Wildfires

In researching a photo for my last post I found several moving pictures that I wanted to use but did not fit my illustration. So I am putting them here. This is not a triathlete post but wildfires affect this state like almost no other every year and the dedication these firefighters, volunteers and smoke jumpers have is amazing and desires recognition. These are first volley of fires and experts agree that this year will be one of the worst in history.
This is the Cave Creek Fire, just north of Phoenix. 300 homes have already been burned down and now 6,000 residents of Pine Top and Strawberry have been given their evacuation warning order.
The sign on this house says simply, "Thank You"

The Day Ain't Over Till The Trainings Done

Had a good brick this afternoon. The weather cooperated quite well, 111* and 3% humidity. So I had that going for me, which is nice. It only felt like 102 degrees to be honest.

I trucked Lucille to the office today and planned for a ride around and through the campus of Arizona State University. Well I learned some things on this part of the brick.

1) Do not leave my helmet on the seat of my truck all day when its 140 degrees in the cab, it leaves a burn mark under my chin from the chinstrap.
2) Tempe buses park in the bike lane when off-loading passengers. Which means I had to sprint past them or get stuck sucking hot exhaust.
3) Breathing 111* air on a busy street with 3 fires polluting the air equals a dry hack.

I am trying a new bike/run brick routine. For the run portion I am running 1 minute for every mile I bike. So today with all the traffic, headwinds, lights and the nice big hill I took, I biked 12 miles in 50 minutes, averaging 15.62 mph. So I ran 12 minutes. I realized towards the end of my run that when I brick a long bike ride, I will be riding, say, 40 miles then running 40 minutes. I may need to rethink this, but for now its good training.
This is what the entire Phoenix Valley Of The Sun (VOTS) looks like thanks to a 200,000 acre fire 20 miles north of town, a 500 acre fire inside VOTS and another on the eastside of VOTS not far from my neck of the woods.

Change to Race Schedule

Little hiccup on what was to be my next triathlon, number two for the year. On July 16th, the first day of my vacation, I was setting myself up for the Fat Tire Triathlon, #3 of the Fat Tire series (750m/16k/5k). This is actually a very cool idea. There are five tri's in the mountain bike triathlon series, each race is a different style and length. When I put this on my list earlier this year the style and race was TBD. Then it was set as a 'Formula One' race of 250m swim/10k mt bike/3k run. (Never heard of a F1 distance before).

I was signing myself up today and in big bold letters it states a longer course set up and Relay ONLY. Well I could still do it but my heart is not in a triathlon that is that short and a I don't do all the events. So I am bailing on it. I'll either meet up with my running group or spend time with the Mighty Mo before I leave the following day for my fishing trip, which I will discuss sometime soon.

He retires after wining his 7th in a row...

No not Lance Armstrong, I am talking about Scott Jurek. Jurek won the Western States 100 Endurance Race for the seventh straight year in a time of 16:40:46. Not his fastest but he's not complaning. To read about his final victory in this terrific and highly regarded race click here.

Why I Am Growing My Hair Out.

I have sported a high and tight military hair cut for the most part of twenty years, well as long a I can remember. But every now and again I get this wild streak to grow it out as long a possible-that equaling what my wife would consider normal hair length.

Anything longer than an inch and I begin to refer to my hair style as hippie. But again its been a month since my last cut, I have wings over my ears and I stashed a comb in my truck because I forget I have to actually do something to it now than just rub it thrice with a towel.

What does this have to do with multi-sport? Well to me there is always something so free about cycling or running..swimming is more about survival..and that freedom for me translates into 'letting my hair down' so to speak.

I look around and see few if any males growing their hair out. They all look so similar to my normal cut or more severe, bald. So I grow my hair out of counter-culture to society's male propensity for short hair. Much like I train like a triathlete as counter-culture to the carb counting set. BTW, never train for a marathon on a high-protein diet, not a good combination.

Triathletes are counter culture people by nature. We subject our bodies to training punishments that are not normal. Normal is using your gym membership twice a week and expecting dramatic results in a month. Not swimming 1000 meters in the morning and a 5 mile run in the afternoon and that's Monday. Or on Wednesday decide to run a half marathon on Sunday because, which in my case and I am being honest here, my sole motivation was, "The finish line was a mile from my house." Normal people look at us and go,"YOUR NUTS". I watched two football games last season, half a Monday Night Raw, no basketball, never Nascar, but caught every triathlon, adventure race, marathon and most of the Tour-de-France. Did you know there is a channel on the internet where you cant triathlon races live? It's called ITUtv. In my circle of friends and in my business this is not normal. Normal is counting sets and reps.

Growing my hair out and no I am not talking 'sensitive-ponytail-guy' length is my way of embracing my running, biking, hiking, climbing, kayaking and survival swimming soul. Its sometimes cool to not be normal (to not be a common man).

In the context of hair growth I owe it to my fitness rebellion to be the one guy in the room who a) is over 30 and can grow hair, b) regularly runs a 10k outside when its 115 degrees and c) wow's the hell out of people by telling them I do so.

Other people may buy new clothes, or get a tattoo when they embrace their tri life, for some reason I grow my hair out.

Straight 1,000 Meter Swim

I'm dyin' if I'm lyin' I pulled 1,050 meters in the indoor pool last night. Break through! I was having a bad day and was going to skip the swim workout, (caught a case of CMS) but decide to have at it. I did my drills and warm ups and decided to finish with a 500 straight. The added incentive to keep going was the three former high school swimmers, now fatties, who each wanted their own individual lane, of which I was in one. So as they splashed and bulled their way 25 meters down the lane beating me each time, I simply turned around and continued swimming while they caught their breath for a minute then beat me again as I came back around. I have never had the sensation of someone actually waiting for me to push off so they could beat me. Interesting...

At 500 meters I decided I didn't want them to have the lane, so I just kept swimming figuring I would go to 750 meters and stop. 750 is a respectable sprint tri distance. One by one they started to leave the lane area and move to the sauna or jaccuzi. I think they realized I wasn't stopping and they weren't bothering me. I wanted to tell them, "Ahh, fellas, I'm a triathlete. Trying to swamp me with your gianormous leg kicks and splash me with your flailing arms from a lane away, don't impress me. Try doing that in my lane with six other swimmers, three kicking you in the face and two others grabbing your ankles." But in reality I never even said a word to them.

At 750 I thought to heck with it, go to a 1,000 meters, make it a great swim. So I got to 1,000 and decide to do 50 meters more; 1x25 to make up for the push's off the wall and 1x25 for the Man upstairs.

So how cool is that. I pull a thou straight and withstand the blistering assault of three fat 20 year olds, using the lanes on either side of me, all regaling each other with how thin they were in high school. "Dude, I was like this thin...really."

My ego going into orbit in...3...2...1...blast off.

Tour Overload

I can tell the Tour de France is getting nearer. It Lance, Lance, Lance. The Discovery Channel last night had a show that scientifically discussed his genetic gifts and how he has used them to his advantage. Alright I can get into that. Next was the boys from OCC building the Lance Armstrong chopper. Actually already saw that. Tonight is the Discovery Channel biography of his mother and how she raised Lance alone. Read his first book and its all there.

I appreciate all that Lance has done to win the Tour, several times in a row, its unprecedented. I appreciate all he has done to encourage people to take up exercise. I think he is an outstanding athlete. He started a cultural movement with his Yellow bracelet.

But when it comes down to it the two things that really stick in my teeth that make me not want to like him is that in his first book he gives no credit to anyone for helping him be a champion. He writes about getting his spirit from his single-mother who worked all the time which allowed him to ride for hours. Is that really a compliment? When he developed cancer he dosen't really thank anyone but himself in overcoming it. The doctors wanted him to do certain things and he stubbornly ignored them and since he didn't die; he's right, there wrong. When he won the first few Tour's, it was all about him, barely a mention of his team. He kinda reminds me of Martha Stewart. Do you really think Martha comes up with all those amazing ideas on her own? Of course she doesn't. Have you ever heard her thank the person she got the tip from? Ever see a credit at the end of a show? Hear here mention someone elses input in the concept? Hell no. Its all her, she wants you to think.

The thing I do like about Lance is that he is competitive. That guy gives not an inch to the press or the French or another cyclist. He makes great press, once because he was a plucky underdog, then a cancer survivor and now the underdog to win lucky number 7. How's that spin, as the undisputed champion of cycling he is portrayed as the underdog to win again. How's that happen?