TriSupporter

Monday's Episode of Triathlons of Our Lives

The episode opens with Ri-guy sitting around a poker table at the monthly poker night. We sense that the decision hasn't been made as Ri-guy's concentration on the game is off. He leaves that night having lost $8.

Saturday morning begins with an 18 mile run for Ri-guy. With an early start, he's back mid-morning. After he's showered, we see him on the phone and hear, "I really want to get it from you guys--when do you realistically think you can get it in?"

Hmmm...he must be talking to Epic Bike and Sport.

"So can you give me the $250 in equipment credit?"

We next see TriSupporter and Ri-guy leave to get lunch...it's no coincidence they are heading north...away from the big bike and multisport shop down south, away from Trek, his favorite shop, and toward Epic. They stop at Thai Place, sit at the bar to watch the last stage of the Tour while they eat, then make their way to the Bike Shop.

The next scene pans across a bike shop. Ri-guy and TriSupporter enter. Scott and Paul seem happy to see Ri-guy - wonder why?? The order is placed on the computer...it'll ship Monday and arrive on Wednesday. How did they pull that off??? It was going to be 2.5 weeks.

Pedals get picked, new cycling shoes, some more Hammer products and then the deal is made. The fit is scheduled for the following Friday. TriSupporter hands over the credit card with a big sigh, "This had better make you faster."

The last scene flashes a picture of the new ride

A new ride???

At the start of today's episode of "Triathlons of Our Lives", we are presented with a recap of this week's storyline. We find Ri-guy anxiously considering a new purchase. We see him visit several local bike shops (LBS), conduct vast (albeit cursory) amounts of research (all pointing of course to his preference), and we finally see him test ride a smokin' hot, carbon, all DA tricked-out ride in his favorite color combination of black, red, and white.

We pick up Ri-guy's story several hours after the test ride.

We see Ri-guy laying in bed while TriSupporter is in the adjacent sitting room watching late night TV. Thinking he's asleep in preparation for a 105-miler on Friday (for which he took a vacation day), she suddenly hears a faint call out, "Are you awake?" "Yes. You're not asleep?" she asks.

"No," he replies.

Thinking for a moment, she then asks, "Are you thinking about the bike?"

"Yes, I can't decide."

TriSupporter can tell he's having trouble with the decision. Ri-guy always has pre-buyer's remorse, if there is such a thing. She knows he's asking himself a million questions: Why do I want a new bike? Should I get this bike? Should I just get new wheels? Is it too soon to the IM to get a bike? Why do I want THIS bike? Will it really be better? Haven't I shown enough commitment to deserve this bike? Is it wasteful?

She doesn't encourage or discourage; she just says, "Think about it in the morning. Get to sleep."

It's now Friday morning, we can see pouring rain and hear thunder in the background. We see Ri-guy in the kitchen, getting ready for his ride. The clock on the stove reads 4:45 am. But the forecast doesn't look good. He's taken a day off for this--it'd better stop raining. He goes back to bed. Wakes up and the storm seems to have passed. Preps and is out of the house around 7 am on his trusty 3 year old tri-bike Ralphie.

TriSupporter gets a call. Split screen: Ri-guy is at a stop 33 miles into the ride. TriSupporter is working at her desk. He tells TriSupporter, "I'm getting the bike." "Okay." she replies, knowing that over the next 72 miles he will change his mind a hundred times.

The show now fades to black, credits roll.

It's Friday, and today's episode of "Triathlons" leave us only with this question: Will he get the new ride?

Come back Monday...for these are the "Triathlons of Our Lives".

Midwest Mayhem Results

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Yes, it was really hot at Lonestar Lake on Sunday. We're having a bit of a heat wave here in Kansas--temps were easily mid 90s by noon (high was 99) with the hot sun unable to find a cloud in the sky. At the start of the race, it was 80! Last year the start temp was about 10 degrees cooler. KLM Events puts on the Midwest Mayhem; the funny thing is they also put on the Midwest Meltdown in September. I'm thinking they should switch the names.

I mentioned that I was set to volunteer, something I don't normally do if Ri-guy is racing. But it earned him a free entry into next month's Jackson County Tri. We got to the race site at 5:15am and Ri-guy racked his bike while I signed in for volunteer duty. Got a nice KLM t-shirt and around 5:45 or so was assigned to handing out chips 201 to 400. The race start was a delayed a bit because there were some issues with bib numbers being incorrectly assigned. Once the race started, a number of us were picked up and driven to various aid stations.

I was posted at mile 2/5 of the run with a newbie triathlete (Chris) who was volunteering with his gf (I blanked and they should have been stationed together). We had water, Gatorade and Gu. We had about 10 minutes of shade and for the next 4.5 hours we baked in the sun. Thank god we had water and ice. I started just eating ice and putting it down the back of my shirt. Do I feel bad complaining that I was hot even when I wasn't running???? Hay-yell no!!!! We were all hot; some of us just had to swim, bike, and run in it---doesn't mean we weren't all suffering ;-)

It was fun having all the riders ride by us twice, short coursers run by us twice and long coursers run by with only 1 mile to go--they were so relieved and most were so hot. As usual triathletes were nice and thanked us for our help. The course isn't spectator friendly so for most, the volunteers are the only ones cheering them on outside of the transition area. After Ri-guy finished and packed up the car, he hitched a ride with another finisher and met me at my aid station. With about 2 people left on the course, we were picked up and relieved of our duties.

Ri-guy's Race Results

This was Ri-guy's second Mayhem showing. He was hoping for an Oly PR or at least PR this event. Well that didn't happen. Instead of a PR, he had a PW. "What's PW?" you ask. Personal Worst. Yup...Ri-guy finished 10 minutes after last year's time with a slower swim and a slower bike. In three seasons, this was his slowest Oly showing. Let me say that I wouldn't be so honest on here if 1) it wasn't public info that anyone could easily find and 2) he wasn't laughing about it now.

There are silver linings to Sunday's race

1. he felt great after the race despite the heat (looks good in the pix right??)
2. it wasn't his A race
3. he's seriously thinking about shaving (maybe it'll be good luck and help him shave some time of that bike!!)

Overall the day went well despite Ri-guy's time and the heat. We ended the day having dinner and beer with tri-stud (yes, really, killer finish) Carl and his wife Carly (wink) --great time. It's sooo nice to meet friendly peeps in the local tri-community.

Check back soon to see how item 3 above goes...

Ding Ding.

Midwest Mayhem Triathlon Tomorrow

Tomorrow Ri-guy will be doing the Long Course (Oly) at the Midwest Mayhem. This is his first ever tri that he will have done twice (thanks to our moving from NC to KC after his first tri season). It'll be neat to see how he does after having a much better training season over last year where he was actually pretty poorly trained and poor shape.

Normally I wouldn't volunteer when Ri-guy's racing, but tomorrow I will because KLM (race organizers) seem to need them. So if you're going to be there tomorrow, look for me in a volunteer shirt and Cubs cap and Ri-guy in bib 148.

Ding ding.

First Volunteering Experience

We started this week by volunteering at Shawnee Mission Triathlon. Ri-guy and I were at the first water aid station as both short and long course triathletes started their runs. It was FUN! I did get splashed a few times but it wasn't too bad. I found a rhythm for moving with the runners. There were two others at our aid station, one who hadn't done it before and another who has done that exact station 5 years in a row. They should name it after him!

We got to the race at 6 am and started our efforts by filling countless little paper cups with ice cold water. We filled a picnic table and its benches with cups of half-filled water. I never thought we'd go through them as quickly as we did. With over 700 participants, I should have known better. As more people started the run, we ended up having to fill water cups on the fly while trying to get water to the runners. Thankfully we had enough volunteers.

Volunteering is quite different than being there as a spectator. For one you wear a t-shirt that unfortunately for many identifies you as an expert on everything about the race. This couldn't be further from the truth. We were asked all kinds of questions for which we didn't always know the answers: How many loops is the run course? Do we stay to the left of the cones? When does Wave 5 start? Where's the finish line? (I had this one, "Um...over there where it says, Finish").

Another thing that makes it different, it was totally stress free!! No lugging tri gear from the parking lot to the transitions. No worries about forgetting a chip, race belt, Body Glide, etc. No backpack filled with snacks, camera, reading materials, iPod, sunscreen, hat, etc. It was great!!

The thing that's the same is that it is really fun--I loved volunteering, as much as I love going to watch Ri-guy race. It was neat being there supporting the triatheletes some first-timers, others elite age groupers all working really hard for as many reasons as there were participants.

As the last racer started her run (and our jobs ended), I looked over to the Finish and the crowd had diminished. Fewer triathletes crossing the finish line; fewer supporters cheering them in. I felt a twinge of saddness that those people wouldn't hear the cheers that those only 20 or 30 minutes ago heard. But really, just because the cheers would lessen, it didn't lessen their accomplishment. Everyone who tries and finishes should be proud whether 200 people are at the finish or just 2.

And so it seems that whether I'm there supporting Ri-guy or there supporting all the racers I can expect to have a good time and I can expect that it will be a bit emotional. I know I'll be volunteering again, just as I know I'll be schlepping race gear back and forth to the car.

Pictures courtesy of seekcrun.com

To Wax or Not to Wax

This season I've been pushing Ri-guy hard to shave his legs. He resists. I'm not really sure why I want him to shave his legs. Probably cause I just can't imagine what they would look like without hair--he's pretty hairy. He claims his brother would kick his butt...I doubt that but I'm sure there is some weird male thing he needs to get over. Is there some point at which a man says, "Okay, I'm gonna do it. I'm going to shave my legs no matter what people think of me."?

Anyway...

It isn't that he is averse to having hair removed. I regularly shave his chest and...um...his back (yuck)! I have suggested other more permanent forms of hair removal like laser which would save me the horror of a lifetime of shaving him. He could also wax. But he'd never do that.

And now, all he has to do is point to Steve in a Speedo's video of having his chest waxed. If you haven't seen it, you HAVE to go to his blog and check it out.  It's not quite 40 Year Old Virgin but it's real and it is like a car wreck, you can't help but watch.

Training Haiku

Saturday Brick

Wheels spin, rain pounds, thunder
booms around the summer skies
clearing for the run

Burned

Summer sun burns bright
thirty-eight hundred meters
sunscreen not applied

Shawnee Mission Triathlon This Sunday

Today is packet pick-up at The Bike Source for the Shawnee Mission Triathlon where Rian and I will be volunteering--our little give back to the tri community. We hope to see you there; look for us in our TriSupporter shirts.

During lunch, I ran down there to meet Chad Tower, race director. I was shocked when I arrived. It was unlike other packet pick-ups for local races. I thought I'd meet him in the store. But nope. They had a section of the drive blocked off with a number of vendor tents. I noticed KC Multisport with their recognizable tent and I think right next to them was a huge outdoor grill with maybe 50 chicken breasts being cooked. I got there a few minutes before noon, but people were already arriving so as to beat the lunch rush for packet pick-up, I think.

Opportunity Lost

Unfortunately, I didn't realize Tim DeBoom was going to be at packet pick-up. I didn't even look for him. I knew he was going to be at the race, but at packet pick-up?!?! So I missed my chance to meet the two-time World Champion Ironman and number 1 long distance triathlete!

T-Shirt Prizes

I was at packet pick-up to drop off 20 t-shirts that TriSupporter is donating as prizes for the race winners...it's exciting for us to be a part of the race and to spread the TriSupporter word. We hope that next year we'll be there as a vendor. I spent about an hour or so last night carefully rolling each shirt and wrapping them with ribbon and a cowbell keychain. We hope the winners enjoy the t-shirts and the cowbells!!

Shirts are also available at our store.

Good luck to all the triathletes this weekend!!

WIBA Photos

IronWil posted the photos from WIBA and she was kind enough to let me use some. You can see some of the photos in our Flickr set here.

Below is a favorite of mine. Yeah, I know. Ri-Guy isn't in it. But it's beautiful isn't it. It is a dock on Lake Mendota. It's hard to believe that in just a few short hours, the weather would change so drastically.

Nutrition for the long distances

In the last few weeks, Ri-guy's training includes what I would consider ridiculously long rides and runs. The rides are 90, 100, 112 miles long. Honestly, I don't even take lightly making a 112-mile road trip in my car!! Coming back from WIBA I was irritated when we still had about 120-miles left ...and we were going 80 mph. Imagine only going like 18 mph!!

Back to the nutrition...

So on these rides, he would fuel with what he's always fueled with: Gatorade Endurance and GU with some salt and water. Endurance athlete friends we know would always make reference to 'the sugar' and would be surprised that Ri-guy was good with all that "sugar". We would look at each other with a knowing look that said, "What the hell are they talking about?" We have looked at each other like this a lot since Ri-guy started doing triathlons.

After these rides he would feel nauseous and sick for hours (never vomiting, thank god--but he was drag for the rest of the night.) He started to question how he was ever going to get the nutrition right. He told his coach he was going to try some solid foods. Coach Ken told him to stay away from the solids and a bunch of experienced IMers gave Ri-guy some Ironman cocktail recipes.

The Ironman Cocktail

So what is this Ironman cocktail? It's a thick concoction of two or three powdered drink mixes that delivers the calories you need in an easily digestible mix (without all that 'sugar'). From what I can tell it is usually Cytomax, Carbo Pro, and something like Accelerade or Metabol. You can even buy it bundled. We (yes we, I'm a much faster researcher) spent some time this past weekend researching and reading blogs and message boards and finally Ri-guy settled on Hammer's Perpetuem instead of mixing a cocktail. He also decided to go all Hammer and got Heed (think Gatorade) and Hammer Gel's. Hammer makes a compelling argument for using their products: natural, complex carbs, easy to digest, etc.)

The Hammer Test

So yesterday was the Hammer test. It was a 100 mile ride in 90+ temps. He loaded up the aero bottle with Heed, loaded one bottle with Perpetuem at about 1000 calories (looked like sludge), and had 2 water bottles on board. He had a Ziplock of Perpetuem to mix for the 2nd half of his ride and about 8 Hammer Gels. We marked the Perpetuem bottle into quarters so he would have a visual for how much he had to drink each hour to get his 400-500 calorie requirement.

Results

Yesterday was the first long ride where he did NOT get nauseous. He is optimistic that he's found his nutrition and he'll have enough time to get used to it and work with it. He's a new found believer in Perpetuem. Maybe it was all that sugar.

Epilogue

I have cabinets full of over $150 in unopened Gatorade tubs and boxes of chocolate GU.