked because i got hungry and couldn't down a gel with no liquid. I was hating life and knew i had about 3 miles to go, but the sun came out (after it rained) and the humidity shot up, and with it my HR shot up too. I had to start taking walk breaks when my HR creeped passed 160. My hamstrings were also very tight...i was getting tired. Without hydration or gels my condition was deteriorating fast. Finally i gave in and called Sheldon on his cell (He'd already finished because he's a beast. He was already in his car looking for me and picked me up about 1.3 miles from the house. I downed a whole bottle of water and we later ate a huge chicken and potatoe dinner. MMmMMM good.
The facts:
How do i know i was depleting, and my performance rested on dehydration? I lost 9 pounds in 4 hours and 40 minutes. Yep, i was in sad shape. I gained 4 of it back already, but shit. You can't put yourself ona diet that loses 9 pounds in 5 hours! heheheh. I should sell triathlon as a weight loss 'product'
"Come with me on a tour of Boynton Beach, and if you survive, you'll lose 10 pounds, GUARANTEED!"
Anyway, it was a tough day, but i'm recovering well, my back was tight during the run, but i think if i have a good 45 minute swim, 19mph avg on the bike and 11 minute miles on the course, i can get what i want to get done at the Half in a few weeks. For the next couple weeks i'm going to run every day, some ez some tempo. And that ocean swim was what i needed for my swim confidence. I'm ready to go!
I think since the swim is a reverse triangle where you go out passed the breakers and then swim with the shore then back in, i'll have a better swim because most of it will be in slightly calmer water, where i can really do some pulling and focus on my form. when you're getting beat up by waves it's hard to focus on your form.
Thursday, April 17
Just when i thought i'd go for a ride today, i went otu to get subway for lunch and when i got back my sinuses were moving mass amount of liquid through my head at such a pace that i had to shut myeyes and let them water for a minute before i could open them again. I swear 500 pounds of snot is moving around my skull right now. :( :( :(
Wednesday, April 16
I feel like total crap. What i thought was the flu a few days ago, has turned into a nice head cold. I'm hot, sweating, nose wont' stop running. Ugh. I'm going home soon to rest. So much for my swim/run today but i want to be rested up for the "mock" Half IM this weekend with Sheldon.
I got a big evaluation at the NTC today, and i'll post the results here:
Now it's a bit worse then i thought, but it's definitely giving me somewhere to go for november.
I'll get an evaluation done every 5 weeks to see how i'm doing from now on till the Ironman. I think with the ideal weight being 206, it's pretty much guaranteed i'll be clyde all the time, and if that's so, i'll actually compete in the clyde championships next year.
I'm having a hard time uploading the image, i'll do it when i get home a bit later
I got a big evaluation at the NTC today, and i'll post the results here:
Now it's a bit worse then i thought, but it's definitely giving me somewhere to go for november.
I'll get an evaluation done every 5 weeks to see how i'm doing from now on till the Ironman. I think with the ideal weight being 206, it's pretty much guaranteed i'll be clyde all the time, and if that's so, i'll actually compete in the clyde championships next year.
I'm having a hard time uploading the image, i'll do it when i get home a bit later
Tuesday, April 15
NTC:
Today i managed to get Barb from work into the pool with me. Today's not a swim day, but i'm itchin to train with people, getting kinda lonely. So we went to the NTC to do 3k. I saw Sheila Taormina there, (kick ass triathlete, olympic gold medalist) who i also saw at our GCT race. She's working there i think, i know she just bought a house, but anyway thats the boring stuff. WHats cool is the fact that she's super cool. Smiley, chatty, bright. She's just an inspiration, i always thought the top was cold and lonely, she changes that view.
Sheila: "You mind if i jump in here?"
: thinking to myself...uh....uhhhhhh.mmmmm: "Jump in!"
She jumps in, laps me a few times and moves on to an open lane. Who could blame her? heheh.
Anyway, i ended up with 1.8k in the pool and 3 miles running on the new track. Kept my pace slow, i'm still recovering from Sunday believe it or not.
And i had this big old moving dramatic writing i was going to put here about how 85% of society repulses me completely. When i see shows like "Married by America" and the new one "Mr. Personality" i just find that i have nothing in common with people who watch those shows. I have better things to do then drone on and make pretend...live vicariously through characters on TV and use my godlike powers to 'vote' them off a show. Ever notice that 90% of each one of those shows is not about advancing, but about LOSING? WHO"S VOTED OFF? WHO"S THE LOSER? WHO SUCKS? WHO GOES HOME?
Why is this girl so lonely? WHy do these dudes wear masks that make them look like the joker? it's a fuckin farce! Can you believe it? These guys have these multi colored masks and actually went through with the show! All i can think of is the movie "The Mask" but it's real! Thats what makes my dinner turn in my stomach and make me want to puke all over the creators of such shows. Lets make money humiliating people. "Oh," you say, "but they chose to be on the show in the first place!"
Yer right, they're fools too. Married by America?
Christ, i'm no fan of marriage, but it's supposed to be sacred and i just cringe at anyone who says they need to be married by 30, have kids by 30...etc...putting a time limit on such MONUMENTAL things as kids and marriage.
You know when i'm gonna get married? When i meet a girl i feel like spending the rest of my life with. I'm not buying an almond joy here, i'm making a gigantic commitement.
You know when i'm gonna have kids? When i feel ready for that. 5 years, 10 years, never? I tell you what, i'll have kids when i can go into a bike shop, prepare to buy some new zipp wheels for my bike, gget a call from the wife saying "Billy" needs some new sneakers and school clothes...and have NOT ONE DOUBT in my mind. SImply put the zipps back and use the money for my child. NO DOUBT. Thats when i'm ready for father hood. If eveyrone thought like me, the world would populate 1/4 as much as it does.
Anyway....shit. These shows piss me off. The only show worth glimpsing at is American Idol, and thats only because these young people are putting their hearts out in a competition. This married showbiz crap is just a steaming pile of dung waiting to be shoveled into a hole. Bachelorette, Joe Millionare....farce. Nothing was accomplished by airing those shows, except a bunch of relatively intelligent people made tons of cash from ratings.
I don't think the Matrix was that far off when one of the characters said, "Humans are like a virus. We consume everything in our grasp."
We consume land and sky
We consume natural resources
We consume each other
All in the name of entertainment. How pathetic.
Well i'm done ranting for tonight, it just makes me feel lonely that so much of the country i live in (which i love dearly) i have very little in common with (when it comes to entertainment)
I don't like lipstick
I hate makeup
I love girls in baseball caps
And under no circumstances will i have a priest or church anywhere near my wedding.
Print that on a ticket, put it out there for single women to see........and just wait around, because there aren't that many people in the eddy's, they're too caught up in the stream.
Today i managed to get Barb from work into the pool with me. Today's not a swim day, but i'm itchin to train with people, getting kinda lonely. So we went to the NTC to do 3k. I saw Sheila Taormina there, (kick ass triathlete, olympic gold medalist) who i also saw at our GCT race. She's working there i think, i know she just bought a house, but anyway thats the boring stuff. WHats cool is the fact that she's super cool. Smiley, chatty, bright. She's just an inspiration, i always thought the top was cold and lonely, she changes that view.
Sheila: "You mind if i jump in here?"
: thinking to myself...uh....uhhhhhh.mmmmm: "Jump in!"
She jumps in, laps me a few times and moves on to an open lane. Who could blame her? heheh.
Anyway, i ended up with 1.8k in the pool and 3 miles running on the new track. Kept my pace slow, i'm still recovering from Sunday believe it or not.
And i had this big old moving dramatic writing i was going to put here about how 85% of society repulses me completely. When i see shows like "Married by America" and the new one "Mr. Personality" i just find that i have nothing in common with people who watch those shows. I have better things to do then drone on and make pretend...live vicariously through characters on TV and use my godlike powers to 'vote' them off a show. Ever notice that 90% of each one of those shows is not about advancing, but about LOSING? WHO"S VOTED OFF? WHO"S THE LOSER? WHO SUCKS? WHO GOES HOME?
Why is this girl so lonely? WHy do these dudes wear masks that make them look like the joker? it's a fuckin farce! Can you believe it? These guys have these multi colored masks and actually went through with the show! All i can think of is the movie "The Mask" but it's real! Thats what makes my dinner turn in my stomach and make me want to puke all over the creators of such shows. Lets make money humiliating people. "Oh," you say, "but they chose to be on the show in the first place!"
Yer right, they're fools too. Married by America?
Christ, i'm no fan of marriage, but it's supposed to be sacred and i just cringe at anyone who says they need to be married by 30, have kids by 30...etc...putting a time limit on such MONUMENTAL things as kids and marriage.
You know when i'm gonna get married? When i meet a girl i feel like spending the rest of my life with. I'm not buying an almond joy here, i'm making a gigantic commitement.
You know when i'm gonna have kids? When i feel ready for that. 5 years, 10 years, never? I tell you what, i'll have kids when i can go into a bike shop, prepare to buy some new zipp wheels for my bike, gget a call from the wife saying "Billy" needs some new sneakers and school clothes...and have NOT ONE DOUBT in my mind. SImply put the zipps back and use the money for my child. NO DOUBT. Thats when i'm ready for father hood. If eveyrone thought like me, the world would populate 1/4 as much as it does.
Anyway....shit. These shows piss me off. The only show worth glimpsing at is American Idol, and thats only because these young people are putting their hearts out in a competition. This married showbiz crap is just a steaming pile of dung waiting to be shoveled into a hole. Bachelorette, Joe Millionare....farce. Nothing was accomplished by airing those shows, except a bunch of relatively intelligent people made tons of cash from ratings.
I don't think the Matrix was that far off when one of the characters said, "Humans are like a virus. We consume everything in our grasp."
We consume land and sky
We consume natural resources
We consume each other
All in the name of entertainment. How pathetic.
Well i'm done ranting for tonight, it just makes me feel lonely that so much of the country i live in (which i love dearly) i have very little in common with (when it comes to entertainment)
I don't like lipstick
I hate makeup
I love girls in baseball caps
And under no circumstances will i have a priest or church anywhere near my wedding.
Print that on a ticket, put it out there for single women to see........and just wait around, because there aren't that many people in the eddy's, they're too caught up in the stream.
Monday, April 14
Blogger introduced a neat tool a few months ago called AudioBlogger. I've been keenly interested in this but didn't really see how it would be fun, until now.
Here's how it works: I call my blog on the phone, i talk into my phone and it records 2 minutes. When i hang up the phone it turns it into an mp3 and posts it immediately on my blog so you can click on it. I think this will be really cool for teh Ironman, i'll be able to 'check' in with you all on my progress throughout the race. I definitely want to have it for the finish, hold it up and soak in 2 minutes worth of celebration. It'll definitely be unique. I'm in the free trial right now and will be doing my first call tonight.
How cool would that be? Not only could my readers follow my progress on Ironmanlive.com but they can refresh my blog and get audio of me on the course? i think it'll be more likely that i'd make the calls on the run instead of the bike but we'll see.
Here's how it works: I call my blog on the phone, i talk into my phone and it records 2 minutes. When i hang up the phone it turns it into an mp3 and posts it immediately on my blog so you can click on it. I think this will be really cool for teh Ironman, i'll be able to 'check' in with you all on my progress throughout the race. I definitely want to have it for the finish, hold it up and soak in 2 minutes worth of celebration. It'll definitely be unique. I'm in the free trial right now and will be doing my first call tonight.
How cool would that be? Not only could my readers follow my progress on Ironmanlive.com but they can refresh my blog and get audio of me on the course? i think it'll be more likely that i'd make the calls on the run instead of the bike but we'll see.
Sunday, April 13
Well i wanted to know what a 10 mile run at 160 HR meant...and i found out today. It means W A L L.
For those of you who don't know what the wall is, the only way to describe it is muscular shut down, on all levels. I hit it once last year while on a group ride and had tos top, and i just hit it today, with 15 miles to go till home. It all started when i got about 20 miles out, and the water/bar/gel thing wasn't working and i vomited some of it up at 20 mph. I didn't feel bad, it just came up and i let it go. Got some on my shoulder. But anyway i think it had something to do with the tap water iw as using, instead of filtered water.
Then my shoulders/lats started to feel weak, with 15 miles to go straight home (i planned a few trips around the lake) i just hit the wall...and hard. My stomach felt like crap, my lats wouldn't support my weight on the aerobars, and i couldn't keep a constant cadence, my legs just turned to rubber. That was it, i was done...but i still had to continue on. I thought about calling Dave to come pick me up but i might as well bask in my misery, so i don't ever forget this:
Doing a long run at AT pace, is not what you do before a long ride at AT pace. I was going fast ont he bike, i can't help it. My avg was 18 mph on the way out, and faster on the way back before i hit the wall. I needed to keep it much slower then that, but it's hard for me on the bike to go slow. I need to concentrate on my pacing more. Both on the run and bike.
Now i'm sitting in front of my computer and i feel like passing out and sleeping for a day. My legs and shoudlers are totally trashed.
Lesson learned.
For those of you who don't know what the wall is, the only way to describe it is muscular shut down, on all levels. I hit it once last year while on a group ride and had tos top, and i just hit it today, with 15 miles to go till home. It all started when i got about 20 miles out, and the water/bar/gel thing wasn't working and i vomited some of it up at 20 mph. I didn't feel bad, it just came up and i let it go. Got some on my shoulder. But anyway i think it had something to do with the tap water iw as using, instead of filtered water.
Then my shoulders/lats started to feel weak, with 15 miles to go straight home (i planned a few trips around the lake) i just hit the wall...and hard. My stomach felt like crap, my lats wouldn't support my weight on the aerobars, and i couldn't keep a constant cadence, my legs just turned to rubber. That was it, i was done...but i still had to continue on. I thought about calling Dave to come pick me up but i might as well bask in my misery, so i don't ever forget this:
Doing a long run at AT pace, is not what you do before a long ride at AT pace. I was going fast ont he bike, i can't help it. My avg was 18 mph on the way out, and faster on the way back before i hit the wall. I needed to keep it much slower then that, but it's hard for me on the bike to go slow. I need to concentrate on my pacing more. Both on the run and bike.
Now i'm sitting in front of my computer and i feel like passing out and sleeping for a day. My legs and shoudlers are totally trashed.
Lesson learned.
Saturday, April 12
I'm considreing this another off week...i didn't really do much this past week, but starting today things are changing. I did a 10 mile long run today, which is about 2.5 miles longer then i've been...i knew i could do it. I averaged about 10:35 per mile which is fine with me. I didn't really have any problems until the end, the last 3 miles were tough because most of it is inclined and my hip started hurting. Also the top iw as wearing i'm apparently allergic to because my back and chest started to itch real bad. Really annoying when you've still got 35 minutes to go. I"m happy with it though, makes me think i'll do 11 minute miles at the tri, also, i went out a bit to hard and slowed down some at the end, when i really want to start slow and do negative splits at the end ideally.
One hting though, my avg HR was 160 for 1:50 minutes! I'm just comfortable at that heart rate, not sure if thats bad or not. I'm thinking for my long run it should be more like 145 HR. ANother thing, after long bikes and runs, the top of my lungs feel raw, and makes me cough. I can't take a deep breath without coughing for at least 2 hours. I'm wondering if it's a form of exercise induced asthma (had it as a kid, then went away) or if my lungs are just soft and need some toughening.
Only time will tell. Tomorrow i'm going to do 70 hilly miles on my bike. Looking forward to it! Also i suggest anyone who knows anything about artistic film making, go and rent Moulin Rouge immediately. I"m going to watch it again for the 5th time tonight with a friend. No i'm not gay. But this movie is an amazing piece of artwork.
One hting though, my avg HR was 160 for 1:50 minutes! I'm just comfortable at that heart rate, not sure if thats bad or not. I'm thinking for my long run it should be more like 145 HR. ANother thing, after long bikes and runs, the top of my lungs feel raw, and makes me cough. I can't take a deep breath without coughing for at least 2 hours. I'm wondering if it's a form of exercise induced asthma (had it as a kid, then went away) or if my lungs are just soft and need some toughening.
Only time will tell. Tomorrow i'm going to do 70 hilly miles on my bike. Looking forward to it! Also i suggest anyone who knows anything about artistic film making, go and rent Moulin Rouge immediately. I"m going to watch it again for the 5th time tonight with a friend. No i'm not gay. But this movie is an amazing piece of artwork.
Thursday, April 10
Yesterday i ran a very nice 5 miles in 52 minutes. I'm no longer worried about my run. Now the only thing left is confidence in the swim, and Sheldon and i are probably going to do a mock 1/2 IM at his place so i can get some open water swimming in. The mock tri should help me overall, and i'll be ready for this panama race! The fort DeSoto tri fell through, but no big deal. Today was cold and rainy so i didn't do anything, but tomorrow i should run. Then satuday i'm going for 10 miles. and 65-70 on the bike sunday.
Also, i found out i don't have to pay for a membership at the NTC because i work for CFT! So on monday i get my free membership and don't have to pay anything, thats 60 bucks a month! Sweet! one less bill i have to worry about, and an extra 60 a month i can put on getting myself out of debt.
Also, i found out i don't have to pay for a membership at the NTC because i work for CFT! So on monday i get my free membership and don't have to pay anything, thats 60 bucks a month! Sweet! one less bill i have to worry about, and an extra 60 a month i can put on getting myself out of debt.
Tuesday, April 8
I've uploaded last weeks training. Pretty pathetic, but i ahve an excuse. IT was an off week so i'm not too worried about it. Interesting to note that i did 28 hours total in february, and 42 in march. Hoping to hit 60 or so this month...
Also, Fred said he can get me into a sprint tri this weekend that's sold out. I want to do it to do the open water swim, get some confidence for my Half. Right now my confidence is pretty low. That'll be fun to do...i have good vibes if i do tihs race this weekend.
Also, Fred said he can get me into a sprint tri this weekend that's sold out. I want to do it to do the open water swim, get some confidence for my Half. Right now my confidence is pretty low. That'll be fun to do...i have good vibes if i do tihs race this weekend.
I'm already geting nervous for my Half IM. it's 5 weeks out and i'm thinking "Will i have my nutrition dialed in?" "Will i be prepared for this race aerobically?" "Will i be in good enough shape to enjoy this race and push the pace?" "Should i drop my time goal and just go to finish?"
I know i can finish the thing.
Maybe i'm thinking this way because last week i didn't do much. My mental confidence is lacking. I went for a short run (2.2 in 20 minutes) as a warm up to my interval ride later today. i hope after the interval ride my confidence comes back. Not feeling dreaded, just unsure. I want to post a good time, i feel that i can push the pace and do well for myself, i can envision it...just not sure if that vision is accurate.
I know i can finish the thing.
Maybe i'm thinking this way because last week i didn't do much. My mental confidence is lacking. I went for a short run (2.2 in 20 minutes) as a warm up to my interval ride later today. i hope after the interval ride my confidence comes back. Not feeling dreaded, just unsure. I want to post a good time, i feel that i can push the pace and do well for myself, i can envision it...just not sure if that vision is accurate.
Monday, April 7
Thank the Volunteers and Staff: Here’s why
“Thanks for putting on a great race! Top notch!” – Unknown
“Great job Jed, first class event.” – Unknown
When two people completely unknown to me said the above sentences, all my pain went away for a few short seconds, my fatigue was forgotten and a warm feeling welled up inside me. Sounds cheesy doesn’t it? But when you’re behind the scenes at a triathlon, lots of things can go wrong, and if after all those things go wrong someone says to you, “Great job!”, then you know you did your job, because those people never saw what went wrong. As a triathlete, they always tell you to thank the volunteers and event staff, I always made it a point to do so, but never really knew what it meant to them until now.
I don’t consider myself great, or even exceptional at anything I do. I’d like to consider myself just above average. This past weekend I was involved in a triathlon as Director of Communications for CFT Sommer Sports (www.triflorida.com), it was the most amazing, and also hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Here’s a look at what it’s like behind the orange fencing, here’s why you should always thank the volunteers and staff, here’s my story:
• Friday, race day: T minus 40 hours.
In the days leading up to Friday I had been preparing media credentials, sending and confirming people to come to the race, collecting information and distributing it. Being my first triathlon behind the scenes, I was also brainstorming ideas to keep my part of the race under wraps. The first major concern was communication devices: NEXTEL phones. Questions I had were:
How do I track them?
How do I let people know how to use them quickly?
How do I do all of this, without actually meeting them?
How do I make sure they all get back to me when it’s all done?
If someone’s phone goes on the fritz, what’s the backup plan?
If something happens and I have to control and limit communication, how do I do so?
These were just some of the concerns on my plate, and I remedied most of them before race day. I set up a spreadsheet with everyone’s number, and name on it. I gave the responsibility of handing out and collecting phones from volunteers, to the run and bike coordinators respectively. I met with each coordinator and explained verbally how things would go down and they all understood. We didn’t have any extra phones so there was no back up plan. For controlling and limiting communication, I didn’t have enough time to make up a plan for that, so I just flew this by the seat of my pants. One of my goals was to make sure I had all the phones ready and waiting on Monday so that we didn’t have to pay another day of rental fees. This I was told was always a problem, it was my mission to fix it!
• 9 pm
I went to the office to start on another project: Memorabilia. Since this was the 20th anniversary of this event, Fred (Owner of CFT Sommer Sports) wanted to do something special so he had a VIP reception planned and also had me find out history of the race to start making an exhibit. Armed with limited resources and Photoshop, I went to town.
• 11 pm
I exhausted all of my talents and information and had to wait until Saturday when Fred said he’d bring in a bunch of stuff for me. I managed to get a bunch of signs printed and start on some stuff from 1984. I was happy with my progress and felt good going home. I also wanted to get some sleep for Saturday because my friend Jordana was coming up from Fort Lauderdale to ride with me at 5:30 am.
Saturday, race day: T minus 20 hours
• 5:30 am
I awoke to my alarm clock surprisingly refreshed. Jordana had arrived late Friday night and was sleeping in one of the other bedrooms of the house. I woke her up and we got under way. Beautiful riding weather, even more beautiful by the fact that the sun was just rising and shining through some really nice wooded areas we went through. The plan was to do the Olympic course so she could preview it for next year. That’s exactly what we did, took it nice and easy and finished in 2 hours. Got home, showered and ate, then hugged Jordana and left home for the last time until Sunday night.
• 8 am
I called Fred and he told me he left a bunch of stuff on my desk to go through and that he liked what I had going so far. I drove to the office and on my desk were 2 boxes full of press releases and news papers, along with 19 t-shirts, one for each year. I went about going through the newspapers and finding articles and results, photo copying them and getting them ready to be velcro’d to the display board. At noontime Fred showed up at the office and said, “It’s noon, gotta get stuff down there because registration is open!” I was under the impression that I had to have everything done by 6 pm. Doh. So I grabbed what I had, ran down to the race site and started setting up. I had a bunch of awards and mugs and other stuff, two tables and 6 boards to set up. The boards were a challenge because they kept blowing over, but I tied them down and things started coming together. I came back once for more information but had everything set up by about 3 pm.
• 4 pm
The exhibit was up and now it was time to set up the VIP area. The pavilion behind the exhibit was full of picnic tables and a mini-van which I had to get moved. At this point it was starting to become apparent that we were under staffed because everywhere I looked, stuff was ¼ or ½ done. Nothing seemed totally complete.
• 6 pm
The VIP reception started to get underway and I began meeting some people I had been emailing the previous week. The caterer had some good food, and the musicians never arrived so we set up a stereo system with some tunes. I met Andrew (www.myraceday.com owner and sponsor) and he’s a super guy. We talked for about an hour about all kinds of stuff while everyone ate and chatted. It was a nice relaxation period...and the last one I’d get until over 24 hours later.
• 8 pm
The reception over, it was time to get to work. I was under the impression that we’d be done with set up around midnight or so, get a few hours of sleep and come back to the race site at 5 am to do final touches. When we got our event crew together there were only 6 of us. Here’s a comparison:
Best Case Conditions: 15-20 people set up
75% participants volunteers
20-30 people breakdown crew
Our Conditions: 6 people set up
Less then 15% volunteers
6 (extremely tired) people breakdown
• Friday 8 pm to Saturday, 5 am
Without going into tons of detail, the 6 of us went about tackling each project that needed to get done in a furious order. Swim start, truck packing, transition set up, transition scaffolding, bike start and end, run start and end, finishing chute, registration tent…by the time I looked at my watch it was 4 am…and I had to move it ahead an hour because of daylight savings time. I would have to say that the best time was going to the warehouse and filling the trucks with everything we’d need for the race. The 4 of us had a great time tossing empty water containers around. At this point we were all tired, but tired enough to be silly. The grumpiness hadn’t settled in yet.
• 5 am, race T-minus 3 hours
At this point the major stuff had been taken care of and it was time for the details. Setting up lights for the pre-light racers, putting up pennants, sponsor banners, setting up the timing tent, dispersing 2000 pounds of liquids to various parts of the course… of all the things to do, only one thing on the list didn’t get done: Showers were never put up. At this point I was thinking that I could relax as communications director, but oh how wrong I was. Every time I had a second, I saw something that needed to get done and I did it. From emptying trash, to refilling water stations, to measuring the 5k run course and marking the road (15 minutes before the gun went off). We squeaked by on this one, and it was time to sit down and watch the fruits of our labor...NOT!
• 8:14 am, the gun goes off!
1200 racers enter the water in waves. I had seen and talked to briefly some friends that came up from Fort Lauderdale, but I was so busy I didn’t get to see them start or see any of them finish. Through out the race so many things happened and needed done that I can’t recall most of it. It was a blur of walking, talking, and driving. Some key points:
Communication was messed up because I forgot to give the bike station phones to the bike coordinator. As a result, one bike station ran out of ice, and another station had a biker ask to be picked up and it was a long time before I got the info and could pass it on. Also, since everyone had everyone else in their phones, often times the information ended up with the wrong person. Volunteers were so few that we had to move people from aid station to aid station because some of them were unmanned. A racer had a problem in the finishers chute and had to be hospitalized. Moving 500 racers out of the way of the ambulance was no easy task. We ran out of ice completely, and in desperation I drove my car to the nearest grocery store with a fellow event team member, and bought 60 bags of ice (two trips of 30). This was just some of the event problems, but they were all taken care of quickly and efficiently.
All I know is that none of the event team sat down once the whole day until breakdown. After the race ended, I sat (finally) in the blazing sun to give away awards. No one had the time to stick the metal stickers on the plaques the night before, so we had a line to get a plaque and a line to get your sticker. This was a nightmare to start, and I heard someone say, “They don’t know what the hell they’re doing.” At that point I wanted to just quit…the frustration, the burning heat, and the fact that the particular racer had no sympathy for how much it takes to run a triathlon…the fact that many of us had already been awake and working physically for over 30 hours at this point. But as if he heard what happened, a good friend of mine came over and said, “Jed, excellent job! The race was great!” I felt like a million bucks at that point. Finally, an appreciative racer!
It was so hot during awards that I had to ask a racer for sunscreen because I hadn’t put any on yet and was burning up. I also had to keep drinking Gatorade and water. Throughout the weekend most of us had to change clothes because we were so dirty and sweaty. After awards were given out it seemed like we could take a rest….NOT!
No breakdown team was scheduled, so the extremely tired 6 of us went to work breaking things down. My feet were KILLING me, and I ran out of coffee and no doze so my mental capacity was slowing down to equal my physical aches and pains. I felt like I had run a double marathon. My back was aching, my lats were extremely sore from all the lifting, my feet were totally destroyed and I was constantly thirsty despite having tons of water and Gatorade.
Again, I was so tired and so many things got done from 3 pm to 7pm that I can’t remember most of it. I also was extremely tired and sort of droned on. The object of the breakdown was to take all valuable and other stuff that could be ripped off and get it in a truck, locked up. I remember thinking at least a dozen times of going to Fred and telling him I couldn’t take anymore, I just had to go home. 2 things went through my mind each time I took a painful step forward 1) he’d probably let me go 2) the other 5 guys had been there just as long, and they weren’t quitting. I had lots of mental wars with myself, but had to keep trudging on. My legs were so fried and chaffed that I was walking bold legged, and at about 1/20th my usual walk pace. I willed myself to ‘kick it into high gear’ but my body simply wouldn’t respond. I had 2 speeds, slow and stop. I kept having to take sitting breaks when my legs just couldn’t take it anymore. Around this time a couple straggling racers told me what a great event we held, I looked at them with a smile and just wanted to cry. More racers appreciating the hell some of us were going through.
We may have only been out there breaking down for 3 hours, but it was the longest 3 hours of my life. We all saw in each other that we weren’t going to quit, we COULDN’T quit…it was over when it was over. Above and beyond all of the physical and mental pain we were going through, we all still managed to joke around. None of us ever snapped at the other or slacked, it was the most mature crew of people I’d ever worked with in my life. There wasn’t a time I saw any of them sitting if there was something to be done. We all went beyond our duty, and managed to get our main duties done. I’m proud to have worked with this team, and look forward to working with them on the road this year as CFT puts on its Tri America series (www.triamerica.com).
• 7 pm
It’d been a long 37 hours, not 37 hours of watching movies, not 37 hours of telling people what to do. 37 hours of decisions, lifting, pushing, driving, walking, running, pulling, throwing, talking, etc. There’s only one other time when I felt like this in my whole life, and that was when I was 13 and went on a canoeing trip with the YMCA. I stayed up for 72 hours without coffee, as it rained the whole trip and I kept the fires going at night and paddled during the day.
When I got home I showered 47 layers of dirt off my body, threw away my socks, went to get some Chinese food and dropped on the couch with a corona in my hand. On the very last sip of that beer, I passed completely out.
18 hours later I awoke and felt mildly ok. By the time I got up and started getting things in order I was feeling fine, got some coffee and headed into the office: at noontime.
Now consider what I did and the fact that I’m paid to do it. The next time you see a volunteer, remember my story, assume they’ve already done the same thing, and at the end of the day they don’t get a single dime, nothing, zip, zilch. No, not every volunteer goes through a 37 hour grueling workout, but just the fact that they are taking the time out of their day to point you to the right place for free says tons about their character.
At the end of a race, thank every event staff and volunteer you see, it could be me, and if they cry right there in front of you with a smile on their face and you’ve read this: You’ll know why.
PS. It’s Monday and every NEXTEL phone rented is sitting in a box waiting to be picked up – I accomplished my goal.
PSS. if it weren't for my endurance training, i'd have never made it past 24 hours i don't think. The only people that were left were endurance athletes for the last 6 or so hours.
“Thanks for putting on a great race! Top notch!” – Unknown
“Great job Jed, first class event.” – Unknown
When two people completely unknown to me said the above sentences, all my pain went away for a few short seconds, my fatigue was forgotten and a warm feeling welled up inside me. Sounds cheesy doesn’t it? But when you’re behind the scenes at a triathlon, lots of things can go wrong, and if after all those things go wrong someone says to you, “Great job!”, then you know you did your job, because those people never saw what went wrong. As a triathlete, they always tell you to thank the volunteers and event staff, I always made it a point to do so, but never really knew what it meant to them until now.
I don’t consider myself great, or even exceptional at anything I do. I’d like to consider myself just above average. This past weekend I was involved in a triathlon as Director of Communications for CFT Sommer Sports (www.triflorida.com), it was the most amazing, and also hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Here’s a look at what it’s like behind the orange fencing, here’s why you should always thank the volunteers and staff, here’s my story:
• Friday, race day: T minus 40 hours.
In the days leading up to Friday I had been preparing media credentials, sending and confirming people to come to the race, collecting information and distributing it. Being my first triathlon behind the scenes, I was also brainstorming ideas to keep my part of the race under wraps. The first major concern was communication devices: NEXTEL phones. Questions I had were:
How do I track them?
How do I let people know how to use them quickly?
How do I do all of this, without actually meeting them?
How do I make sure they all get back to me when it’s all done?
If someone’s phone goes on the fritz, what’s the backup plan?
If something happens and I have to control and limit communication, how do I do so?
These were just some of the concerns on my plate, and I remedied most of them before race day. I set up a spreadsheet with everyone’s number, and name on it. I gave the responsibility of handing out and collecting phones from volunteers, to the run and bike coordinators respectively. I met with each coordinator and explained verbally how things would go down and they all understood. We didn’t have any extra phones so there was no back up plan. For controlling and limiting communication, I didn’t have enough time to make up a plan for that, so I just flew this by the seat of my pants. One of my goals was to make sure I had all the phones ready and waiting on Monday so that we didn’t have to pay another day of rental fees. This I was told was always a problem, it was my mission to fix it!
• 9 pm
I went to the office to start on another project: Memorabilia. Since this was the 20th anniversary of this event, Fred (Owner of CFT Sommer Sports) wanted to do something special so he had a VIP reception planned and also had me find out history of the race to start making an exhibit. Armed with limited resources and Photoshop, I went to town.
• 11 pm
I exhausted all of my talents and information and had to wait until Saturday when Fred said he’d bring in a bunch of stuff for me. I managed to get a bunch of signs printed and start on some stuff from 1984. I was happy with my progress and felt good going home. I also wanted to get some sleep for Saturday because my friend Jordana was coming up from Fort Lauderdale to ride with me at 5:30 am.
Saturday, race day: T minus 20 hours
• 5:30 am
I awoke to my alarm clock surprisingly refreshed. Jordana had arrived late Friday night and was sleeping in one of the other bedrooms of the house. I woke her up and we got under way. Beautiful riding weather, even more beautiful by the fact that the sun was just rising and shining through some really nice wooded areas we went through. The plan was to do the Olympic course so she could preview it for next year. That’s exactly what we did, took it nice and easy and finished in 2 hours. Got home, showered and ate, then hugged Jordana and left home for the last time until Sunday night.
• 8 am
I called Fred and he told me he left a bunch of stuff on my desk to go through and that he liked what I had going so far. I drove to the office and on my desk were 2 boxes full of press releases and news papers, along with 19 t-shirts, one for each year. I went about going through the newspapers and finding articles and results, photo copying them and getting them ready to be velcro’d to the display board. At noontime Fred showed up at the office and said, “It’s noon, gotta get stuff down there because registration is open!” I was under the impression that I had to have everything done by 6 pm. Doh. So I grabbed what I had, ran down to the race site and started setting up. I had a bunch of awards and mugs and other stuff, two tables and 6 boards to set up. The boards were a challenge because they kept blowing over, but I tied them down and things started coming together. I came back once for more information but had everything set up by about 3 pm.
• 4 pm
The exhibit was up and now it was time to set up the VIP area. The pavilion behind the exhibit was full of picnic tables and a mini-van which I had to get moved. At this point it was starting to become apparent that we were under staffed because everywhere I looked, stuff was ¼ or ½ done. Nothing seemed totally complete.
• 6 pm
The VIP reception started to get underway and I began meeting some people I had been emailing the previous week. The caterer had some good food, and the musicians never arrived so we set up a stereo system with some tunes. I met Andrew (www.myraceday.com owner and sponsor) and he’s a super guy. We talked for about an hour about all kinds of stuff while everyone ate and chatted. It was a nice relaxation period...and the last one I’d get until over 24 hours later.
• 8 pm
The reception over, it was time to get to work. I was under the impression that we’d be done with set up around midnight or so, get a few hours of sleep and come back to the race site at 5 am to do final touches. When we got our event crew together there were only 6 of us. Here’s a comparison:
Best Case Conditions: 15-20 people set up
75% participants volunteers
20-30 people breakdown crew
Our Conditions: 6 people set up
Less then 15% volunteers
6 (extremely tired) people breakdown
• Friday 8 pm to Saturday, 5 am
Without going into tons of detail, the 6 of us went about tackling each project that needed to get done in a furious order. Swim start, truck packing, transition set up, transition scaffolding, bike start and end, run start and end, finishing chute, registration tent…by the time I looked at my watch it was 4 am…and I had to move it ahead an hour because of daylight savings time. I would have to say that the best time was going to the warehouse and filling the trucks with everything we’d need for the race. The 4 of us had a great time tossing empty water containers around. At this point we were all tired, but tired enough to be silly. The grumpiness hadn’t settled in yet.
• 5 am, race T-minus 3 hours
At this point the major stuff had been taken care of and it was time for the details. Setting up lights for the pre-light racers, putting up pennants, sponsor banners, setting up the timing tent, dispersing 2000 pounds of liquids to various parts of the course… of all the things to do, only one thing on the list didn’t get done: Showers were never put up. At this point I was thinking that I could relax as communications director, but oh how wrong I was. Every time I had a second, I saw something that needed to get done and I did it. From emptying trash, to refilling water stations, to measuring the 5k run course and marking the road (15 minutes before the gun went off). We squeaked by on this one, and it was time to sit down and watch the fruits of our labor...NOT!
• 8:14 am, the gun goes off!
1200 racers enter the water in waves. I had seen and talked to briefly some friends that came up from Fort Lauderdale, but I was so busy I didn’t get to see them start or see any of them finish. Through out the race so many things happened and needed done that I can’t recall most of it. It was a blur of walking, talking, and driving. Some key points:
Communication was messed up because I forgot to give the bike station phones to the bike coordinator. As a result, one bike station ran out of ice, and another station had a biker ask to be picked up and it was a long time before I got the info and could pass it on. Also, since everyone had everyone else in their phones, often times the information ended up with the wrong person. Volunteers were so few that we had to move people from aid station to aid station because some of them were unmanned. A racer had a problem in the finishers chute and had to be hospitalized. Moving 500 racers out of the way of the ambulance was no easy task. We ran out of ice completely, and in desperation I drove my car to the nearest grocery store with a fellow event team member, and bought 60 bags of ice (two trips of 30). This was just some of the event problems, but they were all taken care of quickly and efficiently.
All I know is that none of the event team sat down once the whole day until breakdown. After the race ended, I sat (finally) in the blazing sun to give away awards. No one had the time to stick the metal stickers on the plaques the night before, so we had a line to get a plaque and a line to get your sticker. This was a nightmare to start, and I heard someone say, “They don’t know what the hell they’re doing.” At that point I wanted to just quit…the frustration, the burning heat, and the fact that the particular racer had no sympathy for how much it takes to run a triathlon…the fact that many of us had already been awake and working physically for over 30 hours at this point. But as if he heard what happened, a good friend of mine came over and said, “Jed, excellent job! The race was great!” I felt like a million bucks at that point. Finally, an appreciative racer!
It was so hot during awards that I had to ask a racer for sunscreen because I hadn’t put any on yet and was burning up. I also had to keep drinking Gatorade and water. Throughout the weekend most of us had to change clothes because we were so dirty and sweaty. After awards were given out it seemed like we could take a rest….NOT!
No breakdown team was scheduled, so the extremely tired 6 of us went to work breaking things down. My feet were KILLING me, and I ran out of coffee and no doze so my mental capacity was slowing down to equal my physical aches and pains. I felt like I had run a double marathon. My back was aching, my lats were extremely sore from all the lifting, my feet were totally destroyed and I was constantly thirsty despite having tons of water and Gatorade.
Again, I was so tired and so many things got done from 3 pm to 7pm that I can’t remember most of it. I also was extremely tired and sort of droned on. The object of the breakdown was to take all valuable and other stuff that could be ripped off and get it in a truck, locked up. I remember thinking at least a dozen times of going to Fred and telling him I couldn’t take anymore, I just had to go home. 2 things went through my mind each time I took a painful step forward 1) he’d probably let me go 2) the other 5 guys had been there just as long, and they weren’t quitting. I had lots of mental wars with myself, but had to keep trudging on. My legs were so fried and chaffed that I was walking bold legged, and at about 1/20th my usual walk pace. I willed myself to ‘kick it into high gear’ but my body simply wouldn’t respond. I had 2 speeds, slow and stop. I kept having to take sitting breaks when my legs just couldn’t take it anymore. Around this time a couple straggling racers told me what a great event we held, I looked at them with a smile and just wanted to cry. More racers appreciating the hell some of us were going through.
We may have only been out there breaking down for 3 hours, but it was the longest 3 hours of my life. We all saw in each other that we weren’t going to quit, we COULDN’T quit…it was over when it was over. Above and beyond all of the physical and mental pain we were going through, we all still managed to joke around. None of us ever snapped at the other or slacked, it was the most mature crew of people I’d ever worked with in my life. There wasn’t a time I saw any of them sitting if there was something to be done. We all went beyond our duty, and managed to get our main duties done. I’m proud to have worked with this team, and look forward to working with them on the road this year as CFT puts on its Tri America series (www.triamerica.com).
• 7 pm
It’d been a long 37 hours, not 37 hours of watching movies, not 37 hours of telling people what to do. 37 hours of decisions, lifting, pushing, driving, walking, running, pulling, throwing, talking, etc. There’s only one other time when I felt like this in my whole life, and that was when I was 13 and went on a canoeing trip with the YMCA. I stayed up for 72 hours without coffee, as it rained the whole trip and I kept the fires going at night and paddled during the day.
When I got home I showered 47 layers of dirt off my body, threw away my socks, went to get some Chinese food and dropped on the couch with a corona in my hand. On the very last sip of that beer, I passed completely out.
18 hours later I awoke and felt mildly ok. By the time I got up and started getting things in order I was feeling fine, got some coffee and headed into the office: at noontime.
Now consider what I did and the fact that I’m paid to do it. The next time you see a volunteer, remember my story, assume they’ve already done the same thing, and at the end of the day they don’t get a single dime, nothing, zip, zilch. No, not every volunteer goes through a 37 hour grueling workout, but just the fact that they are taking the time out of their day to point you to the right place for free says tons about their character.
At the end of a race, thank every event staff and volunteer you see, it could be me, and if they cry right there in front of you with a smile on their face and you’ve read this: You’ll know why.
PS. It’s Monday and every NEXTEL phone rented is sitting in a box waiting to be picked up – I accomplished my goal.
PSS. if it weren't for my endurance training, i'd have never made it past 24 hours i don't think. The only people that were left were endurance athletes for the last 6 or so hours.
Thursday, April 3
Having a new job is like getting a girlfriend, gotta put a lot of time into it in the first few weeks till things level off. So my training is suffering, but no better week to let it suffer then an 'off' week. Yesterday i ran 40 minutes in the morning and biked 30 minutes in the afternoon. Today i hoped to run an hour, but didn't get out of work till 8, then had to go into town to deposit money (which i somehow forgot to do).
Tomorrow is my last semi non busy day until saturday:
If i don't write in my blog a few days this is why:
Friday night: Some tri syndicate guys arrive in anticipation of the race
Saturday morning 6 am, Riding with Jordana for 2-2.5 hours then at 9 am going to the race site to work till probabkly 9-10 pm
Sunday morning 4 am race site: Work it, then tear it down: Probably working till 9-10 pm.
I'm so ready to race. I can't wait till may! I have good feelings and vibes...just gotta get over my pacing issues in the water.
Tomorrow is my last semi non busy day until saturday:
If i don't write in my blog a few days this is why:
Friday night: Some tri syndicate guys arrive in anticipation of the race
Saturday morning 6 am, Riding with Jordana for 2-2.5 hours then at 9 am going to the race site to work till probabkly 9-10 pm
Sunday morning 4 am race site: Work it, then tear it down: Probably working till 9-10 pm.
I'm so ready to race. I can't wait till may! I have good feelings and vibes...just gotta get over my pacing issues in the water.
Tuesday, April 1
Today was a really busy day at work, adn i didn't get any workout done. Felt pretty good today and the weather was beautiful, tomorrow morining i'll be doing my run in the morining then getting out of work early for a ride i hope. This is my off week afterall, so i'm not too worried about it. Just gotta keep my diet in order...tonight after work i had chinese and icecream...doh.