The Graniteman Triathlon was yesterday, my fourth of five races scheduled for this summer and the first race for my sister, Lindsey.  I'll spare you the full race report, but if you are interested, you can find it here.  Considering how spotty my season has been, I wasn't sure what to expect with this race.  I've been training regularly again, but not at the volume nor the intensity that I would like.  That said, I knew I was in better shape than I was for the Lake Minnetonka Tri late last month.  So I decided I was going to leave it all out on the course and just see how I would do.

Before I get ahead of myself, though, I want to give a big congratulations to graveylump for completing her first triathlon and beating her goal time by 15 minutes!  It was a real treat to be able to cheer for her in the race.  I was hoping to see and cheer for her out on the bike portion, but I must have just missed her.  I did get to watch her second transition and cheer really loudly (and probably obnoxiously) for her as she finished up.
( Pictures and a race accomplishment inside the cut. )

So another good race in the books.  Sounds like Lindsey is interested in doing more races some time.  Now we'll just have to convince Matt and Molly to join us (if not Sarah and Rick as well).

Simple pleasure - sweaty hugs
Peace

I've got another physical therapy appointment tomorrow morning.  Stupid me, though, I scheduled it during the Tour de France team time trial.  They didn't even have a TTT last year.  Grrrrrr.  This is an exciting enough of a stage where I might have to go find a sports bar somewhere and commandeer a TV and have them put on the VS network.  But I digress.

I've been doing my core exercises every other day and I think I can tell the difference a little at least.  They're easier now than they were two weeks ago.  I am also working out regularly again.  Though I'm not at the intensity nor duration that I would ideally like to be at, simply training again feels pretty good.  My bike rides are up to 45 minutes now and my ride tonight and a couple days ago were at a higher intensity than they've been in quite a while.  I know I'm not where I was this time last year, though.  During my ride tonight, I climbed a short hill and I definitely don't have the climbing legs I usually have by this time in the summer.  I miss the Gears, Tears, and Fears ride.  Maybe in a few weeks I'll be back to multiple-hour long rides.

While Sarah and I were up north last weekend, I went for a short swim with Lindsey.  I gave her a few pointers on the start of the race and exiting the water.  Then we talked about transition set up as well.  Though I am no expert, by any means, I do enjoy sharing what I do know.  I am really excited to be doing a race with her this weekend.  I will have to share sweaty post-race pictures with the two of us.  I hope she gets hooked like I am.  We talked too, about trying to convince Matt and Molly to do a race with us some time too.  That would be a heckuva lot of fun.  I don't think that would take too much convincing.  If nothing else, maybe Molly would do Burrito Union with Lindsey and I next year.

Ah, that was a good post-ride beer.  Thank you Sierra Nevada.

Simple pleasure - climbing hills
Peace

I went in for physical therapy again this morning.  The guy I saw recommended a couple minor bike fit adjustments.  Aside from core strength (which I will talk about in a moment) one problem he saw with my bike is that one of the shifter/brakes is a little higher on the handlebars than the other causing one shoulder to be higher than the other and twisting my back slightly.  Though that in and of itself may not be enough to account for my back pain, that combined with very little winter riding then suddenly a lot of riding in the spring as well as a relatively weak core together probably did it.

This means there are some solutions.

1.  Adjust the placement of my brakes
2.  Don't neglect riding the trainer this coming winter (assuming I have any energy at all)
3.  Start some core-strengthening exercises.

I know my core isn't very strong.  I've never liked working on strength.  That goes back to high school where the weight room was dominated by football players.  Without rehashing high school politics (and nobody wants to hear that), we'll just say that I just couldn't stand the weight room so I avoided it at all costs.  That distaste for lifting and being in weight room carried over to college and beyond.  Now I know that core fitness is an important part of training for triathlon and that there are plenty of ways to go about taking care of my core fitness... but since I've never really stuck to any designed plan I've pretty much ignored strength exercises.

Now I'm paying for it.  So I've got a slate of exercises I need to do here at home.  If I want to get back out there and pound away on the bike, I need to take care of my core.  The physical therapist said I could start going on short rides (short is better than none, I guess), so that is good, but I need to be good about these exercises.  Hopefully this will get me back on the road to training regularly again.  That would sure be nice.

Simple pleasure - the wonders of air conditioning
Peace

We went to Sarah's second ultrasound this evening.  We walked up to the receptionist.  After she asked if anything had changed since last time (referring to insurance), I really wanted to say, "Aside from circumference?  No."  But I bit my tongue.

During the first ultrasound I was a complete wreck.  We knew that she was pregnant, but hearing the heartbeat made it real.  Not that we weren't ready, but it suddenly became pretty serious.  Now that we've had a few months of getting ready (buying baby clothes, considering car seats, thinking about names, etc.), the ultrasound tonight was nowhere near as nerve wracking for me.  I won't say that I wasn't a little anxious to be sure that everything looked alright, but compared to last time, this was a breeze.  The baby is now one pound and change and looking perfectly normal, if a little bit big for its age... but look at his parents.  Sarah is taller than average, and I simply lay outside the bell curve of normal height.  Everything looks good.

Before we found out, I usually thought of the baby as a girl.  Sarah thought of it as a boy.  I guess she's got a closer connection than I do.  I didn't really care one way or another, but now that we know name negotiations will start soon.  Unfortunately, there are far more nice girl names than boy names... especially for ethnic names.  I like the idea of a Scandinavian name, but a kid named Asgeir, Gjurd, or Sverre would probably just be trouble.  I'm sure there are some more reasonable Scandinavian names.  We'll see.  I can be open minded.  How about German.  Sigfreid, perhaps?

Simple pleasure - summer lightning storms
Peace

All of my gear is together.  I know where we are going tomorrow.  The drive isn't far.  There is no rush.  I've done both the bike and run courses.  I went to the OWS clinic on Thursday.  I've done two olys in the past.  I am still nervous as heck, though.  This whole non-existant training for the last month and my back pain have got me concerned about my race.  I am used to pushing myself pretty hard in the race, but I'm not sure how my body will do tomorrow.  I keep telling myself to take it a bit easier tomorrow, but I'm not sure I know how to do that.  When I get out on the bike I want to put the hammer down and go.  My standards are pretty high for myself and finishing out of the top 10% or so will, honestly, be a little hard to take.  In the last year I got so used to actually competing that simply completing is just a given.

I want to finish in under two and a half hours.  I should be able to do that.  That would be a 25 minute 1500 meter swim (no reason why it should take that long), a 72 minute bike (I sure hope I can keep up a 20 mile per hour average.  This may be tougher), and a 52 minute 10k.  That's about 8:30/mile.  That may also be pushing it a little bit.  That leaves about 5 minutes for the transitions, and I should be able to do better than that.  Of course, the run up to T1 from the water is a bit long and uphill.  So we'll see.  Two and a half hours is still my goal.  We'll see how it goes, I guess.

I can't stand Entertainment Tonight, nor anything that resembles celebrity worship.  I can't think of anything more inane.  We watch NBC news, and there are commercials for Entertainment Tonight on during the news.  Invariably I groan or when I am able to control myself I roll my eyes.  Sarah knows this... how can she not?  After an ET commercial, she often looks over to see how I am reacting.

This afternoon Sarah was sitting on the couch watching the French open when I got home (she's off early on Fridays for the summer now).  I sat and watched some of the Gonzalez/Soderling match when an ET commercial came on.  When she looked over at me, I was beating my head with my fist.

"Maybe if I hit my head hard enough I'll be a good American and like this crap."  I said
"Oh, why don't you just go upstairs and read something revolutionary or radical and not wear any pants.  That'll make you feel better."

It's true.

My wife knows me pretty well.

Simple pleasure - having so little to do at school that I got some long overdue filing done
Peace

I went to an open water swim workshop on Lake Minnetonka this evening.  The race director for the Minnetonka Tri brought in a local coach who talked about many of the basics of open water swimming in triathlons.  While I didn't learn a ton, it was nice to see some of the things I'd read about before.  The 40 or so of us all practiced dolphin dives in our entries and exits, sighting, mass starts, and some of the skills that go along with those things.  I also got to ask him about drafting.  As the only open water group swimming I've done has been races, I've never really figured out where I need to be in order to draft off of another swimmer.  After the coach explained it, another guy and I went out into the lake to give it a try.  When I was right on the guy's feet, I could definitely tell that I wasn't working as hard for the speed we were going. 

I'm sure a personal coach is pretty expensive, but it sure was nice to see some race skills demonstrated and explained.  If I were a rich man yaba dibi dibi... I'd hire a tri coach.

The lake was nice, but I have to say... Excelsior?  Too darn yahty for me.  Holy crap.  Everything looked expensive.  There were a lot of people walking around in office attire for a sunny early summer evening.  I also saw Miss Minnesota, sash, tiara, and all.  Strange.  I'll stick to St. Paul, thanks.  You can have your 'burbs.

Simple pleasure - visiting with other tri folks
Peace

I got home after work today not knowing what to make for dinner.  Tabbouleh was definitely on the menu because we have a bunch of fresh parsley that needed to be used, but I wanted something else as well.  Then I decided to make pico de gallo since we also had some cilantro that needed to be used too.  I went to the Co-op (I love you, Mississippi Market), and spent most of my time in the produce section (I love you produce).  Tomorrow I will make vegetable pasties (I love you food that comes from our mining history), but first things first.

My recipe for pico de gallo
~6 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 halapenos, minced
1/2 can black beans, rinsed
1/2 can corn, rinsed
a whole bunch of finely chopped cilantro
~2  tablespoons of lemon juice
a few teaspoons of salt to taste
~1 teaspoon of Lizano Salsa
~1 tablespoon dry oregano
~1 teaspoon cumin

Mix it all up real good.  Adjust seasoning to taste.  Try not to eat too much all at once.  I'd be willing to bet that this will taste better after a night in the refridgerator.  Yum!

---------------------------

I made an appointment to see a doctor tomorrow about my continually sore back.  It's a little worse today than it was the last couple days.  It's not as bad as it was a few weeks ago when I was hobbling around and almost forced to lay down, but it is keeping me from bending and moving naturally.  I think I am so tight that my posture is a little funny too.  It's been enough of a bother that I really havn't trained regularly in about a month.  Though my race schedule isn't super demanding this summer, I was intending on seriously competing in my races.  Not training is bad news.  So no, I am not incapacitated by this nagging soreness, but it is enough of a concern that I am ready to see a doctor.

I'm not sure what he'll tell me tomorrow, but I need something.  Maybe all I need is a core-strengthening program to follow.  Maybe there is more to it than that, but I need something.  Not training has really gotten frustrating.  5 days to my first oly of the season and though I know I'll be able to finish, I'm not happy with my overall fitness right now.

Simple pleasure - throwing a dish together without any guidance and having it turn out really well
Peace

I drove up to Buffalo late this morning so I could check out the race course for the Buffalo Triathlon next weekend.  This is my second of five scheduled races this summer, and my first oly.  I've heard from quite a few people that it's a good race and a pretty good sized race too.  On top of that, the race brings in a pro or two each year to compete as well.  This year the 70.3 world champion will be racing.  That's pretty cool.  Maybe I'll be coming on the bike in time to see him finish up his run.

I have to admit that I'm a little nervous about this race.  A sore back has kept me from running and off my bike for about three weeks or so.  I've also done less swimming (almost none, actually) than I really should have too.  Not that I'm concerned about finishing, but this won't be a super fast race for me.  There will be no age group placing for me next week.

The bike course is pretty, but pretty wide open in a number of places which will make the bike leg pretty difficult if it is windy like it was today.  There are also a number of rolling hills to contend with.  They're not big, but big enough to drop you down into your low gears.  A couple concerns I have about the course is the lack of road shoulders in some areas.  I doubt they'll close down the roads completely for us.  I guess I will just hope that there are enough cyclists around me that the cars on the road will have to respect us.  The other thing I am wondering about is that there is one turn that is part of a major downtown intersection in Buffalo.  That means it's sharp, there's little room to swing wide to keep up the speed, and there will probably be cars. 

The run is nice too.  Most noteworthy about it is a pretty long and steady hill about half way through.  It isn't steep, but by that time in the race, any hill is an unfriendly hill.  On the bright side, it is an out and back course, so I'll be coming back down the hill.  It's a little funny, though 'cause the turn around is at the top of the hill... in a cemetery.  I can see it now.  "Oh god!  I can't make it.  Let there be a hole in the ground somewhere where I can just lay myself into right now."

We'll see about the swim.  I just got an email from the RD of the Lake Minnetonka Tri saying that there will be a swim clinic on Thursday.  I may take advantage of that to see if there are any good tips I can pick up before Saturday.  I swim pretty well in general, but swimming in a pack is nothing like a pool lap swim.  I will also have to get to one of the lakes this week (tomorrow maybe) and practice my swim to bike transition with my wetsuit.  That'll be a new thing for me.

For now, though, it is shower time.  I am coated in a layer of salt and have an aroma.  I don't mind the aroma that much, but I will take pity on Sarah and the cat.

Simple pleasure - getting out in the sun
Peace

Sarah is supposed to have a little more iron than we have probably been getting in our mostly veg. diets.  It's been a little while since I've made much of a dinner aside from quick and easy things.  Before a trip to the co-op for groceries this weekend, I flipped through Lynne Rossetto Kasper's How to Eat Supper for something fun to try.  I found two recipes that I wanted to try. 

( Chicken Curry With Gentle Spices and Scandinavian Spiced Meatballs With Caramelized Apples )

Both of these recipes were darn good.  Not that I doubted the quality of the recipes in this book, but I am absolutely sold on it now.  I can't wait to try some other recipes.  I also have to say that I am so happy we have a food processor now.  We use it even more than I anticipated we would.  In the realm of necessary things, it isn't there, but it sure is convenient for the amount of cooking we do. 

Now I am full... but not too full for a little dish of ice cream before bed.

Simple pleasure - recipe success!
Peace