Crap, $hi7, *&%^ing son of a 817ch!!!!!

Such a nice cool crisp morning. The stars are still out as I'm venturing off to get some early miles logged on the bike. Very cool morning as I set off just before 7 with my lights blinking, helmet strapped and i-Pod emitting the soothing tones of Slipknot or some other wildly angry band. Yes, it's a far cry from the symphony or John Legend but hey, that's for pure enjoyment and this is designed to inspire intensity and help my tired legs gather steam with the 8000 beats per bar that they tend to lay down. Okay, back on track. Decent ride, way too many runners that are literally running in the middle of the street. What's with that? Get out of the way, I run too but I know I am no match for a Lincoln. As you can sense my fury rising here comes the hills with a few cyclists already dotting my line. I fly up the hill big ringing and am feeling pretty good through my 30 miles today. So what's the cursing about? Well, I decided to get a run in as well so I could continue to enjoy the day. 2.21 miles into my run I'm eating a Gu and trying to weave my way through the Team in Training people that gather like locusts near anything resembling a watering hole. I'm not bitter, not yet. As I am moving my way through three runners are spread accross the lane. No worries, I'm faster therefore I'll just overtake them from the dirt trail that has been worn into the grass from other runner doing the same. Wait, what's that shooting pain flying up my leg? You got it, a tree root sent my ankle turning and not just slightly. My stride completed on the swoosh part of my Nike running shoes and as I pulled up lame and moved aside for the runners behind me, it started. "Ah, you've got to be F-ing kidding, Son of a b-, god damn.........." I limped around and cursed for about 5 minutes and finished my Gu while stretching my swelling ankle. Did you note the part about 2.21 miles? I did because now I had 2.79 miles to go. As luck would have it the pain subsided and I finished my run. I'll swim tonight, maybe. I'm using this as an excuse to be a bum today and watch too many bad movies on my newly installed Direct TV. Oh, Congrats Cards fans.

Love rainy days

6:30 am-got to the lake and it was raining so I made the obligatory stop for bagel and coffee. I took my sweet time getting ready to ride and it was still pretty dark since it was so early and there was a lot of dark rain clouds overhead. It turned out to be a great ride although it rained pretty hard for the entire 31 miles. I could feel some wheel slippage on some corners and definitely on one of the steeper climbs out of the saddle. What's usually a very packed area with runners, walkers and cyclists I saw a total of 2 cyclists, 1 super-marathon girl that I always see and about 3 walkers in full rain slickers. Legs felt awesome and averaged 18.6 through the wind and rain even with slow corners and some cautious transitioning of pavement types. Great form of meditation, not that I'm into that stuff, but the i-Pod stayed playing and the legs didn't want to quit today. I have 3 runs for a total of 21 miles left for the week and a couple of visits to the gym and the dreaded pool. The Ironman is in a couple of weeks and I can't wait to watch it. Ever since I watched my buddy finish on the computer I've had a lust for that tattoo. Not saying I'm heading that direction anytime soon. I just ordered a new cycling movie called "Overcoming." I'll update with the reviews and everything later.

races and rides update

Last race was the Cotton Patch Classic and a buddy came along to race his first race. I was glad he came and I think he had fun. It was a neutral start that saw speeds of almost 30 before the race started. About 4 miles into the race a pretty nasty pile-up that pulled 15 riders out of the race. I ditched into the grass to avoid the tumbling cyclist in front of me and my buddy stopped and waited as I got moving again. The race turned into a 56 mile time trial as the pack kept it's speed after the crash and we had to stop and get collected. I turned in a good solo effort in brutal crosswinds that turned into a head wind for the last 20 miles at least. I picked off several riders throughout the day but really improved my horrible position in the last 20 miles. Needless to say, not my best showing of the year but it was another great day. I ended up with about 450 miles for the month of September and am off to a slow start to October because of work. I'm now racing with the Mirage team so hopefully I can post some top 15 positions and move up a Category in early spring.