What a Weekend!!

A few super cool things happened over that last few days so let's get right to it!

After recovering up from Rage towards the end of the week I hit the pool with Form on Friday afternoon and cranked out some swim sprints with this maniac! He's a machine and only getting faster each week, keep up the great work Form! So after I almost puked twice during sprints and swallowed about half the pool water I survived and we headed to lunch. The rest of the day was getting ready for the Labor of Love (LOL) Canyon 50k, Marathon, Half Marathon & 10k run which I was volunteering at aid station mile 4.6 on an out and back course.

Now I wanted to have a super cool water stop as many of us know that on some of these smaller races it's just a table and water/sports drink and some super volunteers out there. Being as this was pretty much out in the middle of Vegas mountains/hills NOWHERE I thought I needed a theme or some decorations or something, so I went with a Red, White, Blue USA Theme or 4th of July I guess you could say. Well I went to the store got some stuff and was ready to go. Got my cooler with beer all packed up, food ready and clothes ready as it was going to be a cold in there morning with some wind.

Morning came at 4am! and I'm not even racing up it did start at 6am and I had a little drive to get there. Once at mile 4.6 it was completely dark outside at 5:15am and the wind was SUPER Blowing!! Oh and my car temperature read 39*!!!! WTF! I got out, got things set up but the wind was blowing so strong it was hard to do anything. Finally I got my table cover on, taped down. I managed to get a couple of other props up without them blowing away. I had a square pop up canopy and tried to set it up but it was just too windy to do it by myself and if I did get it up it might actually be blowing away during the race so I opted not to put it up, Which was a downer b/c many of the other Props were going to go on the canopy. With no canopy I did manage to put a few on my car, which I parked right next to the table with water/Heed. By now the sun is up its about 6:20ish and I'm waiting to see the faster runners for the 50k come through.

With the Music Cranked up I see the first 50k guy coming down the road, super fast. He passed me, waved and kept going, barley a blink of the eye. The next runner was about 8 mins behind him, HFS! 8 mins, in the first 4.6 miles! As the 50k's passed I was looking for my new super friends and TNT runner Coach Antonette along with super friend #2 TNT Coach Cynthia! and here they came. It was great to see there smiling faces and they were looking and feeling good in a long day ahead. A quick High Five, encouragement and they were off. I would be looking forward to seeing them on the way back.

A short time later the Marathoners came through, some fast, some slowing to chat really quick. Many loved the music going as I tried to keep it loud. They liked the Balloons tied to the top of the car, the windmill spinners stuck in the ground and my Big Uncle SAM Hat along with the Red, White and Blue bow I had pinned to the back of my White Short sleeve shirt, with Blue Long sleeve sweetshirt pulled up to expose my Red Long Sleeve, Hence, the Red, White and Blue theme and my Blue sweet pants at this time as it is cold but later to warm up and reveal my Blue shorts! HAHA. Then the Half Marathoners came though all liking my stop.

As they came back up this nasty little 1.5 mile snakey climb I was at the top so they were super glad to see me there cheering them on, rocking with the music and beer! Of Course Beer. So what its 9:30am! A few of them asked for some, drank up and took off running! Go Runners!

Several of them said I had the best aid station by far but I wasn't too sure what my competition was. At one point I recognized this truck driving up, STEF!, I was so glad to see someone I knew out there helping out as well. She was helping out at the marathon turn around and seemed to be a little envious of my rockn' aid station and wanted to stay but her duties were called elsewhere. That's OK Stef, next year, we will plan to rock out together!

So based on super fast 50k's guys pace I figured he would be coming around 9:30am, Wrong, it was 9:20! The dude flew by again, waved and kept going. So Fast! That's like a 7:10 min/mile pace! Well luckily since he passed so fast I had plenty of other peeps to keep me occupied. By now the sun is up after a nice little SNOW STORM that blew SNOW for like 15 mins! The wind had died down a little so it was nicer but still not the best. But I was super happy once again to see Antonette & Cynthia!! They came rocking up the hill, looking good and ready to be done. After a little bit of chatting, refueling and getting things situated for there last 4.6 miles home they took off and once again I was sad and lonely.

After all the runners were passed me I packed up my aid station and went to the start, dropped everything off. Got to talk with the race director Joyce, saw Antonette & Cynthia and there finishers medals! SUPER CONGRATULATIONS on that 50k!!!! Amazing to run that far (.. humm..., can JT do it.. I wonder in the back of my lil brain.)  After seeing the girls off I headed back home and rested up.

Now that was just Saturday!

Sunday, I was up early again at headed to meet TNT group with the girls Antonette & Cynthia for me to get a run in. I was nice to be running with the TEAM and getting to talk with them on there goals, fundraising and experiences. I was running 16 miles so I was able to run with a super nice couple who are preparing to run Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon. There were great to run with and on the way back we all picked up the pace. It was hot by now and much different conditions that yesterday for running. I managed to pull ahead the last 4 miles but I was caught by, I think her name was misty or mandy?? and she was running fast! There was no way I was going to get dropped in the last 1.5 miles as she was pushing the pace so I stayed with here and we finished up together. Now the main reason I had to stay with here as I knew that if she finished before me Antonette would have certainly told me "I got Chick'd" and that was not going to happen. We finished up, cooled down and sure enough I told Antonette I wasn't going to get Chick'd.. she laughed and said she would have exactly told me that! too funny!

Overall, it was a great run. My best in a super long time and my farthest since training for Ironman last year! I was good to be out there and run on a good course without too many hills!

What a weekend!! I loved it!! GO TEAM, GO girls Antonette & Cynthia!! whew.. I need a vacation..

rockon'

Post Rage Recovery.

Before the sun was even up today, I somehow woke up before the chickens. I was laying in bed trying to go back to sleep but it was not going to work. Finally, by 5 am I was up and out of bed putting my running gear on to head out the door.

Now yesterday, I managed to drag myself to the gym to go ride the stationary bike and run on the treadmill as my legs were still feeling sore and not recovered. I had got in the family pool earlier and did some kicks but it wasn't enough to flush things out and wake my legs back up. Once at the gym I managed to ride the bike for about 20 mins and then run a measly 2.5 miles. It was a pathetic showing in itself but an accomplishment. After the short run I went to the stretching area and I must have stretched for about 30 mins. I felt better but overall just tired. As went to sleep early than normal my legs still felt a little heavy but when I woke up!!

Again, I woke up at like 4:25 am. By 5am I was deciding to get up and go run. I moved my legs around, flexed, stretched while laying in bed and hey! They were feeling good, very minor soreness if any. I finally hit the pavement at 5:35 am and away I went.

The first couple of miles seemed really slow and just warming up so I took it easy as its a slight down grade and flat but my pace was pretty good. Then a short uphill and THEN some nice down hill sloping for a while. My pace was good. Heart Rate good. Breathing Good. Finally, I hit the 5k mark, at 31:41. Feeling good and ready for the return.

Shit, Head wind as soon as I turned around. No wonder I had a great 5k time. Well it's work back up the gradual decline and with head wind do your best, I told myself. My HR got a little high a couple of times so I slowed and walked at 2 points. Finally, the home stretch and I turned it up and kicked it and clocked the 2nd, 5k at 31:38!! Holy Shit, I just Negative Split with a head wind, uphill and walking! SWEEEEEEEEETTTTT!!!

Guess this means I am recovered, damn, more training again. Naw, actually, ready for it, All but the use of Triple Cranks, sorry Form (btw, Race Report on RAGE??)

I still feel good and looking to get in the pool later this afternoon. Oh, I did decide on my run that my New Balance shoes are causing me problems so I will be looking to switch back to Brooks Beasts.

rockon`

RAGE in SAGE 70.3 Recap..

My second Successful Failure in the month of April.

Let's start off from picking up Luke and his awesome gal Norma from there hotel, as they were in for business/pleasure. At 4:10am were packed and heading towards the Lake. Get there and start unloading some things and take the bikes over to transition area, get set up, body marked, pick up timing chip, get wetsuit on, go to bathroom, its time to get in water.

Once in the water, yes, it was COLD, Yes, it WAS COLD! but overall I didn't think it was as cold as Ironman CdA last year so warming up was not too bad. Now as the gun went off, I took off with everyone but towards the back a little as to not get in a slug fest. Got on line and just swam, all was good. Had a couple of poor swimmers that couldn't site worth a shit and crossed over my line only to realize as soon as they crossed over they were off track and cross back over to get on line, UGHH!! So after that little annoying mess I have made it around the turns and heading back home. Water was a little choppy head on but not bad, I've swam in worse in that lake. Then sure enough, Leg Cramp #1 Right Calf. I flex my foot, move it around and it goes away quickly. All is Fine. No, Leg Cramp #2, Left Calf! WTF! this one will not go away and annoys me for a the remainder of the swim, about 500 meters. Finally, Land in site, Stand up come out and get to running. I see Luke exiting the water just in front of me.

Swim: 54:23. OK I guess.

T1: I actually ran though transition and politely yelled at some people to get out of the way, on your left type thing b/c the Sprint racers were already in T1 and the isle way was a little narrow. Saw Luke changing out, as he was next to me, and he was quickly off, and me to follow.

Time: 3:37.

Bike: I took out of T1 up the dreaded incline to get out of the beach area and it's not a nice way to start your bike leg, No time to warm up as its low gear, start cranking up the hill to the road. I passed several of the sprint people and was soon on the road making my way through, taking in nutrition. I passed a couple of Half people when Leg Cramp #2 Returned, could this be #3, well, let's just call it #2 revisiting as it will be there several more times through out the bike. I start taking in some more salt tabs to get things working there but as the cramp continues on and off, I continue with the salt only to realize I took too much too close together (lots of to's in those words, haha) and now my stomach was no TO happy! I back off on salts, take in some gels, power bar (which didn't go down well either) and Gatorade. Finally, cramp #2 is gone but cramp, well kind of a cramp, but more like a tight pain in my right glute, Cramp #3 shows up. I actually attribute this to riding out of position or something as I have Never had this type of problem or maybe my seat moved or something. Anyway, I fight this stupid thing for while and it comes and goes. Attacking some of the hills up and down to get my grove going but overall it just seems I have no Power! .. (cryn'.. Norman Stadler style.. uhhaahh.. I gotz no pow'aarrr.. 1:03 on video) and I could only think and cuss Formualic in the back of my mind for the Mulholland ride last week, sorry Form, it's your fault, HA!. I finally get close to the turn around and I see Luke about 8 mins ahead of me which means 16 b/c I have not made the actually turn around yet.. then I see Form, who I calculate at 4 mins ahead of me, meaning 8 mins. I make the turn around and now as in training it's time to lay down the hammer. I quickly settle back in and all is working well, FINALLY! I feel good. Stomach OK, Cramps None. Power Working.. all for about 15 mins.. then stomach cramps come back, ugh.. not really cramping but just sloshy and blah feeling, lots of belching. I began to slow. I'm fighting it, keep working the hills, take advantage where I can. Then the 8% hill, I've climbed it before a few times in training, I know where to attack it, and recovery but Mr. 8% has different plans for JT. I quickly settle in for beginning crank at the bottom, humm, I feel something.. I then hit my out of saddle point and attack, when just as Last year, Mr. 8% attacks back and locks up my left Quad!!!! FUK!! Cramp #4. Mr. 8% wins out and I sit back down as I am instructed to and crank up the hill seated style. After that I was really ready to get off the bike but still about 10 miles to go. I took another salt and felt fine. As I approach the last nasty little climb I see Form and he's about 2-3 mins ahead of me.. I can catch him at T2. I make the last climb and scream back to T2.

Time: 3 hrs 22 mins.

T2: In and out right.. uneventful. 2:05.

Run: I start out great and again it's quickly uphill through the gravel roads but just have to walk a little due to the HR being sky high and now its Hot. Once I make the level part of the gravel road I try to settle in and get going. I saw Stef and she was looking strong heading home and I was jealous!! Things are working OK. I feel fine, just hot. I make the turn on the paved road that once again leads up for about a mile or longer and its a walking/HR game. It's OK. I get to the top, hit the trail portion once again where theres plentyO rocks and cuss some more about this run course. Finally, I am at the top of the trail heading to the tunnels and just feeling tired and hot. Gels and anything else is just not working anymore and I stick with Water only. I run the sunny parts to the tunnels and walk the shaded parts inside the tunnel. Finally I see Luke coming back and he's looking strong, says he's beat up but hey, he's on the way back home! Finally I see Form and I know I am close to the turn around and he tells me so. EXCEPT in classic Form fashion leaves out the excitement of the turn around. Although I will give Form a Little Bit of credit as he didn't run the Half last year he didn't know BUT I remember where the turn around was and I timed the gap between us. Now here is where it changes.. I make this turn around a hill and then see the makings on the dirt pointing the way.. I then see where it leads, look down to my right about X amount of feet Below and see the turn around tent! Are you Serious! They moved the turn around from last year and now I have to go down this big ass decline trail and back up.. I knew right then I was not going to catch Form. I make my way to the turn around, am drinking Flat Pepsi by now and it's working for me, make my back up the hill and back to where I saw Form and check the time, He's 12 mins ahead. Based on my pace, feeling and whats left.. I know he's a goner. I begin the run sunlight areas, walk the shade but things are quickly falling apart, I'm tiring like crazy, feet are not hurting and I feel like I have blisters on each foot which makes walking worse than running. I make my way back to the paved area and it's a lot of nice gradual downhill which I settle in and pretty much run it all the way back stopping only at the aid stations for water and bath, except one time, the kids at the aid station gave me a HEED Bath which I then had to wash all that off with more water to not be sticky.. hey, they were having fun throwing the water on me and one got a little carried away, no worries. Once back on the last gravel part I was just trying to stay consistent and make it home. I did take a look behind me several times to make sure the last place Half guy was not coming up on me and I was way clear of him. I made it to the finish to see Form, Mrs. Form w/baby Form looking from the inside out, Amanda and her daughter Izabelle, All Super Sherpas (expect Form). I was glad to cross the line and be finished.

Time: 2 hours 43 mins Flat.

Overall: I had a great race and PR'd over last years time of 8:21 with this years time of 7:05 but I would not have changed it b/c running with SWTRIGAL made it the most memorable race to date! Yes, IMCdA is memorable but in a different category. SWTRIGAL and I did it together and that's what makes this sport such a great thing, a year later and we are still friends!!! You Rock Debi.!!

So I pr'd, made a smashing bike time even though I had a Stadler going on and I feel apart on the run. I learned and experienced a few things which I will have to take into action and change on future training. MY SUCCESSFUL FAILURE, again.

Oh, and I decided I will not run this race again next year, I will Sherpa for you all day long and take pics of you, like Norma did of Luke and I, Great job Norma!! and help out at the end of the race, Thanks Norma and for driving back!! but I'm not racing!

Saturday night after the race the Mr. & Mrs. Form and baby Form, along with Stef and husband met up with RBR who came into town with her LA friend to do RAGE. It was great to meet her and hang out with them for a while.

rockon'

Mulholland Century a Successful Failure..

On Friday Formulaic and I headed down to the coast line of west LA, Calabasas to be exact to ride the Mulholland Century Challenge - Stage I of King of the Mountains Challenge.

We got settled in Friday night after grabbing some fresh strawberries and watching Fast and the Furious, I thought it was a good movie but then again, I liked the 1st one.

4:30am came really quick and we were up and ready to go and at the check in at 5:30am. We got all squared away, our bikes ready and rolled out of the start at 6:41am with a few other riders and about 44* and as the sun started to come it, it got really freakn' cold! Luckily for me, I had gloves but Form was SOL and the fingers froze, but good thing once I got back home and cleaned out the car today, I found the extra gloves under the seat, HA! Sorry Dude.

Now again, did you ready the the 1st sentence of this post? Mulholland Century Challenge - Stage I of the King of the Mountains Challenge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and that is no freakn' ASS Joke! We got to enjoy some quick down hill right off the start and soon we were on the coast line of Pacific Coast Highway enjoying the morning waves and beach and it was getting a little warmer, and then the first long gradual climb came. Lots of riders were chatting with each other and we were all kind of getting to know each other as these are the group of people you are going to be seeing for most of the day. As got to check point #1 and received our sticker dot, grabbed some quick gels and water and took off.

Then as we approached a familiar area that I had rode back in Jan a more serious climb started so I settled in and worked it, overall not too bad and we hit the descent and as soon as that was over it was a not so nice snake hill climb which again I did partially back in Jan but this time there was no turning around and it turned out to be a lot of work to get to the top and hit a little decent and stop at rest area #1 around the 40 mile mark.

Here lots of stuff happening, bathroom breaks, water refill, snacks, gels, gu's.. all provided by the event which was cool. I had stopped my Garmin here b/c I was thinking to save the battery life for later but when we left I forgot to restart it and it was until 4 miles later I realized this and would not do that again the rest of the day. During the short 4 miles of no Garmin data, we did manage to climb almost 1400 ft. and it was totally Work! The decent was totally Nasty due to the poor road quality and super steep which made it fast and not enjoyable because you had to ride your brakes so much which then lead to super vibration in the hands but as the day was playing out, All descent's were overall way shorter in comparison to the amount we were climbing. At the end of this crappy road decent we were at check point #2 around mile 60 and a lot of the riders were talking about the shitty road quality and as I was yappn' Form took off thinking I had left so he got ahead of me and I didn't see him till check point #3 about mile 73.

Now after riding along the Pacific Coast Highway again in a different area it was nice to be in the aero position for a while and again enjoy the ocean but as all good things must come to an end, the climbs started again. This one was up Mulholland Canyon and overall its like 9 miles of uphill, some steep, a lot gradual.. some steep and gradual at the same time, if that can even happen. This is where my day started to change for the worse. I had to stop and removed some extra clothes b/c now the sun was shinning and working those hills it was super hot. Then I just had to stop and take a break and rest my legs as I was tired. Then as we were getting closer to the top I noticed my left knee ITB was feeling achy and a little uncomfortable but I kept working to get to the freakn top as we had climbed 1600 feet in about 9 miles. Once at the top my knee was letting me know it was not liking all these hills and basically said what the fuck? As I rolled into check point #4 around mile 73 I met up with Form, refueled, complained a little and off we went for a nice fast 40 mph decent back to the coast but only to start the beginning of the end for me.

As turned off the coast highway the road Immediately turned sharply uphill. It was mandatory out of saddle climbing for everyone. I rode about 200 or 300 yards and I had to stop and rest. My knee was now turning from achy WTF to I don't F'n think so but I was trying not to listen. I started climbing again and was able to stay in the saddle for a short while but then again had to stop and rest. I did this a couple of times before King of the Mountains in training Formulaic caught up to me and passed me and I told him my knee was really starting to hurt and keep going. Once he was gone I caught up to another older guy rider who was walking and throughout the whole day that had never crossed my mind but now I was joining him on the walk. I walked for about 1/2 mile and now only about 1 mile into the 3 mile climb up Decker Canyon, if anyone has heard of it. I got back on and road again but this time the knee has pretty much taken over and said oh hell f'ing no!! and it was right. The pain from pushing down on the pedals was now sharp and piercing each time and I knew it was not good to continue. I got off and started walking thinking I will just walk the whole way to the top. By mile 2 my right foot was now developing a blister from walking in my cycling shoes with the cleats on. I finally said I'm done! This is not worth wrecking my 70.3 triathlon in 7 days! I moved over to the side of the road, sat down and told the next rider to send SAG to come and get me, along with texting Form to let him know.

I felt a short moment of defeat and failure but only for it to be washed about by what I had accomplished and what was at Stake in the next week. To make a long story short, SAG would not come and get me anytime soon, WTF!! and asked if I could just walk the rest of the way.. WTH am I supposed to do.. so I walked the last mile to the top by which point the blister on my foot was screaming. I told them I was done and needed a ride back to the start.. Oh wait.. We cant give you a ride till like 7 or 8pm.. (its 4pm now).. WTF again!! I began to wait and got lucky as the RD came to check on things and ended up giving me a ride back to the start. I must say the RD was really nice and we talked and expressed his concern but not picking someone up and making them walk and then originally plan on having them sit at the check point for 4 hours! HELL NO!

Once back at the start area I checked in as a DNF and waited for Formulaic and my car key which I gave to another rider to give to Form to come and get me from the check point originally. We got some food, packed up our things and headed back to Vegas smelling very lovely even in a fresh change of clothes. I was super tired by the time I got home, showered and straight to bed.

Overall experience: I actually have to say the Hardest Sporting thing of swimming, biking and running I have done. More than a marathon.. more than Ironman!!!! I will say in defense I needed to have a better gearing set up for my bike for that type of riding. I did accomplish 84 miles overall, my longest since training for CDA last year and manage to CLIMB 10,000.FT per Garmin! Today, my knee is not happy at all and legs are just heavy and tired. Blister is there but I think will be fine by Sat. I am more worried about my knee in the RAGE climbs than anything, although no where in comparison to this ride.

This does bring up the question of Breathless Agony -Stage II of the KOM challenge and should even attempt it in 3 weeks, and 2 weeks after 70.3. At this point, No, it's not wise, I don't have proper gearing and Stage 2 is much more climbing at a higher Altitude and I just cant afford to incur a long term injury that may effect official ironman training come July.

Would I recommend this Century? Sure.. its tough, no joking around. Bring some triple cranks and a serious climbing cassette or else you'll be walking and SAG will only come and get you when there damn good and ready.

Will I do it again.. Not any time in the near future.

Did I have fun? I did, up until about mile 65 even with the crappy road decent that jarred my hands numb, cold in morning and a bum knee.

rockon

2009 California 70.3 pics.

Trick Baby At his Finest!

OZ Sanchez!

Sitting Down on the Job! Check out this Long Transition from Swim Out to Bike In. Oz Heading to the Finish. Greg Welch & back of Mike Riley.

Form Starting 2nd Run Loop Form Heading Towards the Finish! OH YEAH!!

Gotta have Elvis on the Course.

California 70.3 Sherpa Recap and training..

On Friday, Formulaic and I headed down to Oceanside for California for his 70.3. Jump on over to see if he has posted his race report. He will have his own views of the race as an competing athlete but I have mine as a Sherpa on the scene.

The packet pickup and check in was a little on the down side compared to IMCdA but all went smoothly and there was no problems. The Expo was smaller than I had expected for venue of this caliber and pretty much the standard was on hand and nothing out of the ordinary. I did mention to Form that I was a little bummed on the whole expo as I thought it would be in comparison to IMCdA but then again, CdA was my first real triathlon expo too.

After packet/expo stuff we started heading over to our hotel and were driving around Oceanside near the beach area and seemed to notice that it was not the place or streets in town. At one of our turns waiting for the light to turn green some lady was having a problem with another lady across the street and was yelling as loud as can be at someone.. "Trick Baby"!! Your momma's a Ho.. Trick Baby!!! Take your Ho ass down the road Trick Baby!!" It was very funny and the Trick Baby verbage quickly became a laughing saying for the rest of the trip!

We got checked in and went to eat at Sizzler! Yeah Buddy, the feed bag was on. Some how I forgot I wasn't racing and seemed to eat just as much as Form or even more but as a Sherpa I had to set a good example right? Once finished it was back to the room to digest and finish out the night.

Light were out by 9pm as 4am comes really quickly but not long after we were asleep the guests next door seemed to lack Parenting skills and were letting there kids run crazy and scream for quite some time, waking me up and Form wasn't even asleep. I quickly turned on the air conditioner to drowned out the noise as much as possible although it didn't help that much. After about 30 more mins I told Form All I know is that they are not going to like us at 4am!! Paybacks Biatches!!! So come the Late Tom Bodet Wake Up Call, as we were already awake.. It was TRICK BABY!! Time as Form and I started to make noise and get things going! Trick Baby was yelled a few more times before we left the room.

We got parked and Form had to ride about 1.5 miles to the transition with everyone else and I had to hope on a bus taking sherpas to transition and walk about 1/4 mile after that. Form was all set up and ready to go and then it was waiting time as the Pros started about 6:30am. From didn't start till 7:45am but the time went by fast watching everyone else start the swim and seeing the pros come through along with the Challenged Athletes Foundation - Operation Rebound, as Oz Sanchez was on hand to do his race. I saw him through tout the day a few times and it was great to cheer him on.

Once From was out on the swim I waited and watched and took up my camera spots and soon was back near transition to watch him come through when all of a sudden I could hear "Trick Baby!" and saw him running up the T1 path. He quickly did his T1 and was off on the bike. Nice job but I did get some great pics of him sitting around taking his time, hahah!

Once Form was on the bike I jumped the bus shuttle back to the car and changed out my clothes and headed out for run on the course. I was able to hope in about the 2.5 mile mark and started running along with several other runners that morning along the course. It was quite interesting to run through the aid stations and see everyone patiently waiting for the leaders. I hit the end of the turn around on the run, ran past it a few blocks and came back but as soon as I was back on the course I see a bike with a sign that says Race Official. I thought oh crap he's gonna yell at me or something but he was very nice and asked if I was training for any races and I quickly answered and he just wanted to let me know that the Lead runner was coming through so to stay to the right. Sure enough, like 30 seconds later over the hill here comes Matt Reed hauling ass! He made turn around and quickly passed me like I was standing still and then I see a 2nd pack of runners with Andy Potts and others chasing away. As Reed passed them they ALL checked there watches to see how much time difference there was, it was really cool to see. Then all of a sudden the pack passes me like I'm still standing still and I tell out to Potts to keep going and he's doing good!

As they all pulled out of site I had been noticing that my right calf was having some burning pain and not feeling very well. It started making me nervous and I pulled over at one point and spoke with some local residence who didn't know much about triathlons, gave them the 411 on things and watched as the lead female came running past. I was stretching my calf out on the curb but it didn't really seem to be getting any better. I began to run again and it was a little better but as I got back to the starting point it was not feeling any better and actually felt a little worse so I stopped running and was only able to 5 miles on a 11 mile planned run, UGHHH!!! Sucks every time for my long runs something is happening. I got cleaned up and headed back down to the transition area to wait for Form on the bike in and run out area.

I saw Form coming and started yelling.. Guess? Yup!! Trick Baby!!! LOL.. he quickly saw me and knew where I was on the run out. As he made his T2 and came by I got some good pics and off he went. Then it was just cheering all the runners on as some made there last pass and others had to start the 2nd run loop. Soon I see the great blue Jersey of the Las Vegas Triathlon club coming, grab some more pics and Trick Baby starts his second loop. During this whole day as a Sherpa it's your job to keep the significant other posted on the race and so I was in text mode with Mrs. Form to let her know how things were going.

I moved closer to the finish line and listen to Mike Riley and Greg Welch announce the athletes as they came across the finish line and just a short while later here comes the LV Tri Club Jersey!! It's Form and he's looking great coming down the finishing chute. As he gets closer I yell out.. You Go Trick Baby!! Your Almost There!!! he passes and I head over to the transition area to meet up with him.

He shows up pretty fast and is looking a little tired but overall Great! And he even has pizza for his Sherpa!! but mostly I was able to get some water and Gatorade from him as that is one thing I totally forgot to get on the way back down to watch T2 and it sucked cuz there was no place to get anything to drink. Once he got situated it was a long 1.5 mile walk back to the car! and Form changed out and we went to eat at this place called LoneStar BBQ..!! Great Texas BBQ as the owner, Richard, was from Chorpus Christi and yes, he had authentic Texas BBQ!

After all the recovery food it was back to Vegas and I had to send Form on his way with lovely Mrs. Form who was very kind to meet us about 1/2 half in Vegas land so I didn't have to drive all the way to there house, Thanks Mrs. Form! Great Hair, btw!!

Overall the race was great, I had a lot of fun and I would totally like to race this venue sometime in the near future!

Now on Sunday I headed out to Lake Mead for quick swim and then hit the bike course for Rage and I was able to really push my envelop to see how things would feel. I did good on the course but just not to sure I can bike that hard coming out of a 1.2 mile swim and then have to run 13.1 afterwards we shall see. The Calf seemed to be fine but after the ride my low back and foot were hurting so those are more problems to deal with. I must add that I have using PowerBar's Recovery Drink and I love this stuff as the hot day seemed no problems after downing this stuff after that ride, thanks PowerBar!

Friday its back to West Coast California, Mulholland area in Calabasas to ride out the bike ride Form and I signed up for a few months ago. It's a Century and has me quite nervous!!

I will post Pictures tomorrow..

rockon`

Windy Day In Paradise!

Imagine that. Wind in Las Vegas this time of the year. Since I have been back it has been windy more than I care to remember and I am not just talking about a slight little breeze where the dust blows, I mean down right steady wind at 20+mph or higher and with gusts up to 35+! It sucks for training on those given days.

Well today I had my long bike of 75 miles scheduled and all mapped out so after taking care of business in the early AM I was about to get out the door by 11:30am which I knew I was in for some increased winds buy Geez!

I headed out towards Mt. Charleston and last time I went there I only made it about 3 or miles miles up the road from the highway b/c its a complete steady gradual Climb the whole way to the top! I caught up with another rider and although he wasn't heading to the top he did break the silence for a while but then I was left all alone on the road to the top. Now one thing about this road, there is NO Shoulder, or very little so your basically riding in the road and luckily there was not a lot of traffic on a Thursday afternoon but the wind had showed up from the left side and even Head on at times so it made it difficult to hold your line.

As I continued to just grind it out I passed the first elevation sign: #3000 Ft. I started about 2300 Ft. and when I passed the 3000 feet sign I was like, Humm.. that's cool. Well as the wind continued so did I at a steady effort and even stopping to take in gels or nutrition just b/c it was so windy that I didn't want to get blown over and possibly get run over. Now the road continues to gradually incline, not really sharp but STEADY! Next thing I know I was at the 4000 Ft. Sign and I had to stop and take a picture.

Then I was back on the road with more uphill and Even More Wind! When I got to the 5000 Ft. Sign the wind was actually getting a little scary blowing me around at times farther into the lane and 2 times cars where close by. As I approached the Spring Mountains Sign I looked at it and thought to stop on the way back down as I was really thinking about turning around at this point b/c the wind was really bad, so bad I looked down at my garmin and I was going 2.7 MPH! Is that possible?!!! An oncoming Motorcycle, who passed me earlier, honked at me and gave me the Thumbs up sign as I grinding away, in place as what it felt like. I thought Hey that's Awesome as I tried to way back at him but almost fell over. I ended up going to 5350 ft on the garmin and made the turn to come back. I did stop at the Mountain Forest Signs.. See Pics..

and what took me like over an hour to go up.. took me 25 mins to get down!! Although it was windy and blowing all over I did manage to clock out a 43.7 mph and pretty much tried to enjoy the ride down while covering the breaks. I will look to ride this road again but on a No Wind Day!

So I had a great bike although by the time I got back to the house area it was really crazy wind and just not safe so I stopped at 47 and I was looking to get 75, Not Even Close, Freggn' Wind. So this only means that come Sunday I have to ride longer, UGH! No worries, I guess. :)

Now I am looking to head down to Oceanside with Formualic for his California 70.3!!! So I will take lots of pics and give you the details on Sunday..

rockon`