Weeps

My good friend, Brian Carroll, will be racing with me this weekend. We call him, "Weeps", for reasons I do not recall. He has been training hard and is much more of an athlete than me. That is him in the back left. By the way, he was grey at age 20 so triathlon did not do that to him.
The hair color, or lack thereof, does have one advantage. He can get in extra training time during the seniors only swim.

Go West, Young Man

I had a great weekend training, sort of.

Friday was running night and I did really well. Tackled the Erie Ave. hill back up towards Haps. Right before the workout I got a call from my New York Coach, Walter, who was in Boulder. I believe he has family out there and was also talking to Inside Triathlon magazine.

Saturday was great. Started out at 6am with swim and run alternating at Ceasar's Creek. Ended up riding with Team in Training after that. Tons of triathletes in the water out there. Perfect.

Ok so what about Sunday? Let me review the unplanned route (And see how many Cincinnatians I can make fall off their chairs).

Mt. Lookout
Columbia
Stadiums
Downtown
Industrial Westside
Price Hill
Western Hills
Mt. Airy Forest
Harrison
A couple of towns that i cannot name
ROSS
Hamilton
Fairfield
A couple of places with "park" in the name
Glendale
Woodlawn
Roselawn
Wyoming
Carthage
St. Bernard
Bond Hill
Clifton
Obryanville
Hyde Park
Mt Lookout


Let's just say I got lost, but always knew where I was. I just could'nt get from there to here.

Along the way:
1)Ran over a full bottle of beer
2)Crashed bigtime on train tracks
3)Got smoked by a hippie chick wearing flip flops who asked if I was a "racer"
4)Thought back to earlier in the morning, "Naw, I won't take the cell phone"

Here's a tip: If you go out for a nice easy bike ride avoid places with names like, Price HILL, Western HILLSSSS, MOUNT Echo, MOUNT Lookout. I think you get the picture.

I always try to come away from things with a take home message. There is no take home message from today's escapade.

One Week to -Philly

Crazy Kids

A little bonus post. Here are some Team members from Rhode Island. I will be meeting them in Philly. I believe they are 12 and 13 respectively.

http://www.newportdailynews.com/articles/2006/06/16/news/news4.txt

Fishkill

You really cannot make this stuff up. My troubles in swimming are legendary. But now I have to add a new danger to my list.

FISH KILLING TOXINS

And these are Philly fish. Everyone knows that Philly fish are the toughest fish.

Here is an email that we got from the Philly race director. My plan is to keep my mouth pointed downstream and to move fast.



"..... This fish kill (which has ceased) was approximately 10 miles from
the area in which we swim. And the fish kill (only hundreds of fish by
the way) never extended substantially downstream.

2) It is my understanding that test results are being released today
that show the River to be safe from the toxins that had caused the fish
kill; it is these results which are opening the water back up again for
regular use. Additionally, it is my understanding that the EPA’s
advisory was made yesterday as a precaution until the results of the tests
were known......"

Gulp or NO Gulp

Lourdes

2 Things

1)I think something good might happen. I am not sure, but it might.

2)There is this connection between hope and physical challenge. We see it in one form when people root for sports teams. We` see it in higher forms when the challenge is great and the athlete has overcome much. It rises further still when people have had to rise from great depths of despair. So we have the "Lance" effect. An irrational attachment comes about where the ability to overcome one thing is attached to a physical event. Somehow, we think that if Lance Armstrong can win the Tour de France, cancer, maybe my cancer, will be cured.
I believe this. In my mind, if one person can survive then we all can survive. When Lisa was diagnosed with cancer the first website I went to was Bob Schimmel's. I was always a huge Schimmel fan but I knew that he had recently been successfully treated for Stage IV Lymphoma. If I could see one guy still alive...
So Lance becomes our irrational, but real, Lourdes. Care for a drink????

New Features

A couple of new features for our readers.

First of all you can log onto the Philly Tri link and see what the race is all about. One cool feature on the Philly Tri website is the "Athlete Tracker" button. Basically you can sign up for free and get a call, email or text message telling you when I have finished the swim, bike and then the run. Look me up under Tom Murtaugh and, for grins, add my friend Brian Carroll to your list.

I also have added a training link so you can see my training schedule. It should give you a good idea of whether I am doing my job or not. You can also see how much time goes to each sport. Give it a whirl

The Weekend

Saturday was interesting. Lots of rain, dark skies and cold temps. So I went out to the Team in Training practice at the lake. Four people showed up including the coach. In my mind this is perfect. I think on bad days you get point for just showing up. So we rode 12 miles and I got to ride with Scott, who was treated many years ago for Lymphoma. A bunch of crazy stories from him. Great practice to handle the bike in the rain. Back to the lot and off on a run. Back to the lot. Is there anyway we can resist a swim in the rain? No way--so off for a half mile sort of swim--not too aggressive.
Now I was headed back home but I still was not sure how I could get in my swim sprint training. I figured I would have to do it later in the day.
On the phone heading home I heard that Christopher's swim lesson was postponed by one half hour. Are you thinking what I am thinking? I mean I am sitting in my car in my wet tri shorts and heading towards the pool. Perfect I get to the pool and dash in with googles in tow. Christopher is having his practice and Andrew is watching. I dive in the pool and get my sprints in.
This tri thing has certainly taught me to find ways to get things done rather than to dwell on the roadblocks.
Sunday a long ride on the newer part of the Loveland bike trail (Total length 70 miles). Perfect again.

2 weeks to Philly

The Call of Open Water

One great thing today. I got up early and did my ride early in the am. Good Point--workout done and not hanging over me all day. Bad Point---Getting up early.
This weekend I head to Ceasar's Creek for outdoor practice. A chance to do a "brick" or multiple sport workout. Swim in the open water. I find that it takes me so long to remember how to swim, that only open water gives me a chance to get a rhythym (how do you spell that word?). Even I was shocked to see that the Philly tri is only two weeks away. Can I redeem myself after the disaster in St. Pete?

"Sometimes, there's God so Quickly"

By now you have recognized the title of the post as a line from "Streetcar Named Desire". But it does happen. Breakthroughs based on a ton of work but for no particular reason.
Tonight I was working with the swim coach. Trying and trying. Then I did something wrong and it worked. I kept both arms out in front longer and my balance started to get better. And then other things got better. And then the fog I have been in for a couple of days started to lift. All because I did the wrong thing.
Let's see what we can do with this over the next couple of weeks and then let it all fly at Philly Tri.

Sweat the Small Stuff

I am getting ready for the Phill Tri. I am still not in great shape. Now Philly was always meant to be a "C" race. Triathletes plan seasons with "A", "B" and "C" races aand then focus on them in that order. So a "C" race is really just a training event.

Even taken that into acount I am still going to have to throw the hammer down in the next couple of weeks. So how to approach this race. Work on the small stuff. I am back to the drawing board and getting swim lessons--technique, drills etc. Small stuff. I am also going to try to improve my transitions.

Yes, transitions. Triathlon is really one giant event and not three separate events. So how fast yo tie your shoes in between events cna be the easiest way to improve your time. Tonight, for instance, I put Yankz cords in my shoes. Yankz cords let you put on your shoes without tying laces===pretty smart..

So to review

Transition One

Run out of the swim and take wetsuit down half way, ge to transition and take wetsuit off--Go ahead and try it.
Next get helmet and glasses on---penalty if you forget your helmet.
Pop on bike shoes and get rolling

Transition Two

Rerack bike
Off goes the helmet
Keep the glasses
Switch to sneakers--remember the Yankz
On with the hat if Sunny and off we go


Oh by the way--only wusses wear socks----I wear socks