No, no….I am perfectly healthy, thank goodness (finally, after a nasty cold this last week!). But my belly aches from laughing so hard. That’s a good problem, I think.
I am not proud to admit, but I am totally hooked on the new ABC series Wipeout. I am sure the powers that be at Choate, Stanford and Wharton would cringe to hear me say that. I should probably be watching something far more educational and intellectual on the Discovery Channel or something, but Wipeout is absolutely, flat out, high quality television.
We TIVO it and watched about 4 episodes back to back the other night. I was crying I was laughing so hard. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. You will not be disappointed!!
In other news, training is back in full swing getting ready for Kona, now not so far on the horizon. Up first, though, Timberman 70.3 in just over a week's time! It's a ridiculously fast field, but it will be good to get out in race in my own back yard (well....relatively speaking anyway!)
Also, who's not excited for the Olympics to start tomorrow night!! Can't WAIT to check out every minute of the action I can!!
Life since my debacle at IM-Austria has been a bit of a whirlwind.
Less than 36 hours after I got home from Austria, I was back to Logan Airport with Dave to fly to North Carolina for the tail end of a “Griesbauer family vacation”. These are truly epic “vacations” gazillions in attendance and bazillions under the age of 10. Since we only caught the tail end of it due to my travel schedule and Dave’s work schedule, most the cousins were gone, but we got some good QT with our nieces and nephews.
Cute as buttons, those little munchkins, but petri dishes, all of them. I seem to have caught myself a cold. Flying half way around the world following an Ironman, then flying again probably put the body in a bit of a compromised state. A magnet for germs.
As soon as we were home from North Carolina, it was time to unpack and repack just once more. This time, off to Canada to do some wind tunnel testing with my bike sponsor, Guru Bikes. This was my first trip to Montreal and it was a thrill to meet the folks at Guru, to tour the facility and learn how the bikes are made. I always knew I had a top quality bike just based on how it rides, and now I understand why.
For starters, each bike is custom made with one individual rider in mind. Not only is the geometry custom, but Guru has some really cool things in the pipeline to add additional custom features to your ride. I’d tell you about it now, but then I’d have to kill you! Don’t want to spoil the surprise of what’s in the pipeline at Guru, but it’s way cool!
From the molding process, each part is machined to ensure absolute perfection. Then it’s bonded. Then cooked. Then painted. Now everyone knows well about Guru’s custom paint jobs. They are “the pretty bikes”. Pretty, indeed. But based on what these guys were able to discover in the wind tunnel, “pretty” isn’t even the half of it. More details coming on that front……..stay tuned!
So now I am home again – sounding like Marge Simpson going thru puberty, thanks to this cold. Luckily, I am feeling better each day, but am maxing out on snot production just now. Happy to not be heading to Logan Airport again any time soon, and ready to get going on my next block of training with an eye toward Kona!
My mom always used to say to me when I was in a pre-teen funk, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”.
I’ve taken that advice to heart the past week or so following my debacle in Austria. By debacle, I do not mean to imply that there was anything wrong with the race, gosh no. Klagenfurt is beautiful, the people were wonderful, and while I never did quite get used to the abundance of smokers (we have gotten spoiled with smoking restrictions here in the States, I think), it was a spectacular place to visit.
Race day, however, could not have gone further from plan.
….but that’s life.
Sh*t happens.
You get over it, learn from it and move on. I’ve always believed that you learn more from the bad days than you do from the good ones, so here is a great opportunity to learn, create change and move forward.
Karen and I are hard at work doing just that.
Special thanks to Mom, Dad and Dave for their unwavering support. And extra kudos to my very dear friend Eva. (She always knows what to say.)
So moving forward, I have some exciting developments to share – I am heading to Canada next week to do some wind tunnel testing with Guru. I am super excited about that. In spite of being with Guru for 3 years now, I’ve hardly met any of the team up in Montreal, plus, the wind tunnel experience will be just plain cool! Plus, I get a sneak peek at what’s in the pipeline with Guru!!
I also have a great new sponsor in Samsung. I am thrilled with the partnership. Samsung produces uber-cool consumer electronics that help me keep in touch when I am on the go. Check them out! www.samsung.com/us
Two words my brain has a hard time processing together in the same sentence are “sprint” and “triathlon”. Let’s be honest, I am slow twitch all the way, so when Team Psycho made the Cohasset Sprint Triathlon a focus event for the team this year, I searched high and low for a reason I couldn’t race!
With nearly the entire Team Psycho roster out racing, to not show would have been an open sign of cowardice, sure to open me up as a target for banter and trash talk from the masses leaving me little choice but to show up and pretending to know how to sprint!
Several years ago, Team Psycho created a non-profit initiative called the Elite Development Program. The goal of the EDP is to promote excellence in the sport thru sponsorship, initially of ITU standouts with the ultimate mission of getting someone to the starting line of the Olympic Games. In a mere 5 years, the EDP has met its goal, and Jarrod Shoemaker will toe the line in Beijing in August.
EDP does tons to give back to the sport and to the community – you can read more about it at www.teampsycho.com/program. In addition to several great initiatives, the EDP has expanded to include support of long course athletes as well and I am a very grateful beneficiary of some of that support. To toe the line in Cohasset this past weekend, I hoped to “earn my keep”!
It was a misty, foggy morning, but with over 950 in attendance, the energy level was high and with nearly every Team Psycho member present and accounted for, there was no shortage of trash talking!! Race director, Bill Burnett did an extraordinary job and after some mere 57 minutes of racing it was all over. Not gonna lie….LOVE that!! 57 minutes and you’re done??
Many thanks to race director Bill Burnett for putting on a great event. And a great thanks to Team Psycho for adding their support both to the event and to me. There is no greater team! Psycho Karma, All Day, Every Day.
While Ethan and Jarrod were freezing their butts off in Vancouver, I was sweating mine off on the Eastern shore of Maryland at Eagleman 70.3.
Race director Rob Vigorito and his crew to a great job in Cambridge and I was excited to return to the race after a year or two away.
The weekend got off to an interesting start. I traveled to Baltimore with Boston-based Aussie Pro Richie Cunningham. We landed in Baltimore and had to wait some 1 hr 20 min in the Avis, “we don’t actually try harder”, rental car line. When we finally got to the front of the line, they were out of mini-vans, forcing me to have a very one-sided conversation with the agent about what the word “reservation” actually means. We were upgraded to a very plush Expedition. With gas at $4/gallon, I guess they aren’t in real high demand.
So off we went toward Cambridge, delayed another hour by a highway closure caused by a disgruntled husband who took his wife hostage, ultimately shooting her and then himself.
Things got better from there. I had a tremendous homestay; great people, gorgeous home and conveniently located. Thanks so much Daryl and Jane for making me feel so at home and for taking such wonderful care of me! Race day arrived along with a massive heat wave. Race day temperatures were near 98 degrees, with a heat index well above 100 degrees. It was a cooker for sure.
Ultimately, I finished 2nd. I made some strategic mistakes on the swim. I biked well, but some things transpired beyond my control and I lost a bit more time on the lead. I suffered on the run in the heat; especially in the last 3 miles, so 2nd is where I’d stay. In all, an OK performance, but with lots of room for improvement.
Mary Ann and Bob Blais were in Cambridge as well this past weekend, continuing in the War on ALS. I rolled the finish in honor of Jon. The Blazeman Foundation will be participating in the Rhode Island 70.3 Expo Event as well. If you are racing in Rhode Island, be sure to stop by their booth.
Up next, the Cohasset Triathlon where I’ll see if I can locate that one fast-twitch muscle fiber that may be lurking below the surface!
What a weekend. Not only am I in the midst of big miles getting ready for my Ironman next month, but we had a little extra “excitement” to add to the weekend. We were dog sitting for my good friend, coach and training partner Karen Smyers. Their dog, Lucky lived up to her name on Friday!
Lucky is a very sweet mixed breed; lab, greyhound, boarder collie. Karen and Michael rescued Lucky a bit less than a year ago. While she’s timid is certain situations, she is a love and I gladly offered to take her for the weekend while Michael and Karen were away.
Friday morning, I was coaching and Dave decided to try to help me out by walking the dogs. I probably should have warned him, but Lucky is afraid of men she doesn’t know real well. As we’d soon learn, Dave fell firmly in the category of “unknown men”. A bit skittish on the leash with him, Dave decided to let Lucky off the leash once he’d gotten to the dog park because the way things were going, there was no way she’d do her business with Dave so close to her. I’d done the same the night before without issue. With Dave, however, things would be different.
Lucky did her business rather efficiently, then took one look at Dave and jetted out the gate of the park and down Waltham Street straight toward Route 93. Dave ran after her, but in the case of weekend warrior vs greyhound…..
Dave ran to the pool to get me off deck, then raced back to the park to fetch Riley who was simply too lazy to follow Dave down Waltham Street.
The next 12 hours, I’d like to soon forget. We went into full panic mode. Called the police, MSPCA, ARL, and contemplated hiring “Sherlock Bones, Pet Detective” to find poor, sweet Lucky. We printed fliers, crawled under highway underpasses and checked every parked car, dumpster and every bus parked at the nearby MBTA bus depot.
By 5:00, we were both exhausted, disheartened and afraid that Lucky was gone forever. Dave went to return the car to the garage and I was sitting here wondering what else I could do to find Lucky. Then, the call came. Officer Dave Littleton had FOUND LUCKY! Not here in the South End….not even in nearby South Boston….no. Lucky ran ALL THE WAY TO BRAINTREE! That’s Smyers’ dog for ya! In contrast, our Riley couldn’t run down the block and back without needing a snack….but Lucky managed a 16 mile jog to Braintree before getting trapped in some thick brush.
Officer Littleton was the star of the day, grabbing Lucky and holding her until I could get down to pick her up. After a very thorough bath, Lucky collapsed and passed out from her day’s journey. Our Riley ate Lucky’s dinner while she slept.
