Football

I was watching Kordell Stewart (my hero from 1994) in a debate with Skip Bayliss (sp?) on Cold Pizza the other morning. Stewart was asked: “what is the one thing you do NOT miss about being a professional football player?” He answered: “getting hit.” IOW, just constantly getting hit after hit all night long; not necessarily getting rocked, just slowly beaten down as the days, weeks, and months roll by. A Chinese torture of sorts.

Skip fired back (as he always done) in a hotheaded manner by saying (not exact quote) “he did not feel sorry for him since he got paid so handsomely.”

I thought this was a little uncalled for because Stewart was responding to a question, not stating a complaint on his own.

However, that’s not really where I’m going with all this. What I really wanted to address is the constant demeaning of high profile pro football players in the U.S. for the money they make. People always point out the salaries of these players and assume that their job is one of the best ones possible. They might be right about THAT. These athletes might have one of the best jobs anyone could ask for (assuming they love their sport) and are paid well when they are on top of their game.

BUT… …the real issue at hand is how these players came to receive such good pay.

Owners are looking for a sure thing when they choose a player. No different from any business manager/owner who looks for an employee who’s going to perform. But I really find it no less absurd that football players make millions of dollars while lawyers (or any professional. I like lawyers all the same), fresh out of law school, could make $100,000. By the time a professional football player has made his way to the pros he likely has over 10+ years of profession-specific “training.” A new lawyer has never actually practiced real law, but a football player has potentially been playing football since grade school.

Now an argument might be made about the different tiers of the sport and how the game changes from high school to college to pro ball and until one has played pro ball he has no experience. However, a rookie isn’t going to sit pretty unless he goes early in the draft. Most players aren’t Reggie Bushs or Vince Youngs; they’re the no names later in the draft and they are going to have to prove themselves again(assuming they even get playing time) before one of those sexy paychecks come in.

The NFL has the fortune of weeding out talent with two levels of unofficial, “unpaid” minor leagues. I think high school ball can qualify when one considers that some high school games draw tens of thousands of people and are featured on national television. And College football? C’mon man. DI ball is so intense that a spring scrimmage game (for Alabama) is going to be on ESPN. Freaking crazy dude. Most NFL stadiums’ capacity levels pale in comparison to Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, ATM, Ohio State, Ala, Auburn, Florida, etc. NFL teams don’t have to take a chance on a great high school player because they get to see (for free) if they falter throughout three (or four) years of college ball.

Now talking about college ball gets a ton of people fired up because they start pointing out how athletes get treated and how they get a free education, etc. That’s true, but they don’t have a choice if they have dreams of the NFL. Some of them might not have a chance in the world of making it to the big show, but the only way they will find out is playing college ball. There is no minor league for them to go to. This also ends up compromising the integrity of some programs since educators, coaches, boosters will start bending the rules to keep these guys rolling.

I’m not defending the unethical and (especially) disrespectful manner that SOME student-athletes conduct themselves with. I remember sitting in Entomology (yeah bug class) at TAMU a few years ago and getting absolutely furious with how unprofessional and disrespectful the football players could be to their professor and fellow students. I don’t think it helped that the team absolutely sucked at the time (posting the first losing season in a redonkulous number of years).

Essentially my point is this: a football player makes what he makes because of his value in relation to the NFL’s earnings. By the time he starts to actually see a paycheck he has been ‘training’ for nearly his whole life. An employer who hires a salesman, engineer, lawyer, etc takes risk when these professionals start their respective careers. On the other hand, a lawyer, salesman, etc. with 20 years experience is much less of a risk for a big paycheck, as is an NFL player with a few years of pro ball experience.

Does a football player deserve $250,000 for four hours of play time. Dunno. Does a lawyer deserve 300/hour for filing your divorce?

I guess people complain about every situation when it doesn’t seem fair. Nevertheless, there is no real reason to get hung up on one absurdity in an absurd world.

Don’t get worked up on the politics of the game this weekend. Underneath it all are two groups of men that are going to have a chance to live out their childhood dream. That cannot be said of too many people in this world.

Watch the Superbowl.

And all this from a guy (me) that doesn’t even like the NFL….

I guess if you decide to discuss what makes you happy you also need to discuss what does NOT make you happy. Well its about 40 degrees and raining right now and that does NOT make me happy. In fact, I believe that in any hypothetical questioning I often describe the ‘least appealing weather conditions’ as ’40 and raining.’

My brother started drilling me last night about not updating my blog. I guess the whole point of keeping a blog is to keep those-who-care informed. However, I prefer to think that you all might be more interested to hear what I think, as opposed to what I do or did. It becomes especially hard to tell you about what I was thinking on a long ride since I haven’t been on any long rides as of late. My life has been consumed by a job in Houston for Jan+Feb lately and when you throw in 2-3 hours of training it just leaves me a little spent at the end of the day (hints not blogs).

BUT… …My friend and I did make it out to ride this weekend (after not seeing the sun in Houston for ten days). It was my first ride over two hours since IMFL (its good to back WAY off from time to time) and we threw around some thoughts and ideas in between our cow-spectating. I think a lot of guys that are into hunting/camping probably experience some of the similar bonding moments that I have had with friends while cycling. Sometimes the road brings out that honest self awareness and there’s actually enough time to share it.

We chatted about training and blah, blah, blah, but eventually we tried to pinpoint what makes us happy. It could be a person, place, movie, song, type of food, etc. It didn’t really need to fit into one category or another; it just needed to be something that you associate with happiness in your own life.

My friend’s very first response was “the feeling I get when I see my wife after each day at work” Touching, but a little hard to relate to right now.

My first response:

Coffee.

I’m not that cold. I got a little more deep and sensitive and came up with:

The_presence_of family and friends

Any conversation that lasts considerably longer than either party anticipated (assuming both are enjoying themselves, of course).

Mountains.

Sunshine.

Long walks (especially with my mother).

Jager. Just kidding, but not really.

The Simpsons.

Very hard bike rides when I DON’T blow up.

All joking aside, the presence of family and friends really does make me quite happy. Houston is not an ideal setting for an active individual. In fact, I would probably suggest that Houston is the antithesis of active communities amongst the developed world’s largest cities. However, it is where I am from and the friendships I developed here started when I was learning to walk. Many of those friends and family are still here and they probably don’t realize how often I miss them (but more specifically the ability to see them at my will). Visiting via travel is one thing. Its another to know that you can see those close to you at any given hour of the day should time permit. So while the triathlon side of my life is kind of cruising in neutral, the personal is thriving.

Sooooo I’ll continue to run the same loop over and over again, ride the trainer, and forget what the sun looks like… ….but I’ll be sure to hang out with family and friends as much as possible for the time being. I’ll be back in CO riding the Epic Death Loop soon enough.

Happy Monday working folks,

jd

I need to be more consistent in posting

I really need to be more consistent with these entries because I often find myself having too much to write and as a result; I write nothing. I will try to give a quick synopsis of the past couple weeks.

After returning from Sverige I traveled to my adopted (because I'm registered to vote there) town ofMelissa, Tx to have Thanksgiving with some family. Afterwards I left my car in Stephenville, Texas (home of Jewel and a new Starbucks) to travel to Santa Fe for a night and then Crested Butte where I am sitting 2.5 weeks later writing this super, awesome, amazing blog.

Since arriving I have been reviving my relationship with exercise and my lack of recent movement (and the high altitude) have forced me to really_ease_back into things as opposed to_jumping_back into things. I actually think my decision to restart training in CB this year (and last) has been a smart decision. The high altitude helps to keep things slow in the early days.

This past weekend I headed to Durango, Colorado to visit a friend (who I have known since middle school) that recently moved there in May. I was also interested in checking out this town in Colorado since it has been known to have a strong athletic presence. It sort of seemed like a cross between Boulder, Gunnison, and Santa Fe, NM to me. It has upper and high end housing, a college, and a visually athletic community (as well as an excellent rec and aquatic center, but not 50m). I have since returned to CB after driving hwy 550 north in a snow storm (awesome).

I will be spending another 4-5 days here in CB before returning to Tejas (Melissa, Tx specifically). Training will still be relatively light until after the NY. Trying to ramp things up around the XMas/NY time doesn't really fly con mi familia (spanish inspired by Kori) so I don't try to fight it.

jd

Sverige

Those who have followed along for the last year or so
know that I traveled to Sweden directly after racing
IMFL in 2005. 2006 was no different, but this year my
brother and mother joined me. It has been six years
since all three of us have been in Sweden at the same
time.

As a child I spent quite a bit of time in Sweden;
sometimes upwards of 6+ weeks during the summer
months. As I grew older my trips became more sporadic
as I pursued various interests in the U.S. I know I
will eventually get back to Sverige for an extended
period of time, but for now my trips are limited to
short adventures in the offseason.

I did manage to come home with a few interesting
stories from this trip including a night out on the
town over the weekend. I always like going out in
Europe and I'll tell you why:

I highly doubt there is a place in the US where you
can: go to a fashion show, play blackjack, get kicked
out of the VIP area, and drink Jager all in the same
place. You could probably combine three of those over
and over again in the States, but getting four of four
would be a tough one. Vegas would obviously be an
exception, but I'm sure the list would grow as well if
I were in, say, Monaco or the like.

The daytime hours had its highlights as well. The
local paper interviewed me about triathlon and such.
The paper features various folks connected to the
Halmstad area and I spent a couple hours answering
question for my new friend, Jonas, on Monday. I'll
post a link when it comes out, but you might need to
use google to help read it since it will be in
svenska.

Another highlight: My brother and I attending my
cousin's engligh class (She is the equivalent of a
junior in high school in the U.S.). The class was
split into two groups and each group asked Jason and I
questions for an hour about any topic they decided to
address. You might think that the topics would be
limited with a language barrier, but there is no
language barrier for the Swedes at that age. They had
no problems grasping international (as it relates to
the U.S.) issues including North Korea, Iraq, the
death penalty, etc. This hour was probably the
highlight of the trip outside of visiting family. Very
interesting young adults.

And now I'm back in the states. I finally got some
sleep after rolling on coffee for 30 hours straight. I
am going to pay for that some time in the next week.

I will be heading up to Crested Butte this week and
will begin to start training for the next triathlon
season on Dec 4. After 3 weeks in CO I'll return to
warmer weather as I begin preparations for Ironman
Arizona. This will be the first spring Ironman I have
done and I am certainly looking forward to it.

All for now. Happy Thanksgiving,

JD

Justin Daerr IMFL report

Here is a copy of the race report I sent out.

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

Hey all,

This past weekend marked the completion of my fifth
Ironman and my first as a professional. The 2006 race
season had a mixed bag of results, but I felt that my
preparation and form for Ironman Florida was right on.
I wanted to end the season on a high note.

All IMFL participants were greeted with cooler temps
and high winds on race morning. However, I was
prepared to deal with these conditions and I was
confident that it would not be a major issue. I got
everything in order for the day, put my wetsuit on,
and headed down to the beach. The winds had kicked up
the ocean considerably and it looked as though we
might be in for a rough ride. The winds were running
parallel to the shoreline so the swells would be felt
in every direction.

I had expected a high octane swim start, but it turned
out to be much more civil than I anticipated. The
conditions of the water created much more of a
challenge than the pace of the swimmers in close
proximity to me. I settled into a group halfway
through the first loop and did my best to stay relaxed
in the tough conditions. Everyone was getting tossed
around and I imagine they all swallowed nearly the
same amount of salt water as I did.

The group stayed somewhat organized for 50 percent of
loop two, but eventually everyone got split up. I
towed a few folks in from that point and tried to keep
the pace up. We crossed the timing mat in 58:xx and I
was not disappointed given the conditions. I just
wanted to get on the bike and get rolling.

The bike offered some challenges in the first few
miles since my Powertap computer kept popping out of
its harness. I fiddled with my aero drink bottle
position and I assumed I had everything in order.
Unfortunately I was wrong and my PT computer bounced
out of place around mile 20 forcing me to ride back
and pick it up. I lost some time, but I quickly
settled back into my ride.

I rode as strong as I could, but it really did not
appear to be enough for the day. I never had contact
with (many) other riders and it made for a LONG ride
as I grinded away hoping that others might be fading
up the road. Unfortunately my colleagues up the road
held their ground and my progress was limited.

I came into T2 feeling beat up and bit out of focus.
My lower back had given me a lot of problems on the
bike and the pain had been enough to let the dark
thoughts of quitting enter my mind as I changed into
my running gear. However, I had made a promise to my
coach (and myself) prior to race day to fight for
every position no matter how far out of the race I
was. My back hurt, but I hoped it might subside as I
settled into a rhythm on the run.

I took the the run out more moderately than I have in
the past three Ironmans. I had hoped to hold an even
pace throughout the first 20 miles and then run a 10K
as hard as possible. The pace fell off a bit in the
second loop, but at mile 25 I saw that I could
potentially break my IM marathon time from 2005. If I
ran under 4:00/kilometer for the final 2K of the run I
would get a 3:04:xx run split. I managed to run 7:35
in this section and that gave me something positive to
take away from the end of this race.

I made up seven places on the run to finish 16th
overall with a time of 9:05. I came into the race
hoping to improve upon my 8th place finish last year,
but sometimes a race provides different challenges. I
dealt with a large level of discomfort (probably the
most from any IM), but I managed to still do what I
could on the day. I like to think that managing pain
on a less-than-optimal day will make it much more easy
to tolerate it on a day when things are going my way.

Its been a long year and a break is in order. I will
be sure to let everyone know my 2007 race schedule as
it develops over the next couple months.

Many, many thanks are in order for my family, my
friends, my coach Joe Friel, and my sponsors: EAS,
Ultrafit, Oomph!, Javelin bikes, Fuelbelt, and
www.wheelbuilder.com.

See you next year,

JD

Nine days out

Yesterday I left my super secret training spot in
Melissa, Tx and headed to my old hometown of Houston,
Tx. I completed my second-to-last race simulation
workout on Tuesday and I wanted to get here long
before my final race sim workout on Friday. I always
try to avoid key training sessions on a day following
travel. The reason I'm doing my final workout here in
Htown has to do with Blake flying into town on
Saturday to drive over to PCB with me early next week.
Blake has been training hard in Madison, WI in the
all-too-early-to-arrive winter; the exact opposite of
my entirely-too-long summer last year in Texas.

Once again I was blessed with a long drive as the
heavens decided to open up and promptly drop every
ounce of extra water they had reserved in the clouds.

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

On Tuesday this week I did a workout as such:

3500 swim with tempo 2k main set;
Start ride within one hour of swim; ride 90 minutes
with 50-60 min at IM-IM+20 power; transition to ten
mile run on the track running steadily.

I didn't have to do the run on the track and many of
you might classify 40 laps of the track at a steady
pace to be just about the worse idea EVER. However, I
had asked my aunt to come out and hand off coke and
water every 4th lap so that I could continuously run
at a certain pace to see how my body responded to that
particular pace (and with race day fueling).

Couple things I have noticed over the past few weeks
that might apply to everyone:

1. It takes about 12 minutes (or two miles) for HR,
PE, and Pace to line up (in training) when running off
the bike. Until then HR is low, PE is low and pace is
high. I was running nearly 20-25 sec too fast to start
this workout and I still felt like I was only running
at a crawl. This sensation could last up to 30-45
minutes on race day depending on conditions, how hard
you/I ride, nutrtion on the bike, etc. Just imagine
how much an a rested, fit athlete could run the first
10K when you throw in a competitive spirit and
spectators. RELAX. Look at Sergio Marques' first 10K
split in Kona. Nearly the same as his final split. The
result? 2:43 and the fastest split of the day. He did
NOT take it out hard and he obviously had the run
fitness to absolutely blast the trek down Ali'i Dr.

2. I tend to pick up the pace once I have nutrition
handed off to me. I need to stay relaxed, get the
nutrition in, and continue. I kept spiking my pace and
HR during the workout when after my aunt handed off
the drinks. I also think its important to take your
time to get those calories in. If you try to rush the
coke/gatorade/water/whatever through the aid stations
you'll likely find that you didn't take it all that
much. Treat that coke like gold and take in small
amounts until that cup is empty.

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

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blah

Blah.

That's all wrote in the 'comments' section in my log
after Tuesday's training. Such is life during a taper.
I seem to be coming around though so life is good.
Life was over on Tuesday, but its back on Thursday.

I didn't get on here to comment on the Aggies' victory
over Mizzou because I was too busy helping Miss
Melissa become Mrs. Melissa over the weekend (cousin
Melissa for those in the know).

My weekend consisted of traveling Thursday, big day
of training Friday, rehearsal dinner Friday night,
Saturday morning workouts, go to church around 1:00n
to be the best damn Usher in the world, watch cousin
get married, take pictures outside church while
constantly checking Aggie game on cell phone, listen
to finish of game in car, announce wedding party at
reception, enjoy reception, go home at midnight, go to
bed, wake up, watch the 12,000,000 inches of raining
falling outside, put on running shoes, run 21 miles in
that dumb weather, watch the Texans 'play football',
hang out with friends, go home, go to bed, drive a
four-hour-drive in six hours because of another
12,000,000 inches of rain, go to swim practice, go
home, look at my watch at 8:15 and decide its time for
bed. Sleep 11 hours.

And for some reason I can't seem to understand why I
feel completely wiped out on Tuesday. HMMMMMMMMM.

But seriously... ....The wedding was great and I'm
psyched she found such a great guy.

The run was miserable though. I have the patience for
about one of those sessions/year. Since the year is
almost finished I figured I had better cash in on it.

Let's see; what else?

I heard on the radio that Brandon Flowers of The
Killers claimed that their latest album was the best
album in the last twenty years. Well I listened to it
three times through on my way back home. Its not the
best album to come out in the last twenty years, but
it did get me to start thinking about what album might
fit that title.

I couldn't come up with an answer. In fact, I wasn't
even bold enought to narrow it down to the top 5
(Weezer's first album would be in there).

I did decide what the worst album in the last twenty
years is: Master P's "Last Don." Awful. You might find
something that is_just_as_bad, but nothing is worse
than that.

Time for the NLCS.

-jd

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Damn Jayhawks

Actually those Jayhawks are alright. I didn't think I
would live to see the day when I would be glad to beat
Kansas (in football, of course), but such is life. I
actually flipped when the deep snapper screwed up and
caused a safety. I turned the TV off and headed out
for a ride. Seemed like it was too nice of day to
watch the Ags crumble. They ended up pulling it
together while I was away so maybe I'm on to
something.

Not sure why I write these football reports since
they're about as boring as they come, but Saturdays
are my easy days and just about the only time I seem
to sit behind a computer with no real intentions.

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

I was riding my bike on FM 121 just outside of Gunter,
Texas on Tuesday when a truck grazed me so closely
that I actually freaked out. I yelled out of
fear/surprise and not simply in retaliation or
anything like that. AND the nice gentleman then took
it upon himself to flcik me off. I was so pissed off
that I found myself absolutely DRILLING IT (to quote
my amigo Macca) to catch him.

I didn't catch him. Apparently cars travel a bit more
quickly than bikes.

Suddenly all those jokes BB and I have made this year
about short life expectancies didn't seem so funny
anymore. Its one thing to deal with close calls. Its
another to deal with people who intentionally do it. I
wonder if he would have stopped if he had actually hit
me...

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

Tomorrow ends the major bulk of my build towards
Ironman Florida. Almost everything has gone according
to plan and tomorrow's BIG day of training will
finalize that.

My fitness is coming together nicely and hopefully the
next few weeks' rest will bring out more improvements.

-jd

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Damn Raiders

Man, that hurt. But I knew it would happen. You don't
give Leach and his offense two minutes to finish you
off. You_just_don't_do_it.

I was reading an article in the Dallas Morning News
yesterday morning about the Ags' loss to Tech. The
author mentioned that Franchione and his staff had
downplayed Tech as a rival. The author responded with:
"You are right, they're not a rival. They just beat
the Aggies." Touche. And I hang my head a little lower
every year.

You guys can hop onto www.texags.com to get a game
summary if you have no idea what I'm talking about.

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

Training went quite well this week and I got a little
redemption for the previsouly washed out weekend.
Everything pretty much went according to plan this
week and the weather cooperated nicely for some of my
harder sessions.

This upcoming week looks to be a bit challenging with
higher volume and warm weather throughout. I could
look at this in a positive light. The weather in PCB
at Ironman Florida will probably not be any warmer (if
it is, it will be a rough day) than what I will face
this week. Nevertheless, training in 90+ degrees day
after day gets a bit old once October rolls around.
Time for temperate temps.

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

What else?

Astros lost. I give them credit for making the season
count until the last game, but its a shame they
couldn't have made things happen throughout the
season.

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

Other than that, there isn't much going on. Its kind
of that time of year where life is simple. You train,
you rest, and you race. Five weeks left.

jd

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Damn week

I'm pretty glad last week is over and done with. It
started out well with a great long run on Tuesday. I
was more than pleased with my performance on a 22-mile
run.

That was the highlight. The low points included:

1)my car getting broken into on Tuesday night

2)a failed execution of Friday's track workout because
of fatigue and ridiculously bad weather.

3)My clothes got stolen at the natatorium while I was
swimming on Friday. Drove home in a drag suit.

4)Another failed execution of a workout: Sunday's long
ride.

Frankly, there was little I could about the failed
workouts. I obviously hit a wall late last week and my
body rejected any more hard work that was going to be
placed on it. There is a type of fatigue that an
athlete such as myself can push through, but I suspect
this time it was not that type. This upcoming week is
an important one so I decided to shut everything down
and rest up in hopes of alleviating that fatigue.
Worst case scenario; I wasn't as tired as I thought
and I'm more rested for this week. I don't think
that's the case though. I know me.

All for now. Beat Tech.

-j

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Go Army

Man. I never thought I would be yelling at the tv
hoping that Army won't run over the Aggie D Line and
completely upset us. It reminded me of 1996 when the
Aggies lost to Southwest Louisiana State (now U of La
Lafayette; aka U lala). Frankly I'm surprised the
Aggies won. The trend has not been a favorable one
since I started going to TAMU in Fall 1999. That was
our last season with eight wins. The team showed signs
of life in 04, but that was short-lived.

And so it continues (looks that way, at least).

I woke up this morning to a gnarly storm which cut the
electricity in the house. I sat in bed thinking about
how awesome my long ride was going to be... ...on the
trainer. I have no problems riding in the rain, but
there are flood warnings throughout the day so I don't
think I can get much quality out the door. Plus, my PT
would stop working early on (b/c of the rain) and
Coach J has put structure throughout the whole ride.

I have not used the trainer much this year, but I do
think it is a valuable tool for controlling conditions
for higher intensity sessions. Most of my intervals
have been longer (and more moderate in intensity) this
year (10-40 min) as my cycling training has been
prioritized less while my running has been emphasized.

However, my cycling has continued to improve
throughout the year despite a cut in volume. I
honestly believe it has as much to do with last year's
training than anything else. Seems like my fitness
improved very early on this year after a rest in the
offseason. I guess the body needs the time to get past
the deep fatigue that 10 months of training will do to
it.

Well I'm just procrastinating at this point. I'll get
on that trainer and stare at the wall.

j

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watching wisco

I'm sitting here watching IMW right now. My buddy
Chris is running in first place as we speak and I
would love to see him pull this off. Keep it up buddy.

Last weekend I raced in upstate NY and managed to a
win. I traveled all day Monday and got right back into
things on Tuesday. I don't have any races planned
between now and IMFL. My goals for this race are the
only priority at this point.

My primary goal is to qualify for Kona which would
require a top 5 finish (assuming no roll down).

My second goal is to run under three hours in the
marathon.

While my run goal is secondary; I believe it holds the
link to goal number one. Running <2:59:59_and_racing
well otherwise, is what it is likely going to take to
get a Kona slot.

Currently Joe and are training for 2:55 (off the bike)
run fitness and I still think I'm a ways away from it.
However, I do feel as though everything is beginning
to fall into place. My forced rest in July (from knee
problems) is allowing my form to come on at a nice
pace, but its hard to tell how far I will improve from
now until Nov 3. I ran well in last weekend's race;
probably the best I've run all season, but IM running
is different. It involves the 'all day pace' and that
ADP isn't quite where I need it to be, but its coming.

Here's a brief look as to what this week included:

Monday: off for travel

Tuesday:
8 mile run in the a.m.
3800 yd swim at Masters; pretty mellow
Late afternoon ride, 2:05, 40 miles.

Wednesday:
Morning run, 30K; very steady descending throughout
the second 15K loop.
Afternoon spin 70 minutes; very easy

Thursday:
Morning swim 5K; main set of 1000,800,600,400,200
descending from 1:15 pace to 1:13s on the 200s. short
rest
5 mile run shortly after
Afternoon ride with 2 x 1 hour at IM-IM+ power. 100K
total

Friday:
Morning run with Vo2 hill repeats. 8 miles total
Midday swim; very easy for 2500.

Saturday:
Morning Masters; main set 18 x 100 varying intervals
from 1:30 down to 1:10. felt mediocre at best
170K ride beginning 90 minutes after swim. 2 hours
easy then 2 x 30, 3 x 20, 15, 12 10 minutes at HIM-10
to HIM watts. five minute recoveries on longer stuff
with 3 on the shorter.
quick T run of 15 minutes.

Sunday: morning run. 30K. Easy mostly, steady at
times. Just cruised.

Volume is moderate with exception of running, but
that's kind of the idea: Run more (and faster) to run
well.

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Back in Tejas

Howdy. Howdy from Texas.

Some folks emailed to ask me why I didn't race 5430. It was not the result of an injury, but for personal reasons. Those who knew me before triathlon know that Camp Longhorn was a huge part of my life and every year they host a weekend of 'Alumni Camp.' When you combine the number of weeks I spent there as a camper and counselor I believe it adds up to 52 weeks/one year. May not seem like too big of deal when you consider the amount of time I've probably spent watching Jeopardy in my lifetime, but it was/is. My sincerest friendships originated when I was a kid in Houston and at Camp Longhorn. They are the best kind of friends. The friends that allow you to fault.

So my stay in Boulder ended once again. It wasn't really the summer I was looking for, but I did manage to walk away with some good memories and a little fitness. I originally intented to leave at the end of August, but I was only willing to drive to Texas once.

My setup in Texas is much different from Boulder or even Clermont. Those places offer a triathlon culture. Melissa, Texas does not appear to be the next frontier for triathlon. The training is good (it was better two years ago before so many roads were worked on), but its solo. I swim with a squad in Plano, but that's the limit of training partners here in Collin County.

Its hot here. 105 in the middle of the day. That's manly weather and I should probably mention that to balance this emotionally frontend-loaded blog. North Texas (and the hill country) are in a pretty severe drought and everything is brown. Fortuntely my aunt and uncle live far enough from the heart of the DFW metroplex to avoid the heat trapping of the city. I would imagine it gets 5-10 degrees cooler at night out here with the lack of concrete.

Speaking of which, I need to get out the door before the oppression begins.

Keep it real,

jd

Epic Riding

I had all these grand ideas about training in Boulder this summer. One such idea was a two-week swim, bike, run tour of Colorado. Unortunately I was sidelined with a lame knee and I missed out on said adventure... ...but not completely. Mike Larsen pieced together a one-day grand tour yesterday and my knee had been healthy for a couple weeks. I decided to join them.

The route:

Rollout of Amante Coffee in No Boulder at 5:30 a.m.

*Ride to Lyons, Colorado
*Climb 16 miles from Lyons to Estes Park
*Enter Rocky Mtn National Park from Estes, climb to 12,500 ft via Trail Ridge
*Descend down to the Frasier Valley and ride onto Winter Park (112 miles at this point)
*Climb Berthoud Pass to 11,500 ft
*Descend Berthoud to Idaho Springs
*Climb Oh-My-God Rd (dirt road) with 2,000ft+ of vert
*Descend dirt/pavement to Central City (165 miles at this point)
*Climb out of central city to Nederland
*Descend Nederland to Boulder

Total distance would be 205-210 miles with 15,000ft+ of climbing

We started with seven riders and everyone stayed together to the base of the Trail Ridge climb. I knew it was going to be a long day when we crested the Trail Ridge climb in four hours. After four hours of riding (and over 3,000 KJs) we had only covered a little over sixty miles.

After several cups of coffee we headed out to descend into the Frasier valley. It was a cold day in the mtns so we all loaded up our jerseys with newspapers, brochures, toilet paper, etc to stay warm while descending. This was one of those situations where I was glad to not be the leanest athlete.

I had to pullover shortly after starting the descent since the housing on my RD popped out. Luckily some biker dudes were around to loan me some tools and I was back on the road. The rest of the descend was interesting as Mike, Josh, and I maneuvered through a number of bikers since we can descend techanical descents more quickly than cars and motorcycles. Kind of sketchy really.

The next 30 miles after the descent were fairly uneventful. We had a nice pace line going and made good time all the way to Winter Park.

The next segment of the ride included the ascent of Berthoud Pass. The climb passed by uneventfully, but we were starting to get rain at the summit. We bombed down trying to get out the rain, but everyone got soaked. We re-grouped in Idaho Springs and now folks were cranky, cold, and hungry. The group had now dimished to just four riders (others had planned pickups).

Next on the list: climb Oh-My-God road; a dirt road with 2,000 ft+ of climbing over 10K. Climbing dirt doesn't really bother me, but it was starting to rain. Climbing on the dirt, in the rain, on a tri bike, did concern me slightly. Josh and I cruised up the road in the rain and interestingly enough, this was the best I felt all day. I guess I just really like to open it up in hour ten. When we summited, it was raining pretty significantly and now we had to descend on the dirt, in the rain, on the tri bike. I was a little concerned, but soon enough we made it to Central City.

We are cold. We have been riding almost 170 miles at this point. We are still far from Boulder. Its almost 6:00 in the evening. We are running out of daylight. It is raining and cold. We are sitting in a casino drinking free coffee while stuffing our jereys, shorts, jakets, etc with entire setions of the Rocky Mountain News. We are quite a sight. We are laughing hysterically at the situation and making a real freaking mess. The Casino folks were quite accomodating so if any of you all tell me you lost your rent money at "Doc Holiday's", I won't feel_as_bad for you.

At this point we are a bit concerned with the weather and lack of daylight. We finally cratered and called a buddy who lives off Magnolia Rd to shuttle us over to Boulder Canyon so that we could finish the descent. We started climbing Peak-to-Peak Highway for the time being and as it turns out, we managed to warm up and the weather atually started to improve some (oh well, guess we might have been alright). About thirty minutes later said buddy arrived and shuttled D and I to his house off Mags. We then hopped back on our bikes and finished the ride into Boulder. I rolled back to my door at 7:30 in the evening; over 14 hours from when I rolled out. Ride time was slightly over 11 hours with just under 300 kilometers in the bank.

I'll have to go back next year to make sure I include those 15 miles I missed. Maybe I'll do that section twice to make up for this year.

Good times.