Composure

From the deepest part of my heart I thank you all so much for your comments and emails and for taking the time to track me during the race. I felt your vibes right down to my bones and crossing the finish line was for you, a little bit for me but mostly for my dad. Cancer took his body 2 years ago but his spirit and energy is always with me and he finished Ironman Zurich with me.

Huge hugs and tons of affection to you all for being there in your own way.

I traveled a few days in south and central Switzerland and I just returned to the USA last night and my body clock is still on Zurich time. I'm composing a post that will include deep thoughts, a race report, photos, and general Switzerland stuff. Give me a couple days and check back.

Again, thank you.

Truly, thank you.

Almost packed. Almost

Piles of...ah...stuff on my unmade bed.

Bike and accessories all boxed up.

Plane ticket and Passport in hand. 6 days to Ironman.

How do you say "where's the bathroom" on Swiss German!

Many many thanks to you all for checking in on me and all your encouragement. Hugs and kisses to the ladies. Hand shakes and rump slaps to the guys.

#1961, Ironman Zurich.

Ants in my pants!

This taper stuff is whack! I'm not a caffeine drinker but I feel like I'm jacked up on espresso and red bull. I'm sleeping fine but during the day...I'm all turbo charged and ready to RACE!

9 days till IRONMAN!

#1961

More later.

She had a fever of 105

I'm so coy. I have an owie from the I.V. so my paw is taped up.

Normal temp. is about 102. She hadn't eaten in 2 days. Listless and stiff joints.

Definitely not normal for a 4.5 year old Border collie that can out run me both in speed and distance. Even on the mountain bike.

The blood test showed Ehrlichia canis. A bacteria from a tick bite. Related to Rockey mountain spotted fever.

After a whole day at the vet with an I.V. and cooling fans, her temperature dropped to near normal. Now she's on day 4 of a 20 day cycle of doxycycleing and firing on all cylinders.

We went for a run and swim last night and she was ready for more. "Hey cyclone, I'm tapering here so we gotta head home so I can rest, you can chase some rabbits around the yard if you like but I'm putting my feet up for a while." She's fine now.

Please take care of your pets and check them for ticks even if you're using repellents. all it takes is one bite.

Good things come in 3's

3 feathers and 3 rocks. I usually wake up every morning at 3 am for a potty break. I like competing in triathlons. Not just a coincidence.

I'm almost through my first week of taper and the weather forecast for this weekend is pretty darn nice. A little open water swim, some biking, running, and cheering for my tri buddies at 2 local races. It doesn't get much better than that.

I guess I better get my shave on, or off as the case may be. Now that it's race season, It's time to plug in the trimmer for the first wave and then shave the stubble. I'm not an overly hairy guy but I do sport the average amount of leg, arm and chest hair. Yes, I get a bit metosexual this time of year and really do like the idea of cleanly shaved bod. I find it makes the wetsuit peel off slightly easier and hey, I just feel faster with no body hair. And taper time is just the right time to FEEL FASTER. None of that Nair for Men crap, I use shave cream and a razor. Not a brand new razor, mind you, but one that's been used a couple times. Using a new one in the past has left me a bit rashed in places and my girl-friend triathletes always took notice to point out my mistakes. Easy ladies, I only shave the exposed areas. Anything under the bikini is left alone. Guys...whatever.

"Welcome to the Taper!"

That was the email message from my coach. It's taper time.
My last hard workout was yesterday. I did an Olympic distance race and PR'd my previous best oly by :2:33. I'm pretty happy with that cuz the course was a tough one.
Total racers at the event (sprint and Olympic) was 1,200. Starting the oly race were 260 racers. I started in the 6th wave. The 6th wave was the last wave of the oly distance so you can imagine the washing machine of feet, knees, and elbows that were ahead of me. I'm an above average strong swimmer and I usually blast out of the start to avoid the initial ciaos. I had a great start with a few dolphin dives and I was in clear water with no one in my wave to hamper my progress. I caught wave 5 in about 3 minutes. That's when things got tough. I had to weave and plow my way through about 30 bodies (that's 60 feet, 60 knees, and 60 elbows) before the first turn buoy. Right after the turn, I got kicked in the right eye, "OUCH, EFF THAT HURTS!", and my goggle got suctioned so hard into my eye socket that I had to quickly roll onto my back and release the suction before it pulled my eyeball out (mild black eye today). That solved, I found my way through wave 4 to the second turn buoy and by that time the field had thinned out enough that I was able to settle into a smooth pace and make up some time.
T1 was fine except for the crowd in the exit chute and at the mounting line. Evidently it was a bit too much for the chip timing to handle so my bike split wasn't recorded. The bike was hilly, rolling hills, and windy. No worries, I felt good and kept my average pace over 20 mph according to my bike computer.
T2 was also fine and the first 4 miles of my run were good. Then my glutes and hips got real tight and I struggled to keep it smooth and finish in good form. I think I better get my bike fit checked to see if I'm stressing my glutes too much on the bike. After lunch and a short nap, I went for a 90 min ride to flush out my legs and loosen up my butt-ox.
So, the upshot is I PR'D! in spite of the obstacle course of swimmers and a tight butt (pun intended). I'm a little miffed that my bike split didn't get recorded so I'll have to contact the timing folks to see if anything can be done after the fact.
Today is a DAY OFF of training so I plan on icing a few sore body parts and cleaning up the bike for tomorrow's ride.