"The faster I get, the more I think I suck."

I mentioned that to Boris (Blake) the other day. I
suppose on the surface I sound like an insecure
teenager (or adult for that matter) searching for
reassurance. That isn't/wasn't my intention.

The above quote came from me joking around a bit and
is actually said out of respect for the athletes that
are (much) faster than myself.

In 2002 I took a summer internship with Inside
Communications (Publishers of Inside Tri, Velonews,
Ski Racing, and all Velopress books) in Boulder,
Colorado. Before arriving I think I had come to a
point where I felt I had it all "figured out." Pretty
funny in hindsight really. I came from Texas where AG
and overall placings were fairly decent for me. I got
to Boulder and had my ass handed to me around every
corner. Even the slow lanes at Masters and the
recovery rides were too much for me to handle.

I like to think that I rarely speak in a cocky tone
(unless you are close to me) as it relates to
triathlon, but I imagine my self-love thoughts peaked
before arriving in Boulder that summer. Since then I
have learned (well, sort of learned) what it takes to
knock off each minute of an Ironman finish. Like
losing weight, the initial pounds fall quickly, but
the final ones take some (ok, a lot) of work. Every
year of training has topped the previous one, both in
terms of intensity and volume, and yet, the road is
still long.

Soooooo, as the years go by, I start to have more and
more appreciation for what the top guys and gals in
this sport (or any sport) have had to go through to
get to the top. I often think about Dick Jochums when
I think about this (read "Gold in the Water" for the
allusion).

I can see him standing over me on the pool deck.
Metaphorically, I just finish a main set that took
five and half years (or in some ways, all my life). He
looks down at me and says:

"Good Job."

I start to pat myself on the back and he says...

"Now do it again. Only this time, do it with a little
pep."

Success comes to those who stick with it.

-jd

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Disney

Last Thursday was my birthday and some of my friends
asked me what I wanted to do.

"Go to Disneyworld."

I had not been to any theme parks since I was thirteen
years old and I wanted to ride some roller coasters. I
decided to take advantage of the fact that I am
currently living near a huge conglomeration of such
places. We agreed to go to the 'Island of Adventures'
after I found out that "Disneyworld" was not the only
park in the area. I never realized there were several
separate parks with different rides and such. Shows my
ignorance.

It turns out that February 9th is likely the best time
in the entire year to go there. There were no lines
and the weather was perfect. I can only imagine what
that place is like during peak visits... ...and
waiting in line during the heat of the summer sounds
pretty rough.

We rounded the day out by grilling some food and
having cake. It was the first day I have taken off
from training in 2006 and I must say it was one of the
most satisfying off days ever. I never had any
feelings of anxiety (that I normally get on an off
day) for one second. It was probably because of the
company. Thanks everybody.

jd

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"Twenty five minutes from now we will still have an
hour left."

When I was in high school we had to deal with block
scheduling which meant that each class lasted 95-100
minutes long (four classes/day until the middle of my
junior year). This one day my buddies and I were
sitting in Mr. Millet's Chemistry class and the day
was moving along exceptionally slowly. I looked up at
the clock and only a pathetic 15 minutes had gone by.
One hour and 25 freakin minutes were left. So since
misery needs company I leaned over to my buddy Clark
and said the quote written above. Nothing could have
been worse for morale at the time.

This led to two years of the same ongoing joke until
graduation. Always trying to one up each other by
pointing out demoralizing facts.

I used the same sort of comic relief while swimming
yesterday. After warming up we were waiting for the
pace clock to hit the top before starting a 4K main
set.

"Just think, only an hour until we're done."

Luckily I enjoy swimming a lot more than Mr. Millet's
class (not to take anything away from Millet. He was a
great teacher and taught a great course, but 100
minutes of any class is a bit much without a break).

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This past week was a pretty good week of training. I
started swimming at St. Leo University outside of Dade
City, Florida last Monday. The National Training
Center in Clermont is currently overhauling the pool
for the month of February so I got the shaft there.
Luckily I met Coach Cyle Sage at the NTC a few weeks
ago and he mentioned he was the XC and swim coach for
a small university called St Leo. The swim program is
in its first year and a number of the athletes are
from the XC team. Sage comes from a swimming and
triathlon background and has worked with the National
Junior Tri Team.

Given the fact that I dont't have a pool to use, I
emailed Sage and asked if I could join his squad. He
said yes and the past week was great. I got to have a
coach on deck to give workouts and Sage has already
helped me in identifying some of my stroke limiters.
Even after the month of February is over I will likely
still head over there once or twice/week. I might go
more often then that if it didn't require me to wake
up at 5:20 and drive almost an hour both ways. That
gets really old, really quickly when I'm training a
lot.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A group of age group triathletes from Atlanta came
down to Clermont this week for a long weekend of
training. They are all IM dudes and they wanted to get
down to some warm weather for uninterrupted training.

Well apparently Mother Nature didn't get the memo
because Clermont got hammered with rain from Thursday
evening to Saturday morning. In fact, on Friday we
even got kicked out of the pool in Orlando... ...the
indoor pool. Nothing like weather so crappy that you
can't even train indoors. Poor guys. Earlier that day
they put in two hours on the Lifecycle machines and
two hours on the treadmill at the NTC. Then they get
kicked out of the pool.

But the Georgia Dawgs wouldn't be stopped and they did
they what they had to do. Its always good to know that
you did what you could no matter what the
circumstances.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Blake Becker (www.blakebecker.com) is coming to
Clermont on Wednesday to train with me for the
remainder of the year. A little over a year ago I
contacted Blake asking him about his intentions with
triathlon. From his posts on various triathlon forums,
I got the impression that he was in a similar position
as myself; i.e same age, similar goals, similar
background.

A lot of triathletes my age talk about pursuing this
sport to find their true potentional. Its sexy in
theory, but most folks get distracted and lose their
zeal. Nothing wrong with that by any means. I'm just
trying to point out that there is more talk than
execution (and that probably applies to most things in
life).

But Blake was/is different. I knew he had talent,
drive, work ethic, and a serious amount of passion for
this sport. I suggested that he come train with me
when we was done with school (which just ended a few
weeks ago) since we could certianly use each other's
help (for training, cutting costs, etc). A lot has
happened to him in just the last year and he has stuck
to his goals. He has not taken the easy route and he
knows the path ahead will be even more challenging
than the road he just came down.

Should be a fun season,

jd

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week beginning Jan 23

I'll probably create a link on the homepage for this,
but I'll post it on the blog for now.

Monday: 65 min, 14K run in the hills. Pretty hot and
humid for January. Even for Florida.

3K swim SCY
Main Set
4 x 300 on 4:20 in 3:58,55,52,50
150 on 2:00 in 1:52
150 on 2:20 in 1:50
3 x 100 on 1:25 in 1:15,14,13

Weights Max Strength
squat numbers: 3 sets of 6 with 220, one set of 5 with
225. whole body otherwise

60 min yoga and pilates later.

Tuesday:
12K run with 6 x 100m barefoot strides at the end,
felt good.

52K ride in 1:40 or so. Cherry Lake Loop. Lots of
rain. Huge Nap afterwards

4400 SCY swim in the evening. IM/short fast stuff in
the first half.
Mellow main set after 2.2K mix of stuff;
4 x 100 on 1:30
200 on 2:45
5 x 100 on 1:30
200 on 2:45
3 x 100 on 1:30
swam 100s relaxed 1:16s whole way through. 200s were
same pace so little more effort, around 2:32-33

Wednesday

morning run, 14K in 65 minutes on clay trail. finished
with 8 x 20 second skips uphill.

90K ride in 2:50ish. some steady riding in the flats.
Still feel leg fatigue from all the weightlifting.

evening swim. 3700 SCY
main set
4 x 50 on 40,45 2x
100 easy
4 x 200 on 2:50 swimming around 2:35 steady
100 easy
repeat set pulling on 40, 2:45; pulling 34s on the 50s
and 2:30 down to 2:25 on the 200s

Thursday:

Morning ride in the hills of Cherry Lake. Bit of
effort on the hills and flats. Call it 55K in 1:45.

Easy run shortly after the ride. rather tired so
started with a 'molina warm up.' legs came around
after 10 minutes or so. 11K

Swim 4000 SCY
1300 w/up
Main Set
20 x 100 on 1:30
50 easy
4 x 100 on 1:25
first 20 were 1:17 avg swimming steady bilateral. last
four in 1:14

Weights afterwards, Max Strength session. Got six reps
of 225 on last set of squats.

Friday:
Morning swim, 4K
Main Set
3x through
200 on 2:50 in 2:38,33,30
150 fast/easy/fast on 2:10 in 1:55,54,52
100 on 1:20 in 1:12,12,10
50 easy on 1:10
second set pulling
300 cruise on 4:00
200s strong on 2:30 (2:25s)
100 easy on 2

treadmill run afterwards with 20 minutes at 7:30 pace
on 4% grade
45 min, 10K.

Saturday:
Mostly easy run in the a.m. before driving to Miami.
Little more than 10K.

Sunday:
Miami Half Marathon. Good headwind for first 5 miles.
Flat course aside from a couple good causeways. Not
much oomph today, but good tempo effort the whole way
through. Boxed in pretty badly which led to slow
couple miles at the start. 1:22:50 finish. Extra 5K
running with w/up and c/d which brings me to just
under 100K for the week. Recovered with a nap on South
Beach then drove back to Clermont.

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week beginning Jan 23

Monday: 65 min, 14K run in the hills. Pretty hot and
humid for January. Even for Florida.

3K swim SCY
Main Set
4 x 300 on 4:20 in 3:58,55,52,50
150 on 2:00 in 1:52
150 on 2:20 in 1:50
3 x 100 on 1:25 in 1:15,14,13

Weights Max Strength
squat numbers: 3 sets of 6 with 220, one set of 5 with
225. whole body otherwise

60 min yoga and pilates later.

Tuesday:
12K run with 6 x 100m barefoot strides at the end,
felt good.

52K ride in 1:40 or so. Cherry Lake Loop. Lots of
rain. Huge Nap afterwards

4400 SCY swim in the evening. IM/short fast stuff in
the first half.
Mellow main set after 2.2K mix of stuff;
4 x 100 on 1:30
200 on 2:45
5 x 100 on 1:30
200 on 2:45
3 x 100 on 1:30
swam 100s relaxed 1:16s whole way through. 200s were
same pace so little more effort, around 2:32-33

Wednesday

morning run, 14K in 65 minutes on clay trail. finished
with 8 x 20 second skips uphill.

90K ride in 2:50ish. some steady riding in the flats.
Still feel leg fatigue from all the weightlifting.

evening swim. 3700 SCY
main set
4 x 50 on 40,45 2x
100 easy
4 x 200 on 2:50 swimming around 2:35 steady
100 easy
repeat set pulling on 40, 2:45; pulling 34s on the 50s
and 2:30 down to 2:25 on the 200s

Thursday:

Morning ride in the hills of Cherry Lake. Bit of
effort on the hills and flats. Call it 55K in 1:45.

Easy run shortly after the ride. rather tired so
started with a 'molina warm up.' legs came around
after 10 minutes or so. 11K

Swim 4000 SCY
1300 w/up
Main Set
20 x 100 on 1:30
50 easy
4 x 100 on 1:25
first 20 were 1:17 avg swimming steady bilateral. last
four in 1:14

Weights afterwards, Max Strength session. Got six reps
of 225 on last set of squats.

Friday:
Morning swim, 4K
Main Set
3x through
200 on 2:50 in 2:38,33,30
150 fast/easy/fast on 2:10 in 1:55,54,52
100 on 1:20 in 1:12,12,10
50 easy on 1:10
second set pulling
300 cruise on 4:00
200s strong on 2:30 (2:25s)
100 easy on 2

treadmill run afterwards with 20 minutes at 7:30 pace
on 4% grade
45 min, 10K.

Saturday:
Mostly easy run in the a.m. before driving to Miami.
Little more than 10K.

Sunday:
Miami Half Marathon. Good headwind for first 5 miles.
Flat course aside from a couple good causeways. Not
much oomph today, but good tempo effort the whole way
through. Boxed in pretty badly which led to slow
couple miles at the start. 1:22:50 finish. Extra 5K
running with w/up and c/d which brings me to just
under 100K for the week. Recovered with a nap on South
Beach then drove back to Clermont.

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Someone once asked me:

"If you were famous, would rather live in NYC or LA?"

I replied: "Miami."

Now, this obviously resulted from one of those
seemingly pointless (yet totally consuming)
conversations that you have with your buddies when you
likely should be doing something else. It becomes even
more pointless in my case given the limited amount of
time I have spent in any of those locations.

I have been to LA a few times, but I wouldn't really
venture to say that I have a real feel for the scene
there. I also doubt a twelve year old fully
appreciates NYC and that was the last time I spent a
considerable amount of time there outside of JFK Intl.

And Miami? Well, funny I should choose that as the hot
spot for my future celebrity home since I went there
for the first time this past weekend. Before Saturday,
A1A was nothing more than a line from a Vanilla Ice
song.

A group of friends of mine had planned to race the
Miami Marathon (or half) so I decided to join them and
race the half. I wanted to take the oppurtunity to get
to South Beach. I got the chance to see it at 6:30 in
the morning while running Mile 5 of the race. Nothing
like two worlds colliding. Some clubs were still
rolling as the weekend warriors came strolling through
their world.

When I was in college I used to eat breakfast with my
roommate as he was ending his night and I was starting
my day. We would chat a bit, he would head to bed, I
would head out to ride, and we had lunch together when
I got back. It reminded me of that.

As far as the race is concerned... ...I did not really
have any expectations since I have had little
structure to my running since getting back to training
in December. Nevertheless, I figured I could get in a
good long run at a solid effort and get the feedback
with some mile splits.

I lined up for the race very late (as in 30 seconds to
the start) so I couldn't make my way to the front.
This forced a 6:47 first mile as I kept getting boxed
in. After that I mostly ran 6:20s into a strong
headwind through mile 5. From there I moved to a 6:15
pace and ran that into the finish with mile 13 being
the fastest around 6:00/mile or so. 1:22:50 finish.

I thought I could run 1:22 flat, but I suppose I was a
little off. It will be a good starting point as I do
more road races through the spring. I believe I am
going to head to Austin, Tx in three weeks to run the
half there while my brother and his girlfriend run the
full marathon (her first).

Everybody had good races and we headed to South Beach
for some recovery afterwards. After a long nap on the
beach we headed back to Clermont.

I didn't see a lot of Miami, but I really enjoyed what
I did see. Pretty people and a pretty place. I think
my assumptions about trumping NYC and LA were right
on.

jd

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Please Help

Folks-

I have a friend in the Peace Corps and he has been in
Jamaica for nearly six months now.

He is currently trying to gather enough funds to
outfit a soccer team with shoes, jerseys, and shorts.
Please take the the time to check his blog here:

http://schleicher.blogspot.com/

On the blog titled "$$$" it will explain how donations
can be made. He is looking to raise around $1,000.00
U.S. so anything will be a great help, but he needs to
do it within the next two weeks before the season
starts.

Ryan has always been there when others have needed him
so please take the time to help him. You will be
assisting a great person and a great cause.

Thanks,

jd

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I think I hear less about Lake Huron than any of the
Great Lakes. Ontario gets a bit of the shaft, but not
like Huron. I am speaking from the lowest of the lower
48 so I cannot relate to how often it gets spoken
about in the Midwest and Northeast. I am only
commenting as to what I hear on the news, weather
channel, etc.

You can educate yourself on the Great Lakes here:

http://www.great-lakes.net

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I am not really sure where I am going with this, but
here it goes...

There is a constant debate on training
philosophies/protocols on Gordo's forum (I mean debate
as a collective description, not simply a reference to
one specific thread).

Now, the reason I have been a frequent visitor and
commentor on his forum is because of the quality of
discussions and debates/arguments. However, my
tolerance for some of the discussions goes up and down
at times. This is likely a reflection of my own level
fatigue. The more annoyed I get, the more I have to
stay away from such discussions, as they fill my
overreached mind with bad mojo. The harder you train,
the more you need to be away from like-minded
individuals during your recovery. You need to be
having light-hearted discussions about rainbows and
lollypops. You surely don't need to take part in
arguments that involve LT,FT,AT,AeT,Vo2,MLSS, blah,
blah, blah.

The fact of the matter is that when you are tired you
just cannot think like you need to. You would (or at
least I would) probably lack the sharpness to
articulate any valid points and would probably end up
with something as convincing as "just because."

Anyways, off tangent... ...There are several groups of
individuals that take part in these arguments/debates.
There are those with exercise physiology backgrounds
(or careers) that go with what science has proven.
Another group of folks have had success by simply
racing and training on their own and they can actually
be subdivided into two groups:

1)those that have learned firsthand what works for
them, but are still willing to learn from exercise
phys folks; and

2)those that have learned firsthand what works from
them and take less stock in what the exercise phys
folks suggest.

Then, in come the new folks. The fresh, innocent minds
that thought they were just having fun and then they
see a thread with 10,000 views that argues back and
forth over how to train properly

I never followed any triathlon forums until I had been
training and racing for nearly three years. I think
this was a serious blessing because my foundation in
the sport was driven by adventure. I certainly never
really had a lot of knowledge about training protocols
in the beginning, but I did have a desire to see what
I was capable of from day-to-day. Eventually I started
reading books, internet sites, exercise phys papers,
etc. I even slanted my college papers in my final
three semesters so that I could read more on these
topics despite studying history and poli sci.

In the beginning, a new triathlete needs to just get
out the door. They need to know that this is something
they enjoy and that its ok to train unbalanced,
without purpose, without heart rate monitors or mile
splits. Eventually structure will take its place in
your training and you will begin to find a new purpose
behind your choice of
lifestyle/hobby/passion/whatever.

Training for fun is fun. Training to win is fun. You
don't need to start with both, but I imagine that the
"fun is fun" folks will stick around longer when the
"training to win" part gets really tough.

Enjoy yourself.

-jd

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Guns and Butter

Here's an interesting fact:

I spent ten dollars on haircuts in 2005. In May I went
in for a haircut and came out looking like a tool. My
brother and I had a good laugh about it. I went back
and asked them to shave my head. They didn't charge
extra.

That was it. I trimmed it on my own for the remainder
of the year and my Aunt in Sweden gave me a haircut
when I went to visit last November.

Yesterday I came to the conclusion that I was going to
need to either:

1)Get a haircut; because its gotten to the "too long"
stage for swimming; or

2)Spend one dollar on a swim cap.

I bought a swim cap.

Later that day I found out that my buddy Tim has some
hair trimmers so I reckon I'll get by on the cheap
this year. Good thing too, because swimming with a cap
in the Florida sun is damn hot.

I imagine I can come through with a net savings of
nine dollars after my short-sighted investment on the
swim cap. Anything to reduce the yearly burn rate. I
imagine my father will certainly be proud of a son
that looks like a Marine and manages to be economical
at the same time.

Anyways, this all came about in regards to a
discussion on nutrition. Some people say that eating
well (healthy, not fancy in this sense) is expensive.
I suppose if you only look at the bottom line there
are cheaper ways to eat, but deciding where you want
to save your money is a choice. Some choose cheap
food, I choose cheap (read: no) haircuts. I think
making compromises on your health is a poor choice,
but that's just me. However, I'm not here to rant
because saving money on (good) food is always on my
mind as well. I've come up with a some ideas that can
(hopefully) help some folks save cash on the good
stuff.

1) Join Costco if it is in your area. Costco is great
for things like eggs, oatmeal, potatoes, rice,
walnuts, almonds, pecans, peanut butter, (lots of)
meats and fish, dried fruits, etc. Their produce is
good, but you need to be careful about purchasing here
because everything is pre-bagged. Now that might be
cheaper on paper, but if 25%+ of the produce is bad
then its a wash. For this reason, I suggest buying
from a local grocery store so that you can personally
pick each piece of fruit. Costco fruit and vegetables
are typically transported frozen and then defrosted
(in a room that is about 33 degrees F) at the store.
This doesn't apply to onions, avocados, bananas,
potatoes, etc.

2) Most grocery stores have a day in the week where
they try to clear their meat products. In college, the
HEB always marked a lot of meats up to 50% off on
Tuesdays and even more on Tuesday evening. In Florida,
Publix does this on Friday mornings. The meats have
usually met their "sell-by date" so you buy in bulk on
this day and freeze everything you don't use. And
don't confuse "sell by" with "eat by."

3) The more out-of-season a fruit or vegetable is, the
more expensive it is going to be (and it probably is
of lower quality because it may have traveled over an
ocean).

4) Find local produce stands whenever available. (Big)
Farmer's markets can be good, but its better to find
more of a Ma and Pa type place. People get to know you
at these locations and will start to hook you up with
extras from time to time. They also start to give you
the best of their products. Support local communities
and farmers and you will be rewarded (along with
saving a few bucks... ...everybody wins).

5) Eating out is the quickest way to have your food
bill skyrocket, so plan ahead. It might seem tedious
at first, but you will eventually become accustomed to
carrying fruit with you, and making extra at dinner
for leftovers will become natural.

all for now,

jd

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I have periodically been sitting at this computer
uploading CDs to my Dell MP3 player and its been
bringing back a lot of memories. I buy most music
online now so anything that comes from an original CD
is a bit older. So what albums/artists do I listen to?
Well, I pretty much listen to anything if its good,
but not much pop country (read: Toby Keith, Big and
Rich, Kenny Chesney, etc.) I don't avoid this kind of
music. It just turns out this way.

In no particular order, some of the CDs in front of me
include The Specials, 2Pac, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, The
Doors, Master P, The Offspring, NOFX, Buck-O-Nine,
Beastie Boys, Fatboy Slim, Pink Floyd, Unwritten Law,
Marley, Hendrix, Vengaboys, ABBA, Sublime, Metallica,
OAR, Jack Johnson, Sublime, Riverdales, weezer,
Widespread, Jurassic 5, Zeppelin etc, etc.

So what do some of these CDs remind me of:

The Doors (Best of the Doors): I did an elementary
school project in fourth grade about Jim Morrison. I
dressed up like him and did a biographical
presentation. My peers didn't think much of it, but
the adults must have been a bit perplexed.

Master P (Ghetto Dope): Man who doesn't remember
jamming to 'Burbans and Lacs' back in the day? I must
have honestly thought I was the coolest person in the
world as I blared that from my car in high school.

NOFX (Punk in Drublic): Summer of 1995. I took a trip
to Sweden to visit my family for almost seven weeks.
Somehow I forgot every CD except this one and another
one by Ten Foot Pole. I probably have every word
memorized on both those albums. Its amazing that I
don't actually hate this album.

Jack Johnson (On and On): This takes me back to 2003
when I spent the month of August in and around
Boulder. I was staying with my friend in Wandervu
(just behind the Cafe if you know the area). I had to
drive about 30 minutes at the beginning and end of the
day to train in the Boulder valley (his place sits at
9000 ft above Boulder). Every morning I would listen
to this album on the way to train for the day.

Sublime (40oz to Freedom): In 95-96 I went to the
Crested Butte Academy and Sublime came to town (yeah,
to CB) in December of 1995. I had just started
listening to them and I blew off the concert for
whatever reason. Brad died the next month.

ABBA (Gold): In the summer of 1999 My father, brother
and I took Swedish classes at my mother's former
university in Lund, Sweden. After four weeks there,
the three of us took a road trip to Spain and back
(with stops along the way). We were in this little
French car that had the weakest radio ever. It got a
signal for a radio station that would last a few
kilometers and if were weren't in a city, then forget
it.

The car did have a tape player, but none of us have
any tapes. We eventually found ourselves in some music
store in Andorra and I decided that we needed to get
something. The tape selection was very limited so we
ended up getting ABBA Gold, Janis Joplin's Greatest
Hits, and the Beach Boys' Greatest Hits. All very
macho for our macho trip.

I assumed we would get more music at the next stop or
at least some time in the future, but_we_never_did.

Funny thing is that at first we would delay the
"replay". We would listen to the three tapes, then
take them out and look around and chit chat.
Eventually the three-play would start all over again.
Soon enough, that down time became shorter and shorter
and we literally came to the point where we just
played them over and over without delay. It was really
funny because we were cracking ourselves up day after
day and all three of us were good sports about the
whole matter.

OK, I need to swim.

-J

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Happy Bday Mr. Page

I forgot to wish Jimmy Page a Happy 62nd Birthday
sooooo...

Happy Birthday dude. Hope you're rolling in style
somewhere tonight.

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Week One Recap

The first week of the new year has come and passed. I
managed to get every planned session completed this
week. Normally this would not be anything to celebrate
about, but given how sick I was the week before, it
was an accomplishment.

Clermont definitely has a triathlon feel to it,
despite being the middle of 'winter.' I've seen Nina
Kraft and Lisa Bentley running around the Florida
tropics. Both look rather fit; again, despite it being
the middle of winter. Sheila T lives across the street
from my homestay and I joined ST and a group of
athletes for a 20K run this past weekend.

The run was quite civil and even pedestrian early on,
but someone opened it up near the end and I got
dropped quickly. 10-15 minutes of tempo left me
downright toasted for the rest of the day. I guess I'm
not that fit this winter! It was fun to get out there
and get pushed around a bit.

Sheila Taormina is still strong and fit after 30 years
of endurance training. She is currently working
towards making the 2008 Olympic team for Pentathlon
and has been sharpening her fencing, equestrian, and
shooting skills in addition to swimming and running.
The past three Olympics have included Sheila T, so why
not a fourth? A true professional athlete. The
Renaissance athlete.

-j

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Happy New Year

Well I made it out to Clermont, Florida this past
weekend. I went to sleep around nine o'clock on New
Years eve, woke up early, and made the drive to the
Sunshine state. It was the first time I have ever
driven this way without some delay on I-10. Only 14
hours in the saddle because of this.

I've also been well enough to start training again
which has lifted my spirits considerably. Being sick
is no fun and I don't wish it upon anybody.

The first few weeks of any New Year always have a
familiar feel when you are hanging out in any fitness
locale. Lots of folks showing up, getting tours;
determined to live up to their New Years resolution.
By the first week of February most are gone.

I imagine I used to make NY resolutions when I was
younger, but its been long enough that I cannot
actually recall of them. I don't make new years
resolutions now. Assuming resolution is synonymous
with 'self-improvement' then I certainly would not say
I never make them at all. I make them all year long,
but I avoid procrastination for putting them into
action (except when I'm procrasinating).

On Monday...

Next month...

Next year....

Sound familiar? I would imagine that the long lasting
resolutions people stick to began on a Tuesday night
in the middle of summer when no one was looking. The
fact is; when something becomes important enough you
don't delay putting it into action. New Years cannot
come soon enough when you truly get your head wrapped
around something.

I quit using tobacco (smokeless) one random night
while watching tv. I just decided at that very moment
that I didn't want cancer (at least when it was in my
control). I found it hard to quit for years and then
all of sudden it was so simple.

Time to run. Cheers,

jd

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Sitting at a computer at 8:15 on New Years Eve was not
exactly the way I had planned to spend my evening. I
guess that little illness I spoke of before happened
to be the flu and what a drag it has been. I finally
feel as though I'm not 'sick' anymore, but I still
feel totally wiped out. I managed a 30 minute easy
swim today and had to take a two hour nap upon
returning. It reminds me of how I feel after traveling
for a couple days. Totally wiped out with no real
desire to do anything.

I am used to being tired, but I prefer when its the
kind that makes rest feel good (as opposed to simply
necessary). I think anyone that has been an athlete
knows what I'm talking about. It can also be a
dangerous association though; associating relaxation
entirely with exhausation.

Many athletes (self included) go through some period
of time where they only rest when they are wasted, as
opposed to instituting any precautinary measures.
Having a coach in 2005 changed a lot of that for me
(self coached until then). I found myself feeling
fresh more often and working really hard (harder than
I did when writing my own schedules) at other times. I
sometimes questioned whether I was training enough,
but in the end the yearly numbers were nearly
identical to the year before. My intuitive
organization of training seemed close to that of my
coach's, yet the timing of key workouts was lacking on
my part. Thus, too tired at the wrong times.

However, having said that; I would only appreciate
this by having known what being 'really tired' is all
about. Somtimes I still don't think I know anything
about being tired when I hear some of Scott Molina's
war stories. That guy is the energizer bunny. He was
(and is) always moving.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The plan is to get up around 5:30 tomorrow morning and
hit the road shortly after that. Lets hope for clear
roads and kind cops along the way to Clermont.
Hopefully I'll be well enough to get training by
Monday. One week on the couch for a guy that like to
move is a long one.

-jd

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Season's greetings!

I meant to write more frequently after arriving here
in Houston, but the holidays always wear me out (in a
good way) and I get caught up in doing very little the
week of Christmas. My family gets bigger and bigger
each year with marriages and such and more and more
events seem to appear on the calendar. I also take a
lot of time to see my friends that I don't see
throughout the year.

Its always interesting (and extremely fun) to see them
my friends from home.

When I was in high school and college I spent my
summers working at Camp Longhorn outside of Austin,
Texas. Each summer the counselors would all return one
year older and the changes that occurred in everybody
were significant. You don't notice mental and physical
maturation when you see the same people every day, but
when months and years go by you really get a grasp on
how much, or how little, someone has grown.

I have definitely noticed a significant change in 'the
guys' here in Houston from last December to December
2005. Many are more relaxed and more confident now
that are not completely new to the working world.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Anyways, on the training side of things...

Not much right now as I'm sitting here nursing some
sort of cold and fever. Its a bit of a drag especially
since I don't think I have had a fever since high
school.

Before that I was training lightly and things will
start to pick up once I get to Florida some time in
the next 4-7 days (depending on illness).

I must say that I am itching to get back into things.
Visiting Houston and celebrating almost nightly has
left me feeling a bit soft.

Hopefully I'll report shortly from my new temporary
residence in Clermont, Florida. Its time to get 2006
rolling.

-jd

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