TEXAS IS F#$@IN HOT !

I have been here for three years, and I do not remember it being this hot in years past. This past weekend turned out to be an epic battle: ME vs. The TX sun. It was a tie.

I have always made fun of texans because my Mothers house in Gloucester, MA is like 3 times older than their beloved state. I am figuring out why that is. There is no way people could live down here without air conditioning.

I ended last week with an easy two hour ride out in the Missouri City/Sugarland area, took a turn down a familiar road and stumbled upon...



This might actually be the actual picture too(GOOGLE), because the game wardens were catching it when I got there. So, if I was a little faster I would have been eaten alive. Thank god it was a recovery ride ;) Maybe its because the swamp water was boiling!!

So, the topic/complaint is the heat. It is killing me, it just seems like I am trying harder, to go slower, and recover longer. It is wasting my mucles and my energy. Last saturday, as I went out for a long run at 1030 in the morning, it got so hot, I had to sit under a tree a couple times to let my body cool down. That is not healthy. I felt like death all day, and slept 12 hours that night. Therefore, I started my long ride late on Sunday. TX sun 1 - Liam 0

Beginning a 5 hour pace ride in the Texas afternoon heat up in Conroe is so dipressing, that when it was done, I felt like I had won. When I got to the turnaround point, I asked the lady at the gas station how hot it was, she was already looking at me funny (spandex, white spandex), she turned around and looked out the window at the bank thermometer and it read (note:not real picture)



Yes, without the heat index. I have to give kudos to INFINIT. This shit works. Nutrition is such a vital part of triathlon, but exponentially so in the heat. I wasn't hungry or crampy and threw done 106 miles in the hills. Liam 1 - TX sun 1.

As i prepare for Timberman 70.3, I need to watch what this heat is doing to my body carefully, I can not afford to get burnt out(PUN Intended).

hamstrings, steroids, good workouts, and the "hoff"

i finally went to the doctor. he prescribed a week of steroids, some muscle relaxers for bedtime, and an mri (which hasn't been done yet). the steroid, which is really just a souped up anti-inflamatory is really helping, and i am feeling alot better already. i need to make stretching a part of my training, seriously for once and for all.

last night, i had to do a litl=tle track workout, 3 mile warmup, 3x1 mile at 6min pace, with 1 min walk inbetween, and a mile cool down. nothing serious, nothing too hard, just getting it done. i was a little nervous about it, because of my legs, but it turned out to be a great workout, and exactly what i needed. i needed to feel that kick at the end of a workout, that didnt feel like my leg was falling off, i needed to feel somewhat normal again. for the first time in about 6 weeks, i felt like a runner again.

i took today off from work to get a nice 2.5 hour ride with intervals in. this will be another power test to base my zones off, so it was more important then work. nasty weather here as Dolly nails southern Texas, so i might be dodging thunderstorms during my ride.

if the weather hold off, i am going to get a open water swim in too, but that does not look promising. timberman is in less than a month, i need to get my legs ready for thoe hills on the bike, and my run legs back in gear.

in other news, i was "hoffed" at work yesterday....i left my computer unlocked, walked away from my desk, and this is what was locked on my background for the remainder of tuesday.....

This is Bad A$$

i actually stole this from one Desiree Ficker's website, but you need to see it. Click below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY

Providence 70.3 race report

Let's go over a little race report that i would give to the race director, as well as go in to my day. I arrived friday with Trent and Andrew, excited and full of nerves, especially because of my hamstring issues. We got to the expo for packet pickup right before it closed, and it was pretty painless other than the fact i forgot my USAT card, then it was expired, then they gave me the wrong chip. needless to say, i was there for a while. But, the beautiful IRONMAN girls where a lot of help. ;) But, they did have some wierd radio system set up for packet pickup that seemed a bit ridiculous, and just an uneccasary step in the process.

The next day, we went to spin out or legs on the run course, and wow. We saw "the hill" for the first time. There is literally a sign posted on the way down this thing for trucks, thats says 7% grade on it! it was also the same hill used when the x-games visited providence, they used it for the ice luge! bottom line, it was a bitch of a hill. andrew was having some shifting problems with his campi set, so we went back to the expo, and there was literally a 2 hour line for packet pick up. i have never seen that before. people did not look happy.

trent and i were staying near the start, so we packed up our essentials and put the rest in andrews hotel room. we had to bring our bikes an hour and a half south to t1. the day before the race turned out to be a logistical nightmare, the people at ironman are going to need to make this a little easier or else i will not return. the day before a race should be relaxed and restful, not stressful and spent racing around.

we got our t1 settled, and andrew left to go back to providence to sleep for a few hours and catch a bus back to the start in the morning (which you need to pay exra for??) the point to point race is cool, however it needs to be refined, especially for the pre-race logistics

race morning, was a 3:45 wake up, and a two mile walk to the sart, luckily we hitched a ride about half way there. i literally had a two hour wait to start the race, so i hung out with kieth (the man of shannon - who was also racing). kieth also took my stuff back to providence instead of it hanging out in the back of a truck all day with everyone elses. thanks kieth!

race start: i was in the last wave, which sucks. the start was fun. a beach start into the waves. i don't know what i did in the swim, but i did not have it. i guess i did not push it hard enough, i got out slightly under 29, not a good swim for me. for me to have a good swim, i need to attack early and settle in, i didn't do that. overall i did like the swim course, a great, little choppy out and back ocean swim.

bike course: there where some nice hills, not a mooseman, but it was hilly. a point to poiint is nice, once you are done toting your crap aound the day before. it was a beautiful scenic tour of ri as well, until the last few miles in the ghetto. there where a lot of left turns, and a lot of traffic, and a lot of bikers. so it was not the safest course either. ironman! - spray paint the potholes! all the money that was made last weekend, maybe they can afford the spray paint next year. for the first ten miles my glutes where killing me, then i finally loosened up for a while, and around half way, my left glute totally locked up. i rode through it, and the pain subsided eventually. my hamstrings did not bother me that much on the bike. i never felt great on the bike, i never got in my groove, probably because i havent trained on hills in a while.

run course: i screwed out of transition, but about .5 mile into the run, "the hill" occurs, and then again on the second loop. the run course really did not have more than half a mile of flat, so it was going to hurt regardless, but my hamstrings could not take it. they cramped up a few times during the race, once really bad. going up the monster the second time, my right hammie cramped up to the point of no return. i had to stop and stretch for a while, and then walk some. it sucked. i clocked the slowest run of my half ironman career, 12 minutes behind my usual pace. it was hilly, but that does not add up to 12 minutes. the slowest half ironman since i started this as well.

the race is cool, needs a little logistical help, but a good race. it is challenging, not a draft fest on the bike, and a very hard run.

i ended up 5th in my age group, and 45th overall, but very unhappy about my performance. i need to get this hamstring situation under control. doctor visit this week.

huge congrats to janda, 6th overall, and fastest run split of the day! his time of 4:02 on that course is proof of what he is capable of this season.

Providence 70.3 Pre-Brief

Well, here we are again, in the midst of taper. Lots of extra time and that unusual feeling, energy. I have been excited about this race in particular for a long time. It is the inaugural year, my first A race, and an hour and a half from home.

I have been having some hamstring/piriformis/glute - mostly hamstring problem for about two weeks now, and hating it. It has destroyed a few bike rides, some runs, and kept me pretty uncomfortable. I pray it loosens up by Sunday.

Does life pass you by as you train?

Lately, i have re-realized again, that I have no life, relative to people my age. Due to work, and training hours i uphold, it is hard to want to go out and do normal people things.

Relationships for one, i don't have time or energy to even think about getting involved. cop out? maybe, but i have a goal and nothing is going to get in the way of it.

i wouldn't trade it for anything. my definition of life, or what will at the end of mine, define my life will hopefully be more than the norm.

the beauty of triathlon, and the life of an endurance athlete, that is a huge part of it, even if it is usually a subcontious part of it, is the fact that day in and day out, we push the envelope, we push the buttons of what society tells us to be, we test ourselves, we see how far we can take something.


back to the race, janda ricci-munn(coach), trent stephens, andrew strong, nick dufresne, and amanda russel will all be headed to RI race day. good luck.