The Real Deal

Good news!

2011-01-07T14:43:00.004-05:00

Renewing my partnership with GU Energy, I'm excited for the 2011 race season, fueled by GU.

"Dear Bryan,

Happy New Year! Thank you for your application to the 2011 GU Energy Labs Sponsorship Program. We truly appreciate your commitment to your sport and GU Energy Labs and are very excited to offer you sponsorship through our highly exclusive Pro Deal Program!"

Ironman Beach 2 Battleship – 12:23

2010-12-20T21:15:00.003-05:00

First off, thanks to my wonderful and amazing wife Nikki for putting up with my insane “hobby”. My awesome Coach, Karen Holloway (ProK), for constantly pushing me to work harder and smarter. And to my sponsor GU, for supplying me with the best nutrition available to push myself further in training and racing. If you haven’t tried GU products, do yourself a favor and give them a go! Now sit back and enjoy your favorite GU Energy Gel while you read my race report from the Ironman Beach 2 Battleship.

Pre-Race

Deanna B and I arrive in Wrightsville Beach in the early afternoon, Thursday, before the race. An aside, the Wrightsville Beach area is awesome! And the food at the local restaurants is amazing! Highly recommend staying there sometime. The house, The Sand Crab Cottage, was beautiful. We picked rooms and started to unpack. We didn’t have a workout on the schedule, but both of us decided to don our wetsuits and go for a swim. There was so much chatter about how cold the water was and whether or not to wear booties. This turned out to be one of the most beneficial decisions we made prior to the race. While the initial surge was indeed cold, after about 2-3 minutes of swimming, it was totally bearable. Despite all the fears I’d read about the water temperature, I felt very confident out there.

Friday was a busy day. We got a second swim in that we talked the others, especially Molly, into getting in and feeling it for themselves. This second swim followed by a short bike, helped me make the final decision on my race attire. I was going with my tri top and tri shorts for the swim, put a cycling jersey and arm warmers on top for the bike, and lose the cycling jersey either at bike special needs or T2. The two swims also helped me realize that with the salt water, I needed more Body Glide around my neck to prevent chafing.

Getting the bikes and bags checked in and Nikki getting into town to help and watch, rounded out the day. Got it all in early to allow for plenty of downtime and we’re now chillin’, ready to race! DB’s Sherpa, Carmen, cooked us all chicken and rice for dinner. Delicious! I’m usually very nervous the night before and the morning of, but I can say with 100% honesty, that this was the first time that I have been completely relaxed and ready, both physically and mentally. I’ve never felt this ready for a race! More thanks to my wonderful Coach, Karen, for working hard getting me prepared for what would be a huge PR!

Alarm goes off a little after 4am. Cook up my standard 2 scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, while sipping on CarboPro. Feeling really good this morning. Nik takes DB and I to T1, where we load our bikes with nutrition and then catch a trolley to the swim start. I realize that I’ve forgotten water for my aero bottle! I knew that I couldn’t go 25-30 miles without water till the first aid station. Yet, I’m surprisingly calm. I mention to Nik if she could head over to the food trailer and get me a cup of water to throw into my aero bottle. This lady standing next to her over heard and handed me a full, unopened, bottle of water. I couldn’t believe it! I said “thank you” many times, walked over to my bike, and filled my bottle. When I came back to hand this nice lady the remainder of the water, she was gone. Like a Guardian Angel, just gone. Finally, I listen to Enter Sandman on my iPod, hand it over to Nik, and we catch a trolley to the swim start. Having plenty of time to get our wetsuits on and pre/post clothes bags dropped off.

The Swim – 1:16

The beach walk from the parking lot to the swim start was very long. Felt like a couple miles, but I’m sure it was only a quarter of a mile or so. Boy was it cold standing on the beach! I am glad that I listened to someone’s advice to wear old socks to the start and while standing around waiting to start. As the cannon went off, we headed into the water a few hundred meters, then made a hard right at the first buoy. That was a complete cluster. There wasn’t enough time to spread out as everyone was charging for that first turn. However, once around, there was plenty of swimming room and I quickly settled into my rhythm and stroked out a pretty good swim. Turns out that we had a stale current this year and not the huge incoming current of previous years. I tried to pee once, but just couldn’t do it. It was gonna have to wait until T1. No idea how others can pull that off. I lost some time at the end as I was heading toward the final turn buoy, which I was later told wasn’t a buoy that we needed to actually turn at. It wasn’t until I was almost on it and changing my sight line that I noticed everyone else, save the few of us who headed to that buoy, were making a straight line toward the dock. Cutting the last corner.

Once at the dock, it was difficult to find the actual ladders to climb up. Glad the volunteers were extremely helpful and pointed me to a ladder. Headed to the wetsuit strippers and made no hesitation on obtaining help getting out of my wetsuit. No way was I going to struggle with it in transition. The quarter mile run to T1 was tough. It was on asphalt and it…was…cold. I had to look down at my feet numerous times as I couldn’t feel them at all. I had to ensure that I was keeping them in front of me, so as not to face plant.

The Bike – 5:59

T1 was pretty uneventful for an Ironman. I remember my first in ’08 and how much I was like a “deer in headlights” when I hit the tent. Today, just smooth and calm. In and out in 10 minutes. Really good, given that I was putting extra clothes on. What was funny, was watching folks put full Under Armour gear on for the bike, knowing that it was gonna get into the 60’s in just a few hours. I put on my bike jersey over my tri top and put my arm warmers on about a quarter of the way. Slammed a GU, hit the port-a-john, and then pulled up my arm warmers as I jogged down the rows toward The Mistress. She was happy to be mounted and ridden hard for one last time this year.

Just after starting the bike, I noticed that I couldn’t feel my toes, at all. It would be about 40 minutes before I could feel them again. I just kept curling my toes up to get some blood down there. This bike course is flat and fast! The highlight of the bike was getting to ride on Interstate Highway 140. In the left hand lane, the fast lane! That pavement was really nice and super fast! We had headwind for most of the first 60-70 miles and a very nice tailwind for the last 40 miles. Every 17 minutes (yes, I set my watch timer for a 17 minute countdown so I don’t forget to eat), I get to enjoy a piece of PowerBar, a sip of CarboPro, or the crown jewel of my nutrition, Mint Chocolate GU. I’m very thankful for the shipment my sponsor, GU, got to me in time for this race. Those Mint Chocolate GU’s are the best!

When I hit the special needs bag drop, I laughed at the copious amounts of athletes struggling to shed all their Under Armour gear ‘cause they were heating up faster than they thought. I grabbed my bag, racked my bike and went to work. Only thing I had in my bag was a CarboPro bottle, which I poured into my GU nutrition bottle, and a 3Muskateers bar. An extra minute to apply an additional coat of lube (Chamois Butt’r) to the undercarriage, and I was off. Only spent a couple of minutes here as I didn’t want to be off the bike long. Last half of the bike went really well. Those 40 miles of tailwind were on a single straight road back to the Battleship. I was passing so many folks with all kinds of aero gear. I could tell that they went too hard into the head wind and were gassed. Me? I was rolling! Felt confident, really good, and strong.

The final climb to T2 was on a huge bridge that went over the Cape Fear River. There was a ton of traffic and we were forced to the shoulder of the road. Lots of debris to navigate through. I was unafraid and relentless at this point. Charging up the shoulder, dodging rear view mirrors, and passing other cyclists. About half way up, we got directed to the other side of the road and had a free lane into the Battleship. Only one more problem. Giant trucks were delivering support beams for a bridge, blocking the bike lane. We were forced into the outgoing/incoming runners. With 112 miles on my legs, it was tricky to navigate this section without plowing into anyone. I arrived at T2 safely and ready to run.

The Run – 4:51

Since this was a point to point race, this was the first time I was seeing T2. The volunteers were again great. They pointed me in the right direction and handed me my T2 bag quickly. Got out of T2 pretty quickly, slightly under 5 minutes, just shed my bike jersey and arm warmers (though later, I’d wish I still had the arm warmers on).

Started the run right where I wanted to be, around 9 minute miles, and was feeling really good. For those that train with me, you know that I’ve had numerous crash and burns with GI distress. When I finally switched to GU and GU Roctane as my primary source of nutrition on the run, I’ve been good to go with no GI issues. GU’s with salt tabs and water for the run keeps my gut from going crazy on me. Only problem I had this day, was waiting an hour and fifteen minutes before taking my first GU. Afterwards, I spoke with PK about it, and it became evident that since I’m already in a deficit, I should begin taking calories earlier. I can’t treat this marathon like a standalone marathon. No wonder miles 13-18 felt like I was running through hell and back. It was during these tough miles that I tapped into the GU Roctane I had. Thanks again to my GU Sponsor! They included a couple GU Roctane packages of their Island Nectars flavor in my most recent shipment. The special edition flavor for Kona this year. Now I admit, I was scared to try a new flavor in an Ironman race, but these turned out to be amazingly delicious! And provided a much needed kick in the tri shorts.

Four things about this run course; it’s not flat, roughly 2 miles of cobblestones is interesting, it gets really dark in the park section, and there are a crazy amount of spectators and fans cheering you on. Our polka dot ProK team kits were a huge hit with these spectators. So a word of warning. All this talk about B2B being crazy fast does not include the run. It’s a very challenging run course. There was one hill coming out of downtown that I just stopped and laughed at. It was at an insane incline.

Picked up a long sleeve shirt from my special needs bag since it was getting chilly as the sun dropped (here is where I wish I had my arm warmers). It was nice to have it, as I just wore it when I was cold and tied it around my waist when I warmed up. Kept alternating the last half of the run. After mile 18, my nutrition had caught back up and my pace was starting to drop. The last two bridges I had to climb, I lowered my GU visor so that I couldn’t see the top and just focused on “it’ll get here when it gets here”, “just keep clipping away”, and “you’re not walking anymore”. That helped me not walk the last two climbs and keep good momentum. Finished up really strong with a 12:23 flat. A PR by just over an hour and a half! I know I have a 4 hour marathon in me off the bike, just need to fine tune that nutrition so the middle miles don’t kill me. I now know that I need to start taking a GU earlier, sliding my whole plan up, which will garner me an additional GU or two. Yummy!

Looking forward to Ironman Coeur d’Alene in 6 short months…

The Itch

2009-09-09T20:47:00.003-04:00

WOW, I can't believe that it's been 2 months since my last blog post! Where has the time gone? I promise that I'll get better about posting updates. I hope I didn't lose too many followers...

I have my first Triathlon since May this coming weekend. The Patriot's Half Iron. I missed two Tri's this summer from being sick. However, Kinetic and Patriot's have always been my two "A" races of the year. This course is fast and I'm hoping for a fast time. I went 5:27 at Kinetic, so if I have a good race, there's no reason that I can't get under 5:15. Run, Run, Run. It's going to be all about the run for me on Saturday. I've worked a ton on my running since last December and I'll push myself. No Excuses.

I do have that taper "itch" right now. I wanted to swim this morning, but Coach K said that I was lucky that I didn't show up (she's having me take today and tomorrow off). Guess she knows what she's doing. ; ) It's been a long summer and I feel like a prized fighter right now. Little aches and pains, particularly my left foot has been bothering me for a few weeks, from a summer full of training. It'll all pay off with that 5:15 I'm gunning for.

Time for bed, as Coach K orders more sleep for me.

I'm ready to race again!

All Clear!!

2009-07-08T08:14:00.003-04:00

I finally got the all clear from both Dr. Stadler's yesterday afternoon! Lungs sounded good and the little shortness of breath and coughing I have left over is more than likely due to the lost aerobic capacity over the last two weeks. Carlton's advice - "You need some hard interval training"!! So now I'm back to training full steam, but just need to ensure I get good rest.

Once Coach K got wind of that, I was back in Guppies at 6am this morning and I'm now getting ready to head to Lake Gaston for the next 3 days for her Tri clinic. It was kinda last minute, but I'm excited about going. We'll be doing lots of open water swimming and a couple long bikes.

Guppies went surprisingly well this morning. It definitely hurt a bit on some of the breathing drills, but I know that it will until I get back to where I was. Coach K even mentioned that I should take a few weeks off more often, as my stroke looked much longer than it has in a while! Can't wait to get a run in later this afternoon!

Day 14

2009-07-03T21:37:00.003-04:00

It's been 14 days since I've been sick now. I'm feeling better, but anytime I do a little more playing or moving around too much, I can feel my lung tighten up. Then I start coughing.

I got a 30 minute ride on a stationary trainer Thursday, which felt good. I kept my heart rate close to 130, which is where Dr. Stadler recommended. The one time I felt a little good and inched up just a tad on the level, my lung started to tighten up and I had to cough pretty bad. I noticed that my heart rate had only gotten to like 135-137. Gotta take it SLOW and EASY, Deal!! A nice hot shower helped, followed by my inhaler.

Had my follow-up with Dr. Stadler that afternoon and she is still really concerned about the sound of my lung. She is testing it by having me take a deep breath in and blow out hard and fast while she listens. The good news is that I was able to do that 3 times without a ton of wheezing and coughing. On Monday, I could not do it once. The next step is to have her listen to my lung again on Tuesday and possibly schedule a CAT scan to check for fluid. If there is a large pocket of fluid in there, they'll have to go in with a needle and drain it! Yikes!! She scheduled another follow-up for Tuesday with her husband Carlton as he may be the one to drain me.

Here's hoping some weekend rest and meds will keep me away from any long needle plunged deep into my lung...

Bryan "One Lung" Deal

2009-06-30T19:46:00.004-04:00

Sick update for my Blog followers:

Went to see my primary care Dr. on Monday, Dr. Stadler. She came in and after listening to my lungs made the statement "You know Bryan, I just wasn't buying the whole pneumonia being diagnosed at Patient First thing", "But I have to say, you have the worst sounding lungs I've heard in years!" Great news to hear from your Dr.! ; ) She is great and we began to discuss when I could get back to training. I can resume strength training (light and very low intensity) as of today and I can get a couple easy bike rides (indoors and again real easy) this week. She, Coach K, and everyone else, don't want me to push too hard too fast since this could get pretty serious if we don't get rid of it. No worries, I just need to check myself and make sure I'm easing into things over the next week or two.

She added a few more medications to my medicine cabinet. Here's a nice list of the meds I currently have to take. I'm like a walking pharmacy!

In the morning:

Normal Juice Plus vitamin fruit supplement
2 Prednisone (oral steroid)
1 Levaquin (antibiotic)
2 Mucinex (expectorant)
Albuteral inhaler as needed throughout the day

In the evening:

Normal Juice Plus vitamin vegetable supplement
1 Zyrtec (normal seasonal allergy med)
Rhinocort (normal seasonal allergy med)
2 Mucinex
1 shot of Advair before bed (inhaler)

I did get a nice strength training workout in today. Not nearly as heavy and intense as I'm usually in the weightroom, but a solid workout nonetheless.

Got a followup with Dr. Stadler on Thursday so we'll see how I'm doing and I'll keep the updates coming.

DNS

2009-06-28T09:37:00.005-04:00

As I sit here typing this, my fellow triathletes are swimming, biking, and running at the Tavern Tri. I was supposed to be there too. I love that race! I even went to packet pick-up and got my packet just to feel something normal. Man, I really wanted to race today! Got my first DNS (Did Not Start) today, but I gotta put my health first.

Last Saturday afternoon, I was more than an uncomfortable sore from my early morning brick and wasn't sure what was wrong. I chalked it up to being really tired as I wasn't sleeping well. Father's day went great (I got an awesome photography book!), but by the evening I was feeling as if I'd been run over by a truck. I checked my temp and it was at 100.4! Yikes! I never get sick, at least haven't in over 4 years. Went to the Dr. on Monday with a 101 fever and after checking for the flu and strep, both of which were negative, they did some blood work to check my white blood cell count. When that came back not showing a bacterial infection, I was sent home with a "random virus" to take Advil and get more rest.

By Wednesday, I had developed this really annoying, dry cough. Sometimes, I get stuck coughing for what feels like an eternity. Not fun! During one of my coughing fits later that evening, I heard Logan crying really hard. When I could breath, I walked over to him and he gave me a great big hug. He said "Daddy, I didn't think Superman could get sick." Tears just welled up. It dawned on me that he's never seen me sick, ever. I said "Logan, sometimes even Superman gets sick."

By Friday, Nikki had me convinced that there was something else going on. Saturday morning I headed to Patient First. The Dr. listened to my breathing and had me do a breath test. I then had chest x-rays taken. Seems my training is going well as they had to take a top and bottom x-ray as the tech mentioned, "just as I thought, you have large lungs." He could now see the small patch of pneumonia I have in my bottom left lung. One more blood test to ensure it wasn't really bad and off I go with antibiotics and an inhaler.

Yeah, walking pneumonia! Good times. I feel that since I haven't been sick in over 4 years, I better go ahead and make this one count! I'm just glad that after a week they've found the shard of Kryptonite, and I now have something to remove all traces of it. ; )

No Excuses

2009-06-16T21:00:00.002-04:00

That is what is written on the side of my Gatorade Rain bottles. It's a great saying and one that I implanted into my mind while racing the Kinetic Half Ironman on May 9th.

Nikki and Ansley made the trip up with me for this race. We left Logan at home with his Grandpa as his soccer team was playing his best friends team. We didn't want him to miss the game, being the only time he'd get a chance to play against his good friends this season. As usual, we were late leaving, with me waiting until the last minute to throw everything together. My Xterra Wetsuits Tribag showed up as we were getting ready to pull out. Money!! Threw it in the X and we were off. Made the usual stop at Chick-Fil-A for my evening pre-race meal and we were on the road. The drive is only about 45 minutes, which put us at Lake Anna for check-in just a few minutes after 7pm. Picked up my race packet and walked around a bit with Nik and Ansley checking everything out.

I booked this place, the Lake Anna Lodge, that had us envisioning a roach motel. It's about 10 minutes out from the State Park, so we arrived with lots of time to relax. It was a nice place. Very clean and not the dump that we thought. The first thing I did was open up my kick ass tri bag, begin to unpack my two smaller tri bags (i.e. small backpacks), and load up the new bag. This thing is GREAT! I got my wetsuit, both pair of shoes, helmet, and everything else I'd need during the race into it. Ansley was in typical form, couldn't stop talking or moving around in the bed, giving Nik a fit as I was pre-occupied. After pacing around and wasting time I was ready for bed. Gave my girls a goodnight kiss and hit the sheets. As usual, I didn't sleep well. No worries. I had a great nights sleep on Thursday, which two nights before, is the most important.

I wanted to get to transition no later than 6am to ensure that I get everything setup, hit the restroom, get my wetsuit on, and warmup. The alarm goes off about 5:15am so that I could get Nik and Ansley up so they could get ready. As we leave the motel about 6am, I'm stressing. We're the last vehicle left in the lot and I wanted to have already been there. As we get to the Lake, the main parking lot is full and they are directing us to another lot around back. Now, I'm really freaking out, having no idea where they are taking us and how far away it'll be. Turns out we end up right behind transition! MUCH better than at the very back of the main lot! It's 6:15am and after setting up most of my transition space, I head down to get body marked and get my chip. Back to transition to finish setting up my space. I then collect my wetsuit and swim gear and head to the start. It's 6:40am now and I still have to make one last restroom trip and get my wetsuit on. Great! Lots of athletes need one last "business" trip, so I'm forced to wait in line a few minutes. Finished up with 10 minutes left before race start. Donned my wetsuit using the plastic bag over the feet trick, which works awesome, and headed down to the Lake.

Getting into the water for a little warmup got me ready to start. A little chilly, was 68 at the start, but felt great! I was ready to roll.

As the gun went off, we ran into the water and I found myself dolphin diving! Just like Coach K has been teaching us. The first loop of the swim went really well. I ended up finding another athlete that was a very similar pace and we split time swimming in each others draft, literally in the armpit, stroke for stroke. This made for a fast start as we were pushing each other using the draft. I'm staying right on course, cutting the buoys really tight. As I swim up to the beach, we have a short jog and onto lap 2 of the swim. This lap went equally well, and I even found myself breathing every 3rd stroke for a while. Yes Coach K, I was breathing to my non comfortable side. I had an awesome swim! 34:28. Over 5 minutes improvement over my fastest Half time!

The bike proved to be a nice and difficult ride. It was really windy, hilly, and there was a lot of traffic heading to the lake. For most of the ride I was unable to really hit the downhills due to the 15-20 mph headwind. It was a rolling course with only one real long, slightly downhill section, where the wind was at my back and I could really get it. We even passed a group of horses on a bridge that I couldn't tell who was more spooked, the horses or the bikers! Throughout the bike I had Jaime Foxx's song "Blame It" stuck in my head. I know, I know, not the most upbeat song to race to, but proved to keep me amused throughout the ride. I kept making up my own lyrics, singing "Blame it on the wi-wi-wi-wi-wind, blame it on the hi-hi-hi-hi-hills" And to the little girl at the first water bottle handout, please practice handing off a bottle to a biker traveling at roughly 19mph. It's not as easy as just standing there and "hoping" we grab it. Needless to say, that bottle hit the ground and I was almost out of water. Luckily, there was another stop not too far away. The bad thing about the bike was it's 2 loops outside the park, so there were very few spectators out to cheer us on. Didn't get to see my girls until I was back to T2. Nutrition was on point and I wasn't feeling hungry or drained. 2:57:40. I was a couple minutes off my fastest bike split, but I felt pretty good about hitting the run

As I was approaching T2, I got concerned that my legs were going to buckle as soon as I got off the bike at the dismount line and I was gonna fall flat on my face in front of everyone! The line was on a decline, so I had to be careful that I didn't fly right on by! I had been pushing hard through the wind and hills. I started slowing down, unclipped my right foot and shook the leg out a bit. Around the back of the saddle it swung, right behind my left foot, which caused the left foot to unclip in a fluid motion. As both feet hit the pavement, there was no fall. Just an anxious excitement to begin the run. Today, I was gonna push myself HARD on the run.

My last 3 Half Iron's have all finished up with just over a 2 hour 13.1 mile run. I was determined to push myself past the uncomfortable point that I usually end up walking too much. I was also nailing my nutrition, salt tabs every 30 minutes and Gu's every 45. No GI issues this time around. I was running at a really good clip and only walked a couple of times to get fuel in and kept the walks very short. It was getting really hot out there and that was just fueling me as I love the heat. The run course was 3 laps and very nicely laid out. I got to see Nikki and Ansley on every lap and they proved to be great motivation for the tortuous hill climbing out of the lake area to start each lap. I was very pleased with my pace and feel like I can improve on it before the Patriot's Half this fall. I finished with a PR in the half marathon distance, 1:51:27!! 8:30 min/mile pace, which I know I can improve on.

A Half Ironman PR of 24 minutes!! 5:27:18!!

About a week before this race I mentioned that I had a lofty goal for this race, but didn't mention to anyone what it was. I wanted to break 5:30. Mission accomplished. I can't wait to see what I can push myself too this year!

So I'm so excited about my race and can't wait to check the results. Of course, Five Guys was calling my name and I wolfed down a Little Bacon Cheeseburger and Small Cajun Fry with a Sprite! I then go to look up my time. Wait, my name wasn't on the results! WTF! I busted my ass out there and I wasn't even on the results. I start looking through the finish times, as kept my splits on my watch, and found out that they had me under the wrong number. I was listed as ALVARO DE LA CUEVA. After a couple days, I was able to work with Set Up Events and get my name back in there. Glad to be Bryan Deal again!!

Brandon and Marisa's Wedding

2009-05-25T23:11:00.002-04:00

My brother got married in Ohio over the weekend. Long 8 hour drive, but we had a wonderful weekend up there. Beautiful ceremony! Enjoy the pics!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=16823&id=1653578150&l=529aae2eae

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=16825&id=1653578150&l=963d226a88

Working on it

2009-05-13T20:57:00.002-04:00

So, I AM working on my race report, but just can't get it finished. Both Logan and Ansley have swim lessons this week. Logan at Burkwood, here in Mechanicsville, and Ansley on Broad Street. So Nik and I are having to split up to get them to where they need to be. Well, haven't had much evening time to get it written. Alas, LOST is on tonight, so it won't get done now.

Time to get LOST...

One week...

2009-05-02T13:45:00.002-04:00

For the last three weeks, I've been cheering on friends and watching others get their Tri on. A week from Saturday, my Tri season gets started. I can't wait. I have no idea what to expect from my first race, but I know that I'm going to be more mentally prepared this year. I've made a pact with myself not to wuss out on the run, which in hindsight, I have a tendency to do. It hurts, I know this. I HAVE to move past that. My training runs have been solid. Ran for an hour today at about 7:10 pace, almost 8 1/2 miles, and it felt good, REAL good. I've got a number in my head that I want to hit, but it'll stay in my head for a little longer.

Ansley had a much better soccer game today. Getting involved and actually looking like she was playing! Logan, of course, did awesome! I'll have to get some pics up soon.

I know I take a lot of time away from them during the week, but Nik and the kids' support means the world to me!

Another overdue blog post...

2009-04-20T19:39:00.004-04:00

Time just seems to be slipping by so fast that I keep dropping the ball on this blog. Maybe I'm just spending too much time playing Mafia Wars! But I digress.

Training is going really well. I continue to improve in the water and all the hard work I put into my running over the winter is paying off. Got my first outdoor bike ride in this past Saturday and looking forward to the RABA group ride Tuesday evening. I'm really excited to get this Tri season started. May 9th at Lake Anna, the Kinetic Half Ironman. I want to do really well and have been really focusing on this race. Got a couple more weeks to fine tune and dial everything in. I feel ready, so we'll see.

Logan and Ansley are doing very well. Both are playing soccer. Ansley is warming up to it and Logan LOVES playing. He's beginning to really get the hang of it and playing well. Although he loves scoring goals, he seems to have a knack for defense. He's understanding defense and not playing the ball, but rather the position. Actually taking angles that get between the goal and the other team, then taking the ball away. This past Sunday, we got him signed up for swim team at Burkwood. The Burkwood Pirates, arrgh! Let me tell you, he looks super cool in his swim team jammers!!

Congrats to all the RTC'ers and all my friends who Rumpassed in Bumpass this past weekend! You all ROCKED!!

Finally, here's some great shots from our Disney trip...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=113141&id=726015864&l=0d0d763023

Random Disney thoughts

2009-03-31T18:57:00.006-04:00

1) Watching our kids get to experience Disney magic was priceless.

2) I'm so glad I was able to capture so many magical moments with my new Canon XSi.

3) Those, including the ones that I didn't capture, will forever be etched into my mind.
--Ansley shaking her booty with Chip
--Ansley as the most beautiful princess we've ever seen
--Ansley's giggles on the Tower of Terror
--Lunch with the Princesses inside Cinderella's castle
--Me, getting to dance with Belle in a play
--Watching Logan duel Darth Vader with a lightsaber
--Getting to ride Space Mountain with Logan
--Logan's look seeing Stitch for a 2nd, 3rd, 4th.... time
--Logan's "wish" came true on his BDay-a 2' tall stuffed Stitch
--Fantasmic show at Hollywood Studios
--SpectroMagic light parade
--Our final evening watching the Wishes fireworks show

4) Even if Coach K says that walking around the Disney parks 10-12 hours a day for 7 days doesn't count as training, my feet and legs say otherwise.

5) Getting up at 6am to run or swim while on vacation is REALLY difficult, but I only missed one swim workout and that was due to a big early morning thunderstorm.

6) Swimming laps in the outdoor hotel, kinda "L" shaped, pool gets you more open water experience than you realize. Sighting for the deadly corners and all.

7) I don't know what "on your left" sounds like to those that cannot speak English, but during early morning runs, it caused much confusion to those I was coming up from behind.

8) No matter how much fun there is to have at Disney, a 4 & 6 year old WILL meltdown, more than once.

9) Handicapped motorized carts rolling through the park are dangerous enough, let alone while the operator is using a cell phone.

10) Moms with strollers blindly walking while on their cell phones are equally dangerous.

11) The amount of food that Disney serves you each meal is actually pretty disgusting.

12) Every meal in the dining plan contains a dessert and I think I've had enough brownies and cookies for a while.

13) Yes Dana, it is possible to have TOO much dessert-I might not eat dessert for a week.

14) Staying disconnected from any computer, including any contact with Facebook or email, was easier than we thought.

Disney!!

2009-03-23T22:42:00.002-04:00

Well, we're off to Disney in the morning! I'll have plenty of pics and stories when we return.

I had a pretty big week of training last week so that I could lay low while in Florida. Make no mistake though, I'll get some nice warm weather runs and swims in!

Stay tuned...

1 Week to Disney!!

2009-03-15T21:25:00.004-04:00

We are all very excited to be leaving for Disney in one week! The kids are so excited for their first plane ride and hanging with Mickey and Co. for a whole week!!

Training has been really good this week. I've updated my race schedule and my training log on the right and left, respectively.

Stay tuned...

My season has begun!

2009-03-09T22:34:00.002-04:00

Training for the Kinetic Half Ironman officially began tonight on the track where I dropped a 67 second quarter. I'm so pleased to see how all the hard work that I've poured into my running this off season is really paying off. I've been waiting for a while now for this season to get started and can't wait to get back into racing. Yes, I'm still behind on updating my logs and schedule on the side columns but I'll get better now that I'm on my schedule.

The family is doing well, kinda. Ansley has had the flu twice now. Most currently, this past weekend. Nikki and Logan both got a bug earlier. I'm the only one that hasn't been sick this season. Juice Plus and a flu shot are putting up a nice shield.

Just a week ago, we had nearly 12 inches of snow and today was 80. Crazy Richmond weather. I just can't wait for the warm weather to stay. It's supposed to drop back into the 50's later this week.

I'll post some pics in the next couple of days.

Slacker blogger...

2009-02-23T20:55:00.002-05:00

Boy, I've been pretty slack in posting on my blog. Training is going well in this cold. I had an awesome weekend, where all workouts felt great. Though, I'm so ready for some warmer weather. Our Disney trip is less than a month away! We are stoked! Work is keeping me really busy and I'm really enjoying all the responsibility I have. Some days are so busy and I get so many emails that I don't know where to start, but I do enjoy what I do. I know this was a quick post, but I need to get better about posting and updating my training table on the left. Gotta run, Heroes is on...

Cover Boy!

2009-02-06T08:26:00.004-05:00

The Richmond Guide is out! And the cover looks great! I'm very proud to be representing the Richmond Tri Club and love the way the cover turned out. We look pretty badass! Click the link above to see for yourself. I'm trying to get my hands on some hard copies to give out to friends and family.

My training has been going really well. I'm enjoying swimming a ton right now. Thanks to learning new strokes and drills that are helping my freestyle immensely. I never thought that I could swim butterfly, but I'm catching on well and actually liking it. I'm getting excited about the race season! If only this cold weather would find someplace else to go...

The Richmond Tri Club has our annual banquet this Saturday. Since none of my nice dress clothes fit, they're all WAY too big, I had to go out and get a new suit. It looks good and I can't wait to wear it out.

Finally, here are some pics of Ansley celebrating her 4th BDay!

Happy Birthday Ansley

2009-02-01T21:32:00.001-05:00

Our little Princess turned 4 today. More pictures to come. Once I get them off my camera...

Time moving too fast...

2009-01-27T20:12:00.002-05:00

It's been two weeks since my last post. Can't believe January is almost gone. Ansley, our little girl, is going to be 4 on Sunday. Crazy!

Work is keeping me very busy, so the work day is going by fast. Sometimes too fast as I feel behind and drowning a few times a week. Nothing I can't handle, I like the challenge.

Training has been kicking up a notch. I'll start posting my weekly workouts when I get a little more time to play with the tables. I ran the Frostbite 15K this past Sunday and finished in 1:05:02. That's 9.32 miles in 6:58 minute per mile pace! I'm so stoked about that. Didn't have any real goals, just wanted to run a smooth fast race and be consistent. I'm actually learning some good pacing from Coach K! Monday night track workouts are going really well. I don't like the cold, but I can't miss track work! Swim practice is going very well, even learning how to swim butterfly! Currently feels like a drowning attempt at breast stroke! ; )

Richmond put up the snow forcefield today and we got lots of ice and rain as usual. Just yukky stuff. I'm so ready for Summer weather it's not funny. Bring on the heat and humidity!

Busy Day...

2009-01-12T20:58:00.002-05:00

Boy, I had a busy day today. I believe that the full moon makes servers go crazy, as we had way more requests and were very busy today. At lunch, I had a magazine cover shoot! I'm very proud to be on the cover, representing the Richmond Tri Club, for Richmond Guide. It's the local feature guide to Virginia Living. I'll be sure to send out the link to the cover when it's released. After work I headed to the track for a cold track workout. Did lots of plyometrics followed by 6 400s. Yeah, 6 400s in the cold! Reminder, I don't like the cold. I'm a 90-100 degree, 90-100% humidity weather person. On another note, Kevin sent me a text message rubbing in the fact that he was driving in 85 degree weather listening to Bob Marley! Thanks Kev!

Astonishing numbers...

2009-01-07T21:15:00.003-05:00

I'm closing out my 2008 training log. Here are the totals:

Bike - 2667.06 miles - 134 hours 44 minutes and 46 seconds
Run - 889.14 miles - 126 hours 35 minutes and 02 seconds
Swim - 55.28 miles - 31 hours 33 minutes 14 seconds
Weight Lifting - 40 hours and 45 minutes

Total 2008 training:
3611.48 miles
333 hours 38 minutes and 02 seconds

A few pics from Christmas '08

2009-01-05T22:12:00.002-05:00

ENJOY...

Happy New Year

2009-01-04T20:55:00.003-05:00

I ran my first 10K of the year and the Hokies won the Orange Bowl! The 10K was great. I hadn't run in a week or so, and was only 2 minutes off my PR, finishing in 45:21. Looking forward to good things this year from my racing. I still haven't solidified my race calendar, but I will soon. The Hokies win was outstanding! Winning a BCS bowl game is great and we were able to represent the ACC with great pride. I'm looking forward to a great '09 season, in which we'll kick off against Alabama in Atlanta. Mark my words. The Hokies will play for and win a National Championship within the next two years.

Kevin left for California last Monday and has safely arrived. Took a long cross country drive, texting us along the way. Kevin, we already miss you and wish you the best. We've never had a good reason to visit California, so we are already looking at a time to head out there.

We are going through the pictures so I'll have to get some posted soon. Lots of great Christmas pics of the kids.

We're all bummed that we have to start work and the kids have to go back to school. It's been a good, relaxing, enjoyable time off. But we gotta pay the bills.

Stay tuned...

Has a year really gone by?

2008-12-31T15:04:00.004-05:00

It's been a great year, capped off by completing my first Ironman. Lots of memories throughout the year and looking forward to another fun filled year. I'd like to run through a laundry list of accomplishments and memories, but seeing as I'm having trouble finding the time to even post, I'll spare you. My long time followers can just go back through the archives.

It wasn't pretty, but our Hokies won another ACC Championship and will be playing in the Orange Bowl tomorrow. Can't wait for that!

Christmas was great this year. Lots of Wii games to occupy my fleeting free time. Logan even got a couple games and is getting good and dueling me in Star Wars: Clone Wars. He'll make a pretty good Jedi! ; ) Ansley can not be any more a girl. She got lots of purses and makeup. She is really into dancing and loves dancing to pretty much anything. That little girl has got her Daddy's rhythm!

No Ironman races planned for '09, as we have a big trip to Disney planned. Get this, with no race during the trip! I owe it to the family! Speaking of, I do have a great support system in my family. Nikki is the most patient woman I know with me and the kids have been great.

I'm kicking off '09 with a New Year's 10K. That should be fun, since I haven't run in a week or so. I was planning on going out today, but it's ridiculously windy and I'm having too much fun playing the Wii. I'll be signing up for another Ironman for '10, just don't know where yet. I hope to focus on getting faster throughout the year, so we'll see how that goes. Look for my New Year resolutions soon. Also look for schedule updates and changes to my blog this weekend.

'09 will also be especially memorable as Nikki and I will celebrate 10 very happy years together!
Stay tuned...

WOW…

2008-12-15T22:30:00.003-05:00

Has it really be over a month since my last post? Where does the time go? I guess that with my season ending after the marathon, I’ve just put off blogging. Rest and family time seem to occupy most of my blogging time now. I’ve been racking my brain on a full marathon race report, but just couldn’t get anything worth writing about. Well without further ado…

So where did we last leave off? Oh yeah, Logan was racing in his longest race, a 1 mile kids run the night before the marathon and Nikki’s 8K. He did really well and made us all proud. I ran with him so that I could ensure he’d pace himself. He wanted to blast out and lead the race, don’t know where he got that from, but he stayed with me and was very consistent. He got a nice side stitch, yes they even hurt a 5 year old, and walked once. I told him it was totally okay to walk, just didn’t want him crying or quitting. He even gutted out a sprint finish. He was ecstatic to finish on the track in front of lots of folks sitting in the stands. We are so very proud of him and how much he enjoyed his own race. Nikki says that Ansley was yelling very loud and was happy for her brother.

Nikki’s 8K went really well. She posted the fastest splits, minutes per mile, than in all her training. She was very pleased. I’m very proud of how hard she’s been pushing herself and what she’s already accomplished. Maybe I’ll get her into a Tri…

My marathon, not so much. Turns out, 50’s and raining really means 75, 100% humidity, and sun. In the end, I took what the day gave me and ended up missing my goal by about 30 minutes. On average, most of the folks I train with and talked to missed their goal by 40 minutes, so a bad day had by all. GI, i.e. stomach, trouble started about mile 16 and lasted most of the last 10 miles. Too much sugary PowerAde, I guess. Found Coach K about mile 21 and stopped to chat. She ran with us from then on. Truly a blessing as I’ve always had issues with the last 6 miles of the marathon and have never truly pushed through. Thanks in large part to Karen, I finally realized that the hurt, doesn’t hurt that bad. The pain subsides. I’ve always believed that I’ve gotten through the “wall”, but until now, I don’t think I ever had. For the last 2.5 miles Karen kept me right with her. She pulled my mind away from everything that was telling me to stop, shielded me from the wind, and we began picking people off and a very fast clip. I finished just over 4 hours, but with a renewed sense of marathon running. I’ll get the GI issues solved and will hit my 3:30 goal in ’09!

Our Hokies have another ACC Championship!! In a year when that didn’t seem possible. Very young team, poor offensive output. But they found ways to win games. It’s been a stressful year, watching some very bad games, but back to back ACC Champs sounds really nice now! My bold prediction is that the Hokies will play for, and win, a National Championship in the next two years.

The kids are super excited about Christmas! We have this little Elf from Hallmark called Elf-On-A-Shelf. The story is that you name them and they watch after you, telling Santa if you’re good or bad. The kids named him Snoopy. So he leaves every night and returns in a different hiding spot for the kids to find. They can’t touch him or he losses his powers and won’t get to speak to Santa. Then Santa will pass over our house since he doesn’t get updates from Snoopy. It’s pretty fun and the kids have 100% bought into it. They love running around the house looking for Snoopy every morning. Nikki and I have just as much fun finding hiding spots in the evenings.

And Ansley is loving all her books!

I’ll be better about regular updates going forward…

1 day...

2008-11-14T06:07:00.004-05:00

With that abysmal Hokie performance behind me, I'm ready to run! I was itching so bad yesterday to go faster during my 50 minute run. But Karen had the proverbial reins on me, so I stayed cool. One more easy run today and I'll be all set.

Logan has his race tonight. A 1 mile run. He's so excited about it and his "training". I'll be sure to post pictures.

Oh, and Nikki is well on the mend. She's now feeling really good about her race! I can't wait to see how well she does. I'm so proud of her.

2 days...

2008-11-12T20:21:00.002-05:00

Poor Nikki has strep throat. She got some meds tonight, so hopefully she'll be on the mend before her start.

I'm getting itchy and want to run, but I'm listening to Coach K and following the taper plan. I've got two short runs tomorrow and Friday, so I'll be good and loose come Saturday morning. I just can't get froggy and hit either of these runs hard or fast. For those that have run with me lately, that'll be hard to do.

3 days...

2008-11-11T20:46:00.003-05:00

Perfect. I'm racing and the weather is looking worse. Now we are looking at 40% chance of showers. With winds at 11mph. Temps seem to be good, in the low 60's.

Again, I apologize to anyone else racing. It's my luck this year that the majority of my races have been in the rain.

Oh well. Just like Placid, I'll deal with it.

4 days...

2008-11-10T22:15:00.002-05:00

Had my last track workout for a few weeks tonight. Kinda bittersweet. Went really well. Just really good pace work. I also got my last training plan until next year from Coach K. Very easy light week. I know that I'm gonna want to do more, but I must listen to Coach K. I'm actually really excited about the marathon and the weather is looking really good.

Stay tuned...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

2008-11-06T22:48:00.002-05:00

This post is coming to you from Lane Stadium as our Hokies have just beaten Maryland, 23-13! Since we got married while the Hokies were playing, it was only fitting that we be in Blacksburg for our 9 year anniversary.

Happy Birthday Allie!

2008-11-05T23:00:00.002-05:00

Our little pooch is 9 years old today. Happy Birthday!

What a weekend

2008-10-27T20:17:00.004-04:00

I ran the Run for Read 8K on Saturday morning. Honestly, with intentions of winning my age group and the whole race. Michael Harlow, you Richmond folks will know him, was there with the intention of winning. I got out with him and a couple others at the start. Before I go any further...Coach K had told me to try and hit a 7 minute first mile, knowing that I'd probably be around 6:45, then descend...Imagine my surprise when I hit the first mile and looked at my watch and saw 6:05!! The problem was that it actually felt pretty good. Follow that up with a 6:38, then a 9! Yes, a 9 minute mile in an 8K. Between miles 2 and 3, I got one of the most painful side stitches I've ever had. It turned out to be a combination of going out WAY to fast and being suffocated by my clothes. I was wearing a sleeveless compression shirt and my Dominion running singlet over top. I was anticipating much colder weather and rainy conditions. No rain and very humid. I was getting a feeling of suffocation and the heat wasn't being released. Once I pulled off the shirts and took a couple deep breaths, I was okay. Finished up with a couple 6:30 minute miles. All in all I had a decent race. PR'd by almost a minute (34:55), placed 2nd in my age group and was 10th overall. In my age group, the first place guy and myself smashed the rest of group, the third place guy was almost 5 minutes back!! Coach K was very pleased that I was able to work through that bad mile and finish as strong as I did. In the longer races, I'll have bad spots and the key to doing well, is being able to deal with them and move on. I could have bagged the whole race at that point, but I decided I was gonna make myself mentally stronger by resolving the situation and getting back on pace. What makes me mad is that I knew better. I've been working so hard on pacing and just got caught up in wanting to be in the front running with the leaders. If I'd stayed more controlled in that first mile, I could have easily dropped 1-2 minutes off my time. I would have won my age group and been close, if not in, the top 5. Race and learn I guess. I did win a pretty sweet messenger bag for placing!

After my race, we had to head straight over to Logan's soccer game. It was rainy and cold at this point. Pretty bad conditions for a soccer game. Then we headed home to watch the Hokie football game. What a terrible loss. Both QB's went down with injuries and we are now starting a WR as QB. He didn't do too bad. I'm glad we have a week off to work through those issues before our big Thursday night game against Maryland. Our first home game in almost a month. I can't wait to go back. Thursday nights in Blacksburg are electric. I'm truly bummed that we'll miss the beautiful foliage through the mountains. Just too long between home games this year.

Sunday morning I did my last 3 hour run before the marathon. Had a really good run. Put the iPod on and it turned out to be a pretty robot like, autopilot, run. Very consistent. Averaged 9:06. Not a single mile was way off that mark. No aches or pains. Right where I wanted to be for that run. A shower, 2 bacon egg and cheese biscuits, and 4 hash browns later, we all headed up to Carter's Mountain for some apple picking! Beautiful weather. We all had a blast. I have lots of pictures that I'll put up once I get them off the camera.

Oh yeah, and Allie no longer has the cone head! She got a nice bath and is all clean!

Perfect...

2008-10-22T20:06:00.002-04:00

I must just bring the rain. Beginning with Lake Placid, my last two races have been in the pouring rain. Looks like this weekend's race will be no different. I do apologize to all my friends running the Richmond Marathon with me this year. You have about a 99% chance that it will rain.

Inject a little speed...

2008-10-20T20:20:00.002-04:00

Nothing like a great track workout to cure an ailing weekend.

My long run on Saturday was a bad one. Nothing really went terribly wrong, just felt really bad. Couldn't really recover, even late into Sunday.
The kids had a very bad "non listening" weekend.
Our Hokies lost to Boston College, again. I'm beginning to really dislike BC. They are the only team to have beaten VT on ESPN Thursday night games (We are 14-3 on Thursday night) and our only two ACC road losses (we've been in the ACC since 2004) have been to them.

At any rate, I'm back feeling good. Talked to Karen who reassured me about the bad long run. Track tonight was really good. Finished up with 2 200's that I ran in 30 seconds and 29 seconds! I still love me some speed!

Nikki's 5K a few weekends ago went really well. And she's been having some really good long runs. I'm so proud of her and what she's already accomplished.

Allie is still running into everything in the house with her pink cone head. We laugh at her when she tries to scratch behind her ears, "it's just not working, Allie". Poor thing. I spend quite a bit of time scratching her ears for her. The scab looks much better. I think after a bath and nail trimming this weekend, we'll retire the head gear.

I love speed!

2008-10-13T22:09:00.003-04:00

Great track workout tonight. Dropped 5 seconds off my quarter mile time! 68 seconds for a quarter mile! I'm liking going fast and pushing myself way over the edge of discomfort.

On another note, our poor Allie scratched herself pretty bad this past weekend and now has a nice collar. It's funny and sad to see her run into everything with this thing on. She'll have to wear it about a week until her face heals. Doc said she either got bit by something or just scratched too much causing a "hot spot" that just irritated her, causing her to scratch more.

Been awhile...

2008-10-07T21:06:00.005-04:00

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. Lots going on.

It's budget time for the Richmond Tri Club. As the Marketing Coordinator I have a pretty complex budget. But I'm working on some really cool things for next year! New apparel and various advertising ideas. Our club has grown to become one of the top 5, if not top 3, largest triathlon clubs in the US. I absolutely love doing this stuff! Guess that's why I ended up majoring in Marketing-Management at VT.

Work is going well, lots going on right now. Way too many meetings than I care for, but it's all part of the job. My boss got me a BlackBerry. I now know why everyone calls them CrackBerries. Email is so instant, you just want to check all the time. I've already gotten the evil eye from Nikki, while looking at my email as I'm fixing dinner. The good thing is, with getting well over 200 emails a day, it's helping me stay on top of things.

My marathon training is going awesome! All my workouts are going well and I'm really enjoying my runs. Two weekends ago, I ran my first 20 miler since the Ironman. Actually turned out to be a really good run. Last weekend was a 2 hour run and this weekend is a 2 1/2 hour run. My speed work is so much fun right now. I'm getting faster every week. My quarter mile time is down to 1:13. That's 73 seconds for a quarter mile! I've added the Run for Read 8K to my schedule at the end of October. Last year, I ran 35:52 and placed 2nd in my age group. I can't wait to see how I'll do. And I'm still looking for a 5K to get those 3 seconds back.

Nikki and the kids are doing great. Nikki has a 5K this Saturday. I'm so excited for her and can't wait to see how she'll do. We signed up Logan for the Kids 1 mile race prior to the marathon, so he's pretty excited and wanting to "train".

Hokie, Hokie, Hokie, Hi

2008-09-27T23:51:00.002-04:00

YES! The Hokies have WON! 35-30. More points than I had imagined, and closer down the stretch, but I'll take it!

No so fast my friend...

2008-09-27T18:01:00.005-04:00

One of my really good friends Brandon Rollogas, who, like myself, is die hard for his team. He's a Nebraska Cornhusker. Well, the two of us have been talking trash this week like we've never talked trash before. He's been bold enough to call this a blowout win, Nebraska by 21! This will be the first time since the '96 Orange Bowl that the Hokies will take on Nebraska. That game didn't go so well, a 41-21 beat down by the Huskers. Redemption time, BABY!

The last time we faced a regular season Big 12 opponent, was in the 2002 season. The Hokies went into #19 Texas A&M as a big underdog. We came out of that hostile environment with a 13-3 win. I fully expect to come out of tonight's hostile environment with a win.

This is going to be a great game. A bunch of us will be meeting at Buffalo Wild Wings for some wings and beer while watching the Hokies take care of those "popcorn huskies"!

VT 17 - Nebraska 10

It's game time!

Great Weekend

2008-09-21T22:35:00.003-04:00

Our Hokies beat the Tarheels to remain undefeated in the ACC. What a great game and a solid win! Bring on Nebraska!

I got a very nice 2 hour 20 minute run in on Saturday morning. Ran with all my friends from the Sunday group. It was really good to see everyone again. It's been a while since I've been out with them.

Saturday night, we treated the kids to a camping trip. Well, just in the backyard, but they did well. We only have one small area that is flat, so the tent had to be tucked into the corner behind our garage, but it worked well. I think we'll move up to one of the local parks next time. Logan didn't sleep too well, tossing and turning most of the night. But Ansley, she slept like a rock. Didn't move the entire night. I couldn't believe it, but it was Nikki's very first time sleeping outside. She hit up Target for a new sleeping bag just that afternoon and used my good twin air mattress. I got the pleasure of sleeping on a 20 year old ThermaRest from my old Boy Scout days. I was pretty sore in the morning. I think we'll be getting a larger air mattress for the next trip!

Good morning!

2008-09-12T07:51:00.003-04:00

I actually enjoy getting up early to run. I popped up at 5:10 this morning, ate a Cliff Bar, hit the bathroom, grabbed my headlamp, then headed out at 5:45 for an hour run. Very nice outside, cool with high humidity, just the way I like it!

Enjoy your day! After my run, I know I will.

We're headed to Blacksburg this afternoon for the Hokie football game tomorrow against Georgia Tech. I can't wait the get there, I love that place. Got a 2 hour run scheduled for tomorrow morning, so I'm stoked to be able to run through the VT campus and surrounding area.

3 seconds!

2008-09-06T13:06:00.004-04:00

So I ran the Annabelle's Angels 5K this morning. First of all, Annabelle's Angels is a wonderful organization with a heartbreaking story. I encourage you to check out their site and learn about back over accidents and how to prevent them.

Yes, that's Tropical Storm Hanna with Richmond in the center of the map. And yes, I didn't back out of my commitment to run the 5K. After all, I am an IRONMAN and am no stranger to competing in the rain. Even with the storm, I just nearly missed my goal. I really wanted to break 20 minutes. Still, 20:02, is another 5K PR for me. If I'm not careful, I'm going to start enjoying running in the pouring rain!

Logan's First Day!

2008-09-02T21:28:00.004-04:00

He had a great first day of school! Mom and Dad are okay as well, mainly because he's such a big boy and did so well. He really enjoyed everything!

Kindergarten

2008-09-01T19:50:00.002-04:00

I can't even believe that Logan starts Kindergarten tomorrow. I'm completely heartbroken, in a good way. My little guy is growing up way too fast. Tonight, we helped him pack his own lunch in his very own lunch bag. Tomorrow, he'll get on the bus for the very first time. He's lucky in that he gets to start in a brand new school, but I'm sad for him in that all his friends from Bell Creek will be attending other schools. He won't know anyone in his class, but I'm sure he'll make lots of new friends. I don't know how Nikki and I will be tomorrow morning. I can tell she's stressed and I've almost cried twice now tonight. Who knows, it's sadness and happiness all bundled up.

Ahh, Yes!

2008-08-29T11:33:00.002-04:00

College football season is finally upon us. The Deal family is heading down to Charlotte to see the Hokies open up against East Carolina. It's supposed to be a home game for ECU, but they decided to play against us in the Carolina Panther's stadium. And, the Virginia Tech ticket office included this game in our season ticket package! Bonus! Even though we'll be playing away from Lane Stadium, it'll be like a home game for us as we'll have close to 50,000 fans there!

GO HOKIES!!

When Care Bears and Power Rangers attack...

2008-08-27T21:18:00.002-04:00

Congrats to Karen and Chris

2008-08-22T22:37:00.003-04:00

I feel bad for not posting this earlier, Karen had her baby last Saturday! Skylar is very cute and has a really cool future triathlon name! All are doing well.

Amazing!

2008-08-20T22:29:00.005-04:00

So far, these Olympics have been amazing!

First, in swimming, was Michael Phelps winning an unprecedented 8 gold medals. He broke 7 world records and 1 Olympic record. I don't think we'll ever see a performance like that. His races were edge of your seat excitement. His team, anchored by Jason Lezak, catching and passing the French in the 4x100m Freestyle relay. Winning by a fingernail in the 100m Butterfly. Then there's Natalie Coughlin becoming the first ever US female to win 6 medals at a single Olympics. Finally, the amazing Dara Torres, at 41 years old, just barely missing gold.

My favorite, Track & Field, didn't disappoint. Most of you might know that I ran Track in High School and at Virginia Tech. I was a sprinter, hurdler, and pole vaulter in High School. The pole vault was my event at Virginia Tech. In all my years racing and following Track & Field, I've never seen someone win a 100m final by the margin that Usain Bolt did. It's a shame that he started show-boating before he even finished. I really wanted to see how fast he could have gone. It was a pleasure to see him break Michael Johnson's 200m record. Another fantastic world record to watch was Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia clearing 16' 6 3/4" in the women's pole vault.

It's almost midnight and I just got finished watching Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh in the gold medal match of Beach Volleyball. That was more than worth it to stay up for. What an awesome finish! I believe that those two are the best Beach Volleyball team, men or women. They are undefeated in all of 2008 and something like 458-18 since winning gold in 2004! That's crazy!

Now I need some sleep...

Holy Cow, You all got me!

2008-08-13T22:04:00.003-04:00

I still can't even believe that Nikki was able to pull that off.

The plan was for Nikki and I to have a night out, dinner and a movie. Kevin, Kelly, and Brandon were going to take me out for a couple drinks that afternoon as a congrats on my Ironman finish. Well, two tall beers, a royal flush, shot of tuaca, and shot of vodka later, I'm wondering how I'm gonna watch "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in digital 3D with the massive buzz I have going on. I open the front door of my house and am totally floored! A surprise Ironman celebratory party!

Now Nikki is the type of person that gets very nervous and highly irritable when we have 4-5 people over. I have no idea how she kept her cool for the entire week, knowing there were gonna be like 40 people at our house. I never suspected a single thing. Come to find out she's been planning this since the night I finished the Ironman. Truly amazing! All my friends played along, some not returning calls to keep themselves from saying too much. Others, like Ginger and Matt, saying they never do anything or have plans, but couldn't double date with Nikki and I that Saturday.

Well, I had an absolute blast. It's been a very long time since I tied one on that good! It was great to see everyone there and I truly appreciate everyone who was able to come. I also thank those that were invited but were unable to attend, your thoughts were there. I'm blessed to have such great friends!

Kevin had a very nice congratulatory speech that he said in front of everyone, he's good at that. It was awesome! Karen followed up with some really nice words about me and even more for Nikki and her support through my training. I really wish I had a video of both of them.

My favorite quote of the night was from Kimmick's girlfriend Becca while we were playing flip cup. I was inside saying goodbye to friends and headed back outside just in time to hear, "What...He can run and bike like 100 some miles, but can't flip a cup". As everyone saw me, all you heard was "Ohhhhhhhh". I did much better after that. ;)

Needless to say, I did not do any swimming, biking, or running on Sunday. Pretty much slept most of the day.

2008 Ironman Lake Placid Race Report

2008-08-03T20:23:00.049-04:00

First of all, I want to give a huge thanks to everyone who was following my first Ironman journey and race. Thanks for supporting me throughout this journey and taking the time on your Sunday to keep track of me live. It really meant a lot to see how many of you were reading, posting, and keeping in touch with Nikki during the race.

Now sit back, grab a cup of water (or coffee), and enjoy my full (it’s long) 2008 Ironman Lake Placid race report.

On a day that will forever be known for the rain, I became an Ironman. It rained and rained, and just when we thought it might stop, it rained even harder. Something in the neighborhood of 3 inches of rain fell in Lake Placid between 7am and 8pm on that day, July 20, 2008. Even without the torrential downpour, I wouldn’t have any trouble remembering my first Ironman experience.

In what felt like the longest two day, 10 hour drive ever, we finally arrive in beautiful Lake Placid. New York has always been the big city to me. However, upstate New York, especially the Adirondack region, is like a whole other world. This place is absolutely breathtaking. It’s Thursday afternoon and Placid is buzzing. Athletes are everywhere, running, biking, and swimming. We drive up the short massive hill to our hotel, the Crown Plaza, and comment on how Nikki and the kids will be in pretty good shape after going up and down several times during our stay.After we check in, get the room situation cleared up, and get settled, I change and head out for a short jog. Felt good to get out, see everything, and loosen up.

2 Days to go

On Friday morning, I get up at 6AM to meet John and Ed for our 1.5 hour bike. We had already decided to take the descent into Keene to get a feel for the speed and road conditions. Just prior to the descent, this a**hole blasts past us way too close. Ed gave them the “international peace sign”. Well, they didn’t like that so they pulled over ahead of us. I had dropped back a bit to kinda stay out of the way. When John and Ed passed, they shouted “what’s your problem”. Ed simply said “use your head”. This a**hole screeched out, I was a bit behind John and Ed which put me right beside this knucklehead, almost taking me out forcing me across the double yellow. He got so close to John and Ed that I thought he was gonna run them both over! Some people! Whew. With that little scare out of the way, we took on the descent. We all felt much more comfortable getting a look and feel for that steep descent. It looked much more intimidating on the drive in. On the way back to Keene from Upper Jay, I got the pleasure of riding in my very first thunderstorm as I think to myself “I really would hate to have to take the descent in the rain”. Finishing our ride back in Keene, I ate a great breakfast at the Bed & Breakfast that John and Ed were staying at.

Once I got cleaned up, I headed down to get myself checked in. What could have been a very complicated process ended up being really smooth as the volunteers were great, very organized, and very helpful. Nikki and the kids met me down there as I was finishing up the check-in process and we headed over to the expo and merchandise tents. I picked up some sweet Ironman gear! Back in the room, I began to place all my race things into the transition and special needs bags.

Later that evening I donned my wetsuit and we took the kids down to the beach for a swim. Logan thought my wetsuit was really cool and was calling it a “zoom suit”, as he’s been hooked on the movie Zoom. Honestly, I really didn’t want to swim. It was getting late, all I wanted to do was rest, and that was the one thing I was most concerned about. I swam one lap, 1.2 miles, and thoroughly enjoyed my swim in gorgeous Mirror Lake. Ended up being the best open water swim I’ve had. Got out in 40 minutes and was very pleased. I was now pumped for the swim on Sunday!

1 Day to go

I got a great night’s sleep! Saturday was pretty uneventful. Karen had us doing a short swim/bike/run in the morning, but due to storms, we bagged it. No sense risking a fall the day before the race. Needed the extra sleep in the morning more than a workout anyway. We ate a giant breakfast at the hotel, very good hot breakfast buffet. I finished placing all my gear into the transition and special needs bags by late morning so that I could get them down to transition and turned in with my bike. Didn’t want to be running around looking for things at the last minute. Once the bags were all packed, we took my bike and transition bags to be checked into the transition area to await me on race day. Took a look around the skating oval to see everything. Saw the finish line, but wouldn’t go underneath it. Waiting until tomorrow for that experience!That left most of the day to just chill. We spent the rest of the day doing some walking around town for me to stay loose and lots of relaxing in the room. Got my nutrition bottles and water bottles filled and ready to go, as well as my bike nutrition. Thought about doing a swim, but decided to conserve energy. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day. I ate a great bowl of Fettuccini Alfredo at Charlie’s on Main Street as my last full meal prior to the race and went to bed early.

RACE DAY!

“BEEP-BEEP-BEEP” “CELL PHONE RINGING” “PHONE RINGING” 4AM. This is it. Race Day. It’s all come down to this very day. I didn’t sleep well, but that’s expected. Fixed some oatmeal and had two hard boiled eggs. Grabbed my four remaining bags (dry clothes, bottle and nutrition, special needs bike, and special needs run) and then headed to transition just after 5AM.

Headed over to my bike to check it out and get my nutrition and bottles on board. Another racer in my row let me borrow his pump so that I could get my tires inflated a bit more. Decided to run 112-115 PSI instead of my usual 120 PSI, just in case it rained. John had suggested to run a bit softer as they’d handle and stick much better in wet conditions. That would prove to be a brilliant suggestion.

After a bathroom break I put my Richmond Tri Club race jersey on, hung up my dry clothes bag, and headed over to get body marked. I still love the smell of black sharpies the morning of a race. Another pee stop, then I donned my wetsuit up to my waist and headed down to place my special needs bags in their place. The CarboPro bottle I was sipping on since breakfast was great. It was keeping the energy up and keeping me full so I wasn’t getting hungry. Took a trip into the woods for yet another pee break, and then headed over to the swim start.

THE SWIM

Miraculously, I found John and Ed within the 2000+ Athletes all in black wetsuits. John assisted me with pulling my wetsuit over my shoulders and zipping the back up. It was about 6:30AM by this time. We followed the heard of Athletes over the timing mats, under the Ironman arch, and into the water. John swam out so fast that Ed and I lost him amid the purple swim caps. Took my final pre-race pee, along with many others, and I was ready. (The joke at the awards banquet was how the rain was coming down to flush the giant toilet that was Mirror Lake!) Ed and I picked a spot a few rows back and about halfway between the buoys and the shore. As we were treading water, we realized that we had drifted very close to the front. We quickly swam back a few rows so as not to get run over.

As we were listening to Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Going Down”, we heard Mike Riley announce, “Have the best day of your life!” As the cannon went off, the pandemonium began. Amidst my swim stroke and all the commotion, I did manage to hear, and listen a bit, to the chorus of the signature Ironman start song, U2’s “Beautiful Day”.

For the first 5-10 minutes, I felt like I was in a washing machine.Got kicked in the face, had forearms and elbows to the head, even had someone place their hand on my hips and push me down under water. Through all of this, I never panicked and actually held my own out there. I settled into my grove and had a great swim. Karen would have been so proud. I was pulling through and rotating to my non-breathing side.

About halfway to the turnaround I felt a pitter-patter on my swim cap. Surely that can’t be rain. It would have to be raining pretty darn hard to feel it as I swim. I rotated a bit more on my next breath and sure enough, it was raining. And coming down hard.

Before I knew it, I was getting out of the water, crossing the timing mats, and reentering the water for lap two. I saw lots of folks removing their goggles and trying to fix or adjust them. Mine were good. So good, in fact, that I was taking no chances on removing them. I did have to pee again really bad on that second loop. Mirror Lake tasted really good, by the way. I tried hard to just go as I was swimming, but just couldn’t do it. Would have to wait until I was in transition. The crowd really didn’t thin out on that second loop. Probably since I was swimming so well, I was still among a very large group. I did feel really good the second time around and swimming very close to lots of folks that were at the same pace as me. This helped me to keep up my pace and not slow up. I remained very focused through the entire swim and it showed when I got out of the water.

Swim time – 1:15:52

T1

As I came out of the water, there were wetsuit strippers on the beach. This was so cool! My wetsuit was already half off as I approached. All I had to do was find an available volunteer, lie on my back, and have them yank the rest of the wetsuit off my legs. Once my wetsuit was handed back to me, I headed on a quarter mile jog to the transition area.

Through the bag area, I grabbed my T1 bag and went into the men’s changing tent. I entered and was like a deer in headlights. That tent was VERY crowded and VERY muggy. It was in the infield of the skating oval and there was deep, thick, mud everywhere. I sloshed around and found a seat. I just sat for a minute or two and sorted through all my stuff. Once my bike gear stuff was on, I headed out to get my bike. Also took that pee break I needed from the swim. As I head out a volunteer shouts out my number and another is grabbing my bike off the rack to hand it to me in the middle of the aisle. Don’t have to find my bike amongst all the others. Before I cross the bike mount line, I find a large water puddle to step into and get all the mud off my bike cleats. So that I can actually clip into my pedals.

T1 time – 11:47

THE BIKE

As I was leaving transition, my helmet just didn’t feel right. I decided that before I get going, I’m gonna pull over and adjust my helmet so that I’m safe and comfortable. A lot of the spectators gave me kudos for getting that straight before I started downhill out of town. As recommended, I didn’t press too hard on the first loop of the bike. There were a few big climbs getting out of Placid, then the descent to Keene. That was fun in the pouring, blinding, rain. I was pretty conservative on that first loop descent. There were still lots of folks around me. Way too many people to take big risks on a rainy descent.

After we descended into Keene the ride to Upper Jay and Jay was flat and rolling. I was riding at a pretty good clip, roughly 20 mph, but was getting really cold. Riding downhill and then riding fast on flats with very little climbs, doesn’t get the heart rate up that high to heat your body. I started shivering. I couldn’t believe that I was getting cold while working so hard. I glanced at my skin and it was a little bluish with chill bumps. At this point, I was seriously thinking that I may have to drop out due to hypothermia. I shifted into a bigger gear to activate my larger leg muscles and gutted it out until the climbs. I was actually looking forward to the 20+ straight miles of climbing on the backside of the loop. Lots of folks I was chatting with mentioned the same thing.

Those 20+ miles of climbing is why the Lake Placid Ironman has the toughest bike course on the North American Ironman circuit. I was hitting under 10 mph through most of the steep sustained climbing. It was tough. Like nothing I’ve ever done. The last climb before we turned into Placid had a Tour de France feel to it. The streets were lined with people shouting and we had a very narrow path to pass through them. It was really cool and got me all jacked up heading into town.

Just after that climb, we were passing Mirror Lake and our special needs bike bags. I made a stop and grabbed my two Three Musketeers from my bag. Man, that Three Musketeers tasted SO good! I stashed the other in my jersey pocket for later. I ended up never eating it. Didn’t need the extra tire tube or CO2 cartridge, so I just left them in the bag.

Climbing out from Mirror Lake, I saw Nikki and the kids at the bottom of the hill from the Hotel. They were cheering so loud and just filled me with energy. I did have to be careful through the rest of town. It was all jazzed up with spectators screaming so loud. So much excitement, it was awesome! There are some very nasty, twisty, downhills leaving town, so I really had to get my focus back quick from all that excitement. I was out of town and back on the road to Keene.

The climbs, even the smaller ones, were MUCH larger the second time around. This is exactly why people tell you to be conservative on that first loop. I did feel much more confident on the descent. Got into a really nice tuck and hit 44 mph! 44 mph in the pouring rain! I was a small stone away from death. Anything that wasn’t the road itself that I hit going that fast could have sent me flying to the pavement. Again, those Oakley’s were worth every penny. I trusted my bike and trusted my ability to handle her down that mountain.

I was staying hydrated well on the bike as I had to take close to a dozen pee breaks during the entire bike. Now I’m not one of the Athletes that can pee while riding a bike, so I just took my stops. Gave me a chance to get off the bike for a few seconds. The volunteers were great, they’d hold your bike and refill your bottles (if needed), while you were in the port-a-john. You will also pee more when it’s cooler and raining outside as your body doesn’t sweat as much as it normally would during such intense exercise. Excess fluid has to go somewhere. Afterwards, I spoke to John and he was the same way, lots of pee breaks.

The one thing I really missed about the bike was not being able to see the beautiful scenery. The clouds were so low and the rain was coming down so hard, I didn’t get the chance to really look around. I was really looking forward to seeing some breathtaking views.

On the positive side, the rain forced me to really focus on my bike. I was really listening to what she was telling me, what she wanted, and most importantly, what she needed. Flowing with the bike, instead of fighting it. My mind was focused, instead of wandering through the mountains. I could honestly feel everything about that bike on that day. I was 100% dialed into it. That fact alone made the first 100 miles of biking feel like it was an easy 2 hour Saturday ride. I actually laughed out loud when it began to rain harder, what else could I do? The only rough section I had on the bike was the last 12 miles. I lost some concentration and that made those last 12 miles feel like 40. In the end, I finished the second loop of the bike just over 4 minutes from the first loop. Exactly where I wanted to be, keeping both loops very close.

Seeing Nikki and the kids again in town, screaming and shouting, was all it took to get my concentration back. Just in time for the marathon.

Bike time – 7:16:23

T2

As I crossed the bike dismount line, I was pleased to see the bike handlers. I actually wanted off that bike and to start running. They took my bike from me to be placed back on the rack as I headed around the skating oval to the bag racks. Lots of volunteers advising the Athletes to take very short strides so that the legs didn’t give out. They were right, my legs felt like mush on that little jog. I grabbed my T2 bag and headed to the change tent. As I entered, I noticed that there was a section of the tent in the back that was actually on the oval itself. On pavement and not in the middle of the mud pit. As I headed back there, I heard, “Deal!” I looked up and saw Tyler, then headed right for him. Shortly after that, I saw Adam, Greg, and Blake. A whole Richmond Tri Club contingent, volunteering to be able to sign up for next year’s race. They were pretty excited to see me. Tyler was helping me go through my bags, making the joke about my nutrition, “you have a lot of stuff in here that your body probably doesn’t really want right now”, both of us knowing that I needed it. I joked about having first class service in the change tent with so many helpers and Greg made a hilarious comment that I can’t post on this family friendly blog. Enough laughter to get me going as I started the marathon. I didn’t sit down this time and moved pretty quickly through T2, nearly half the time I was in T1! Tyler and the gang took care of getting all my bike stuff back into the bag and I headed out to run.

T2 time – 6:56

THE MARATHON

I never thought that I’d be looking forward to running a marathon. But, after 112 miles of biking, I was ready to run. This is when it sunk in. In just a few more hours, I was going to be an Ironman. Lots of spectators kept shouting, “You’re gonna be an Ironman today!” It was very uplifting.

I chose not to run with my fuel belt since they had aid stations every mile. There was no need to carry my own bottles when there was a rolling buffet at every aid station. This made the run much more pleasant, since I didn’t have to worry about the belt and the chaffing that comes along with it. Also kept me a little lighter, not carrying the extra fluid weight.

Again, the rain was really coming down. I just continued to laugh and make light of the situation. No sense getting frustrated or angry. Miraculously, I ended up without a single blister! I’ll put my plug in for Target C9 performance socks. They stuck to my feet so well and didn’t allow my feet to slide around in my shoes. With all that rain, I could have ended up with hundreds of blisters all over my feet.

I did really well on the first loop. I was running at a good clip, hitting just over 10 minute miles. I was nailing my nutrition and hydration. Still making several stops for pee breaks, but making good time. This run course isn’t easy either. There are enough climbs to keep your pace in check and humble you every time you felt like pushing a bit faster.

While looking for Nikki and the kids at the turnaround, I was running outside the cones and heard lots of shouting at me. Turns out I missed the timing mats and had to go back a few feet to cross them. Glad everyone else was paying attention to me! Saw Nikki and the kids and ran over to them to hand off my sunglasses. “I’m not gonna need these anymore” I stated with a laugh. The kids looked cute in their new raincoats.
The second loop was much harder. Mainly due to the fact that my stomach and GI tract was in anarchy. I just couldn’t find any food combination that worked. I did have to make 2 “#2” potty breaks and was getting a little worried if that kept up, I could end up getting dehydrated. About mile 18, I started on cola, bananas, and water. One wouldn’t think that odd combination would work during a race, but it was perfect! Settled my stomach down and gave me some good energy to finish strong. Since I had started on the cola I had to keep it going at every aid station from then on, so as not to get a sugar crash.

I walked more on that second loop and chatted with a lot of other Athletes. However, unlike the Shamrock Marathon, I was choosing to walk, so when I got a bit cold, I could pick up the pace. I saw lots of folks running with those mylar blankets and I didn’t want to have any part of that. Once you put those things on and get heated up, you would never be able to take them off, as you’d be way too cold. I still wish that I had gone a bit harder on that second loop. I now felt that on the second loop, I was running “not to get injured” as opposed to keeping the pace I had on the first loop or running at a faster clip. The soreness was setting in and really messing with my head. Flashing back to Shamrock and all the pain I had while walking the last 6-7 miles.

There was this one section called the motivational mile where they placed all the signs that families had made for their Athletes. Logan made me one with Nikki’s help. They never told me what it was so it was tricky to spot amongst the masses of signs. I saw it on the second loop, as I had slowed up to see them all, and got all teary eyed. “Bryan Real Deal” was on it. Logan had drawn a Stitch on it. Nikki had also entered a text message for me to see on the large digital board. There is a timing mat that gets your race number and displays the message on the digital board about 20 yards ahead. I saw that one on both loops of the run. Really great to see and very motivational. “We Love You” was on it.

Back into town for the steepest of the climbs, I heard one of my favorite workout songs that glided me up the hardest climb with ease. I checked my watch with a couple miles to go and knew I was gonna be really close to my goal of 14 hours. Picked up the pace as I didn’t want to miss that mark. About that time I heard another great song.

As I entered the skating oval for the finish, I couldn’t hear the music at all. I may never know what song I finished to. The emotion and the cheering were overwhelming and I just drowned out the music. I heard all the guys from the Richmond Tri Club, Ryon, Adam, Tyler, Greg, and Blake, at the top of the oval hooting and hollering for me. I headed over to them, high fiving them all on my way around. I had also heard and saw them a couple times along the run course. It was so cool to see so many familiar faces out there. I crossed the finish line, ecstatic! The one thing I really wanted to hear was Mike Riley saying “Bryan Deal, YOU, are an Ironman!” but I totally missed it. Regardless, I was more than excited to have completed such a huge accomplishment.

Marathon time – 5:06:25

FINAL FINISH TIME – 13:57:23

POST RACE

After I crossed the finish line, I had another great volunteer helping me out. She grabbed my arm and supported me so that I wouldn’t just fall over. Another volunteer placed a medal over my head and a nice Finisher’s hat on my head. We walked over to get my chip taken off and she asked me what size shirt I wore and grabbed me one. After a few minutes, she asked me if I was okay to stand on my own, and I was okay. In a daze, I began looking for Nikki and the kids, but couldn’t see them anywhere. I headed over to find some food. Ended up only finding the bagels, bananas, and cookies. Grabbed a handful of cookies and sat down for a minute. I later learned that there were Subway subs and Pizza. Darn it! I didn’t see that anywhere. I must have been pretty out of it.

I went ahead and headed into the transition area to grab my bike and then over to get my transition bags. Just wanted to get it all together before I headed out so that I wouldn’t have to come back into the mud and get them all.

As I was leaving the transition area, I caught Nikki and the kids! I was so happy to see them and they were equally excited to see their new Ironman! I gave Nikki a huge, wet, sweaty, hug and just held her for a bit releasing some of the emotion I had from finishing.

I had heard so much about the energy and emotion of watching the last few finishers come through and did not want to miss out since I was here. I got to the room, that hill up to our hotel was VERY difficult, and took a very long warm shower. Put some dry clothes on, ended up with two base layers and a sweatshirt as I was still a little cold. Then headed back down to find some food. Walked into Pasta la Vista, where we had eaten lunch a few days ago, and sat at the bar. They didn’t sell pizza by the slice, but did have slightly larger personal size pizzas. To which I replied, “I’m pretty sure I’ll be okay with that.” Met this really nice English couple, Simon and Lisa Thomas, who are riding motorcycles around the world. They were taking lots of pictures of the Ironman and really liked seeing my medal and hearing my story. They were really fun to chat with and thoroughly enjoyed hearing about the Ironman race. They have a website chronicling their journeys, 2 Ride the World.

I made it down to the finish area about 11:30PM. It was so exciting to be there and so emotional. Watching the finisher come in 8 seconds after the official finish time was heartbreaking. Caught up with Adam and chatted a bit, then headed back to the room and crashed about 1AM. I had been up nearly 24 hours! Oh, and by the way, I AM AN IRONMAN!!

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m definitely doing that again! I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience and the journey that led me to become an Ironman. A lot of people say that an Ironman finish is all about the journey. I can tell you that is correct. It’s been a long and hard, sometimes painful, journey. But one that I’ll never forget. Karen’s training program was awesome and not only prepared me physically, but mentally as well. If she’s available, she’ll be my coach on the next go ‘round.

I learned a lot about myself out there. I can handle large amounts of pain during exercise and know that I could definitely push harder through the bike and run. I did hold some back due to the challenging course, my first time experience, and the torrential rain. I didn’t want any rookie mistakes that would have taken me out of the race. After all, the number one goal was to finish and enjoy the day. Mission accomplished. I AM AN IRONMAN!

I had no races scheduled for after the Ironman, not knowing how I’d feel. I’ll be signing up for the Richmond Marathon this November and am already excited about it. I’m going to push this one hard and keep that “I might get hurt” feeling out of my head. I’ve gotten Nikki a little excited about training and racing. She’ll be running the Ntelos 8K the same day as the Richmond Marathon.

Next year, I’ll focus on a Half Ironman or two. Have to stay local as the last two years we have planned a family vacation around one of my races. Nikki and the kids deserve a family vacation with no race attached to it.

We're back

2008-07-27T22:10:00.003-04:00

We've been back since very late on Friday and have been very lazy this weekend. I'm still working on the race report, it's lengthy, but will be up soon. Lots of pics from Lake George to come as well.

Having a good time

2008-07-24T23:52:00.002-04:00

We've been having fun in Lake George, even though it's been raining pretty much all day since we've been here. Took Logan and Ansley on a go-cart track, they had a blast. Logan and I had a laser tag game with the place all to ourselves. He's a good shot and beat me. Must have sweet talked the attendant, as she was running around helping him out! Went to see WALL-E. Very good movie. The kids really enjoyed it. At least we have had a few bits of non-rain. We did get on a fireworks cruise tonight that took us out on Lake George to see a really cool fireworks show. The kids loved it. There are a ton of things to do indoors when it rains, as there is a "rain activities" list that the hotel gives out. Must rain a lot up here.

I'm still working on my full race report, so stay tuned for that. It hasn't yet fully sunk in what I have accomplished.

Here's a picture of us at the top of Little Whiteface. Whiteface summit is in the background. Looks like an awesome ski resort, with some sweet trails.

Bryan Deal, YOU, ARE, AN IRONMAN!!!

2008-07-21T00:41:00.003-04:00

Boy, I've waited a long time to hear those words. I did it. I sure did earn it today. Rain came down in buckets, pretty much all day long. There's something about bombing downhill at 44mph in the driving rain that gets the heart pumping.

Just got back from watching the very end of the race at midnight. Amazing to see that in person. The crowd was electric, cheering in the last finishers. Truly heartbreaking to watch someone cross the line in 17:00:08. The official cutoff is 17 hours. They won't get the medal, shirt, or hat; but they are Ironmen in their hearts.

Lots more to come, need sleep...

"IRONMAN" DEAL

2008-07-20T21:53:00.005-04:00

Less than an hour ago, Bryan became an official IRONMAN! Finished under 14 hours at 13:57:23 - with the kids and I screaming congratulations to him!

We are already back at the hotel and Bryan is currently in shower trying to get his body temperature back to a normal range! It did stop raining for his finish - perfect!

Check back tomorrow for pictures from today (I did not learn how to do that part:))

I want to say a personal THANK YOU to all that have followed and watched along with us today - it means the world to Bryan and I!

I am sure Bryan will have a post for you all soon - maybe tomorrow - but soon!

Still Smiling!

2008-07-20T18:41:00.004-04:00

Bryan finished the half marathon point at about 6:05pm at 10:17/mile pace - I say that is amazing as it was raining even harder than I have seen all day when we saw him at the turnaround - based on how the course is set up we got to see him twice before the 1/2 point so that was fun!

He handed over his sunglasses to us as he didn't think he would need them anymore - I have to agree!

Well the next time I post something hopefully it will be to say that Bryan is an IRONMAN! Looks like if he stays on pace should be done around 8:20pmish!

He is done with bike!

2008-07-20T16:02:00.004-04:00

He is still smiling and waving at us - looks good! We saw him right before the final transition so based on the timing he should have started the run right at 3:51pm - wow, now he has to run for 26.2 miles - truly amazing if you ask me!

Timing the run is going to be the trickiest part I think so hopefully we don't miss him!

Oh, and we do seem to have a small break in the rain - a hole over top of us right now but I don't think it will last for long!

Yes, It is STILL raining...

2008-07-20T14:25:00.003-04:00

and I think it is just getting harder! About 66 degrees so the temp has dropped in the last couple of hours and the local radar does not show any sign of the rain letting up - UNBELIEVABLE!

Bryan should finish up the bike around 3:45pmish if he keeps the same pace as the first lap but I am sure this rain is not making that easy at all!

We will head out again to see him finish it up - I found some trash bags that I think I might try to rig as rain coats for the kids - very MacGyver of me!

Soaking Wet!

2008-07-20T12:29:00.004-04:00

That is all I can say right now! We just saw Bryan right before the 1/2 point on the bike - his first lap split of 56 miles was 3:36:10 which is about 15.54 mph - I think this is slower than he would like but he looked happy and glad to see us! I think he should get bonus points for doing this in the pouring rain - has been since soon after the start!

Kids were so excited to see him - we stood outside for 30 minutes getting soaked and they never complained - such troopers for their Daddy!

The pros have already started their run - hard to think they are done with the bike already!

No sunscreen needed today!

2008-07-20T08:30:00.003-04:00

Well the kids and I had to watch from the dryness of the hotel room for Bryan's swim time - got it first via text page on the phone - 1:15:52! Looks like he is off to a great start! If you are watching the live coverage at all then please let me tell you that it does not do the rain justice! It is raining really hard here right now - they are saying that it is not slowing anyone down on the 9km downhill into Keene - but if it were me I would be scared to death - we drove up that road on the way here and it wasn't something to mess with! We did not come prepared for the rain so I hope we aren't held up here all day! We hope to head down and see him pass through after his first bike loop! Thanks to everyone who is keeping track of Bryan - I KNOW he appreciates it so much!

And they are off!

2008-07-20T07:15:00.003-04:00

At 7am the race started! Took over 2 minutes to get everyone across the start line - there are 2200 racers participating today! The kids are still sleeping as I type this - we will head down and try to see Bryan when he is running from the water to transition to get changed and get his bike - about a 1/4 mile run. Weather does not look good today - high is going to be about 70 degrees with a 60% chance of rain all day - not fun! I hope Bryan slept better than I did - was awake from about 1am to 3am worried his alarm would not go off at 4am! Well Bryan should be at the half way point of the 1st lap of the swim...

The Calm...

2008-07-19T20:01:00.002-04:00

Even though the countdown timer is now ticking hours instead of days, I'm still so eerily relaxed. I'm just anxious to get going. Many thanks to everyone who has been and will be thinking about me and keeping track. Your support and kind words are much appreciated.

If you click over to the official Ironman website you'll be able to see live coverage and track me as I tick off each segment.

Off to sleep...

Happy Birthday Nikki

2008-07-19T16:14:00.002-04:00

Today is Nikki's birthday. I just want to take a few minutes to express my love and appreciation to her for all she's done and put up with the last 5 months, while I was gone almost every night and every weekend.

Nikki, you have been more help to me than you realize and I could have never been as prepared as I am right now, without you. You are a wonderful Mother and I continue to be "amazed by you." You will be with me all day tomorrow, even if I can't physically see you. I love you with all my heart and I appreciate all the sacrifices you have made for me to become an Ironman. It hasn't always been pretty, but we made it through. Even though we can't do much today, we will have a great time over the next week.

I love you with all my heart.

Welcome to the Adirondacks

2008-07-18T14:35:00.005-04:00

One thing I'm learning about the Adirondack Mountains is that the weather can change in an instant.

I've never been on a bike ride in the pouring rain. Light rain, drizzle, sure. Not blinding, stinging, thunderstorm rain. Always avoided it.

Now I can affirmatively check that off the list of things I've never been through. Actually wasn't too bad. We had already gone down the steepest descent to get a feel for how fast and technical it really was. It was still very sunny as we headed over to Upper Jay and turned around. Only had about 15 minutes left to ride when the thunder and clouds rolled in fast. Then the sky just opened up and DUMPED all over us. I'm talking now about blinding, stinging, thunderstorm rain. I can tell you that those sweet Oakley's I got are worth every penny. Never fogged up and the rain just beaded right off them. Bike handled really well and the tires had great grip in the rain. Knowing that beforehand has instilled even more confidence in my trusty steed and will undoubtedly help if the rain comes in during the race.

As far as the descent, it's about a 5.5 mile descent that's almost straight down the mountain. I hit 42.5 mph and wasn't even trying to go fast. I'll be careful, but a little faster come Sunday. I'm so glad we rode that section today, just to get a feel for it.

Still need to get a short swim in down at Mirror Lake, but another big storm has moved in. I'm off to take a nap, then swim in a bit.

Finally...

2008-07-17T21:08:00.002-04:00

We are here! Arrived at 4:30pm after 2 very long days in the car negotiating kids, roads and pitstops for forgotten items! What we have seen so far, which isn't much, of Lake Placid is that it is amazingly beautiful! Got to our room and starting un-loading the van and I discovered after trying to sit at our table and chairs that I could not because they were so close to the bed - this room is REALLY small! I checked out the diagram on the back of the door to discover that we were in the smallest room in the entire place - with 2 kids and all of our stuff - really this was not going to work! Bryan, who recognized that if he did not do something about this he may not be around to race on Sunday, called and was able to get us a much larger room - feels twice the size - with a pullout and two tv's - we gave up the view but I am sure we will get enough of that being outside! At least now we won't kill each other! Bryan went for a short run while I took the kids to the pool to try to get some energy out - not sure if it worked or not - but we are headed to bed early in preparation of a busy day tomorrow investigating our surroundings! Oh and by the way this is Nikki doing my first ever blog post so I can practice for the big day!

Getting close

2008-07-17T09:37:00.002-04:00

It's almost 10am on Thursday morning and we are getting ready to head out of Newburgh, New York. We are about 3 hours away from Lake Placid. Got in too late last night for a post, but got a pretty good nights sleep.

Had a bit of a scare on the ride up. The bike rack on the back of the Van slipped a little causing the bottom two hooks to come loose! We were one big bump from losing my bike! YIKES! That would have hurt my Ironman race a bit! Once I looked it over I realized in my haste to leave, that I had the side hooks on the top and the top hooks on the side. Once that was fixed, we were good to go.

Stay tuned...

I did it again...

2008-07-14T21:40:00.002-04:00

Another 5K PR tonight, 20:37! I'm peaking at just the right time.

I've been asked numerous times if I'm nervous. Honestly, not at all. No anxiety or nervousness. I think prepared is the best word. I've never been so physically and mentally prepared for a race. I'm ready for this challenge!

#365

2008-07-12T21:36:00.006-04:00

There it is. I'm #365. Pretty cool, as I signed up for Lake Placid nearly 365 days ago! My good friends and training buddies, John and Ed, are #1772 and #939, respectively. Keep an eye on them as well. We've been through a lot together since April and I have much respect for those two guys. It's truly been a pleasure to have such great company throughout this journey.

Check out my trusty steed, just after her pre-race wash. I'm loving the fresh, VERY overdue, handlebar tape. That white is HOT!

I hope you noticed the new pic on the left. I know, it's AWESOME! Well, here's the full image courtesy of Stephen Lackey. A great buddy of mine who is an exceptional photographer and videographer. This was taken as I was flying downhill at the I Love the Tavern Tri a few weeks ago.

Full Focus

2008-07-08T15:46:00.003-04:00

With Ansley doing so well, I can now turn my full focus on the Ironman.

I was stoked that I PR'd my flat 5K during the run split of the I Love the Tavern Tri a couple weeks ago (I'm still working on the race report). I ran a 21:09! Karen now has us running the Cul-De-Sac 5K series for the next two Mondays as our speed work instead of Track. Well, at last night's race, I busted out a 20:46! Karen is pleased in that my speed is coming on at just the right time.

My taper is going well so far. I had so much time this past weekend, I didn't know what to do. Karen's mantra these next two weeks is just "Speed, Sleep, & Eat". I can do that. I'm liking this speed thing.

Overall, I'm feeling really good. At this point, as long as I nail my nutrition, there is no way that I'm not going to finish. Just a matter of how far under 17 hours I can go. I have 14 hours in the back of mind, and 12 hours even farther back.

Stay tuned...

Ansley's doing well

2008-07-03T22:37:00.002-04:00

Our little girl is such a trooper. She didn't even cry when they took her back and put her under. Surgery took just over 20 minutes. She did well this afternoon, already talking and moving around. Now that the pain is beginning to set in a bit, we'll have to ensure she gets enough fluids. She's already refusing some fluids due to discomfort. The Dr. sent her home with the IV line still in her hand so that we could administer IV bags over the next couple days. This is to keep us out of the ER on a holiday weekend.

She just looks so pitiful and in much discomfort. Almost heartbreaking. Logan was almost in tears worrying about his little sister.

We'll keep you all updated.

Too much

2008-07-02T22:18:00.002-04:00

I have a ton of stuff I want to write about, but I'm pretty tired right now. Ansley has her surgery in the morning. That has front brain space at the moment. I'll update everyone tomorrow and will dump all my other thoughts after we get her home.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow.

Stay tuned...

3 Weeks!

2008-06-29T21:14:00.001-04:00

Everything is clicking right now. Only 3 weeks to go!

Racing's fun...

2008-06-29T21:08:00.002-04:00

So I did a sprint tri (750m swim, 18.8 mile bike, 5K run) this morning, the day after a 5 hour bike and 20 minute t-run. Totally didn't know what to expect, but ended up doing really well. I'll have a longer race report up later, but wanted to get a quick post up. I didn't even wear my watch, so I don't know my splits, results aren't up yet. I came through around 1:30, which was 15 minutes faster than I was expecting. My bike computer had me averaging roughly 22mph with a top speed of, get this, 41mph!!! I was rolling on the bike today.

More to come...

4 Weeks!

2008-06-23T22:09:00.004-04:00

Great track workout tonight with Karen. Feeling really fast out there. Hit my last 400 (quarter mile) in 1:22! That was after 3 1200's and 2 400's. Feeling really good overall. Just keeping an eye on both IT bands as the right one was acting up towards the very end of the 2 hour run this past Sunday. I think it was just saying "Hey, I'm still here" as I've been paying so much attention to the left. Massage therapy is helping A LOT! My Masseuse told me today that if she didn't know me, she would have had no idea that I'm training for an Ironman. My legs are just recovering really well. Gotta be the Juice! It is really helping out with muscle damage and repairing that damage quickly. Getting a little scientific, it reduces the markers of oxidative stress and flushes out the free radicals that cause muscle soreness and damage. Endurox, post workouts, is also helping the recovery process.

Stay tuned...

Oh Yeah, It's On!

2008-06-18T21:57:00.004-04:00

If you are reading this after 7am on Thursday June 19th, you'll notice that I'm 30 days away. The bad days and weeks are now behind me. The negative thoughts and doubt are gone. I'll not bring them back up, nor slump back into them. They've molded me into what I am now. I'm pressing on hard. I'm gonna do this.

Tuesday night ride!

2008-06-17T22:03:00.004-04:00

SWEET! I had a great ride tonight. Averaged 22.1 mph, with a max speed of 34.5 mph, over 33.39 miles. I stayed with the front group for the entire ride! I'm getting so much stronger on the bike and I love it. The bike fit I had a couple weeks ago is really paying off. I've got more power on the bike and in a much better position to run off the bike. All my t-runs since the fit have been great!

5 Weeks!

2008-06-16T21:45:00.002-04:00

Holy cow! 5 weeks to go!

Tonight's track workout went great. When we all showed up, a big thunderstorm was moving in with lots of lightning. Karen decided to move us indoors, into the University of Richmond basketball stadium. I knew at that point what we were doing. Stadium runs. Yep, we started on one aisle and went up and down every aisle on the top section all the way around the stadium. Once we did that, we took 4 laps around the main console area. Then headed back into the stands to complete a second set of stadium runs, this time on the bottom section.

I have some sick fascination with stadium runs. Maybe it's the numerous times I had to do them while running track in Lane Stadium at Virginia Tech, their football stadium. Which goes from A all the way up to YYY on the West side and up to 5Q on the East side. U of R's basketball stadium only went up to like AA. So this was the one workout, and probably the only, that I got to lead and stay well ahead of everyone. I love stadium runs.

Our Little Girl

2008-06-10T16:38:00.005-04:00

So I had a terrible training week last week, more on that in a bit, and now have even more to keep in this brain of mine. Nikki sent an email out to friends and family that I wanted to post regarding our little Ansley. Needless to say we are both worried and pray for everything to be okay. All this in a little 3-year old.

"Well mother’s intuition told me that I should have Ansley’s hearing checked – after 3 hours with the ear doctor today we have discovered that she has lost most of the hearing in her right ear. We won’t know how much of this is permanent or temporary hearing loss until probably the end of July after she recovers from surgery.

On July 3rd, they will be putting her 2nd set of ear tubes in, removing her adenoids and tonsils at the same time. These things are all connected and affect each other and with her excessive history of strep throat the smart thing to do at this point. This should be a same day surgery however she has to be out of school for 2 weeks afterwards – should be fun in the Deal household!

After all the fluid has drained from her ear and they are fully healed then they can do another hearing test to determine what portion is permanent – the Dr said that most likely she will have some permanent loss – to what extent we will have to wait and see.

Just wanted to pass this along – please keep her in your thoughts and prayers – especially on July 3rd!"

So we definitely have a lot going on in the next month. I pray we can make it through.

Beginning Thursday, last week's training was miserable to say the least. Mentally, I just wasn't in it. Every day felt like I had to force myself to get out and get the workout in. Doubt, questions, insecurities. It all filled my thoughts, all weekend. On top of that, it has been over 100 degrees since Friday.

With last week behind me, I'm focusing on the positives and really working hard to keep the negative thoughts out of my brain. Monday's track went really well in the 100 degree heat. Tonight's bike, again over 100 degrees, also went really well. I actually do enjoy the heat and humidity for some strange reason.

Stay tuned, we're getting close...

Faster swim lane

2008-06-04T21:33:00.003-04:00

I'm stoked that I was able to hold my own tonight in the faster lane! It made me really push myself past my comfort zone to hold the pace that the others were swimming. It hurt a bit, but most of me really enjoyed the push! The big difference in the lane change is the rest time between intervals and sets. There isn't much at all! I'm proud to say that I didn't have to take extra rest or miss any intervals!

Had my bike fit this morning. He said that there was a lot about my position that he liked and a lot that he didn't like. He made a bunch of very minor changes and tweaks to increase my power on the bike. I could already feel a huge difference in the few minutes I was peddling. I also didn't need any additional upgrades, which was good on the wallet! He noticed that my left leg, the one that I had the IT band trouble on, was folding in too much. This motion was keeping my IT band in a contracted position which would cause me much pain on the marathon leg of the Ironman. He placed two shims, very thin plastic pieces, underneath my cleat on the left shoe that prevented the left leg from folding in. I can't wait to get out and ride to see if I can feel a difference in the power output.

7 Weeks!

2008-06-02T07:44:00.007-04:00

Wow, it's getting close!

Training is going really well. This past weekend I finished up a 6 hour bike ride. Really good ride. The first 3 hours saw some beautiful weather. Low 70s with, get this, NO WIND. I didn't even know what do to. Once I got through West Point and was heading up King William Hwy, the wind picked up as storms were heading in. Luckily I only got a little rain with just over an hour to ride. All in all, it was a good 6 hours in the saddle.

Swimming is going extremely well. Feeling more and more comfortable in the water. Completed a 4000y swim on Saturday and felt pretty good about it. Will update how the lane change on Wednesday afternoon's Master's class goes.

I've got a 3 hour run coming up in a couple weeks. We'll see how my IT band holds up. So far, so good. Only need 7 more weeks of everything holding together! Got some new shoes to get nice and broken in prior to Lake Placid. They are HOT! I'll get a pic and post it.

Logan finished up his last soccer game on Saturday. Seems like the season just flew by. As the Assistant Coach, it was really cool to see how much better the kids got over the two months. I had a great time coaching those kids.

Nikki got her hair cut. Looks great! I love it! Once I get a pic, I'll post it.

My family is remaining very patient with all my training and I love them very much. They have been great in supporting me through this.

Quick update

2008-05-28T22:25:00.002-04:00

Training is going really well. Karen bumped me up to a faster group at the track since I'm running so well. My swimming is also going really well. My Master's swim coach is going to bump me up to a faster lane next week! I'm actually feeling really comfortable in the water and faster than I ever have been.

Continuing to get faster and stronger.

I hope I can hang on...

Happy belated Birthday to Me!

2008-05-20T07:55:00.006-04:00

Friday, the 16th, was my birthday! Didn't take me long to spend my birthday money. Got a new pair of Oakley sunglasses this past weekend. Needed some performance eyewear that didn't keep and smear the sweat all over the lens. I chose the Oakley FLAK Jacket. They have Hydrophobic lenses, meaning the water and sweat just bead and roll off. They are SWEET!

Training is still going well. Last week was not as good as the previous week, but that was expected. I have a big week this week, capped off with a 5.5 hour ride this weekend! Guess what? I finally got my training log updated and as you can see, I've been pretty busy training. I know the next few weeks will be pretty intense as well.

I was way behind on getting the log updated because we got Mario Kart Wii, complete with two steering wheels. I've been racing the whole family in the very little free time I had left. Logan loves this game so much, it's helping Nikki and I use it as a reward for making good choices at school and good behaviour.

I do want to mention how much I appreciate Nikki. She is being very patient with my huge training load, very encouraging, and extremely helpful. I'm out until almost 8pm every night with afternoon workouts, so I don't get too much time at home with everyone. I definitely take advantage of every second I have with them during this time. I really hope all this training pays off in July with a great race!

BTW...Chicago called and they want their wind back. Seriously, I can't even believe how windy it's been in Richmond the last couple months. 10-30mph winds seem to hit every other day, and every freakin' time I get on my bike. I'm going to have a great bike leg if it's not windy in Lake Placid!

Breakthrough week

2008-05-11T20:12:00.002-04:00

First off, Happy Mother's Day to the wonderful Mother of our beautiful children.

I feel like this past week was a breakthrough week for me. All workouts felt really good and I felt really strong all week.

I'm feeling much better in the water and the Master's swim coach has said I'm looking better in my form.

My nutrition has been going really well. Karen had me start a liquid nutrition plan on the bike instead of the many Cliff Bars I was eating. She, and several others she is coaching for Lake Placid, talked me into trying CarboPro. It's 112 calories per scoop, so you just mix any number of scoops in water to get your needed number of calories. On the Tuesday night bike ride, I had a bottle with 3 scoops CarboPro and stayed with the main pack the whole ride! First time hanging with everyone until the end! Even had the legs for some sprinting at the end with the main group!

On Saturday morning, I completed the Cap2Cap century ride. We rode from Dorey Park in Richmond, VA to Jamestown High School in Jamestown, VA and back. The ride went really well. Rode 102 miles in 5 hours and 6 minutes and felt really good the entire ride. That's an average of almost 20mph! Immediately following the ride we went on a 20 minute t-run that really didn't feel too bad! During the ride, I had 2 bottles with 5 scoops each of CarboPro, with water up front in my AeroDrink. Didn't get dropped from my group or 'bonk' at all! In addition to the CarboPro, I took in half a banana at 50 miles, a Nature's Path Cranberry bar at 75, and 3 Oreo's (gotta have my Oreo's!) with about 12 to go. Just to get in a little solid food.

Now, I have to get used to the fact that while my energy level is good with the CarboPro, my stomach is confused. I'm so used to eating Cliff Bars for a whole ride that I feel empty at times, thinking I'm hungry. May have to stash a single Cliff Bar to nibble on through a long ride.

My running is going really well too. The calves have finally learned to deal with this new running form of mine and stop complaining. No hip or IT band pain at all! Weekly massage therapy is really helping me with that. It doesn't hurt that Dr. Stadler's office has a massage therapist. Since it has been prescribed as part of my rehab, insurance is covering my massages up to Lake Placid! Karen was right, this injury back in March was a blessing in disguise. I was able to get everything straightened out well ahead of the bulk of my training! Let's hope that everything holds together for a couple more months.

11 Weeks!

2008-05-05T21:29:00.002-04:00

My IT band is holding up nicely. The weekly massage therapy and rehab sessions are working well. I know my training log on the left hasn't been updated, but I'll get it, just hang tight.

Saturday was an interesting day for us. I went out on my long bike after Logan's soccer game. We ended up riding 4 hours and 26 minutes for a total of 83 miles on the day. We followed that with a 15 minute t-run. The ride was tough with the freakin' 10-20 mph winds! I HATE THE WIND. My eyes were burning so bad due to all the pollen that was blowing around. I had this nice yellow tint to me when finished. Oh, and it felt like we climbed the entire time. Oh well, these very tough bike rides will only make me stronger come July.

After the ride and run I got wiped down, cleaned up, and changed for our church dinner. I head over for a really nice dinner. We had chicken parmesan, green beans, and salad. Great food post ride!

After dinner, I'm ready to head home, have a beer, and relax. Nikki's van had other thoughts. It wouldn't start. No biggie, I'll just jump it, and off we go. Nope. Didn't like that either. After several phone calls and speaking with Nikki's Dad, we decided to remove the battery and take it to an auto store for replacement. Removing a battery is no easy task when the only tools you have are two screwdrivers and a pair of pliers. After a lot of elbow grease, I get it out. Luckily we had driven separately, so that we could get a replacement. (Oh, did I forget to mention that we had the kids too. Yeah, they were getting cranky and tired by this point.) AutoZone confirmed that the battery was indeed dead, so we purchased a new battery, drove back to the van and got it installed. Not nearly as hard as getting it out.

After all that, we finally get home about quarter of 11, and not into bed until close to 11:45. I'm usually in bed by 10pm, so I was beat! Needless to say, I missed my 7am running group, just needed the sleep. I did get my run in later in the morning. 1 hour 26 minutes. Felt really good. Didn't wear the IT band strap and had no IT band pain.

Stay tuned...

12 Weeks!

2008-04-29T22:13:00.002-04:00

I was cool looking at my countdown timer, stating 80+ days until Lake Placid. Then Karen sends out my training plan for the week. 12 weeks to go, she states. Holy cow! That sounds so much closer than 80+ days.

Finished up my first t-run since last year. I was forgetting how tough it is to run off the bike. I have a 5 hour ride this weekend and the Cap2Cap Century ride next weekend, both with t-runs. So, I'll see what it feels like to run after the 5 hour ride and the 100 miler. (For those that don't know, a t-run is a transition run, or brick, where you do a very short run immediately following a bike ride. This gets the leg muscles trained to transition from biking to running.)

I'm loving the Tuesday night group ride. We are riding about 36 miles. Last week we averaged 19mph. This week, 21mph! I'm still not up with the main group once we hit the hills, which start about maybe mile 25, but I'm sticking with the second group once the main pack splits. And actually doing my fair share of pulling.

BTW...My calves HAVE to stop hurting at some point, don't they? I feel like they are in total anarchy! At least my IT band is happy!

Training going well

2008-04-24T21:14:00.003-04:00

I'm holding my own on that Tuesday night bike ride that killed me last year. That's making me much more comfortable on the bike. I'm even doing a good deal of pulling. Also not getting dropped on the climbs is pretty encouraging. I'm really pushing myself at times, knowing that riding fast will make me much stronger come July.

Karen and Stadler have changed my running form. I'm feeling much better, though my calves are pretty sore. The IT band is feeling okay. Leah, my rehab therapist, has got me working on some great strength training exercises. I swear, between Karen, Stadler, and Leah, it'll be amazing if I can even run come July. I'm so sore in internal leg muscles that I didn't even know I had!

Karen is really kicking my butt in the pool. I'm feeling so much more comfortable in the water. Last nights master's swim was really good. I'm very relaxed and feeling longer in my stroke. She's pleased that I'm picking up the changes so quickly and improving so much.

The one thing helping me get the IT band healed and the significant improvement in my swim stroke is that I trust Karen, Stadler, and Leah 100%. I'm always told that I'm very body aware, so I can really focus on what they are teaching me and translate that into my workouts.

Got a 4 hour bike ride on Saturday and a 1 hour 15 minute run on Sunday. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Remembering

2008-04-17T05:59:00.004-04:00

One year ago, our family lost a wonderful Mother and a great person. Today, our family remembers Judy and all the joy she brought us. We all will continue to remember and love her.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers, especially today.

We miss you Judy...

We Will Not Forget

2008-04-16T07:40:00.003-04:00

Today we remember those lost on that tragic day one year ago

Yikes!

2008-04-15T22:12:00.002-04:00

Just noticed that my countdown timer is under 100 days!

Wanted to get a quick post to let everyone know that my training is going really well so far.

I'm very pleased to let you all know that I'm holding my own with that RABA ride that kicked my butt last year. For the last two weeks, I'm finishing the entire ride with a few folks, more importantly, not by myself as I did last year. I even have the legs to be baited into a sprint during the last few miles! Tonight, we averaged 20.4 MPH for the 35 mile ride.

I'M STOKED!

2008-04-09T22:09:00.003-04:00

Boy did I truly find that sweet spot for the ITB strap. Got a 40 minute run on the treadmill today, with NO PAIN! I was at about 9 minute pace, but hey, at this point I'll take that. Sure beats not running at all...

A soccer star!

2008-04-07T21:51:00.003-04:00

On a wet and rainy Saturday morning, Logan scores 3 goals in his very first soccer game! He looked like a natural out there and was super excited. His assistant coach, that's me, was very proud of him.

ITBS update - My MRI on Friday evening was pretty uneventful. Just a 30 minute nap. I'll find out the full results on Thursday, when I have my follow-up with Dr. Stadler. I was able to get a 20 minute run in today with very minimal pain. More discomfort than actual pain like last week! I think I've found the sweet spot for the ITB strap that I've been wearing. Meaning, the spot that prevents the IT band from rubbing my knee. I'm pretty stoked about that, but will remain calm and controlled. Not going to rush this and risk a setback.

Logan's 5

2008-04-04T22:01:00.005-04:00

I feel bad for not posting this last weekend, but our little boy is growing up too fast!

Yes! Power Rangers!

Thanks for my Dino, Ansley!

Cool! Star Wars!

All mine!

Use the force, Luke

IT Band Update

2008-04-04T21:44:00.003-04:00

Here's the scoop so far...

Still can't run longer than 20 minutes without pain on the outside of my left knee. Had an MRI tonight on my left leg to confirm ITBS and rule anything else weird out. Next week I may have a cortisone shot into the bursa of the knee to alleviate the pain and allow me to run.

The good news is that I can bike and swim without any pain at all. Karen is kicking my butt in her Master's swim on Wednesday evenings. I'm still swimming only catch-up, but I'm feeling MUCH smoother in the water. I'm actually getting comfortable breathing on the right!

Will keep you updated.

Several Updates

2008-03-26T21:38:00.002-04:00

Okay, I have a lot of updates for my readers, here goes...

Had my first ever Master's swim practice tonight. Karen met me at 5:30pm for a lesson, then talked me into swimming with the Master's group. Pretty intense. I think my brain hurts from all the information I got in those 2 hours. Karen really helped me out with my stroke. I feel like I made huge gains tonight. I'm swimming only catch-up stroke for now, until I get used to all the changes that she made to my stroke. And, I never thought I could do this without drowning, but Karen has me breathing from my right side! I've always breathed from my left, never could from the right, until now. All in all, I'm feeling much more comfortable in the water and swimming smoother, with much less effort.

I saw Dr. Stadler last Thursday about my knee. It's actually my IT band that is acting up. The IT band runs from the hip to the knee. If it's tight, it will rub the bony protrusions of the knee causing swelling and some really bad pain. I'm on an anti-inflammatory to keep the swelling down and have to wear a strap above my knee to keep the IT band from moving around. Lots of stretching and taking my running very slow. It's VERY frustrating as I've really been enjoying my runs. I can get about 20 minutes of running in before it begins to hurt and I have to head back. My second run this week did go better than the first, but it's hard to not be able to really run. I want to run so bad I can't stand it. I want to be on the track. I want to open it up and really get some hard runs in. I do know that the IT band injury can't be rushed. It's not something that you can "run through", so I'm being smart about it. I have to be sure I stop and stretch really good if I feel it hurting.

I've updated my race schedule, removing the Kinetic Half Ironman. Not because of my IT band, but because, quite frankly, couldn't get over the fact of spending $150 on a race to "go through the motions". We were starting to realize how much this Ironman trip is going to cost and looking at things to cut back on! Nikki stated that if I'm gonna save us $150, she'll stand on the side of the road and hand me water bottles and food as I do the Half Iron distance in training one Saturday.

Logan turns 5 on Saturday. He's already started soccer and swimming. Following in my Dad's footsteps, I'm the assistant coach of his soccer team. His first game is April 5th. I can't wait! He's so excited!

My Cousin Aaron got promoted to Executive Chef at Tristan in Charleston, SC. Congrats Aaron! If you are ever visiting Charleston, check it out. Outstanding food and service!

I'll get my training log updated tomorrow.

Stay tuned...

Bummer...

2008-03-19T19:40:00.006-04:00

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I've been pretty bummed out on my performance at the Shamrock Marathon. I'm pleased to have finished my third Marathon, however, really wanted a 3:30. Instead I settled for a 4:15 finish.

I don't even really know what happened. I was on pace up through 15, then my left knee started hurting REALLY bad. I had to pull up, thinking that I'll be okay after a few minutes of a slightly slower pace. I let Kev and Jen go with the thought of picking it up after things felt better. I was hoping that the 5 miles in direct headwind, partly on the concrete boardwalk, would not completely kill my form for the later stage of the race.

Did I mention that I HATE THE WIND? We've had the worst winds around Richmond in the last three months. A buddy of mine from Indiana was asking "is it always this windy in Richmond?" Have we become the new "windy city"? With my luck, it'll be 40+mph winds in the middle of July at Lake Placid!

But I digress.

After a couple miles at a slower pace, I fall back into the 3:40 pace group. At this point, I'd be happy to be in this group and pull away with 3 or 4 to go. Well, my knee thought otherwise. About 18 I had fallen off the 3:40 group. Then about 20, I was left to walking. Boy did it get cold once I had to start walking. I jogged some, but spent a lot of time walking that last 10K. Also having to take small breaks to kneel down or just stop, as the pain was terrible. The wind was just whipping off the coast, it was cloudy, and in the 40's. After the race, Kev commented that at least it wasn't raining. I said "if it had started raining after I started walking, I would have flagged down the nearest volunteer for a ride back to the finish". I've never felt like that in a race. I was devastated. Nutritionally, I was fine. Breathing, muscles, speed, pace, everything was totally fine. I was just so mad that I couldn't run what I feel I'm capable of running, and it had to do with something I've never had trouble with. I've had right hip trouble in the past, but have gotten stronger and not had issues with it in over a year. And I've never had trouble with either knee. Since January, I've finished the 35K (about 22 miles) trail race, and 2 20 mile runs with no issues. It's still a little sore today, three days later, so I hope Dr. Stadler and Karen can fix me up.

The only thing that did make me smile in that last 10K was walking past these two women cheering the runners on. "Good job #683, you are looking good, and we mean REAL good", "You go ahead and keep walking, we'll be okay just watching", and finally "You make that outfit look REALLY good". As mad as I was, I thanked them with a big smile. I may not have finished at 3:30, but at least I look good!

Shamrock Marathon tomorrow

2008-03-15T09:30:00.004-04:00

Perfect, the weather looks like 50, with rain and 20mph winds. I do not like this crazy wind we've been having at all. Every weekend seems to have 20-30mph winds.

This one is going to hurt. Look for my race report Sunday or Monday.

The last time I was running a race in Virginia Beach, the Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon, I got dehydrated during the race then threw up on the bus ride back to the car. Which caused Kev to pull the car over and throw up as I was telling the story to Nikki! Here's hoping that I don't have a repeat of that scenario!

Also, I'm still working on the camping slideshows.

2008 Camping Trip

2008-03-11T20:44:00.009-04:00

We had our annual guys camping trip this past weekend. What a blast! As typical of our camping trips, we arrived in the rain and cold. Saturday morning we awoke to lots of rain and worried that we wouldn't be able to make the hike. After breakfast, hoping it would clear up, we headed over to Old Rag mountain for our day hike. We started out with a very cloudy sky that turned over to a beautiful blue with lots of sunshine! Then, as we were close to the summit, the sky turned black and we all heard thunder. We paused for a bit as the lightning came in and were surprised at what happened next. Hail. Yes, that's right, Hail. The four of us are now cowering near and under a huge boulder for shelter. I mention that we should wait it out, knowing that the high winds would blow this over rather quickly. Sure enough, after about 15 minutes the storm was gone and the sky was blue again. Rainbows are absolutely breathtaking on the top of a mountain. At the top we really got to feel the 50+ mph winds. Nearly blew us off the rocks at the summit. Well, the weather wasn't done just yet. Sleet was next, followed by snow. So in a 6 hour span, we got to experience almost every form of precipitation. Here are a few pictures until I can finish up my slideshow.

Our cozy home for the weekend

That's me, taking in the beauty

Yes, that's Pea Sized Hail!

You just can't make this stuff up!

I'm on top of the world! (well almost, see below, we still have a little left to climb)

Kimmick giving his sponsors some face time

Here I am, taking shelter from the sleet and wind while we eat

Training update

2008-03-03T22:34:00.002-05:00

Last weeks numbers appear lower than my "recovery week" but I was pretty busy all week. Missed some workouts due to appointments and family plans. Then had a really busy weekend. I managed to get a lot of miles on the bike, since it's the easiest workout to get in. Just hop on my bike on the trainer while we watch some TV.

Got some new goggles, so I'm pretty stoked about swimming with them. They fit much better than the last pair I had. No brain cramps from having to be too tight. They look really sweet, but not making me any faster.

Congrats to Kev for throwing down a 19:05 in the Huguenot 3 miler!

Much needed recovery week

2008-02-27T07:13:00.005-05:00

Last week was a recovery week, and a much needed one at that. I've been battling some sinus and chest congestion for a couple weeks now, so it was good to bring the volume of training down. I did get a second 20 mile run in on Sunday and finished at 8:15 pace. Never thought 20 miles would feel comfortable, but I felt much better over last week. I changed my nutrition up a bit, taking in my Hammer Gel every 20 minutes instead of 30. Of course Kevin decided to light a firecracker and run close to 7 minute miles for the last 2.5 miles. I glanced at my watch and was at 7:30 pace, beginning to hurt, so I did not partake in that nonsense.

The congestion stuff kept me out of the pool last week, so I need to get back into it.

BTW...Leave it to my good friends at Edy's to take my favorite Girl Scout cookie, Samoas, crunch it all up and create the best ice cream ever!

Between the Samoa ice cream and Guitar Hero (for the Wii), I'll have to work out twice as hard!

Finally got one!

2008-02-22T10:50:00.003-05:00

This thing is the greatest Video Game Console EVER! Called my local Best Buy on the way home from work Wednesday and they, unbelievably, had a few in stock. These things have been so hard to find and retailers are only getting 4-5 a week! Logan is already mastering Boxing and Nikki is becoming a Bowling Pro! Say goodbye to ANY spare time I had left. Now, if I could only figure out how to play while on my bike...

Our Poor Allie...

2008-02-21T07:07:00.003-05:00

So, I feel like a bad Dad. I haven't been good about getting Allie's nails cut. Last Saturday, she was running around the backyard and tore her dew claw clear back to the vein. We were able to create a temp bandage that stopped the bleeding. This allowed us to avoid an Emergency visit to the Vet and wait to take her Monday morning. Above is the bandage from the Vet. They were able to clip the nail, as well as the others, and got her wrapped up for a few days. I'm happy to say that the bandage is now off and Allie is doing well. Enjoying her foot again! I can assure you I'll now keep her nails nice and tidy!