IM CDA "uniform"

I've decided what I'm going to wear for this years IM CDA. Now those of you that know me know I generally put about 3 seconds thought into what I'm going to wear anywhere. But IM is different for one thing I'm going to wear it a long time. And for another I want to wear something that is meaningful in someway. Last year I wore a University of Washington jersey. And that was great I got a lot of cheers from the local Husky fans and some jeers from the local Cougar fans. And it's purple so it stands out and people can find you easier. This year however instead of making it all about me I've decided to do something for my brother. As you may know my brother is over in Iraq right now with the Marines. Now what you probably don't know is that I was in the Navy 20 yrs ago. And anyone that has been around either of these two branches of the service know of the love/hate relationship between the two. Very similar to Ronnie and I's relationship. At any rate to show my support for our troops and in particular my brother this is what I will be wearing come race day.

Been Busy

Yea it's been a few weeks since my last earthshattering entry. I've been busy trying to make up for all the time I lost due to crappy weather. Since I got off work Thursday morning I have road ~194 miles, run 31 miles. I have also missed 2 swim workouts. But trying to get time on the bike, takes time. I work with a guy, Eric, who's younger brother Brian is somewhat of a cyclist. Now when I say somewhat I mean he is the #1 ranked CAT 1 rider in Washington. Last year while riding for Western Washington University he took 2nd at the Nationals.A real Puss, if you know what I mean. He has been nice enough to ride with my old slow ass on a couple of rides during this 5 day stretch. We rode 82mi this morning and a had great ride. What's really cool about this kid, kid being 24. He seems to have a really good head on his shoulders. We talked world politics and religion and economics and relationships. 80 miles is along way and it gives you time to cover a vast array of material. At any rate we plug along at my slow pace and he never complained. He was just accepted into med school starting in 2009. So he is planning on riding his bike from here to Glacier National Park then down to Boise on ever to somewhere in Oregon then back here. All in all about 1600 miles...wow!! So until he leaves on that journey I hope to be able to get in a lot of good miles with him.

Bloomsday 08

Well Sunday's Bloomsday race was interesting to say the least. On the worldclass side of things a new course record was set by Micah Kogo in a time of 33:51. Which for those of you that don't know is superhuman fast. But on the local and frankly more interesting front, I ran a 51:36. I know what your thinking.....33:51 vs 51:36... you suck!!! and you're right I do. However, I sucked less this year than last. So I consider it a victory. In all seriousness though I had a pretty good race
and it was a 1:31 improvement over last year. But I did not meet my goal. I had hoped and really thought I could break 50 min. Now I'm not going to make any excuses but I do wonder if last weeks ankle injury and subsequant rest days without any running hurt me. I did run short 2 mile run on Saturday just to make sure the ankle was ok. But even on that run my heart rate seemed to go through the roof. At any rate I executed my race plan nearly flawlessly I went out a little to fast in the 1st mile 6:12 vs 6:30. But by the 2nd mile I had settled in at 6:31. When I rounded the corner at the college I was right on track at @ 6:42. Here is where I screwed up. This section is pretty flat so I should have been able to speed up to 6:30 pace again. Operative word being should. I did not. I actuallly slowed a little.So that when I started the down hill towards the bridge I was actually a few seconds behind. I did make this time up on the down hill. Thank god for long legs. So as I started up doomsday I was in pretty good shape. I think I was right around 6:31 pace(average). By the top of the hill my average had dropped to 6:52 and my HR was 174. But the hill had taken a toll and I slowed a little. I was able to pick it up again but it was to little to late.
The Hobbit and I were talking about why it is you just can't seem to make yourself push sometimes. It's so mental at that point. I mean hell I had even planned for this. The only reason I wore my HR monitor was so that when I got to the 2 flatish spots in the course that I could look down and see that I had plenty of room to push. In the case at the top of the hill my HR was 174. My LT is 177 so I should have easily been able to push 4-5 beats harder. Probably would have made the difference. Definitly would have allowed me to beat Tony, he got me by 21 seconds. All in all it was a good race. The weather was perfect. I continue to learn and I continue to improve. So I guess I'll keep trying.