Thursday, October 23, 2014

Post Ironman Fun

Last night, I traveled west from Richmond to Charlottesville to see the Adrian Belew Power Trio. I had seen this trio play twice in the not too distant past and was looking forward to an intimate show where Adrian would play songs from his long and storied solo career as well as songs from his days in 80's King Crimson. In addition to the trio, I have seen Adrian play in King Crimson three times, in the King Crimson Projekcts, and in his band The Bears. Important note, if you are going to talk about King Crimson these days, you have to differentiate between the various incarnations of the band. Adrian played in the "Elephant Talk" King Crimson, not in the "Larks' Tongues is Aspic" version of the band. I love it all to be honest, from the old to the new. 

As I winded down my work day yesterday before leaving for the show, I thought about what songs they might play. Would they do things like "Momur" or "Big Electric Cat?" Would he play "Pretty Pink Rose" or "Oh Daddy?" He would of course play some great Crimson ditties like "Heartbeat", "Frame by Frame", "Three of a Perfect Pair" and maybe "Neurotica". Just thinking about it all got me excited and I looked up Adrian's past performances on Youtube to wet my appetite. 

After I got off work, I drove the 1 hour to the show and got there around 8AM which was when the show was supposed to start. The venue was small and dark. A few minutes after 8, the opening act took the stage. A performer who simply goes by the name "Gull"  donned his weird mask and started playing a pretty weird, avant garde show. He was definitely talented, playing touch guitar with one hand while playing drums with his other hand. He somehow managed to throw down a funky beat with the kick drum, snare, and high hat all the while playing some nice riffs with his other hand. He used lots of technology to loop various noises that he made with his guitar and his voice. And while he sang a little, his voice was heavily processed and honestly, I could not make out one word. Through all the weirdness, I could tell that he was a very accomplished musician. The audience gave him enthusiastic cheers and hoots in between songs. While he played, they simply stared at him. Of course that is what you get at an Adrian Belew or King Crimson show. Lots of people simply staring, expressionless. I think most are musicians who are sort of studying the performance. Sure they will yell after the song is over. But most will simply gaze at the band with the occasional head bobbing. 

After Gull was done, they cleared off his equipment and brought in the guitars that Adrian would play. There was a lot of gear on the small stage including a Mac laptop that Adrian uses for God knows what. It did not take long for them to get all setup. I think it was about 9:15 when Adrian literally jumped on stage. He nodded his head, picked up his guitar and started the show.

Sure enough, he opened with "Momur". The tempo was quick and just as quickly as it had started, it was over. In fact, I thought to myself that he had skipped a verse. After "Momur" he played "Big Electric Cat." Then another song I did not recognize and then "Lone Rhino." I love the "Lone Rhino" album and was happy he was playing these songs. However, he played abbreviated versions of the songs. In fact, he did this all night. There were a few songs that were full length. Mostly his stuff that I am not as familiar. His longer pieces were mostly instrumental and involved lots of looping guitar licks that he would solo over or layer multiple riffs over one another. No doubt he rocked out, but I did not enjoy the abbreviated versions of the songs. He did not disappoint in his song choices. He played some great 80s King Crimson songs and Dinosaur which I believe is a 90s King Crimson song. Dinosaur was really well executed and throughout the show, Adrian's solos were full of bendy greatness. And the drumming and bass playing were some of the best you will ever hear. 

However, I was a little disappointed in the performance. Like I said, the songs were abbreviated and there were a few technical glitches here and there. Adrian made a few mistakes which he drew attention to with his facial expressions and the occasional swear.  He songs ended abruptly and there seemed to be some residual noise after each song. I think the electronic noise between songs was intentional, sort of a short interlude between the songs. But I thought it distracted from the experience. As the show when on, audience members obviously were not sure when certain songs were actually over. The cheers and shouts would be delayed while everyone tried to figure out if the odd noises were part of the song or not. The best way to tell if the song was over was when Adrian would grab his towel and wipe the sweat off his body and guitar.

I am sure that the tour will improve as it goes. Adrian said before the show that we were the guinea pigs as they sorted out a few operational details. The band did rock for sure but the transitions were a little sloppy and the shortened songs were not to my liking. Had he done a true medley I think I would have enjoyed that more. I don't think I have ever left a show early but since I had a long drive back home and a couple of busy days in front of me, I left about 3 or 4 songs early. I could see the set list on the stage. As I drove home, I had to evaluate whether the show was worth the $30 plus parking and gas money. On the one hand, all three members of the Adrian Belew Power Trio are excellent musicians and can really rock. On the other hand, Adrian seemed nervous and the show was a little sloppy. I am sure the tour will improve as it progresses across the county but for me, I am going to say that the show was okay. Not excellent, not terrible. Was it worth the trip and money? Well, it was a nice change from my usual routine of sleep, eat, work, train. But overall, I think I am done trying to go to shows unless they are truly economical or convenient. So I guess the answer to my question is a qualified yes. 

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Ironman Chattanooga Race Report

It only happened once and it really only lasted for a few seconds. I had a negative thought. "I am not going to do this again. I am tired." Fortunately, I know how to deal with negative thoughts. I pushed it aside. I thought of my brother John and his stoicism. I thought of my Dad who was no longer with us. I thought how lucky I was to be alive and able to push my body. I thought of Melissa and my friends who were there to cheer me on. By thinking of all these positive people and things, I was able to push the negative thinking out of my head. And that was good. Because the hard part was yet to come.

Here are a couple of pictures I use during the race to fight negative thinking. I carry these pictures in my head.
John learning to walk

Inspiring Smile

Ironman Chattanooga starts with a downstream super easy swim. At least it was for this inaugural event. Unfortunately, there was no way to warm up before the swim. Our first order of business after body marking and putting nutrition on our bikes was waiting in line for the busses that would take us to the swim start. I sat next to an older Japanese man on the bus. He asked me if this was my first Ironman. I told him it was number three for me. Then he told me this would be his 20th Ironman and that he was a 16 hour guy.




The swim was a rolling swim start that had us all lined up, sitting down, waiting. I really did not like sitting and standing around before the race. As luck would have it, I ran into a friend who I was able to hang out with so at least that made me a bit more comfortable. Normally, I would swim for a while before the race to get my mind and body warmed up and prepared to race. For this race, once it was time to race, we ran down the ramp, jumped into the water and started swimming.

The current was fast. Interestingly enough, a strong current favors slower swimmers more than fast swimmers. I did not know that going into the race. But afterwards, my coach explained it in a misunderstood Facebook comment that enlightened me and made me understand how the entire dynamics of a race can be changed based on the swim conditions.

I am not a fast swimmer. But I am also not slow. I put in lots of work in the pool to prepare for Ironman and while I might not be fast, I am persistent and consistent. Since the swim was so short, I did not get to reap the fruit of my labor as much as I might have in a lake swim. But I have come to love swim training and am very happy that I put in as much swimming as I did. I plan to continue to work on my swim so I can improve my speed and endurance. To me, having a strong swim is a great foundation. When I come out of the water, I don't want to feel as if I have survived the swim. I want to feel like I crushed it and am ready to charge into the changing tent, have a quick transition, and move right onto the bike.

Once I was finished with the 2.4 mile float down the river, I ran up the steps leading out of the water to a wall of sound. There were so many spectators lining the swim-out chute. Where did they all come from? It was quite amazing to see and hear everyone cheering us on. The cheering and attention made me feel special and it made me run faster into transition. I ran up the steep carpet covered ramp with vigor, passing several people who were struggling with the ascent. One thing that lots of hours in the pool does for you is help you with the transition from swimming to the run into T1. Some people get a bit wobbly when they get out of the water. I was the same way when I first started in the sport. But all my training had prepared me well and I scooted up the ramp with ease.

Here are a couple of Pros running from the water towards T1

 



Once in T1, I grabbed my bike bag, made my way to the changing tent and changed as quickly as I could. I had a faster transition than my last Ironman for sure. I have dropped a couple of things from my gear so that I have less to deal with. I used to wear a cycling "do rag" and cycling gloves. No longer. I don't need them and dealing with them adds time to my transition. In the end, I had a 6:30 T1 which, for a middle of the pack age grouper like myself, is decent. There are plenty of people who were quicker but I was by no means the slowest.

Once on the bike, it was time to enjoy a very fast ride out of town. Typically the swim portion of Ironman greatly spreads out the athletes in the water which in turn spreads everyone out on the bike course. Because of the nature of the swim course, this did not happen at IMTN. There were so many bikers crunched together on the course, it was virtually impossible to follow the rules. In Ironman, there is no drafting and riders need to keep a distance equal to four bike lengths between each other. It is up to each rider to maintain this distance. Passing is permitted of course but you have 20 seconds to complete the pass. Otherwise, you have to drop back out of the draft zone. The course was so packed, that was impossible. While there was a speed advantage due to the drafting, there were also plenty of times where I found myself looking for space on the course. This caused me to surge here and there to get in front of some of the packs so I could ride at the pace I wanted. I probably over cooked the first loop because of all the leap frogging I did with various people.

Once I went through special needs and onto the second loop, things had finally thinned out a bit. By then, I was already starting to fade. The second loop was much harder than the first.  I looked at the bike splits for my friends and it looks like everyone struggled in the same places that I did. I did a lot more coasting on the second loop and my average speed was slower. But I still felt pretty good. My legs were not hurting, I was getting plenty of nutrition, and best of all my butt did not feel terrible.

Before I continue on to the rest of my riveting story, I have to tell you about the "Sabotage on Hog Jowl Road." Apparently some locals thought it would be funny to scatter tacks and motor oil on the road. Fortunately for me, I made it through unscathed. But many people were not so lucky. I saw at least 20 people on the side of the road changing flat tires. That is way more than normal. Usually you see one or two people here and there with flats. Twenty to thirty is very unusual. I did not think much of it until another rider asked me what I thought and suggested sabotage. After the race, Ironman confirmed the sabotage. Some people just really suck.

That last 20 miles of the bike course was tough. Not because there were giant hills or anything. I had simply been out there 5+ hours and was getting fatigued. I think I did well with my nutrition although I did not drink as much Perform as I usually do. The Perform they had on the bike course was so sickly sweet and did not taste the same as the Perform I had used in training. I don't think I could have done anything differently with my nutrition that would have prevented my fade except maybe drink more Perform. Likely I slightly overcooked the first 30 miles of the course. My average speed for the last 20 miles was much slower than any of my other splits. But I rallied on the way back into town and was excited to move onto my strength, running.

Racing an Ironman is great fun. After completing the 116 mile bike ride, I jumped off my bike and handed it to a volunteer. At Ironman events, the volunteers rack the bike for you in T2 which is a nice luxury. I ran through the rows and rows of bags, hoping that I did not already run by my bag. My mind was not exactly sharp at that point and I had a feeling of uncertainty as I trotted through the rows of red bags looking for mine. I finally spotted it and grabbed it up and ran into the changing tent for a quick transition. Running shoes-check. Visor-check. Bike gear back in run bag-check. Quick trip to the porta potty- double check. What a relief. And I was off.

Here are a couple of shots of the rows of run bags I ran through to pick up mine plus a close up of my bag.


 


The run-out chute was jammed with screaming spectators. I heard and saw Melissa which always makes me smile. And I saw my good friends Jon and Meredith as well. My friend Sally saw me and started running along the fence and cheering. I got a chuckle out of that which is a great way to begin the marathon. Relaxed, feeling good.

During the bike leg, I was passed by a fair amount of riders. Not as many as in the past but still a large number. Also the swim was a rolling start and there were several hundred people in front of me in the line when we started the swim. My division (men 45-49) rank on the swim was 190 out of 274 finishers. On the bike, I was 176 out of 274 finishers. All of this means there were a lot of people on the run course in front of me. It was time to do something about that.

Once on the run course, I immediately starting passing people. I was running strong and maybe running a little too fast. But I was determined to catch some people who I knew were in front of me. For the first 8 miles I ran a 8:26 pace. At one point in the first few miles, a woman ran past me. I looked at her calf to see her age group and it said, "P". At first I did not know what that meant. Then I realized she was a pro, likely on her second lap. She still had a ways to go to finish so she may have been one of the many unfortunate ones to suffer the wrath of the sabotage on Hog Jowl Road. I decided to pick up the pace and run with her. After all, I do these races for fun and what is more fun then running off the shoulder of a pro? We were running pretty fast and she could hear me breathing and shot me an icy stare over her shoulder. She looked a bit perplexed.  After just a few minutes, I backed off and let her go. But I kept her in my sights for a while until I hit an aid station.

Typically I walk through the aid stations so I can adequately refuel and cool off. I grabbed several ice cold sponges at each aid station and tucked them into my jersey right over my heart. I would run with those in my jersey for a while and then as I approached the next aid station, I would take them out and wring them out onto my head and down my stomach. I mostly drank water, Perform, and coke at the aid stations. That is, until I started burping up gross Perform bile. Then I simply stuck to coke and water. This strategy worked for the first 2/3rds of the race.

It was about mile 16 where I started to have doubts and started to fade. I was able to quickly push those doubts out of my mind but I was starting to lose my mojo. Miles 17 to 20 were mentally tough. I did not really like that part of the course. We were running in the shoulder and while it was flat, it was a junky part of the course. Cars would wiz by honking their horns and cheering. The honking was more annoying to me than helpful. I finally made it to the Veterans bridge and made my way across. Of course I knew that the hills on the other side of the bridge would be waiting. I had run up them the first loop. I was not sure I could do that on the second.

Sure enough, I hit the hill and had to walk. I did get a spark from seeing Melissa and my friends on the hill. It was the last time I would see them until the finish. I tried to soak in their cheers but I was struggling. I finally crested the hill and started rolling down the hill. I run pretty fast downhill typically and tried to gain back some of the time I lost walking up the hill. Even my downhill running was much slower than on the first loop. My energy was waning. Looking back, I think I could have done better with my run nutrition. Next time I do an Ironman (next October in Louisville, Kentucky), I am going to experiment with taking in some bananas on the run. This time around, when I stopped to walk through the aid stations, I found my breathing to be elevated and walked much longer than the first time through. Lesson learned I think.

After walking up almost all the hills in the last 6 miles, I was finally crossing the Tennessee river for the last time. There was a gradual incline on the walking bridge and I was so cooked that I had to walk some of that. But once I crested the bridge, I knew I only had a little ways to go so I picked it up and hammered it home. There was a nice downhill section into the finish line chute. Somehow I always find one more gear at the end of these races. I was able to pick up the pace and pass several people in the last 200 yards of the run. And while most people slow down for their finishing picture with their hands in the air, I just ran. I love to run and this was the time to do it. For me, that is the way to finish.  No fancy dance, no rituals, just running hard through the finish line.

It was a hard fought run and I missed my run goal by about 8 minutes but was still pleased with my overall performance. 1:01:24 swim, 6:25:40 bike, and 4:08:08 run. Add in 6:30 for T1 and 4:57 for T2 and my total time on the day was 11:46:39. I had beat my goal of 12 hours and was pleased. I also learned some things about how I could do better the next time around.

Since the race, I have done one very short swim and an easy 2 hour bike ride. My knee is bothering me from the race and I am working on rehabbing that now. I hope to be able to some 5Ks over the next month. Of course, I have already started looking towards next season and have done some tentative planning.

I have lots of people to thank for helping me reach my fitness and racing goals. First and foremost is my genius wife who supports me in everything I do. We both train and race. That can sometimes takes its toll. But with Melissa, it is so easy. We look out for each other and work well together. We have had over 20 years of practice. We are pretty darn good at being married.

I also have to thank all my friends who came out and cheered. It was great to see you all on the course. It still amazes me the power a friends smile or shout of encouragement. Thank you all!

Thanks to all my training partners, JJJ and BOTRBOTL. Thanks to Meredith and Jill for their support throughout the season. Thanks to Jon Cencich for all his encouragement and straight talk.


Finally, I have to give a big shout out to Dave Luscan at DLMultisports. It has been a real joy working with Dave this past season and I am looking forward to continuing to work on my triathlon goals with him. Dave is extremely knowledgeable about all things triathlon. He is quick to offer advice on gear, training, attitudes and anything else related to the sport. Dave is grounded in science and if there is data available to guide training decisions, you can guarantee Dave has analyzed and interpreted the data. It would be an understatement to say that I liked his approach. Thanks for a great season Dave!

Thanks for reading. Comments appreciated.




Friday, September 19, 2014

What's new?

What's new? It is something we say to our friends and family when we have not seen them for a while. Sometimes it is simply a pleasant way of saying hello. Sometimes we truly want to know what is new in the other person's life. So what is new with me? Lots!

Last May I mentioned that we were moving. Well, that all happened. We sold our house in Henrico County and moved into a condo in the city of Richmond. We went from a big tri-level house to an 8th floor smaller 3 bedroom condo. We truly downsized. It was a big endeavor and added quite a bit of stress to my life. Buying and selling a house is itself a bit stressful. Add in the actual physical work of packing and moving and all the time that takes out of your day, and you get a fair amount of unwanted stress. In my case, I started a new job at VCU on June 25th so that was another new thing in my life. New routines, new schedules. Sometimes new things can be a pleasant change, sometimes they just add to the stress.

In addition to moving, my father deteriorated and passed away at the beginning of August. This all happened in the midst of the most trying times of our move. There were so many different entities to deal with during our sale/purchase/move that I was beginning to get quite aggravated with anyone who did not communicate succinctly and clearly. Certain entities who will go unmentioned here really made my blood boil. All my wheels were squeaking at one point so I could get people to do their jobs properly. It was quite annoying.

Luckily for me, I have a great support system. Melissa was so supportive and helpful during all of this. She traveled on her own up to NOVA (never a fun drive) to spend time with my mother while my brother John had a malignant tumor removed from his kidney. Yeah, that was another thing that happened. While my Dad's physical health was on a steep downward trajectory, John had to have surgery to remove a cancerous growth. Of course John knows what HTFU is all about. In fact, John is the epitome of HTFU. After his surgery, he was in his room and the nurse asked him what his pain level was. Four he says. I think at one point he said it got up to a 5 or 6. Most of us would have probably said 8 or higher. Not John. He soldiered on like the trooper that he is.

And Melissa continued to be supportive as always. She took a few turns sitting with my dad on his death bed. She showed her own resolve at what was a difficult time for all of us. My dad seemed to enjoy hearing her soothing voice. I am so lucky to have Melissa as my number one supporter, my wife, my partner in crime. She keeps me on the right path and our bond grows daily.

My friends were also supportive. I can't imagine trying to move without them. I had help from all my various circles. DGIF connections-Carman and Logan, our friend Phil, MK otherwise known as Ballet Mike, Ironmen and good friends Jon and Meredith who spent the entire weekend of our move helping, HCPC connections-JW, Zack, and Margaret. Also, another HCPS former coworker John was instrumental in helping me clear out all the junk someone had left in our storage unit at the condo. Plus, my realtor Stephen Smith was a huge help in the whole buying and selling process. Also, there were other friends who were supportive. Although they might have thought their efforts were nothing, the emails and text messages really helped. My friend Jill seemed to know just what to say at the right time. Her support was behind the scenes, almost covert which I really appreciated. Between her and Meredith's friendly messages, I felt well liked among my friends.

All of these people had different roles in our various phases of moving and I am so thankful that they could all step up to the plate and hit it out of the park. And to those who helped me move, stand by for a future invite for a payback dinner.

After my dad passed away, we had a couple of weeks before the memorial service. That gave me plenty of time to write my tribute. I had actually been writing it in my mind for some time. At least a year. I was honored to be able to deliver my speech at the end of August in front of a packed church. I am thankful to everyone who attended the service. My good friend Chris drove of from Richmond to attend which meant a lot to me. It was great to see all of you even if we did not get to talk much. I am so proud to be the son of a man who could garner such a big crowd for a  memorial service. On a holiday weekend nonetheless. Thank you all for coming. It meant so much to me and my family.

So let me quickly summarize. What is new? New job. New House. Brother's surgery. Father passed away. All of this happened in a short amount of time. And while I have not mentioned much about it, I continued my Ironman training which entailed approximately 13 hours of training each week. My race is in about 9 days. I am hoping it is going to be a good day. I think my coach has prepared me well and I have had lots of help from my Jedi Master mentor Jon. I am ready. I will be thinking about my brother John and my dear old dad during the race.

There you have it. A quick summary of the last several months. Despite the difficulties and challenges, I am truly blessed. There are many in the world who wish they could have similar challenges.  Let's get er done! Full speed ahead. Carpe Diem!

Thanks for reading. Comments appreciated.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

My Loving Father

Thank you all for coming today to celebrate my Dad. I wanted to take just a few minutes to talk about my Dad and share with you some of our thoughts and memories about him. Many of you knew my Dad. Some better than others. Some of you knew him as an acquaintance, or a good friend. Some as a brother, or brother in-law, some as an uncle, and of course a loving husband. My brothers and I knew my dad simply as Dad.

There are many words you could use to describe my dad. All of them true. He was a very generous person. He was a loving father and husband and a provider for his family. He was smart, hard working, gentle, and creative too.  My Dad was all of these things and I am thankful to have such a great role model to guide me in my life.

There was one particular quality of my dad that I always admired. I remember my friends in high school used this word to describe him. They always said, "your dad is so cool." Now I don't think they meant Fonzi cool or Miles Davis cool. They meant cool headed. And they were right. I have numerous stories of my dad keeping his cool. I'd like share just a couple right now.

My earliest memory involves spending time in the basement with my dad, with a nail and an electrical socket. I was about 3 at the time and was doing what 3 year old little boys like to do. I shoved a nail into the socket and it got stuck. As I tried to get it out, I suddenly got a huge jolt and flew backwards across the floor. Dad rushed over to see what happened. He quietly examined me and could see that I was basically ok. Then he wanted to know exactly how I was sitting when it happened and did I have my opposite hand on the floor. I was ok so there was no need to panic. He remained calm and started his root cause analysis.

Later, in high school, I was on a weekend beach trip with a few friends. We were staying with various friends but on our last night, we did not have a place to stay so we slept in the car. After about 2 hours of sleep, we awoke and although the car belonged to the father of a friend, I was behind the wheel so I drove. As we made our way back home, my fellow passengers were all asleep. I guess I decided to join them and I dozed off on the highway. I slowly veered off the road before I awoke to some honking of another car. But not before I slammed into the guard rail. I had smashed up the car pretty well and my friend was not happy and almost left me on the side of the highway. We drove to the next exit and got out of the car. I called my Dad on a payphone. Remember those? I always could count on my dad in times of crisis. He was my go-to guy. I told him what I had done. I said I had done something stupid and had fallen asleep behind the wheel and smashed up my friend's car. My dad's reply was simply this. "Is everyone ok?" I told him yes, everyone is fine. Then he said, "Is the car drivable?" I told him yes. Then he said, "well, come on home then."

My dad was cooler than Miles Davis, cooler than Fonzi. He was a loving man who provided for his family and was always there for us in times of crisis, keeping his cool, solving problems.

Also, besides being cool, my Dad's generosity should not be understated. My dad was not only a provider for us, he also did things for people in need outside our family.  He volunteered on several committees at church for many, many years. He taught Sunday School. He took pictures of new members at the church. I often accompanied my dad to the store to buy the poster board that he would use to create new member posters to hang on the church bulletin board. It is those little things that he was always doing behind the scenes that might go unnoticed-unrecognized. Yet he continued to do it. He liked giving his time and talent-contributing to the greater good.

I had the great fortune of working with my Dad at the Transportation Research Board at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC. We drove into upper Georgetown early in the morning. He had these great routes to get to and from to work. He taught me the way home so I could do it on my own when we had different hours. I remember he would say, "once you get here, just follow your nose." And you know what, that actually worked. Years after I had left TRB, I found myself on one of his routes and I just followed my nose and got to where I needed to be.

When I worked at TRB with my dad, we would arrive very early in the morning well before anyone else showed up. We would open up the office and the first thing by dad would do would go to the supply closet and fill up all the copiers and the 2 or 3 laser printers in the office with paper. That way no one would have to ever interrupt their work day to refill the paper. They would not have to fool with, what was then, new technology. To everyone else, it must have seemed that there was an endless supply of paper. More than likely, no one thought about it at all. No one realized that my Dad was working behind the scenes. In fact, I am willing to bet that after he retired, people were not sure what to do when the laser printer flashed LOAD LETTER on the display. I can hear a young engineer saying aloud to the office, "What does LOAD LETTER mean?" Someone would figure out that meant load paper and then they would say, "Well where to you get it." Eventually they would figure it all out but they would wonder why they never had to do that before.

As my brother Erik recalls, Dad was always working on projects in the basement, listening to classical music on his radio that he built. The radio could play two stations at once for those special simulcasts that were often broadcast back then. He fixed nearly all the household problems that would crop up. He helped us build pinewood derby cars. And he used his precise engineering brain to design and build useful things. When Erik went to college, he brought ridiculously huge speakers with him for his dorm room. Dad built him a custom set of shelves to hold his albums and act as speaker stands. For some reason they were painted bright yellow. But they worked like a charm and provided Erik and his friends the joy of rocking out.

Dad knew when to be precise and when to be less formal. I remember working on a project with my dad in the basement. I can't remember the details of what we were working on but I had gotten some experience in shop class and drafting class and wanted to help out more than simply holding the light, or holding the wire as he soldered something which are things I did for many years as a young boy. I can still picture those evenings helping him with all his projects.

For this project, I offered up my knowledge-using a square to make even cut lines on some boards. Dad said, "I think we can just eye ball it." And then he proceeded to draw a straight line on the board with no ruler. And it was straight and after the cut, it was all square. He was always doing that kind of stuff. He was quite skilled and could have been a craftsman. I remember a time when I was helping him nail some things and I bent the nails up pretty good. I pulled them out as he had taught me and was going to through them away. Well, my dad did not grow up with the luxury of disposable income. He had learned to reuse out of necessity rather than to be green for the sake of being green. He quickly took his hammer, straightened out the nails, and re-used them. I was so impressed but back then, I did not even realize how cool that was. I am sure there are not many people who would bother to do that today in our disposable economy. But my dad was resourceful in the true sense of the word.

This next story comes from my older brother Erik. My dad fell in love with soccer. We used to watch Soccer Made in Germany on PBS. My dad wrestled in high school. In Iowa non the less. I doubt they had soccer in Iowa when he grew up.  But he became fascinated with the sport and was an overnight fan. Now there comes a time in many a father's life when he is called upon to coach youth sports. My dad was called upon to coach Erik's youth soccer team. So he read up on it, organized the practices, and became the coach of a team in Vienna Youth Soccer. All was going well until the first game. As Erik tells it, my dad would get so nervous watching Erik play that he could hardly bear to watch. In fact, he often could not watch and had to walk away from the field. He was so anxious about it that he LITERALLY could not watch. So coaching really did not work out for him.

But that did not stop him from making huge contributions to Vienna Youth Soccer. Like Jim Pugh before him, he volunteered countless hours as the VYS commissioner so everyone in the community could experience the joy of organized youth soccer. And he worked hard behind the scenes, in his spare time. And he did not simply do all the administrative work of which there was much.  He and his very good friend Dick Lefrancious did a lot of hard work to layout and cut the fields, deliver goal posts, nets, uniforms, and field chalk. Delivering chalk had to be done very late in evening after all the teenagers had gone to bed. Otherwise they would disturb the chalk before the fields could get lined. He and Dick would make late night runs to the town yard to pick up the chalk in the soccer truck and deliver it to the fields all over town. I accompanied him on many of these trips and it was a great bonding moment for us. Also, my dad designed the VYS patch which was in use for many years. If you played VYS travel soccer in the 70s, you exchanged many of these patches with teams from all over the east coast.

My dad also knew how to have fun and he enjoyed music immensely. My brother Tom is quite musical himself as some of you know. He asked me to highlight my Dad's love of music and its influence on all of us. Tom recently recalled a story to me that my dad had told him. As I mentioned, my dad grew up poor. He and his friends would go down to the local concert hall and sit, stand, or lie down outside the venue and listen through the walls because they could not afford to go to the concerts. He learned to enjoy music any way he could get it. Later in life, when he had an established career and was a family man, my dad always made sure that we all had quality sound systems to play music on. From the early radios he built himself to Hi-Fi, to modern component stereo that he provided for each of us, my dad wanted to make sure we had a means to listen to any kind of music we wanted to listen to. Again, he was a giver and a provider. More than just food, clothing, shelter, education, and all the things a good mother and father provide, he provided us with culture as well. We heard a huge variety of music. Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennet, Bing Crosby, Glen Miller, and the list goes on and on.

And not to be outdone by the younger generations, my Dad loved Dire Straits, a rock and roll band and even went to see them in concert. In fact, there is a good story about Dire Straits music and billiards that I am sure my brother John remembers very well. John and Dad played pool almost every night after dinner. Dad of course had a special setup so he could listen to music while he played. Now believe it or not, John is a pretty darn good pool player and when he and my dad played, they would trade games of 9 ball. Sometimes John would win, sometimes Dad would win. They kept score on the chalk board hanging on the wall. Well, if you were playing my dad in pool and you wanted to win, you better not let him put Dire Straits on. Because when the song Walk of Life came on, my dad was unstoppable. Like a scene from a movie, when that song came on, Dad would dance around the table with his pool cue, saddle up to the cue ball and make shot after shot, often running the table, all the while dancing to Walk of Life. I think we will all hold that memory in our minds and hearts. It was my dad having fun, relaxed, dancing, bonding with his sons. We couldn't help but smile. Thinking about it always makes me smile.

Something else my Dad loved was photography. My dad took tons of pictures. Not just member photos. He was the master of the timed family portrait. It was the ultimate selfie really. Before that term was even created. And although he was a great photographer, he always seemed to be saying the CH in cheese when the automatic timer snapped the photo of our whole family. My dad used photography to document events. He took pictures of snow storms and workers taking down trees in the backyard. He took pictures of Craig replacing the insulation in the attic. He just loved taking pictures of anything and everything. He would attend our soccer games and try to take pictures but get too excited to snap the shudder. So then he just came to the games. Even when we became adults, he and John would come to the games. Sometimes Erik and his wife Melissa would be playing an amateur adult soccer game. The players would be there along with the ref. And two spectators. My dad and my brother John. He was always supportive of us even into his old age.

And I can't leave out another interest. Computers. My dad became fascinated with computers and made sure that we all had access to one. He provided us with the latest and greatest tools so we could learn and further our education. Although he did not really seem to trust them all that much. He was fond of printing out all his emails. He printed emails from family, friends, acquaintances, and even that guy from Africa who's holding a million dollars for him.

Dad was a hard worker. He liked raking leaves and chopping wood. Even towards the end of his life when he perhaps did not have as much strength and stability as he used to, he still helped Erik rake and bag leaves in Erik's yard. He liked to keep busy. He did not really watch TV. Growing up the only thing he watched was the occasional sporting event, All in the Family, and later in life Seinfeld. Most of his leisure time was spent either reading the paper, fixing things, working in the basement, raking leaves, chopping wood, and of course cleaning up the kitchen. He took it upon himself to make sure the table was always scrubbed clean after dinner.

My brother Erik recalled his first rock concert. Dad took us to see Kansas. As I said, he was supportive of us and that was the band we were all into at the time. Remember that this was the 70s. When the lights went down and the ubiquitous marijuana cigaret was being passed around., someone handed the joint to him. My dad was a student at Berkley in the sixties so it was probably not the first time this had happened so he knew what to do. He simply passed it over to another row, skipping over his teenage sons.  He kept his cool about it of course. Thankfully for all of us, my Dad was a busy engineering student at Berkley and never fell into the counter culture. Interestingly enough, one particular phrase that came out of the counter culture was, "if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem -  man." As you will hear next, my dad was an activist in his own way.

Some of you may not know this but my dad gave his time and expertise to help others who were less fortunate than him. And he did this when it was not popular to do so and faced criticism for his actions. But he continued. Perhaps he remembered what it was like to grow up poor. Whatever the reason, my Dad worked hard to find shelter for poor people and helped feed and clothe them. During the Civil Rights movement of the sixites, my dad was an active participant. He did not hold picket signs and march on Washington but he did provide food and clothing for those who did march. My dad worked for CHO and Lutheran Social Services for many years. When he was delivering prepared foods in his truck to poor people, sometimes there were not enough meals to go around. Because my Dad could not turn those meals into more food like in the parable of the loaves and the fishes, he did the next best thing. He used his own money to buy McDonalds so no one would go hungry that night.

I could go on and on. I could tell you about him buying 3 identical blue Honda civics from Hokie Honda, a 1984, 85, and 86. I could tell you about the time he braved rough current in the ocean to come to the aid of my brother Erik who was struggling in the surf. I could recite all the phrases he used to say like, "This is dinner, not dinner theater." Or, "you can't get something for nothing." And one of my favorites, "I am good at math, just lousy at arithmetic."

Let me just conclude by telling you that I loved my Dad very much. It was only in later years that I learned how to tell him. I am so happy that I learned to express my love for him while he could still understand who I was and what that meant. My dad taught me so much. He taught me how to be considerate of others and about the value of hard work. He never lectured me about these things. He lead by example and I did not even know I was being shaped my him.  I can honestly say that my Dad was a great man. Together, hand in hand with my Mom, he helped raise us and mold us into the people we are today. Everything that I have accomplished or that I ever WILL accomplish I do so standing on my Dad's shoulders.

We all loved you Dad. May you rest in peace.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Big News

It has been an extremely busy spring. As you may know from my last update way back at the beginning of March, I had lots of races on the calendar. Sometimes, I get too busy training and racing to have time to stop and reflect on each race. I always make some comments about my races to my coach, but I would love to produce witty and informative race reports for each event. But alas, I am not actually that good of a writer. I occasionally have a burst of creative inspiration but mostly I have found that my race reports were stale and lacked the excitement of the first couple of ones I did when I got started with all of this. I decided it was time to write less and when I did write try to be interesting. Then I decided, if I can't be interesting or funny, maybe I should not write at all. In the end, I decided I would enjoy my chronicles later in life despite their dryness, lack of excitement or insightful commentary.

But before I go into all the race reports, I wanted to inform you of another development in our lives. No, we did not get a dog. Although we did get a cat. Our big news is that we are selling our house. That's right, it is time to downsize. We have a 2700 square foot tri-level house that is just too much house for us. The yard work has become cumbersome. It's not like I need the exercise either. So we put our house on the market and put a contract on a 1800 sq ft condo. We worked hard on our house to get it looking good. We got the driveway resealed and even put on a new roof.

So please, check out the listing and pass it along.

http://www.searchallproperties.com/listings/1921190/511-Ironington-Road-Richmond-VA

That's all for now. Next time I will fill you in on the races I have done so far this year. Just to recap, I have completed two 5Ks, one 10K, one 15K, 4 triathlons, and one supported 100 mile bike ride.

Thanks for reading.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

2014 Race and Event Schedule



I have had my race schedule planned out for a little while now but have finally decided to commit it all to the blogosphere. It is a busy and ambitious schedule. I enjoy racing and having a full schedule keeps me motivated and on track.

Not all of these races are A races. In fact, I only really have one A race, some B races, a couple of B+ races and a C race. In the world of endurance sports, an A race is one that gets full preparation and dedication including a proper taper before the race. B races are less important races that are fun, perhaps challenging, and good training for future races. They usually do not include a full taper. I will rest before a B race but not do a full blown taper. To me, a B+ race is like a B race but is a race I would like to push myself a little harder in. Of course I always push myself. But a B+ race has a condition that makes it more meaningful to me than other B races. Below, I list all of my races and events as well as whether they are A or B races and what gives the B+ races a tad more weight in my emotional commitment.

  1. Saturday, March 29th - Monument Ave 10K - C Race. Just another training day really. If I feel particularly good that day, I will see what I can do. Mostly I am doing this race because my work encourages us to run and actually pays our entry
  2. Saturday, April 6th - Smithfield Sprint Triathlon -  300 meter pool swim, 10 Mile Bike, 5K run. B+ race. Last year I got 5th in my age group. Therefore I have made this a B+ race meaning I have high expectations and would love to make it to my first podium. 
  3. Saturday, April 26th - Richmond Tri Club Sprint Triathlon- 400 meter open water style pool swim, 20K Bike, 5K run. B race. I did this race last year and it was a lot of fun. It is here in town which is convenient and I know lots of people racing. Hoping to go out and have some fun and beat last year's time. 
  4. Sunday, May 4th - Monticello Man Olympic Triathlon- .9 mile swim, 24 mile bike, 10K run. B race. I did this last year and it was a challenge. It was windy and cold and I was not "happy" the whole time. However, I had fun overall and my friends are doing it again this year so it should be fun. It is a triple J event. 
  5. Saturday, May 10th - Cap to Cap Century Bike Ride- 100 mile bike ride with supported rest stops on the way. Not a race. I would like to get as many 100 milers in as possible this year before my Ironman. Actually I would prefer to get some 120s in. That last 12 miles on the bike is always difficult. Of course, I am not sure how many I will get in. It all depends on what Coach says. 
  6. Sunday, May 11 - Kinetic Sprint Triathlon - 750 Meter Lake Swim, 15.5 Mile Bike 5K run. I may have inadvertently told my coach this was a B race. But it is actually a C race now that I think of it. Mostly I am doing this race as a birthday celebration. I like to do something on the epic side for my birthday every year. A century bike ride the day before a triathlon is leaning in the direction of epic. Not quite there but about as close as I am going to get for a birthday celebration in May. 
  7. Saturday, May 17th and Sunday, May 18th - Ironman Chattanooga Training Camp. Not a race. Just a training weekend on the Ironman Chattanooga course. I am not good at remembering terrain or routes but getting out on the course will be a big help. Since the course has multiple loops on the run and then bike, I can see most if not all of the course and get a good idea of the elevation and anything else that might help me train for the race.
  8. Sunday, May 25th -Mountains of Misery- This one is also not a race. Although some people will seem like they are racing, I am going to take my time and enjoy the scenery. The MOM is a 104 mile bike ride with 10,000 feet of climbing in the mountains near Blacksburg, VA. 
  9. Saturday, July 12th -Mini-Musselman Triathlon - 750 meter lake swim, 16.1 mile bike, 3.1 mile run. B+ race. I am doing the Musselman double so I would like to see how I compare to others doing the double.
  10. Sunday, July 13th - Musselman Triathlon - 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run. B+ race. It will be neat to see how I compare to the other doublers. I have no idea what to expect.
  11. Sunday, September 28th - Ironman Chattanooga - 2.4 mile river swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run. A race. All of my training and preparation is building to this day. I would love to go sub 12:30 which is an attainable goal I think. 
Well, I think that is everything. It is going to be a busy spring and a big summer of training. I am looking forward to the process of training and racing. I hope to learn more about what I am capable of and become a better athlete throughout the year.  Feel free to comment. Thanks.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Where does the time go? I think I actually have a pretty good idea.

Where does the time go?

February is almost over and I am just now getting to my first post of the new year. Why have I not blogged since December? Where did the time go? Well, I think I can partially answer that question.
In January, I logged 33 hours of training in my Training Peaks. That comes to more than 8 hours a week of training. And that does not include the time it takes to drive to the pool, or drive to the track, or drive to meet friends for a group ride, or driving to yoga class, or driving to indoor cycling class. I am not sure how many hours I spend driving to and from workouts, but it adds up.

For example, let's take a typical Tuesday in January. I would wake up at 5AM to get ready for indoor cycling class. At 5:30, I would drive to class which takes about 15 minutes. Then class would go from about 5:50 to 7. Then I would drive home which is another 15 minutes. After a quick shower and getting my lunch together, I would head off for my 20 minute drive to work. Work plus lunch and the drive home is another 9 hours. After getting home, I would immediately start getting ready to head out to track practice. The drive to the track was about 20 minutes or so. Track practice lasts about 1 hour and then I drive the 20 minutes back home. Once home, I would make dinner which usually takes about 30 minutes. Then we eat and relax for a few minutes which takes about another 20 minutes. Of course the evening chores need to be done after dinner. Cleaning up the kitchen, taking out the trash, etc takes another 15 minutes or so depending on how messy I was when cooking dinner. Finally, after cleaning up, it is time for some leisure time before bed. Usually, Melissa and I will watch a little something on Hulu but never more than about 20 to 40 minutes. During the commercials we catch up on our Facebook, Twitter, and all the other stuff we are plugged into online. Then it is time to start getting my gear ready for the follow morning workout. Then nighttime rituals mostly involving some kind of hygiene. Finally, it is time for bed. That does not mean sleep yet though. For I have to read for a while before I really am relaxed enough to fall asleep. If I am lucky, I would get 7 hours of sleep. Sometimes closer to 6 hours which is not optimal and even 5 hours sometime. Shhh. Don't tell my coach. I would like to work it out so I can get more sleep but that is a topic for another day.

So as you can see, preparing for, driving to, and completing workouts in addition to the daily chores adds up. While I would love to blog more, I just simply don't always find the time.

However, I am here now, blogging away about how I don't have time to blog. And it is really a first world problem isn't it. I am so lucky to be able to do the things I want to do. I have chosen this life and am privileged to be able to do it all. My wife is the most supportive person and my partner in crime. Together we try to squeeze out as much enjoyment out of life as possible.

Thanks for reading.