2h 46m 33s ... with special thanks to Murphy's Law

(Murphy's Law: "Anything That Can Possibly Go Wrong, Does/Will")

For pics click this link

The Goal: complete my first Triathlon (Olympic Distance) in under 3 Hours, while not drowning (special thanks here go to my Wet-Suit which makes actual drowning very hard - while making you feel like you are stuck in full-body corset.)


Actual Race Time: 2:46:33 ... which breaks down into the following:

576

484

36

Ich

M

27

26:46 (671)

2:47 (318)

1:19:47 (517, 19.1)

1:38 (534)

55:36 (876, 8:58)

2:46:33

Which Means:

Overall Finish: # 576 - Finisher Among Men: # 484 - Age Group Finish: # 36
Swimming Time: 26:46 (i was the 671 'fastest' here)
Bike: 1:19:47 (average pace of 19.1 mph with the 517 'best' time)
Run: 55:36 (the 876th fastest in that event) ...

Which means my best event - in which I placed 318th was the first Transition (that is the time spent between getting out of the water and sitting on your bike and heading off)

With that out of the way here we go - the Race Report:

Before i got started with this tri-challenge i figured that the swim would be my hardest event, the biking would be doable and the run would be where 'i catch people'. But obviously it turned out in a completely different way and it ended up with my swim being 'doable', the biking were i caught people and the running being the event where i got past --- these things are always very humbling!

These bloody triathlons start way to early in the morning! I thought Marathon starts were early, but no! Triathlons win in this category with the first wave of athletes (these things start in waves - ages categories ... with the pro's going first ... I was in Wave 9) starting at around 6:30 am! Which means one has to get up at around 5am or earlier to eat some breakfast, go over to the transition area to do some final setting-up on the bike, climing into the wet-suit, getting a bit warmed-up etc, etc, etc

The Start/Swim:
Our Wave was made up of about 150 or so people which made for a nice and painful start in absolutely freezing water! (Thank god for the wet-suits otherwise who knows what might have happened.) Why do i say 'painful start' well its quite simple actually: imagine a large group of people standing on side of the swimming pool and all of a sudden trying to reach the other side as fast as possible. Obviously there is not enough space/width to support, say 150 idiots who collectively are quite a bid wider then the alloted space/width available - especially at the start. The outcome is quite simple: u get kicked and punched in virtually all areas of the body, all the time for the first minute or two. This, as u can surely imagine, at 7:30am in freezing water at the start of a circa 3 hour event in which u try to conserve as much energy as possible, while going as fast as u can, is nothing short of a wonderful time for any athlete ... a time in which one appreciates the closeness of hundreds of strangers like no other.

The Worst Part: realizing that your not in a pool where u can rest after 25 to 50 meters; that u have still over a kilometer to go, while floating in the freezing lake and realizing that all your practice of freestyle swimming was utterly useless while i struggled to keep up with the mass of people, swimming in my patented doggy-paddle/breaststroke style ...

The Best Part: coming around that small island in the middle of the lake and seeing the exit point - just beautiful (the nicest surprise was seeing my swim time after the race and realizing that it was not that bad: 26min ... i had feared i might need close to 40min!)

Interesting Fact: you really get thirsty swimming (even in fresh water) ... i never expected that - although i never thought about it either - and it seems logical: you are exercising hard for 25min + ... but it still surprised me, nevertheless

Transition One (Swim to Bike):
After stumbling out of the water the objective is to get to the bike as quick as possible (running/sprinting) while taking off your wet-suit. The transition area is where u can really make up time on people and my goal was to get in and out of in under two minuets. Unfortunately i did not get even close to that. Overall the transition thing is quite fun - and its the first place where u have people gathering to cheer you on - which always gets the adrenaline pumping. I also managed to run to the wrong bike/isle ... but managed to correct my mistake quickly by dashing under some bikes into the correct isle/lane.

The Best Part:
Realizing that the people to left and right of me had already been here (early waves i figure) which gave me more space to get to my gear and change. There was very little space between bikes for everyone to put their stuff ...

The Worst Part:
Murphey's Law (#1) showing up for the first time: i decided not to put on my race top under the wet-suit and decided to put it on during transition. I even practiced this procedure several times to figure out how to best place the shirt in the transition area, and what the best way would be to get it on. Unfortunately, the stupid shirt/jersey ended up getting stuck and rolling up behind my back and i could be seen jumping up and down, twisting and turning next to my bike while trying to get the stupid jersey on - that this might happen was my biggest fear in the first transition and it ended up costing me about 25 to 30 seconds - very frustrating!

Interesting Fact:
Your not supposed to rest during transition ... its a part where u can make up time ... the recovery portion should be during the first couple of minuets on the bike and/or run.

The Bike:
I loved this part ... i felt strong the entire time and its a great feeling to just fly by people instead of being passed. I knew the course, knew the hills and the race just seemed to flow smoothly at this point. I even managed to eat during this part and I really enjoyed it - am really surprised how much i like biking. My little $160 metal bar on wheels felt good and i was flying down hills ... could have used some extra (harder) gears, but was glad no parts came flying off on those portion ... was very happy to finish the course in under 1h 20min (that was one of my goals)

The Best Part:
Hard to say ... that entire ride was fun. Possibly being passed and passing a fellow triathlete on about 6 occasions. She passed me (she had an awesome bike), i passed here - we just went back and forth and it really kept my pace up and we pushed each other on ... also the fact that we just missed the rain .... the weather forecast for the race had not been to great and the real concern was the rain during the bike course ... but thankfully, apart from a few drops at the very end, we stayed dry on the bike course.

The Worst Part:
Murphy's Law Strike #2: I was flying up the mountain, down shifting to keep my cadence and momentum going when suddenly my gear gut stuck. All of a sudden i lost all speed, all rhythm and almost fell of my bike. I was literally stuck on the hardest part of the hill and the guy behind me nearly crashed into me while i barely managed to clip out of my peddles. I ended up pushing my bike up part of the hill before getting back on the bike and dragging myself over the edge ... it was the first time my gear gut stuck every since i have been training with the bike (nearly 3 months) - perfect timing.

Murphy's Law Strike #3: Just as i had recovered from the stuck gear event and had build up my speed again my chain came off the bike. Once again, that had never happened before, and I had to stop once again to put that thing back on - thankfully it was a quick fix and did not cost to much time.

Interesting Fact:
Jesse - one of our TNT team members (and amazing swimmer) had even worse luck on the bike. She had gear problems as well, and suffered a flat tire. She ended up riding the last 7 miles of the race with no air in her back wheel .... quite remarkable! Also it is illegal to 'draft' during the bike portion ... which means u cannot be less then 5 bike lengths behind someone, and u only have 30 seconds to pass somebody - otherwise u get disqualified (DQ'd).


Transition Two (Bike to Run):
I managed to find my bike without any problems this time around and had caught up with some of the girls from our team (they started 8 min. ahead of us in a different wave) ... which i thought was excellent since it meant that i had made up around 8 to 10min on them on the bike portion (I know i lost some time to them during the swim) and i knew that i would finish the race in under 3hours - if i can manage to run the 10k in under an hour (my goal was to run it in circa 45min) - which is not to difficult.

The Best Part:
Coming of the bike and running towards the changing area, while hearing some of our supporters scream your name. Its such an adrenaline kick!

The Worst Part:
Murphy's Law Strike #4: I was pushing my right foot into my running shoe when all of a sudden this intense pain shot through my right calf and i slowly fell to the ground (into a combination of wet grass and mud) like a big log/piece of timber. I just got a huge cramp in my right calf muscle and with no one around to help stretch me out, i clumsily did it myself. But the worst part is/was that i knew the 10k would be a disaster ... especially due to the hills to come. This was a horrible feeling ... a mix of frustration, pain and disappointment ... u train and await this race for so long and then something stupid like this will not enable you to truly see how well you could have done ... but thats part of it all ... i guess. So after stretching out for a bit I was able to put on my shoes and go off on the run ....

Interesting Fact:
You can get disqualified if you take off your biking helmet before 'racking' your bike (i.e. putting it back into its proper position) ... apparently this is one of the most common reasons why people suffer being DQ'd.


The Run:
This should have been my strongest event ... and my legs still felt strong when i started the run, after coming off the bike. This was a great sign, since in previous practices my legs felt dead trying to run after just finishing a tough ride, but this time i felt good and i set off on a nice pace. But the run ended up being a complete disaster - it was just horrible. I think i compensated with my left side a bit to keep some pressure of my right calf and it promptly led to a me developing a second cramp in my left quad. In the end the run took me a disappointing 55 min - i had to stop several times in order to stretch and allow my muscles to recover and worst of all i ended up walking up most of the hills on the course since running up the hills just caused me to get more cramps. So my predicted best event turned into a nightmare ... leider.

The Best Part:
Easily the finish ... well more precisely the last 250m of the race course. When i got to this point, realizing that no more hills or inclines of any sort are anywhere to be seen and with people cheering on, my adrenaline kicked into overdrive and i sprinted to the finish. It was a great feeling ... and nice way to end the day.

The Worst Part:
Murphy's Law Strike #5: This easily goes to the continued cramps i got while trying to maneuver the hills of the race course. The absolute highlight might have been me trying to stretch out my left quad near the top of the steepest hill on the course by myself. Now please picture and individual standing on his right leg only, pulling his left quad backwards with his left hand - in order to stretch the muscle. The result of this stretching attempt was that my right calf started to ramp up while doing this and i just fell down in the middle of the road in pure pain and agony - an absolute highlight!

Interesting Fact:
I think, realistically speaking, i lost about 10min on the run .... which means that next year i should aim for the 2h 30min mark as a time goal for the race/course.


And that was the race .... very eventful, very enjoyable (in retrospect) and a great overall experience which will undoubtedly and inevitably lead to only one thing: an IronMan at some point in the next couple of years!

FYI: IronMan = 3.8 Swim, 181km Bike & 42km run ...

Race Recap: das drumherum - definately bring a bag

Before we get to the actual race 'report' i thought i just point out a couple of things about a triathlon that i never really considered - but which make perfect sense.


To start with - u better bring a huge bag to the event - since its not like, for example, a regular swim meet or running event where u need a pair of running shoes or a speedo. No for the triathlon that list reads something like this:

a) pair of running shoes with quick-tie shoe laces
b) pair of biking shoes - again preferably with quick-tie shoe laces
c) pair of sandals (u dont want to run around before the swim start barefoot)
d) a tri-wet suit (not a scuba one - apparently there is a BIG difference)
e) a tri-race outfit - which is somewhat unique (or at least thats what the sports companies want u to believe who charge $180+ for these things) since u should wear it under your wet-suit during the swim, it has to be warm enough for the bike portion and provide enough 'cushioning' for the ride (and also needs to include those 'race' pockets on the back of your running shirt to put food in etc) while not bothering u for the final run part ... and it has to be 'aero-dynamic' i.e. quite tight to your body ...
f) riding glasses (for the bike portion)
g) a helmet - 'sperm helmets' apparently provide a huge aerodynamic advantage - need to get one for next year
g) a bike - quite essential
h) a towel (to place all your stuff on in the transition area - the place where u switch from swim to bike and then again from bike to run)
i) a race belt (where u clip your starting number on - which then goes on around your waist for the run portion)
j) some vaseline, spray on butter or the like - this comes in quite handy on two separate occasions: a) u use this stuff to put on your ankles and wrist before putting on your wet-suit (it helps tremendously in getting that thing on and off) and the vaseline usually is a big help on long runs ... any marathon runner knows what i mean
k) suncream ... for a 3+ hour outdoor event its always recommended
l) food & drink supplies .... very very important obviously and u need to eat and drink regularly throughout the race - the eating is recommended and is usually done on the bike portion
m) spare tube and tire-changing equipment (u wont believe how many people have mechanical problems on the bike ... a flat tire is one of the big 'horror' scenarios during a race)
n) swimming googles
o) the swim-cap
p) ear-plugs (optional - but quite handy)
q) the race ship - which is wrapped around your ankle and has the feel of one of these policy-tracking bracelets
r) a couple of empty trash bags (to cover your bike - which usually is put into the transition area the night before the event)
s) socks (optional) for the biking and running portion

So as u can see u need a whole lof of 'stuff' just to get going ...its a bit of a pain and u constantly check to see of everything is really there ...!

The second thing that stuck out from the event:

The Bikes - uhh its all about the bikes - who has the badest, fastest, lightest etc. ... really very similar to guys bragging about their cars .... u can tell a lot from the bikes (beginner, amateur, pro, wanna be, show-off, first timer etc.) and there really is no limit in terms of what u can spend on these things - for example my $160 beauty going head-to-head with $10k bikes ... and the bikes apparently do make a huge difference - i was told something along the lines of an extra 1 to 2 mph which does not sound like a lot - but if u have a 26 mile race course this can easily translate into 6 or 7 minuets ... a final note on the bike: on the night before the race - we were standing in the hotel lobby - we saw two pro's walk in with their bikes ... and they where just gorgeous ( i think they had Customized Specialized S-works - just beautiful) and little did i know the one pro turned out to be a guy named 'Macca' one of the most famous and most decorated Triathletes of all time - a really nice guy (only after i had read a little bit more about him have i come to realize what an 'ueber' athlete this guy is: he finished an Iron Man in under 8 hours twice - an amazing feet that included running the 42km Marathon portion in an absolute ridiculous time of circa 2h 40 min -- now that is after swimming for 3.8km and biking 180km - any person who can run a marathon in under 3 hours is quite impressive - but to get that time in a IronMan is just absolutely insane!!!)


- Triathlon's are expensive - and the average median income of a triathlete is around 80k - which explains why the largest age group in these races is typically the 31 to 35 and 36 to 40 Male category ... for the younger guys its usually to expensive

- u really do get 'sucked-in' to this sport ... think it similar to Marathons - u are in so much pain during the race and constantly ask yourself 'why am i doing this to myself' - but once u cross the finish line u're only thought is: which Tri will i do next ....

- and lastly: race numbers ... they love to put race numbers all over u, it is crazy! Let me count the ways:
1) race number on your helmet
2) race number on bike
3) race number on your race belt/shirt top
4) race number on your Swim Cap
5) race number on your right hand
6) race number on your right biceps
7) race number on your left biceps
8) race number on your right calf
9) race number on your timing chip (around your ankle) - its electronic and is not acutally visible - but this is the 'race' number that counts
10) your 'age' on your left calf muscle
11) optional medical band with personal info and race number on your running shoe

nur noch 3 tage ...!

Only 3 days till it all gets to serious - thank god that the last 10 days i have been doing next to nothing training wise - clever? definitely not - but it was hard to avoid not working out (i am sure u rarely here anyone say that!). Work and personal commitments just kept getting in the way - although i did manage to sneak in a couple of marathon dance sessions which technically should be filed under the category 'exercise' but am not sure what the people that have seen me dance would label these attempts ...

But anyway 3 days to go and i feel not ready in the least bit - hardly surprising really - but i can feel the muscles in my body (most legs) tickling - waiting to explode, which is perfect. Just have to resist the urge to properly train for 3 more days

2 random comments since this is a short post:

a) the tri-suits we got are quite horrific in regards to color combination etc - one would think the charity would come up with a memorable design so people wear these outfits more then once, but one would be utterly mistaken

b) i now know what happens to all the old yellow school buses here in the US ... quite interesting

Der Sprint Triathlon

This past Sunday our group participated in our first ever, local, sprint triathlon ... it was a perfect day (a bit windy), a great practice session (although really it was an actual race!) ... My goal was to break 1:30 for the .5 mile Swim, 15 Mile Bike and 5k run portion and it all worked out beautifully. I finished in 1:23:30 (which officially gave me the 21st spot out of 164 participants) and had to realize that my strongest event just might be the biking and not the running as previously anticipated - the problem with the run is that after the riding once legs are shot ... u run but u just feel like there is no power left at all - its not a nice feeling ... and the swim, well it was not pretty: the swim start is just a mess -- i got kicked in every imaginable place during the initial 50m of the swim - at which point everyone had passed me and I only had to battle the Bay and the Waves and not the hundreds of limbs that were are all over the place!

But overall a couple of things stood out: a) it just fun doing the whole race thing and switching between events -and i think there will be many more Sprint Triathlons in my future b) the event felt like it was held an der Ostsee (Baltic Sea) ... the weather, smell of the trees and the water all just felt like those warm summer days auf Ruegen und Umgebung c) my joy over, actually easily, breaking the 1:30 mark was put into proper perspective when i realized that one of the triathletes at the start was a 12 year old girl who finished the event in an amazing 1:28:43 - that just crazy and quite impressive!

ohh wie liebe ich mein Fahrrad ...

about 3 weeks ago - the summer had decided to stick its head out for 2 or 3 days - we (the training group - ie strangely fit and non-obese americans + that german guy, in sexy and semi-professional cycyling gear) went on our customary bike ride (usually anywhere in between 23 to 30 miles). The weather was simply amazing, the group quite big (i would guess 25 people) and that whole 'uhh spring/summer finally made it to us' feeling/spirit thing was in full swing and it seemed like there was nothing that could possibly be more enjoyable then to ride once bike. And while doing my best Tour de France Rider Impression i realized while setting the tempo for the group and looking over my right shoulder, feeling that perfect warm breeze, seeing the shadow of my bike, and the soft sunlight touching the endless grass field where the first spring flowers blossomed i realized that i had fallen in love (with riding) ... and the one song that immediately jumped to mind today when deciding to write about it (I have no idea why!) - and i realize that admitting this will be the equivalent of committing social suicide (even if we only have 5 readers of this blog) - was "I am in Love with an Alien" ... to my horror i only now realized who sings this song(!) ... what tragedy - i think the Kelly Family is the only other band that could potentially rival the 'stellar, unlikely and still mystifying singing carrier of strange foreigners becoming 'pop stars' in Germany and nowhere else' of David Hasselhoff

(BTW: Unofficialy Definiation of 'Tour de France Rider Impression": sneaking up on people and doing small break-aways from the group, riding in wind-shadows and from time to time setting the pace for the group - while having the hands firmly placed in the 'aero-bars' and pushing hard and feeling your legs burn)


The reason for the "I am in Love with an Alien" pick was the clever tie in that i deemed perfect for the story when substituting 'an alien' with 'biking' ... but when actually trying it out as the 'header' for the post it did not seem so clever anymore and then i realized that the perfect song could only be this: Enjoy ;)

Das Vollkörper-Kondom; whatever floats your boat

This Wednesday i received my Vollkörper-Kondom (or wetsuit as it might be more commonly known) - which is just marvelous, i am very excited about it. I was so excited to try it out in fact that after doing a BRICK (another nonsensical acronym - i know everyone remembers the SKPS one - that helps the world by further pushing along misunderstandings and general confusion) which is a short version for (and I am still not a hundred percent sure about this) describing either the transition period during a triathlon, meaning from swimming to biking or biking to swimming, or the fact that your training will involve not only one event but two back to back with a quick transition (thus simulating, in a leisurely way, the actual race) .... so the point i am trying to make is this: i was excited about trying my full-body condom like flotation devise that even tough on wed. we did a BRICK (involving 23 miles of bike riding followed by a 1mile run) which was followed by an enjoyable trip to an italien place with some of the triathletes where we stayed till about 11pm, i decided to suddenly wake-up an hour before my alarm clock was set to go off the next morning - which was 5:30 am and decided -- ahh screw sleeping lets go swimming.

This is remarkable for two reasons: a this marked the first time i joined the 'early' or 'advanced' or 'snobby' swim group (i usually join the 40 to 80 year old swim group that starts an hour later where i stand out by still getting my butt kicked by said 40 to 80 year olds - but again - thats not the point ...) and b: since starting to practice it has been my goal to go the two sessions each week (always Tuesdays and Thursdays) but, shockingly, it never really happened before - on another side note: i did show up but off course i did not swim with the snobs (some might argue i could not - which is a fair point) and just did my own little practice

But yes - after doing something that some might, mercifully, call swimming for about an hour i pulled out my wetsuit to try it out and test it. Now this seems easy and straightforward, one would think, but well once thinks that about a lot of things and it somehow turns out to be a bit more complicated. Case in point: actually getting on a wet suit, while wet (one of the advanced swimmers later had this insightful tip: don't try putting on a wetsuit when wet ... and i cooly replied with my own 'schlagkraeftigen gegenargument' and said: 'ahhhhhhh' and struggled on. But yes after more then 5 and less then 10 minuets of pulling and figthing with myself and my new wet suit i managed to put it on .... and man these things are tight! Not in the 'uhh this is soo tight' aka cool meaning ... no just freakishly tight (but i am sure i looked unbelievable sexy in this thing - no question about it really ...)then came the big jumped into the water and i was floating - literally floating which instantly reminded me of the milky-way commercials they always ran in Germany (will try to find that and link to it - and the german/european milky-way is soooooooooo much better then shit they sell here in the USA - it so sad, i feel americans are deprived of any type of good chocolate/candy .. the chocolate selection/quality/variety - just like with cheese and yogurt's - is beyond horrible! I just wants to cry every time i am in a supermarket buying food) with their slogan which went something like "so much milk, so fluffy it floats in milk' (meaning the candy bar - and if i can just say - thats a horrible try at a) remembering that slogan and b) putting it into english ... but oh well - i figure one of our now 5(!) readers here will know what i mean ... the second - not so instant - thing that 'popped' into my head was that this feels like swimming in Lake Retba (somewhere near Dakar, Senegal) where i had been probably close to 18 years ago - its such a bizarre feeling (side note: swimming in just a wetsuit vs. doing so with scuba equipment is completely different feeling ... when u 'scuba' you never actually hit the water without all sorts of weights and heavy objects on you ...) and the actual swimming feels very strange ... u feel slow, but somehow move faster then if you would not wear this thing + it keeps you from freezing/drowning during the swim ...

so overall quite a positive experience this whole 'lets try out my wetsuit' thing ... and btw that thursday (yesterday) evening we pursued another BRICK - and this time it ended up being a 35miles (50km!!) ride - which was amazing with temps of 23 to 25 C - followed by a 2mile run ...

Es gibt nix schöneres ...

There is not much that beats running in great places ... its so relaxing, enjoyable, einfach nur geil - wie man so sagt. By 'great' place i mean stuff like along a beach, a nice forest trail etc. But since one usually does not have these things just outside the front door (especially living in cities around the globe) parks are probably the best alternative. And i have to admit i have fallen in love with running in Hyde Park (Holland Park is good as well but does not have that same flair) ... especially when (and this has happened surprisingly often) there is sunshine or anything close to resembling sunshine (which in england typically means any day during which it does not rain) ... and the park is so alive ... its just a perfect place to run. Btw what i was surprised to discover is how different Hyde Park is from Central Park .... from the lay-out/concept there both virtually the same - but they are nothing alike ... and what could be better for running that spring slowly emerging - no need to be covered in layers upon layers of running gear ...

getting up at 5am on Saturday .... why?

Today was just marvelous ... really. Not only did i spent my precious Saturday in pain (well most of it) - no it also involved getting up at 5am and spending 5+ hours in the car ... just perfect.

Our training group actually went up (its north of Salisbury, not far from BWI ) to the site of the spectacle (the triathlon race course) to do a BRICK ... meaning we went up there to Cycle the actual race course and then run the 10k to get a feel for things. See sounds like a great great plan - and in all honesty it was pretty useful to get to know the course - but maaaaaaaaann it was painful! This damn course is freakishly hard - wish for you non-sporty people, who will never appreciate such pain (and really rightfully so - why do this to yourself for no apparent reason - i mean there is no money involved - u actually lose money buying the right gear and equipment so you can inflict pain upon yourself more efficiently and more aero-dynamically - not even taking into consideration the countless of hours spent fund raising, which again translate into annoying friends and family to donate money - people really just love to talk to you after they figure out that the only reason u call ...) but i digress (as usual) ... the point was : pain on this (and probably any course) translates into HILLS ... this course is a never ending alignment of hills - and not just little ones - no no these are #$@%!* hard, long and step hills that only get worse as the course gets longer ... my favorite one comes about 5km from the finish line (when your running) it simple wont stop and at the end of it your legs are just on fire and have lost any sort of power/desire/will to continue moving ... what makes matters worse, ever since i ran cross-country in middle school i developed this annoying habit of speeding up when running up a hill (two reasons here: a) u get up the hill faster, meaning there is less time for pain and b) it really is a great way to demoralize an opponents spirit who is trying to keep up with you) and this stupid habit sticks with me till today ... the problem being: this tactic works great if a) you only run, and dont bike and swim before starting to run and b) if the hills are relatively short ... so now I run fast up the hills and then essentially slow to a crawl to recover, which allows everyone else that i was able to somewhat distance myself from to glide past me on the flat part of the course ... not really a good situation


btw: a quick note on the 3 hour goal i had set myself: maybe i should correct that to a 4 hour goal - my ambitious plan involved a flat surface ... hills makes this a bit more complicated ...

PS: thank god we did not try swimming in the lake - it was 0 C and the lake looked freezing

small psychological problems

this post will not involve and mentioning of swimming (besides this one) i promise ... as some of u might know this whole triathlon thing started with a thurday running group that i joined to stay in 'shape' for my eventual marathon later on this year (last weekend of Sept. in Berlin - am already signed up and convinced an out of shape french guy (well old high school mate) to join, there has to be at least one person that i can be sure of beating, right !)

So naturally in this running group there are some serious runners - meaning not warm weather runners like myself who have hard time getting out of bed 30 min early to go for a jog - who should be left alone to run ahead of the 20 people strong pack that gets together every thursday. But no ... somewhere in my head that sense of reasoning has gotten lost (some synapses are not firing correctly in all likelihood) and i still believe i am the somewhat in shape (although no less unsuccessful) runner from college (see picture 1) but no ... sitting in a chair for 8+ hours a day on a desk for the past couple of years changes things and nowadays i feel more like picture 2.

The point of all this is: despite the fact that I am not really a runner anymore i still feel the need to pretend that its the case i and i feel the need to run with the front of the pack - no matter how dead tired i get (and ignoring the fact that only the occasional red light provides me with a chance to actually catch up with the runners in the front) i still feel the need to 'beat' everyone at the end ... its a bit sad, but i guess thats the reason i feel the need for things like the triathlon and marathon - that need to compete ... i figure at some point this competetive thing will fade, it has to sooner or later, one would think ...

Das Lied

I have come to notice that when training for an event, such as the triathlon (or the marathons before that), i always get 'stuck' with one song that i can listen to continuously for months while training ... they provide u with that adrenaline kick and allow u to train just a bit longer before u want to throw-up. And since all of my 4 readers (high-end estimate) here are now just dying to listen to the song they wont like i am happy to oblige (its actually not a great work-out song ... a bit slow, although it does not complicate things with meaningful lyrics which is important) :

the damn swimming

I apologize for the long delay - but i am still recovering from some brutal swimming sessions ... the first of these was now almost 3 weeks ago and the warm up was this 200 SKPS ... by now i sadly know what SKPS stands for - i wish i did not but by the time i got 'K' i was dead ... and when i reached the seconds 'S' i must have looked utterly ridiculous in the pool. But then again that was just the warm up and the rest of the 90 min session went accordingly.

In the meantime i have petitioned the race committee to utilize my pink swim ring for the swimming portion and i think this request has a good chance of being approved (i was told by previous participants that aids such as a snorkel and diving masks (think scuba diving) have been allowed in previous contests - but i was not able to find out if these tools were used during the swimming portion or as 'steady' breathing aids during the run and/or insect protection device for the cycling portion (for example) and speaking of the snorkel and mask respectively.

As you can see the adventure continues ....


PS: just for those of you u who are still wondering: the SKPS = Swim, Kick, Pull, Swim and requires the utilization of some 'training equipment'

PPS: i have been successful in getting myself a proper road-bike for the event (without actually buying one of these things which can easily cost north of $2500) so watch-out ...

The Donation Page

Thanks for checking out the blog, i assume most of you have gotten my email by now - it was my first trial at sending out an HTML mail and i hope it got to everyone in a legible format ... hope this blog thing will be entertaining (more posts are coming this week) ... the donation link (since i know all of you are looking for it can be found on the right hand side or here below):

www.active.com/donate/tntmd/Stephan

Stephan

PS: and in case you missed it: these guys will be very appreciative of your donations ;)

Schwimmen sieht anders aus ...

This is what i felt like before entering the water (and yes i even have similar swimming trunks, being European and all ... ):











This is what i looked like while in it (and i must mention that Eric looked like a pro compared to me during the first swim session ... it was not pretty!)



The fact that i lost my ohh so sexy swimming outfit after my first start from the starting block (the elastic band that makes sure this stuff does not happen is MIA) and that i could not see anything anymore after 10min of a 60min swim session, thanks to the chlorine and my lack of proper swimming goggles made this first training session just perfect ... cant wait for next week

But yes my goal still stands: swimming 1.5km in open water (read: i cant stop and take a rest at the end of the pool at any time i feel it is necessary) in 40min!

How it all started ....

It all began with the Oxfam Marathon in '06 and now I am back with my first Triathlon trial (you know since the marathon was not painful enough i knew i needed to add some other elements such as a) trying not to end up at the bottom of the lake during the swimming portion, b) racing up and down hills on a converted mountain bike without crashing into things and c) finishing the whole experience by crawling 10km towards a surely magnificent finish line.)

This time around I will be raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training (see i was smarter this time around and decided to do this thing with a whole bunch of other people) and the idea is to suffer (i.e. train) together will raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma.

Thus: i would appreciate it tremendously if you could help me out in my fund raising efforts (yes its all tax deductible!) by making a small (or not so small) donation to support my participation in the Triathlon and to consequently help out in the fight against Leukemia & Lymphoma (just think, as additional bonus you will be making sure that for the next three months i will endure endless hours of grueling training since as most of you know 'just finishing' won't quite cut it and i need to break - what i am being told is a respectable - 3 hour mark for the event. (This obviously implies that I will not end up at the bottom of the Lake ...)

Any donation is greatly appreciated. Danke, Danke, Danke! Stephan