Less than 24 hours...

before I leave and I still have so much to do. Got to shave....or in the words of Ken I will "crash and die most horribly." ( that and I want every little advantage I can get.), clean and wax The Bitch Stomper, get the final go, no go from Chrissy, try to get the car clean, maybe go for a quick ride or run, and try to get to bed early so I can get on the road early. Last night I went to the Y with full intent on paying my membership but the girl seemed a little more intent on talking to her friend on her cell about the basketball player with rock hard calves that came in before me...so I got in for free again.... I hit the pool and managed to get in 2800 yards. I got kicked out just as I was starting my last 200 on 2:50 ( it was 9:00 PM Closing time, that's what I get for showing up at 8:20) . (1000 swim warm up on 14:00, 5x 200pull on 3:00, 5x 200 Free on 2:50 did 4 ) I was holding between 2:35 and 2:40 so 1:17-1:20 pace. So it was a good night, I go into Sunday's race feeling confident. I've scoped out the competition, I should be one of the top swimmers, the bike it all depends on how flat this thing really is, I'm seeing 2:12 bike splits so if I can average 20 mph for the ride I have a shot at Kona. The Half marathon, I don't know what's in the water down there but last year's run splits were in the low 1:20's I'm just hoping I can get a big enough coushin on the swim to stay in the hunt on the bike, and pull the half marathon split of my life. Well back to the grind,

R.D.

T minus 48 hours.

Well It's 48 hours and counting until I pack up the Subaru grab my trusty transition caddy, and blaze through 6 states for a date with the Eagleman 70.3. Now two things definitely have my confidence high going into this thing. First they're paying Amateurs a swim prime. I've looked at splits psyched myself up, I feel confident that I could be in contention for it. The second are the familiar growns of faster athletes in my age group, complaining about heat, humidity, having to bring extra salt tablets. I've been on semi taper for this race so I feel like my bike and run will be solid. I haven't trained with as much intensity as I did last year on the bike , but I definitely have more mileage under my belt, so lasting the 56 miles will be cake, I know that I should be able to average at least 18mph, depending on wind, and if humidity is taking its toll on my competition I should be able to make my move on the run and gain some time. I did a 15 mile death march last week in severe humidity so I know I can do 13.1 in at least 1:45, granted some guys are pulling 1:20's. So this is it on Sundayat 7:00AM my 2008 season officially begins. If I qualify for Kona it means I was the perfect combo of lucky and good, so I better buy a few lotto tickets. But as long as I can at least top 10 the age group it was a good day, If I top 5 it was a great day, and if I podium I will be able to go pro one day. Well those are my ramblings of the morning

R.D.

Take that mapquest! Eagleman Status update.

Well in my efforts to avoid a route that would put me on the West Side of Manhattan and cause me to sell my first born for toll money. I have finally mapped out a route that will get me around NYC and probably still cost me an arm and a leg in tolls but at least I won't have to worry about mid-morning traffic on the West Side. To answer Angry " why not just reverse your route?" I did and that 's how I ended up on the West Side Highway on a completely different route from the one I had taken down there. So I decided to let the wheels turn a little bit and mapped my way to Tarrytown, NY and the Tappan Zee and then the Tappan Zee to CT. ( Sadly Fordham closed the All Girls' University Marymount @ Tarrytown Last year...darn...no desperate college girls for Bob-O.) there are still Tolls involved but I'm assuming the NY State Thruway is a little more reasonable than the Holland Tunnel. So that's that.



Upon looking at the stack of emails I recieved last night one of them was from xterra Wetsuits and the race organizers stating they are paying Swim Primes to the best Male and Female pros and Male and Female age groupers, and also doing a contest if you can guess the swim split. Now $250 ain't much but I'll take it. I now know what I must gun for, First wave pros prepare to meet the wrath of Bob-O. Let's see I did the Ironman swim in 55 so that's roughly 22:30 for a half split so subtract the fatigue factor a 21:45 -22:15 looks possible. If I break the 22 barrier I think I might be able to get that prime . Worst case I'm entering the free raffle: Brain Rhodes with a swim time of 21:05.

My parents said they'll toss me some cash. Granted I hate having to borrow money, when that stimulus check comes in it is definitely going to be a big help. Having to borrow from friends and relatives always makes me feel terrible, selfish, "un-manly". I'm 23 I'm still in college but still it's the principle I feel like bum. I should be able to take care of myself, granted I have helpped out at the homestead in the past month. In either case I should have enough to get my butt down there and back. If I qualify for Kona, there might be some desperate phone calls being made, various non-essential organs will be dealt over the black market, first born children will be sold off...in essence I'll do what ever it takes to get there. I might be making some calls to one of my friends going to the U of Hawaii at Hilo asking for a place to Crash, and a ride to Kona...but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Right now it's all about getting to Maryland and back and hauling major ass in 90 degree weather. Rold Gold Pretzels and GU2O are good sources of salt, other wise I will be raiding Wendy's for Salt packets. Low tech...yes but it's cheap and it works. I have gotten surprisingly good at racing in adverse weather, granted Hot and Humid sucks. I'll never forget my first marathon and the horror show that ensued the last 13 miles when the sun broke, hopefully I'll be able to take what I learned from that experience and put it to good use.

Last night I managed to get in a 3300 yard pool fest. I'm averaging about 1:18 per 100 yds. which isn't bad considering my last two weeks of training have kind of sucked due to my home situation. I'm still staying at Grandpa's until the basement fully dries out which could take a while then there is the clean up and de- molding and de-mildewing my room and furniture. He likes the company and I like being able to wake up in a dry enviroment so it washes out...no pun intended. I'm really think of holding a garage sale because I've got a lot of stuff I don't really use or need. Some of it is novelty items like mugs, prom favors, matchbox cars I have sitting in some bin in a remote corner of the basement that I haven't touched since 8th grade. I might take some of my baseball cards in but I doubt most of them are worth anything. ( Although I do have Ken Griffey Jr's Rookie Card.) Regardless if this whole month from Hell has taught me anything it is I need to reduce the clutter in my life, physical as well as emotional.
R.D.

I think Map Quest hates me.......

Well upon trying to plot a route to Eagleman this weekend....I'm trying to avoid tolls and NYC traffic at all costs. ( the Tolls because this month is financial hell for me as it is, the NYC traffic well self explanitory...I don't feel like getting shot for cutting off the wrong person.) I found getting to Maryland won't be a problem, but on the way home Mapquest seems intent on making me take the Holland Tunnel and West Side Highway. I lived in NYC for two years I know how bad the West Side Highway Sucks, plus the toll for the Holland Tunnel is a whopping $8. Seriously why won't these guys just give me a route back to the Tappan Zee. I'm almost at the point of tossing down for Amtrak because at least I'd save on Gas and tolls. But irregardless, I might toss down the $5 for a map of PA, NJ, NY just to map out a better route. right now it looks like Eagleman is a go, my parents said they'd toss me some cash for gas, I might sell a few of my DVDs and some racing collectibles I've had since I was a kid, but it all depends. If my stimulus check comes in that would be a big help, but I'm not banking on it. So I'm trying to get myself in the mindset to take on the commute and the race...If I qualify for Kona, there might be a lot of photos of me shamelessly begging at the awards....and emails to every and any one with a house in Kona for a home stay. Bree Wee, I can cook and do dishes, just no diapers....but that 's going to be a hard task. Looking at the splits I need to not only break 5 hours I need to be close to breaking 4. I have full confidence that I can shatter the sound barrier on the bike, considering the course is supposedly flat as a pancake, the swim is in a slight current, but then again I usually swim in the out side lane getting blasted by the filter jets anyway, the run well I've been under alot of stress lately and I noticed that I tend to store alot of that pressure in my quads and calves I'm just hoping mental fatigue dosen't set in. Also the fact that is supposed to be close to 90F (32C) and I sweat like a Turkish Weight lifter in a wool sweater, has got me a little worried about the run, but then again it's not supposed to be as humid as originally thought, and the run is my second strongest leg. So essentially for the race I'm mentally and physically ready. It's just the logistics that are stressing me out. I any one has directions from Jersey to the Tappan Zee, please let me know, I really don't want the kiss of death from Don Fabrizzio after I cut off his black Mercedes at 79th Street.

The Neurotic Navigator
R.D.

Edit: Bjoern has his race report up. It looks like it was one hell of a day. Click here to see the post.

Bjoern " Sex on Wheels" Boyer

Alright Ironman live screwed up his bike split although I'd be taking an hour and a half in T-2 if I averaged 42 mph on the bike. In any case Bjoern had a great day out there throwing down an impressive 5:07. a 32min swim followed by a sub 3 hour bike and a 1:48 half marathon, it seemed like it was a good day for him, so hopefully in Maryland Next week I will be able to join the sub 5 hr. club. If he does the Nutmeg State Half this year I might have my work cut out for me trying to get that age group win. But enough about me it was Bjoern's day in the sun today. He should have a race report posted soon and I can't wait to read about it. I seriously think if he can drop 6-8 min in his swim split he'll be in seroius business. He has one of the best bike legs I've seen and he seroiusly he lives on two wheels, it a shame that his work schedule doesn't allow him to race more because I think he'd be in serious contension for some age group honors in the USAT rankings. On that note the weather is good so I'm going to get another ride up to the lake this afternoon. Tomorrow I'm out of work early so I'm thinking a ride around town might be in the cards just to try to get a few more miles in. But it was a hell of a day in Zurich.