Saturday Ride - Cahaba Heights

Wow, had a great ride this morning. I met a group over at Cahaba Cycles in Cahaba Heights for a 7:30 am group ride. I'd never ridden with this group so I was nervous about being able to stay with them on the road. They announced that we'd be ridding a 42 mile loop. This was slightly daunting as well as I had never ridden over 30 miles at one time. Well, the temp in the parking lot was 46 degrees. I felt that I was dressed warm enough, but after a couple of miles we dropped into a valley that was in the shade and the temp dropped about ten degrees. My face immediately froze, and I lost all feeling in my toes. I decided right then and there that I needed to buy some toe covers.
The route took us through some farm communities and back roads. The weather turned out to be just right after a few more miles. I enjoyed meeting these guys and they kept a pace that I was comfortable riding. Some times you'll get in groups like this and everyone puffs their chests out and sees who can pee in the tallest grass, but this group was very easy going and easy to get along with.
I nearly had my first wreck today. We were only about a mile from the end of the ride, and I was going around a curve going down a hill. I over compensated for the curve and found a big rut off the shoulder. I let out a few cuss words, my handle bars bent forward, and I braced for impact just knowing that I'd flatted both of my tires. To my surprise, I stayed on the bike and both tires were still with me. It scared the crap out of me to say the least. Not a good way to end a ride, but I'm glad we were close to the end, because I was a little jittery after that.
So the stats on the day ended up being only 38 miles, avg HR was 143. Not bad. I'm going to feel it tomorrow. I hope not too much, because per my coach, I've got another hour and half ride to do tomorrow followed by a 3 mile run. I'm going to stretch now.

Pics From Italy

ITALY TRIP

Just wanted to share some pictures and some thoughts about my trip this past week. Lauren and I arrived in Rome on Thursday the 16th around 9am. We spent three nights there then took a train to Florence for 2 nights.
While we were there, we attempted to see most of the majors sights and get a good feel of the life there in Italy. Overall, we had a blast. We saw some amazing places. I'm still amazed at the age of the buildings and their condition. Such as the Pantheon, built around 125 A.D. Wow. It's the oldest building in Rome and in incredible condition. The inside was simply amazing.
We visited St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday. I was a little turned off by how opulent and over the top the decorations were. Lots of gold, marble, etc. I know that was the style when it was built, but I really had to wonder if God was really happy with us for this building. Here's the square outside.
Some of my favorite sights were, the Pantheon, The David (in Florence), and the coliseum. The things I didn't enjoy: walking everywhere! (I love my SUV), the pushy beggars (they were mostly clean and well dressed), the cost of everything, and tiny showers. About the expense, the dollar is worth only .75 Euros. On top of that, everything is jacked up for the tourists. $3 waters were not uncommon.
I'm so glad that I went. I had a wonderful time with my wife. She's so amazing and beautiful, and I'm so lucky to have a travel companion like her.

Oh, and the statues. Don't know why, but they impress the hell out of me. Paintings are kind of lost on me. Maybe I'm an idiot, but the statues were incredible. I'd like to have one some day. Maybe of Lance Armstrong or Mr. T or someone. They would definitely have clothes on though. There are too many statues with exposed parts if you ask me.

I'm back in the pool and weight room this afternoon.

Back In the US

Made it in from Italy this afternoon (5:00 pm in AL, but 12:00 am in Italy). I'm writing now just to stay awake. I have to go to work in the morning and need to hold off on going to sleep for a while. I've been up for 24 hours now. Will definitely post some pics and stories from the trip. I will tell you that I wish I would have "trained" a little more for this trip. Lauren and I visited Rome and Florence and covered a number of miles each day on foot. We went back to our hotel each day just beat from all the walking. Both cities are easy to walk around to see the sights, so we avoided the buses and subways and opted for walking instead.
Glad to be back in the US though. I loved visiting, but I really enjoy where I am and my routine. Also, it won't bother me at all if I don't see any pasta for a while either. Pass the green beans and black eyed peas please, oh and yes, I would like the big gulp of sweat tea too.
Back into training tomorrow too. No rest for the weary or jet lagged.

Elton John's Comment

You may or may not have read the article regarding Elton John's comment on religion or better yet organized religion. It's below. I'll let you read it.

LONDON, England (AP) -- Organized religion fuels anti-gay discrimination and other forms of bias, pop star Elton John said in an interview published Saturday.
"I think religion has always tried to turn hatred toward gay people," John said in the Observer newspaper's Music Monthly Magazine. "Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays."
"But there are so many people I know who are gay and love their religion," he said. "From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate."

At first glance I rolled my eyes at the article. Being a Christian, of course I was a little offended. Then I thought about it and realized that Elton was right on so many levels. As Christians we have failed to show him the love of Christ. Donald Miller wrote a book called "Blue Like Jazz." It tells of a time when he was in college at a very liberal school in the Northwest. He and his buddies dressed up like monks and set up a confession booth on campus. A few people stopped by out of curiosity and found that Miller and his friends weren't there to take confessions but to give them. They started by asking for forgiveness from them for the acts of Christians throughout time (Crusades, 1960's etc). They then asked for forgiveness for not being loving, for not feeding the poor, for not loving those who persecute them, basically for not representing Christ well. As a faith, I believe we are at fault because the biggest impression we have left on people is our bigotry and intolerance. Not love and compassion. People have a strong reaction to what they see on television (the TV evangelist, religious groups marching pushing their beliefs). The few have changed the perception of the many. Basically that sucks, but it's perception and we've done nothing to change it.
So to wrap up, I apologize for myself and my faith for not loving our neighbors, for not feeding the poor, or clothing the hungry, and finally for not representing who Christ really was. Please understand that those of us who claim to bring Christians are just big messes themselves still struggling with sin.

Two State Parks in One Day

This weekend I headed up to Cheaha State Park with some gents from my community group from church . We found a good spot away from the crowd and set in the night. Temps were in the low 30's, high 20's. Perfect camping weather. It was so good to sit around the campfire, drink a few beers, and really get to know the guys. Conversations ranged from favorite movies, books, football, and then faith. It's reassuring hearing how these guys struggle in the same areas that I do. I believe God redeems us through relationships, and I'm so glad I had the chance to spend this time with these guys.
So, this morning we broke camp and headed to Cracker barrel. Cracker barrel on Sunday morning in small town Alabama is a sight. I forget how different Birmingham is from the rest of the state. Memaws and PaPaws lined the rocking chairs in front of the store as countless others shopped for worthless swag. Oohs and ahs could be heard as two gray hairs admired an "authentic Tennessee quilt." that was probably made in Taiwan.
After breakfast, I headed home and after a short nap headed to Oak Mountain State Park which is considerably closer and for a bike ride. Despite sucking in campfire smoke all night, I felt pretty good on the bike. Legs were good, lungs held strong. I was able to try out my new HRM. I averaged 19.1 miles per hour on the ride and my heart rate averaged 168 bpm. Looking forward to figuring out how to really benefit from it, but it was fun to play with. Tomorrow I'm in the pool for 700 yard as fast as I can go. We'll see how it goes.
Oh yeah, I'm headed to Italy in a couple of days. Gotta start packing.

Back in the pool

I've had a couple of days of training under the new regime, ala the Coach. The weight training was fairly easy. Toughest part was the core workout, mainly the planks. Today though, I finally made it back into the pool. The new ear plugs worked well. I kept the ole ear drum dry as bone. I did 1100 yards. Wasn't too bad. I mainly focused on my form. I need to work on keeping my head down. This will really help in getting my hips and legs higher in the water resulting in less drag. Overall, I loved it. I could tell I hadn't swam in a while. It was awkward at first, but after a while it all came back. Now if I can just get my endurance back up.
Tomorrow, I'm headed out for a ride in a.m. before heading up to Mt. Cheaha for a little camping trip.

Training Officially Started Today

Met with my coach this morning at 5:30 am for a work out session. We went through the exercises in the gym that he'll want me to perform. I thought it was kinda cool. I definitely had to push myself through some of them. Formerly, my weight training involved big weights with a focus on getting bigger and stronger. I come from a baseball background, which doesn't exactly translate well for triathlons. Over the past three years I've really made a concerted effort to drop the amount of weight that I'm doing and focus on low weights and high reps. I've notice a huge decrease in my weight. This may have something to do with the amount of R/B/S'ing that I've been doing as well. I would say 4 years ago I weighed 209 pounds. Hey, I could compete in the Clydesdale division is races. Now, I'm weighing in at 176. Clothes wise, a big decrease and an even bigger decrease when considering the amount of power needed to push myself on the bike or keep myself afloat in the water.
So, I'm excited about these new work outs. They involve a good deal of body core workouts along with quads and hammys. I never workout my quads and hammys. I thought that's what the bike was for.
Getting pumped. 1/2 IM will be here before I know it.

Vulcan 10K - mission complete!

This morning was the Vulcan 10K. I woke up around 6 am and starting eating my oatmeal. It took me a while to really wake up. I was so sleepy that I decided to stand up to eat. The morning was a crisp 38 degrees with clear skies. The run would be nice once the sun started shining.
There were a little over 1000 participants running in the race. A decent event for Birmingham. I never felt really good before the race. I don't think it was nerves, but I never really got the pre-race shot of adrenaline. That worried me a bit. I worked my way to the front of the pack before the race started. There's nothing worse than being stuck behind a group of joggers running four wide.
Mile 1: Started well out of the pack. I couldn't really tell my pace, but just ran a comfortable speed to get my legs going. I had the worst feeling you could possibly have during the first mile, I think I have to pee! How could this be? I just went. Oh, I hope I can hold it. I passed the first mile marker at 6:26! Gulp.
Mile 2: I looked back at this other runner and asked if that right? It didn't really feel like full mile. He affirmed that he was on his pace. Still felt good throughout mile 2. I knew that after I hit the 2nd mile marker I'd have to start climbing, so I tried to keep up my speed. Legs felt good. The need to pee went away, so all was fine in that area. Sun was shinning. Temp was just right. Mile 2: 6:47.
Mile 3: I was almost 1:15 under my goal and I knew I'd need the extra time. Over the next mile a half the route gains 150 feet. It was painful. I kept trying to surge and recover, but my surges started looking like my recoveries. Mile 3: 7:51.
Mile 4: Once the terrain leveled off, I knew I had to make up some ground so I started pushing it a bit. This mile winds in and around a really cool section of the south side of B'ham. Highland Ave has a lot of historic plantation homes built by the elite of society around the early 1900's. I say this because, I don't remember seeing one of them. I was focused. Mile 4: 7:20.
Mile 5: Now I get the benefit of a little downhill. I started taking long strides and getting a little air under my feet for a 1/4 mile or so. It gave my lungs a "breather." I was in the straightaway headed back for Downtown. Felt great and I was cruising. Mile 5: 7:02
Mile 6: Despite being so close, fatigue started setting in. I could feel my body start to slump a little. You probably could have pushed me over with a finger at this point. I knew I was so close. Kept pushing. Mile 6: 7:09.
Finishing line: with .2 miles to go to the finish, I knew I would beat my expectations for the race. I did my best to make a strong push for the finish. I made a good showing for the spectators as I sprinted across the finish line at 44:03. What a relief.
Wow, great race. I felt like I ran just about as well as I could have. My time really shocked me. I never really felt the adrenaline surge, which worried me that I might not run well. Things worked out though and now I can relax for a few days. Training officially starts Tuesday for the 1/2 Ironman.

I've made up my mind

I can't stand it any more. I'm still fighting with this ear infection due to the hole in my ear drum. I haven't been able to swim in a couple of months, and it's killing me. Can't tell you what an animal it makes me feel like to cut through the water and get the laps in. I've gone with out long enough. I've invested in some decent ear plugs. Cover me Johnny, I'm going in. Gotta get the laps in. I'm starting to train next week with my coach, and I'll be a monkey's uncle if I'm going to miss out on swimming. If I read one more blog about someone else swimming while I'm stuck on the bike or just pounding the pavement, I'm going to go freaking crazy. As for the ear, I'm going to see the doctor on Nov 27th. I'll do my best to keep it clean and dry as recommended, but it's held me back for too long.
Two more days until the Vulcan 10k. Ready to fly.

RACE WEEK!

Alright, I know it's just a 10K, but I get really pumped for races. This week I've taken it easy with just a couple of easy runs and stretching. I even managed to eat only 1 piece of Halloween candy. Now, I did however wear the nacho cheese dip out though. It had sausage in it. That's protein right? Well, after this weekend's race which is the Vulcan 10, I hope to really start my off season workout. I will officially start on the "program" on Monday with my trainer. Looking forward to his suggestions and being able to push myself again. I'm feeling good about this weekend's race. I hope to run anywhere between 7:00 and 7:20 minute miles. That should put me around 45 -46 minutes.

I haven't biked all week and it's killing me. Can't wait to get back out there. The mornings are perfect right now. I also get my heart rate monitor next week. That ought to be cool too. Later.