Why I Love Fall

I successfully wrapped up my second goof off week...I mean recovery week...after Ironman Wisconsin and am now ramping back up again for the Columbus Marathon. During my two weeks of "active recovery" I was really able to enjoy the awesome weather we have been having in North East Ohio and that got me to thinking about a few of the things that make fall (or fall like weather) one of my favorite times/things. Here is a sampling of them:

1. easy breezy road rides where the temps are cool but not uncomfortable, the sky is as blue as can be, the sun is rising over the tree line, there is just a hint of color in the leaves and the attitude is more social than hammer fest. This is why I started riding in the first place and I love it when I get to experience it


2. two words...trail running (or walking). I have no idea why but for some reason I really only run on the trails in the fall. I really don't understand it myself because it is so peaceful in the woods and the time always flies by and I always feel completely refreshed when I am done. Maybe its best I only do it in the fall or it may not be the same.


3. two more words...mountain biking. Again, really reserved for the fall, probably because I suck at it, but I love being in the woods and I also love the challenge of knocking off a solid effort at something that literally scares the hell out of me. Again, I love it but it is probably best I only do it in the fall.


4. the smell of a charcoal grill that is getting ready to grill up some tasty treat. I love to grill all year long but in the fall I break out the lawn chair and camp out by the grill from the moment its lit until the moment the food is done.


5. keeping with the fire theme...camp fires. We have a great fire pit in our yard and we have really enjoyed hanging out by it on the cooler fall days. I don't know what it is about hanging out by a fire, even if it is the grill, but they make me really, really thirst for a nice cold beverage. Again, I love it.

Enough day dreaming here is what I have on tap for the week.

1. I am still out of the pool but will be back in next week
2. mountain biking at west branch in lieu of weds. night road ride
3. targeting just north of 30 on foot with no speed work and a long run of 12-14
4. weekend of debauchery at put-in bay. gonna guess I will probably spend some time in the early am running but that's it

I hope everyone is enjoying the fall like weather as much as I am.

that's all for now

Weekly recap

This is for last week which was pretty much a down week. Following IM Wisconsin my schedule looked like this:

mon - off
tues - off
weds - 1 hr easy spin
thurs - off
fri - 1 hr easy spin
sat - off
sun - 52mi hilly ride through bedford reservation

It is probably noticeable that I have not run a step since IM. I am going to change that tonight as I have an easy 4 miler on the schedule. The temperature is just right for me (approx. 70) and I am actually really looking forward to it.

This past weekend was a strange one. On Saturday I was registered for the Komen race for the cure but it was pouring so hard in the AM and I was planning on not really racing it (and maybe walking it) so I talked myself out of it with the justification that paying the money was the important part. I regret not going and will not let that happen again. On Sunday northeast Ohio caught the tail end of IKE and he was nice enough to blow our house into total darkness for the next forty hours or so. He also made the yard look like a bomb went off in it and I am sure to enjoy many hours of clean up before it looks good again (just kidding I hate yard work).

Thats all for now.

cutting the ties to Ironman Wisconsin 2008

Well I think today is the day that I close the book on IM Wisconsin. The official end of any of my big races is the day I cut off my wristband and start to think about whats next. This will be more emotional than you might think for me because I really don't want to say goodbye yet. I had such a great time training for and racing this race. Although it was in the top three of hardest races/events I have participated in, it really feels like it is the hardest to say goodbye to.

However, all good things must come to an end so I am cutting the wristband off and I am starting to think about my next two races. The first is the Columbus Marathon where I am going to take a run at qualifying for Boston. I have already raced two marathons this year and missed by 1 minute in the first and 7 minutes in the second but I feel really good about this one. This could be the one!!! The second big race I have coming up is the Ragnar Relay in Feb. 2009 in Arizona. I am really excited about this one as I will be joining some old friends who I have not seen for about 10 years. It should be a blast.

Moving forward I will be recapping my weekly training and giving updates on any new adventures that may come my way.

That's all for now

2008 Ironman Wisconsin

This past weekend I competed in Ironman Wisconsin. It took place in Madison, WI which is an incredible town that I am sorry to say I have never been to before. This was my fourth ironman and as was the case in the others it was a tough day but an overall great experience that really tests your limits.

Instead of doing a regular race report like most bloggers do going into great detail about everything that happened during the course of the day I am going to talk about what I hope to remember from this race. It actually has nothing to do with me but has left me inspired, motivated and somewhat emotional since it happened.

The greatest thing you can ever see in a sporting event, bar none, is the finish line of an ironman from 9pm until the final cutoff time of 12am. It is awesome and if you ever have the chance to see it I highly recommend you do so. Every time I have been at the finish line during this time slot (this was the fifth time I have been at the finish line, one time I just went to watch and didn't compete) I have seen the most incredible things. I am talking about people from all walks of life who have been slugging it out through weather and terrain and mechanicals and blisters and sprains and aches...well you get the picture it is one hell of a hard day. In any event at this past weekends race there was 15 minutes left until the 17 hrs was up and whoever wasn't finished was disqualified. The finish line announcer, whose name is Mike Reilly, got on the loud speaker to tell everyone who was there that the last runner had one mile left to go and would have to run it in 15 mins. or she wouldn't make it. He said there was a spotter with her who was trying to keep her moving so she could realize her goal. The crowd rallied behind this unknown runner and even though she could not hear us yet the cheers started. Literally everyone there wanted this person to make it in the worst way. With 7:30 secs left Mike got back on the loud speaker to tell us that he had just talked to the spotter to tell him he needed to keep her moving there wasn't much time left and he repeated that the spotter told him he only needed five minutes and he could get her there. Well the reality was that he needed a little more than five minutes but with only 4 secs to spare this woman crossed the line realizing her dream in front of hundreds of wildly cheering people. Call me crazy but that feat, and the crowd support, overshadowed (by a long shot) anything I accomplished that day and I will carry it with me for a long time to come. Congrats unknown lady who accomplished with only 4 secs to spare what most people can't even dream of accomplishing....you rock.

Thats all for now.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was one of those unbelievable Northeast, Ohio weekends. If you don't know what I mean, it was one of those weekends made up of days when everyone always proclaims that if "I could just have weather like this all the time I would give up the seasons". It was beautiful!! Sunny - lots of blue sky, not to hot, not to humid with nights where you open the windows and even the toughest insomniacs sleep like babies.

Anyways, I had a great weekend starting with dinner with family and friends at a new restaurant on Friday night called The Blue Fig. It was really nice and it had Great Lakes beer on tap so you couldn't go wrong.

Saturday, started out with a great ride with Tim, John and my son Jerry. Hard to have a bad ride with great weather like this. Next up was a photo shoot for a magazine article that is being done on the company I work for. I am not very comfortable with that type of thing but my friend and marketing guru CB, who billed it as the fun stuff, made it happen anyways. The rest of the day Sat. was spent running errands and grilling out. Perfect day

Sunday and Monday (labor day) were nearly identical days which started with really hard rides in the morning and finished with relaxing, picnicking, grilling out, playing cornhole and enjoying a few cold beers with family and friends. Could not ask for better times.

On a sad note a friend, who I ride with sometimes, died on Saturday of a heart attack. He was just finishing up a ride and he went down and was never revived. Darryl you will be missed and I will never forget how you could pound that big gear up Everett Road.

Up next, I will be participating in Ironman Wisconsin next weekend. I feel like I am really ready for this and it should be a great time. I wish I would have started this earlier so I could have a record of my progress. Oh well, spilled milk!!!