Ironman Update:

Days Until Ironman New Zealand: 77

4000+ Yard Swims completed : 6 ( these were interval workouts not straight swims however.)

10-15 mile Runs completed: At least 6

15-20 mile runs completed : 1 (22 miles)

25-50 mile rides done: 8

50+ mile rides done: 1 (65 miles)

100+mile rides done: 0

2+hour love fests on the trainer: 3

Last Long Brick : October 07 40 mile bike 8 mile run.

Money Raised for War on ALS: $ 503 USD

Exams Left: 2

Term Papers left : 1

Alright that was a quick breakdown by the numbers. Today I got in about an 8-10 mile run ( I haven't mapped it yet but I did it in 1:29). Last night I finished my Anthropology paper...so I won't fail...hopefully....maybe...possibly...

Last night Steph Karas the resident dominatrix of the Waterbury YMCA Masters program gave me a rather impressive 3500 yard workout. ( Main set 5x200 on 2:45 try to descend if you can muhahahahaha!). Tomorrow I have on tap the mother of all indoor bricks...a 4 hour spin session and 2 hour treadmill quad buster...start praying for my mortal soul.

This week sort of sucked for training due to weather and school work but the semester is ending and despite bitter New England cold the rest of the week looks nice and clear after our little nor'easter comes through tomorrow, but these nut cases at the weather channel change their story evey five minutes.

Like I said not too much here except for the little training update....

Also tax season is approaching and what better gift to yourself than a nice deduction by donating to the war on ALS or going over to Claire's site and donating to the battle against AIDS. Because just think about this for every dollar spent researching ALS $400 are spent researching male pattern baldness.....Also for the cost of the Iraq war the US government could subsidize and effective global response to the AIDS pandemic.....like I said just think about those stats for a second...does it piss you off......if it does then do something about it...if it doesn't well I hope those hair plugs can survive the mortar attack in Falujah*.

Like I said enough with my charity pleading I've got some Christmas shopping to do plus I have to stock up for tomorrow's sweaty onslaught.

R.D.

* this comment was meant to prove a point about the fickleness of government spending in this country. If are balding, a veteran, or a balding veteran , these comments were not meant to offend you. I actively support our troops and believe it is a valuable waste of military resources to keep pouring money into Iraq when the real threat to our country is watching cable in Tora Bora.But if you are an Iraq veteran I thank you for your service for answering a call your country never should have made. Like wise if you are balding I have no problem with you throwing cash down on propecia of rogain, but it is kind of montonous if more research dollars go to treating baldness than go to ALS research or Alzheimer's research. You will have a full head of hair but god forbid you get one of these disorders you won't remeber what it's good for, or be able to lift your hair brush to keep it styled.....ok I think I covered my ass.

R.D.

Livin' la vida trainer......

For those of you who don't watch the weather channel...the northeast has turned into a winter "wonderland" uggg.....and we're expected to get another foot of snow on Sunday....now since the roads are a little too sloppy to take out The Bitch Stomper or Enrico...I have decided to give the trainer a little more love than usual.....a 4 hour trainer/2 hour treadmill brick this Sunday. Saturday is supposed to be somewhat descent so I may be able to get in a nice 15-20 mile run...we'll see how it looks at 12:30 when I leave the office. Tonight I've got masters, and it's time to see what type of distance set Karas can put me through. My ALS paper is almost done 2 pages and a bibliography to go, the History paper still has 10 pages of courrption, displacement, disenfranchisement, and political uprising to go. The ALS report will be finished by 6PM and the history paper should be done sometime on Saturday or Sunday. And then as of Tuesday Afternoon I am free of classes and class work until Jan 17. What will I do with myself with all that free time. ....train like a beast...( enter Howard Dean Yell here.)

If you direct your attention to the upper right hand corner, I'm conducting a poll on which Half Iron I should in July.
The Patriot Half on 4th of July Weekend by the cape
Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island on 7/13
or should I torment my body and do them both
or just stick to doing the local sprints (which the Griskus sprint is in between both Halves.)

Leave some love or hate...or lots of sound and fury signifying nothing.....

Coach Troy's work slave
R.D.

About that no training comment....

In one of my eariler post I had sort vowed I would chain myself to my computer desk and be a good little fat stressed out college student. Well that lasted the total of one day...i'm addicted to training I need to train...if I don't do at least on of the swim/bike/run combo...I'd go nuts. Here's the run down of what I've done the last couple days.

Wed: Swam 3000 yards straight...as in no sets, no intervals, just staring at that black line at the bottom of the pool for 120 laps. I did have to tread water briefly at the 2500 mark in order to adjust my goggles (which were giving me a hell of a headache.) I got the workout in 42:02....well under 1:30/per 100 yd pace. So as long as I can set my goggles up right in NZ the swim will be my bitch.

Thurs. Got released form the bank early...1PM got home and slept off some of the groginess from the 6 pages of the anthropology paper and 2 pages of history paper I typed last night. I tossed in the Spinervals DVD and did 2 hours of cardio goodness. I then tossed on a fresh base layer, windpants, and my lovely trek jacket and took off into the snow for a rather hairy half-hour jog. Now I will saw this..it felt kind of badass to have the road to myself...well minus the plows and soon to be organ donors on snowmobiles. The roads weren't too bad but they did require some caution as the soles on my running shoes are worn almost completely smooth. So yes..Mom..I mean Santa to make my Christmas all I need is a pair of New Balance 720's size 11 D...and maybe a first class round trip ticket from LAX to Auckland on Air New Zealand.

Now I'm not sure how Jodi's doing on her infamous 100 runs in 110 days...but I just put up a 3miler for us hard ass New Englanders.......so yeah now Peter Reid used to feel granted all this ice and snow won't really prep me for the 60's and 70's I'll be experiencing the trainer rides in the midst of Dante's Inferno...ie my bed room will. I also have come to the realization that I am a heavy sweater and as a result Powerbar will be getting their sponsorship dollar's worth because of me. On my "easy" aerobic workout I still managed to go through 3 and a half water bottles...my kill pile at the end of the Ironman bike will probably make most wonder why the hell I'm not in the bathroom every 5 minutes....also all those little dixie cups I go through on the run will probably destroy another 10 acres of rain forest.

Well that's my rant...more paper writng on tap...I can see the light at the end of the tunnels...and I hope it's paradise not the A train.

The Triathlete of the Tundra

R.D.

Flurries with a chance of Ice age.....

Well today was a rare oddity in CT and I was unable to enjoy it. For the first time in 2 weeks the temperature hit the high 40's low 50's, yet I spent the day serving customers. As soon as I get out I have an hour pool workout scheduled and then its off to CCSU for a study session/ paper writing plaooza, ( the last 8 pages of my ALS report...the hardest part is citing...and the first 3 of twelve on my mid east political analysis...damn it Israel and Palestine...just get along and play nice.) tonight forecasters are beginning their usual fear mongering about snow and cold. according to them the forecast looks like this:

Thursday: If you work until 5PM think about getting a hotel room as it is supposed to snow like the day after tomorrow, roads will be covered in up to half a foot of the white stuff and if you even dare try to go out without a sled team you will die a bloody gory death in your motor vehicle.

Friday: More White stuff and temperatures hitting the lower 40's causing some melt age which will refreeze and turn into lovely black ice....trade in your car for a team of sled dogs and begin to burn furniture for warmth.

Saturday: Snow, ice, freezing rain.....Snow god angry at us sacrifice the youngest member of the household to the snow god so he will end his wrath.

Sunday: Ugh Snow, cold...perfect weather for hunting mammoth, or typing a 12 page history paper.

Monday-Rest of next week bitter cold single digits...Neanderthals making a comeback......next up recipes for preparing mastodon.

ok I tried to enter an element of backward human evolution into this post...but it didn't work. If you want a story to help you feel like you can conquer the world read the Stephen Hawking post below. Other wise leave a comment a my cynical approach to New England meteorology

R.D.

Stephen Hawking is BADASS!

Ok completely random and has absolutely nothing to do with triathlon, but in the course of my research for my Anthropology paper I managed to do a little more reading on Hawking. now I had always know he had ALS but I did not know he has had it for almost 50 years.....According to Hawking's website he was diagnosed in 1963 when he was 21. He is now pushing 65 and is on pace to outlive most able bodied persons. What has been the secret to his longevity with a disease that normally kills in 2 years...positive attitude. Hawking described that he had seen a fellow patient dying of Leukemia ( enter shamless plug for Team in training here) as he was in the hospital trying to have his " mystery illness" diagnosed. Whenever he needed strength Hawking thought back to this patient, and realized that even though his disease was physically crippling, he did not suffer the same crippling effects of the cancer, and if he felt down on himself to remember that there were others suffering like and worse than he was. Another reason he credits to his longevity was unlike most ALS patients he has been able to continue his work and research as an astro-physicist. Most ALS patients usually leave their professions, to spend their remaining time in the company of family and friends and to meditate on life, and mankind's place in the universe....is there a God..how does the universe work....concidering this was Hawking's day job ( finding out the inner workings of the universe.) he was one step ahead of the game and as a plus he was getting paid for it. Also Hawking's sense of humor has also played a role in his survival. He often jokes about the computer that allows him to "speak" , he complains that it gives him an American accent ( concidering Hawking is British), but is a lot easier than the "old method" of having to have an aide hold up cards with letters of the alphabet an then moving his eyes to choose letters and then spell out his communications letter by letter, or before he needed his breathing tube, having a close friends or family memeber intrepret his lectures to students or secretaries due to the degeneration of his voice. Since his diagnosis Hawking has written several books, lectured around the UK and the world, married twice, has rasied 3 children, and has been an ispiration to persons with physical disabilities everywhere, just because the body has shut down, does not mean the brain and soul have followed suit.
Dr. Hawking You are badass!

R. D.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Last night as I was diligently working on my paper and presentation...my 3 year old Dell Inspiron 5100 decided that 3 hours into a power point with internet explorer open to Stephen Hawking's auto- biography, was a little too much for the CPU and its antique cooling unit it to handle and it responded as it has way too often by shutting off on me in mid-sentence. I refired it and was able to recover the powerpoint but the 3 pages I had typed were gone.....now faced with an all nighter and possibly calling in coughcough sickcough cough from work...I decided to throw myself on the mercy of the professor ad ask him if I can email him a copy and drop a copy in his office tomorrow...12 pages in 24 hours on ALS, can I do it....we'll see. I decide to sleep and face the horde knowing that at least one crucial aspect of my project was complete.
As a result all further training is on hiatus until I finish this and my 12 page History Paper due on Monday. God i hate exam week.

Rhode Island 70.3 or Patriot Half ?......Ok second post of the night so sue me.

As I cracked my fingers to dig into to my power point I checked cranky's blog. Now one of my fellow Bloggers is debating on doing the Patriot Half on July 5 in Freetown MA I am left with a dilemna.

I did the Patriot Half last year it was a good race ( despite being a first year event) but the fact that it is on Fourth of July Weekend up by the Cape is making me wonder if I should do it this year or Rhode Island 70.3 the following weekend in Providence or pull a Raphael and do them both?

Pros to the Patriot:
I know the courses
Sun Multisport puts on a good show.
It's done a Catholic Charity Camp so if I die a most horrfying death my parents will not have to worry for the fate of my imortal soul, because someone will be able to give me last rites although for a lot of my political and social views I'm probably bound for limbo, anyway.
It gives Angry an excuse to drive through Newport.
Gives us an excuse to meet up with Speed Racer.
Cheaper than $200 to enter.

Cons to the Patriot:
My sister only eats chicken, last year's caterer only had beef, pork, pasta, and salad options.
Finish line was not wide enough to log roll through and because of my really lousy attempt to do one the med staff thinks I'm prone to overdramatics and/or epiletic seziures
Only two portolets were on the run course......not good if you have to drop a duce although they'll probably increase the number this year.
Trying to find cheap lodging and fighting traffic to the Cape on the Fourth of July Claire I might be crashing at your place....

Pros to 70.3 Rhode Island
Qualify to go to 70.3 Worlds in Clearwater ( back up plan to Kona...although hopefully I'll have a bitch stomping Iron debut in NZ and get myself some corporate backing.)
The week after the 4th and my sister has lots of connections in the greater Providence area.
Get to kick some Ivy Leauge Ass! Brown Schrown I go to Central CT Bitches!
At least two other HEATsters will be there
Once again gives Angry an excuse to go to Newport.

Cons:
Providence Traffic and endless construction, there are 3 categories of bad Drivers in New England 1) Massholes 2) Southern Conneticutians/wannabe New Yorkers 3) Providence Rhode Islanders.
Bike Check in is the night before the race....if I'm working the morning before, which I usually am it means I've got to grab my sisters/Angry Coach on the run.
$250 entry fee.
Inagraual Race......beware the Ides of July Robertus beware the ides.....

Doing Both pros:
Prove my macho badassness!
Two races, two weeks, two T-shirts, hopefully good warm up for a possible Kona/Clearwater double.
angry Goes to Newport!
Get to meet lots of interesting people
Lots of AA advantage points
Spread the joy that is Hooker Ale to the Rest of New England.
Race a bunch of crazy pros, and possibly double bling.

Doing both Cons:
Gas money $$$$$$
Hotel $$$$$
Possibility of Angry running into his ex in Newport ...twice
either way I look at it I'm going to be stuck in Traffic on Mass 24 and I 95...I'm too cheap to take the Mass Pike.
$370 in race entries thats about a quarter of my racing budget.
Having the Griskus sprint in between and having to lay the smack on Foxy Lady ( teammate on highschool track team)...in the Holy Cross Alumni Beer Challenge.

Well having weighed the pros and cons I'm lost. Leave a comment to help me decide.

R.D.

12 mile training run down 12 page paper to go....

This morning I followed my plan of skipping church to out race an impending ice storm. As I darted out the door in my wind breaker and running shorts at a slower than normal pace ( It was 35 out but i was still worried about black ice.), with the chariots of fire theme blaring in my head, the usual litnany of Ironman images that make my long runs fly by filtered through my head....the Blazeman and the log roll, Macca finally winning, Willie Nelson's manager and the annoying owner of the Florida Marlins from the 2006 Hawaii higlight show ( I also have two Ironman Movies, Rocky and Rudy, I'm like Rocky because " I want to go the distance" and I'm like Rudy because I too am "risking everything for a dream."), Marc Hermans, Badmann getting back on a bike after crashing to get in some more miles before finally having to be talked out of finishing due to a broken collarbone, Images in my head of Tom Warren the winner of the second Ironman who limped his way to a win on a stormy day on Oahu ( Check out www.trizilla.com under inspirations for the complete story.) With all the inspiring images and words I grinded my way through the hills of Wolcott, braved cold, traffic, and five miles of having to use the bathroom to finish my run. It was 12.54 miles in 2 hours, 9:38 mile pace a slow day but not falling on my ass, pissing my pants, or getting arrested for indescent exposure for pissing my pants on the side of the road it was worth it.

Info on where the money goes:
As noted earlier and in several posts I am rasing money for Team Blazeman. I have recieved news the the Blazeman Foundation does donate to several ALS research funds the most substantial gift of $10,000 was given to the Neuroscience department at Emroy University and that the society is linked to ALSTDI, and several other charities ( check out www.alswarriorpoet.com for more details it is on about the 4th page in after all the introductions and stuff on Jon, and his obituaries...not to sound insensitive to the Blazeman, although I thought his "up shit creek without a paddle" comment he gave at his speech to the MDA hit the nail on the head with this disease, as well as hinted at the urgency that needs to happen in research.)
Well that was my ant for the evening I've got to throw together a power point for Tuesday as well as crank out some pages for the paper.

RD