TriSupporter

Happy 5th Anniversary

TriSupporter is celebrating 5 years this month. I can't believe it's been 5 years since Rianman started on the Ironman journey and I started on the TriSupporter road. Since we started, Rianman has completed two Ironman races and a number of halfs, olympics, road races, and a marathon. We've also cheered on good friends, Marcus and Bob, who began their Ironman journeys and those that continued on theirs, Monty, Kat Anne, and many others.

Rianman has taken a leave of absence as it were from triathlons but we're still TriSupporters! Five years ago, I didn't know where this journey would lead...I just wanted to create a tshirt for a race. And now, this week, this TriSupporter will partake in her first 5k. Wish me luck. And don't worry. I'm not going any further or adding any other sports.

Ding, ding.

Just a TriSupporter

Good luck triathletes

We had a great pre-race sushi dinner with Bob and Marcus and their TriSupporters Candie and Christy. We've determined that Rianman is the most OCD of the three. Tomorrow we head out early to set up camp and cheer on Bob and Marcus in their B race as they head to IMOO this year. We also cheer on Joe who is doing his first 70.3! I for one am thankful Rianman isn't doing this because those two are so competitive it could get pretty crazy if they were both racing this.

We're also cheering on Anne who drove from Chicago to race her first Kansas 70.3 but with multiple Ironman finishes under her belt, we know she'll kill it.

All the best to all triathletes tomorrow. Off to bed for the 3:30 wake up.

Ding ding.

Planning Ahead

So I just blocked my work calendar for September 7 and 10 because we'll be in Madison for another Ironman Wisconsin. This time we'll be cheering on Marcus and Bob as they journey to their first Ironman on September 9th. We can't wait to be there on the helix, at Mt Horeb, at the Union and at the Finish!!

What I really want to block on my calendar is the vacation we're all taking in October to celebrate!!

Ding Ding!

2011 Seasons

I've been remiss in updating the blog. For many reasons I guess...after an Ironman, I get lazy. I never did post Rianman's results from IMOO last year - but he did great (I will post on that soon).

Rianman is not racing this year. He actually wasn't planning on racing Tris this year so he could focus on cycling. But that sort of got derailed by a serious medical problem earlier this Spring which required two 5 day long hosital stays and major surgery. He's fine now and was cleared to exercise the last week of May. So he started to work out after three months of nothing. You can imagine how this will turn out.

He began with Insanity - a bootcamp-like daily DVD workout clearly not aimed at 40-somethings. After 4 weeks of Insanity and a few bike rides, he ended up in the Urgent Care when we were out of town. He couldn't move--his back had seize up. Luckily it doesn't appear to be disk related. Nevertheless, it is Rianman's first back injury. Not likely his last.

It's been almost two weeks and he sees a physiatrist tomorrow. This season isn't looking good so it's really good he wasn't planning on racing this year.

But I'm still TriSupporting - our friends are racing and we're cheering when we can. Go Bob, Kat, Monty, Marcus et al!!

Ding Ding

IMOO 2010 Here we come

Bike tune up - check
Race day gear bag - check and double-check
Workout clothes bag - check
Cold weather clothes bag - check
Non-race clothes - check
Reservations for dinner - check
Chairs in a bag - check
Dog sitter - check
TriSupporter SWAG - check
Checklist on iPad - check

Just need to gas up and load the car and we're on our way...Chasing Ironman Again

1300

That's Rianman's bib number for Ironman Wisconsin. I guess there's no going back now. I plan on using Twitter again to send updates during the race. Now how do I Tweet again???

The work to prep has already started. An initial packing list was created this past weekend while Rianman watched people cross the finish line at IM Louisville. He assures me he will not be needing to do any overnight orders from Hammer or TriSports or anywhere else for that matter. Check back to see if that holds up.

This weekend we pack. My goal is to get it all ready so that on Thursday morning at 5:30 am, we just load the car and move out without a second thought. Keeping my fingers crossed the plan goes off without a hitch.

Counting down, ding ding.

 

Whatever happened to simple tools?

As the sherpa bike mechanic in my house (that's not saying much), I have now been confronted with the third instance of instructions telling me to use a torque wrench. Who the heck has a torque wrench??? I'm already spending a lot of money on these accessories and now I need a special tool? Why can't these come like my furniture--with little allen wrenches and instructions to 'hand tighten'?

The first time I was instructed to use a torque wrench was when installing the XLab Carbon Wings. We gave up and brought Lola to the bike shop to have it properly installed--since I didn't have a torque wrench and we didn't want the whole thing to fall off on a long ride.

The second time was when trying to install a similar product on the road bike. Again, I said 'screw it. Bring it to the shop.' Not only did I not have the torque wrench but I couldn't get my tools into the tight spot needed. Let someone else do it.

Last night, I came face to face with 'using a torque wrench, tighten to 30 pounds'--UGH. This time I was installing the new XLab Torpedo mount which mounts between the aero bars so you can then mount a cage for a traditional water bottle.

Well installing the mount is easy...a small flat piece of carbon and four Velcro straps are all that's needed to get it on the aerobars. The torque wrench comes in when mounting the cage (we chose Chimp) to the mount. Needless to say, it was 8pm at night and although this product has been sitting around the house for over a week, it had to be installed. So, I hand tightened the bolts and told Rianman to hope for the best.

He's on his ride now. Let's hope my hand tighten is something close to 30 pounds of torque.

Jackson County Tri 2010 in the Record Books

Yesterday I joined Lurch, Christy, and Candie to cheer on Rianman and Bob (we need to get him a nickname like Crazy Bob) as they raced the Long Course Jackson County Triathlon. The Long Course is just a hair shorter than an Olympic with each event being a bit off from a regular Olympic distance. It was a hot day for a race despite starting out foggy.

This was Bob's first Long Course and he did great even though he said it kicked his butt. Next time, he'll be the one kicking butts. Photo: Bob is in the middle and Lurch is on the left and Rianman is on the right.

Rianman had a goal to PR his 2008 showing by improving on the bike and maintaining the run pace. Well he did set his Personal Record (PR) on the course by just under 6 minutes--yeehaw!! When I searched the results (which took a painfully long time to appear online--c'mon people it's all computers) and saw he finished 51 out of 201 Age Groupers, I said, "That can't be right." But indeed, I underestimated my man. He was 8th in his age group and rocked the bike with a 21.5 mph pace besting his previous race by 3 mph. That of course took its toll on the run where he ran about a minute per mile slower but he still had a great run with an 8:16 pace.

I think this has been a great season so far with three for three PRs. (CORRECTION: 2 for 3 PRs.) See turning 40 isn't that bad.

Wonder what Madison will hold. Bring it on.

 

PreRace Routine

Tomorrow is the Jackson County Triathlon at Longview Lake. Rianman will be doing the long course for his final race before IMOO 2010 on September 12. We went today to pick up the packet which was not bad. A pair of socks and tshirt among the regular stuff. I'm all for something other than just a tshirt. I'm a big fan of pint glasses, shorts (only 1 race ever so far that gave shorts), socks and useful bags. There was a flyer for a free cyclocross beginner classes--great does this mean another new bike?

Right now Rianman is getting his stuff together on the family room floor. In another hour we'll be heading to Jun's for sushi then heading to bed around 10 pm for a 4:30 am departure.

Good luck to all the athletes and especially Bob who will be doing his first long course triathlon.

File this under, Nice try.

So Rianman comes into my office and says, "Hey you know how my shoulders have been hurting? Well Kat says that the 404s are better for absorbing bumps."

me: "You have 404s."

Rianman: "Not in the front."

me: "No, you're not getting 404s for the front."

Rianman walks out of my office.

I call out after him, "Your shoulders hurt cause you ride one hundred and twelve effing miles in effing areo!"

Sorry Zipp - you don't win this time.

And Kat, you're not helping!