For those about to rock.....

Today is D-day or I guess I should say V-day for Claire Badass MoFo as she tackles her first Iron-distance at Vineman. Actually as I write this she's probably in the midst of a 2.4 mile (3.8k) swim and making war on some Nemesis that reared their ugly head in the pre race. In either case she should be flying on the bike so I expect to hear it on how her bike split schooled mine from New Zealand....now if only Vineman had a live tracker.......

In two weeks my HEAT team mate Tony and New England Pro John Hirsch take on Louisville..and there will be a trail of much death and destruction left in their wake. I fully expect Tony to do pull ups on the finish line tower after the leap of faith in RI.

Vin, and a Small HEAT contingent are going to go at it in Niantic tomorrow, sadly it sold out but I need to save my pennies anyway. Park City is off the calendar as Entry is F**king Ridiculous...I knew I should have registered inMarch....uggg.

Angry....I don't know what Sir Angry has on his agenda... but I know it will involve speed, strength and the ever increasing the power of his chain.

Pants and Runner Gal, well I know Runner Gal is running a marathon in my part of the Motherland ( Yes I am of French Canadian desent Vive Quebec!) and Pants hasn't really posted what's next on her agenda, but it should be something exciting out in the tri capital of the world.

Bjoern is going to launch and all out assault on Vienna in September.

Jodi is doing Steelhead today, then Hopefully Clearwater in Novemeber.

Ken who has suddenly gone from zero to 3 races in a week might be creeping around winding trails on Tuesday, keep you eyes peeled for a tall guy in a HEAT or Cookie Monster Jersey.

Bree Wee looks to take the party to the Motherland ( Canada eh....) and after reading about her repeats of the Energy Lab, it looks as if a first pro win and a duel in October with Crissie Wellington might be right around the corner....

I'm not sure if Ironmatron is doing Timberman although I have some friends racing up there.

Cranky seems to have dropped off the face of the Planet, I hope he hasn't been mowed down by some group of Rabid Central Park Cyclists.

Mindy Contiunes to heal and make her way back.

Gretchen continues on the path to her 100 mile adventure.

Well that's all that seems to be happening in the racing world in August.

R.D.

How do you define "Triathlete"?

I usually read Cranky Runner's page daily and Yesterday's post ended with his coach giving him a cocky remark as he attempts a distance athlete's dream, training for the Boston Marathon ....His coach scoffed the idea of running Boston saying "you're no longer a runner you're a triathlete." Now realistically this got me thinking what exactly is a triathlete. Now in cases like Cranky and the Angry Runner's it is a runner who gets in an insane amount of cross training...hey I can think back to track when my coach encouraged cross training....I remember doing Y swim practices a couple hours after track let out, but then again at that time I was focused on becoming a pure swimmer, It was sophmore in high school that I realized my odds of going to the Olympics were about the same as a blizzard in Death Valley in July. It was also about this time I picked up a copy of Runner's World, ( to try to improve my form and look at the absurd times the Kenyans were pulling) the issue I picked up had an article on this 75 year old dude training for an Ironman, well it got into this whole spiel that Triathlon training is good for runners, and long story short I had the swim back round and the run back round so I hopped on the bike and voila instant triathlete....but enough about that....how does one define a triathlete, is it a multisport machine such as Jodi , Speedy Claire,or myself is it a runner who cross trains al a Cranky and Angry, is it a swimmer who just hops on the bike and throws on running shoes occasionally....the point is it doesn't matter ...so Cranky go and Bitch stomp Boston, and if you're training for the half I think you're training for you'll have plenty of time to recover in between I know I did the Nashville Marathon in late April and an Early July Half IM it actually helpped my running)..Boston's a big deal and don't let anyone talk you out of it....just think of you're swimming and cycling as cross training, just avoid breaststroke at all costs....not good for the knees...also a sprint or olympic tri before the Half IM will help...especially with the bike to run transition. Ok enough with this post I'm starting to get preachy....

The Guru
R.D.