I raced this past weekend and I had intentions of
writing something sooner, but I had a carpet to clean.
At least, I had a carpet I wanted to clean.
I don't think I've ever mentioned this, but I live
with a dude named Graham, aka, G Nash. GN and I met
before IM Utah in 2002 and have been friends ever
since. He has probably played the biggest role (second
only to my family) in supporting my pursuit of this
sport. For the past four months he has put up with
both BB and I. In exchange for his overwhelming
hospitality we try to pick up a little and look after
his friends (Fat Cat and Iggy Pop).
Anyways, I had this great idea about cleaning his
carpet when he was away on business. BB and I headed
over to Home Depot...
Off Tangent... ...Home Depot is amazing. Not really
the store itself, just everything that is going on in
there at that same time. Its the sort of place that
can make you feel a bit arbitrary (universally at
least). You might have these wonderful ambitions about
your own life while growing up (saving the world,
becoming president, curing cancer) and all of sudden
you find yourself debating about which kind of zip
ties you prefer. Not the most exciting moment of that
fancy journey you dreamed about as a kid (or adult).
Those are some of the less sexy moments of our lives
that don't get written/talked about, but are obviously
necessary. It kind of reminds me of all the aerobic
maintenance workouts in between the fancy ones. Its
all part of the program, but hardly memorable in the
long run. Ride left, ride right, out-and-back, etc.
(sorry, inside joke there)
Anyways, long story short: The carpet cleaner we
rented doesn't really work that well. In fact, it
sucked. 54 bucks, and 4-5 hours later we made a very
minor difference.
Through my own experiences I have now learned that two
things are worth the money:
1)Movers
2)Professional Carpet Cleaners (assuming your place
has more than a few hundred square feet of carpet).
+++++++++++++++++++++
Right, the race.
I did an OLY tri this weekend here in Clermont. It was
the last day of a 28-day training cycle. It was also
the fourth race in four consecutive weekends within
that training cycle. Nevertheless, I felt good about
it and I was pleased with the result.
I don't know why, but for some reason I lined up to
the outside at the swim start and it has_NEVER_worked
well when I have done that. I promise I will never
line up anywhere but the middle from now on. This
error left me TTing the course solo and I had
absolutely no one to work with. I came out in 21 flat,
but it was still 3.5-4 minutes down on the leaders.
I rode fairly hard (fastest bike split) and ran well,
but it was only enough to get me into 3rd overall. I
was within 90 seconds of the leader and I really gave
that away in the water. Oh well. I'll get this nailed
down eventually.
I was pleased with my run though. I ran the 10K in
36:33 and really felt in control the whole way. I was
only running about 8-10 sec/mile off my open 10K
ability so that was a good sign. I have not really
been blessed with incredible open run speed (working
on it), but I have been fortunate enough to access
that fitness more easily than some in triathlon
running.
So now I have a few easy days before heading to
Birmingham for Powerman Alabama. I have always wanted
to do this event so I'm pretty excited. Its also my
first race as an elite in a pro field. I reckon I'll
be a bit humbled as I will now start the journey
within a new set of ranks.
cheers,
jd
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