Find fault with this logic, I dare you!

You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that, my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
-Adrian Rogers

A good week

As the 1st week of July comes to an end it's hard to believe we have already put half of this year in the books. Time seems to flow faster and faster the older I get.
Last weekend as most of you know I played in Hoopfest. For those who don't know this is the largest 3 on 3 basketball tournament in the world. This year I think there were 6700 teams breaking the previous record. I played on a team with some guys from my triathlon club. So needless to say we are all in good shape. However swimming,biking and running does not really prepare you for all of the start and stop in a hlf court basketball game. We did manage to win our first 2 games though. Basically our stradgedy was to run them to death. This worked well until game 3 win we came up against a team that could move the ball better than we could run. We got stomped pretty good. Our next game pitted us agianst the team we beat in our first game, and they wanted revenge. Thnaks to some good outside shooting and several made free throws they were able to hold us off. Oh well, it was fun.
The good thing that came out of the basketball was that I was running around like a crazy person and had no foot pain. So after I recovered from the b-ball I went for my first run in about a month. It was not good but my foot felt fine. So I'm going to start real slow and start base building. I'm really starting to ride quite a bit. Pat and I climbed Mt. Spokane this week and Jayne and I got in a ride as well. It's nice to not always ride alone. With the Tour starting this week it's easy to be motivated to get on the bike.Also got out on the lake skied a little this week. We still don't have our course in the water yet but that's ok, I'm not in shape for that yet anyway, but soon. I'm taking my boat over to the Hobbit's next weekend for his daughter's Re-wedding. Don't ask me it's some girl thing. I always thought the renewing vows thing was something you did if you both lived to be 80 or something. These kids have been married about 3 years...wtf.Oh well, free food.

a NON Triathlon related post

This is nothing more than a shameless plug for my son's band Drawing Two. One of our local radio stations has built a webpage for local musicians to upload their music to. This is a cool way for bands to get heard. It's also an opportunity to download some good NEW music. It cost the same as iTunes 99 cents per song. The band with the most downloads gets to open for a concert the radio station is promoting. So go HERE and check them out, if you like it buy it.

IM CDA

it's that time of year again for IM CDA. This year though we will be sitting on the side lines cheering on our friends. For anybody that has been around an Ironman event you know how contagous it all is. How the excitement is everywhere. The inspiring stories of obstacles overcome and countless hours spent in preparation just suck you in. You can't help but want to DO something. This week I was able to go over to CDA and ride the bike course with Kevin Purcell a coach from San Diego. We had chatted a few times here in the blogosphere but had never actually met so it was great to get to put a face with the web page. He is up here coaching I think 5 different athletes that are doing the race. He was here to race last year but double flatted and was not able to continue so he wanted to ride the course. So after a little phone tag we were off for a windy 56 mile ride. We headed out towards Higgins Point and I was sort of playing tour guide and at the same time getting to know Kevin. The whole while he is making mental notes to pass on to his athletes. We slightly modified the course to avoid a little of the midday traffic through town. As we headed north on 4th street the sun was shining and we were cruising, then came the hills. Me being me, not to smart, I'm cranking up these hills like I've been training for months, instead of like this going to be first ride farther than 40 miles of the year. For the 1st 35 miles this was no problem. By the time we hit ~ 45 miles I was hurting. It's about this part of the course where there are several miles of relativly flat terrain that is just a grind. This is not my strength. I have not had much success with high cadence steady cranking. This was kind of timely because Kevin had just been talking to Gordo about this very issue. As a matter of fact he just published an article about it on xtri.com. After reading this article it's clear, not that it wasn't before, I have alot of work to do.
As for the race on Sunday I'll be there cheering on my friends and planning on my next IM, Canada 2010.

Plantar Fasciitis

As you can tell I have not had much to say lately. Well I have had things to say but have been to busy doing everything but training to to take the time to write anything.Jayne sparked a fire under my ass this past week and we have been working in the yard, alot. This is the problem with over an acre of yard, not to mention the other 4 acres. It has all kind of taken the back burner for a while but we are getting it dialed in. At any rate the training has morphed into swim and bike only. My left foot is still pretty painful to the touch. I'm 98% sure that it's plantar fasciitis but need an x-ray to rule out a bone spur and maybe an MRI to rule out the other possible but very unlikely causes of my pain. So I need to talk a few people and see what I can get done. So for now I'm swimming 2-3 days a week and biking the same. The 1st real race I care about isn't until Aug. so I have some time to turn it around and the biking and swimming should keep me fit.

Back to the Drawing Board

What can I, other than I didn't qualify. I had a terrible day, plain and simple. I struggled from early on in the race, with my foot. By the time that settled down I had already run a few miles mile an inconsistant gait. But it wasn't a pain issue as much as it was just a stuggle. My effort felt high eventhough my pace was not. I was right on pace throught the 1st 13.1, at which point I had to pee. This put me back just a little I made it up within the next mile. That increased effort combined with the very slight hill after crossing the river really zapped me. When I crossed Argonne I new I was in trouble. My pace had fallin off and my legs were just not responding. I had also some moderate GI stuff going on through out the race but it was just uncomfortable. But by the time I turned on Upriver I was in pain. I was nearly doubled over a few times with some "diarhea" type cramps that I thought may lead to a Spokane river ass washing. By the time I reached Green street I was at a mear shuffle pace. I was in complete survival mode. Which I did, survive, I mean. To say that I'm dissappointed is a gross understatement.
Unfortunatly The "Hobbit" also had a crappy day. We both about 25 mins slower than predicted. The thing is we both understand that the Marathon is not like any other race, at least at our level. It can and will humble you, did me.
As for the inaugral running of the Windemere Marathon....it was Just ok. For their 1st try I guess it was a good effort. There is one thing that I just don't understand though. How in the world do you screw up the mile markers on a 26 mile point to point race. There is only 1 of each number..... but they did.

A Few Thoughts

So the marathon is in 3 days. Wish me luck!! At this point it doesn't really matter if I'm ready or not, it's here. I'll just have to give it my best shot. My foot is pretty sore, but I think it will be fine for the race. Afterwards though I will need some time to let the thing heal.
Last week was Bloomsday. I had a less than stellar performance 54:43 to be exact. That is about 3:20 slower than last year. And I can only attribute about 1 min to my starting position in the yellow section. From back there the amount of zigging and zagging does slow you up and probably does take its toll but no excuses. I just was not as fast this year. I have been consistanly slower in all races this year.
Ben Greenfield had an interesting post on his page asking the question "Why do you do Triathlon" his article was thought provoking and the comments posted were interesting. This was what I came up with.

To me life is all about experiences. The anticipation leading upto an experience and the memories of experiences past. Triathlon offers physical and mental challenges that are unique yet also transend all other aspects of life. Like Al, I'm often humbled by these endurance activities. kind of like standing at the edge of the ocean or at the foot of a mountain. The precipice of an Ironman, while overwhelming, can put things into perspective.There is order even in the most chaotic but there is no easy way, ever, at anything.