I mentioned Kenyans so this came to mind...

I mentioned Kenyans in my last post about Lil and this came to mind.  If you haven't heard of Power Thirst, it's worth a watch.

New Training Partner - Little Dawg

Hannah and Henry found a German Short-hair loose in an alley on their walk last Sunday.  We've been calling her Little Dawg - aka "Lil", aka Lilly.  We did get permission for our friend who's name is Lilly to name Little Dawg after her.  She is posted on Craig List, the Animal Humane Society, and a few other websites.  We've recieved probably 20 different calls about her.  Unfortunately, none matched up, which is sad becasue there are 20 other lost dogs in the area.  Hannah also walked the neighborhood showing off the dog to anyone she saw, but no takers. Lil did have a collar but no tags and no micro chip.  So, right now it looks like I have a new training partner.  This is great because Henry has gotten too big to be a distance runner and lost interest.  Henry is now an 80 pound dog.  He's good for intervals on the track or about 2 miles fast.  Lil is built more like a Kenyan distance runner.

Rev 3 Full

This is illustrates how I feel today.

I'm calling the Rev 3 Full a success.  I didn't beat last year's time or win the race.  However, I went 8:38:32 without training for the distance at all.  My longest run was at Pigman Half, which was also my longest bike ride.  In the end, I finished third, but didn't get the run I was hoping for.

My splits for the day were 50:17 for 1.2 mi swim, 4:43:01 for 112-113 mi bike, and 3:02:28 for 26.1 mi run.  The bike course was slightly different this year because of construction.  Some people told me their bike computers measured the course to be 113 miles in distance.  Hopefully, no body complains because the construction was supposed to be done, but it wasn't.  Rev 3 had to come up with a new course 3 days before the race.

The plan was to swim and ride easy, and run to win.  I thought is was possible for me to run a high 2:30s.  The run started out great.  I ran just over 6 minute pace without pushing myself.  I had to take a number 2 port-a-potty break around mile 7.  At that point, I had cut the leaders gap from 17 minutes to 12 and 9 minutes.  Grahm O'Grady was leading and Andrew Starykowvicz was second.   Chris McDonald was behind me about 8 or 9 minutes.  Chris actually went off course on the bike lrg which added about14 to 20 minutes onto his bike time.  Kudos to him for soldering on.

I had make another port-a-potty stop 15 minutes after the first, which wasn't a good sign.  It was all liquid, which meant my hydration was off - not enough sodium or something.  After that, I never got back into a running rhythm.  My feet started barking at me and 7:10 was as good as it got.  The good news is that I didn't re-injure my Knee.  I've patella chondromalacia (damage to knee cartilage).  Last year the race did a number on my knee, and I could do anything until February.

Last years race compared to 2011
Year     Swim       Bike         Run         Total
2010    53:01        4:35:57    3:04:07   8:35:48
2011    50:17        4:43:01    3:02:28   8:38:28

2011 Run Splits
1        2        3       4       5       6       7        8        9        10        11       12       13       
6:00  6:01   6:02  6:08  6:13  6:10  7:32  6:11   6:15    11:03   6:20    6:23    6:30

14      15      16     17     18     19      20      21      22       23       24       25       26
6:39   7:09   7:21  7:23  7:20  7:15  7:10   7:26    7:25   7:01   7:18     7:25    7:19

The Rev 3 Full was at Cedar Point is a great race and would recommend it to anyone.  However, if I wasn't racing for money I would choice the half option.

Hy-Vee 5150 Championship

This was probably the best championship event I've ever raced.  Twenty-five of the best triathlete in world qualified to race the Hy-Vee 5150 Championship, and 5 more past champions were invited for a total of 30 athletes.  Des Moines was a great city to hold the event - not to big, not too small, just right.  Des Moines has great trails, roads, and water for a triathlon, and people of Des Moines supported the event too.  They spectated, volunteered, and put up with an invasion of triathletes.  Hy-Vee also got behind the event fully.  In addition to the 1.1 million dollar prize purse, the production of the was top notch: grandstands, Jumbo-tron, live video coverage, beer gardens, concerts, and more.

The swim was the defining discipline of the race.  It took place in the Des Moines River right in downtown.  We swam 3 laps around 4 bouys in a 2-3 knot current by my estimation, which is strong.  You're hardly going anywhere swimming into the current.  Spectators can watch the entire swim from shore or from above on two bridges.  All the bridges and shore were packed with spectators.  Everyone wanted to see how 30 of us were going to make it around this tight course.  I'm sure is was fun to watch.  I watched the women's race 3 hours earlier and it looked like a roller derby.  Our was more like a cage match for the first lap. If you weren't getting smack in the face, someone was pulling your leg or you were getting catch on the anchor rope for the buoy.  I spent a good 5 seconds underwater trying to free myself one lap.  After the race, Andy Potts, Matt Reed, Rasmus Henning, Macca, and I all were showing of our wounds from the swim.

As for my race, I wasn't happy with my swim, but I was happy to have survived in better than a few others.  In a normal swim, the gap to the leaders is smaller.  Fighting with each other at 12 buoys and the river slows the weaker swimmer even more.  However, I did have a good first lap on the swim.  To add even more spice to the event, there were eleven $5150 primes for each lap of the race: 3 laps swim course, 4 lap bike course, 4 lap run course.  So, a good swimmer could make out like a bandit.  Josh Amberger took all 3 swim primes.  Ben Collins (a good swimmer) came out near the front and then hammered the bike to take all 4 bike primes and the first run prime for a total of $25,750.  Then, Ben just focused on finishing the race so he could collect his bounty.

After the swim, I had to ride as hard to make up time.  The technical nature of the course also played to my strength, but not enough to totally make up for my poor swim.  The hills, turns, and wind on the bike course helped break up the athletes on the bike, so it was truly a non-drafting race as advertised.  On the bike, I move up into 10th and started running well out of T2.   I past Ben Collins, Fraser Cartmell, Bertrand Billard, and Matt Reed.  I also held off Kris Gemmel for 2 laps and Filip Ospaly for 3.5 laps.

If you're a triathlete from Minnesota, I would make plans to go down to Des Moines to race and spectate next year.  The amatuer race was great too.  Hannah and I went out to cheer age groupers Sunday morning and were impressed with the course and race in general.  If you can't qualify for the 5150 Amatuer Championship, you can still do the regular age group race.

RESULTS
Pl  No Athlete                   Co      Time    Back

1	21	Greg Bennett	AUS	1:49:42	0:00:00
2	27	Hunter Kemper	USA	1:50:12	0:00:30
3	1	Stuart Hayes	GBR	1:50:30	0:00:48
4	2	Paul Matthews	AUS	1:50:51	0:01:09
5	26	Rasmus Henning	DEN	1:51:16	0:01:34
6	11	Kris Gemmell	NZL	1:52:00	0:02:18
7	10	Filip Ospaly	CZE	1:52:13	0:02:31
8	12	David Thompson	USA	1:52:20	0:02:38
9	5	Matt Reed	USA	1:52:32	0:02:50
10	28	Chris McCormack	AUS	1:52:39	0:02:57
11	29	Andy Potts	USA	1:53:23	0:03:41
12	4	Martin Krnavek	CZE	1:53:36	0:03:54
13	22	Timothy O'Donnell	USA	1:53:44	0:04:02
14	19	Kaleb Vanort	USA	1:54:09	0:04:27
15	7	Bertrand Billard	FRA	1:54:22	0:04:40
16	18	Jordan Jones	USA	1:54:26	0:04:44
17	30	Jarrod Shoemaker	USA	1:54:33	0:04:51
18	8	Benjamin Collins	USA	1:54:35	0:04:53
19	6	Csaba Kuttor	HUN	1:54:44	0:05:02
20	3	Cameron Dye	USA	1:54:50	0:05:08
21	16	Kyle Leto	USA	1:55:14	0:05:32
22	23	Fraser Cartmell	GBR	1:55:39	0:05:57
23	20	Timothy Reed	USA	1:55:44	0:06:02
24	9	Joshua Amberger	AUS	1:55:47	0:06:05
25	13	Chris Foster	USA	1:55:51	0:06:09
26	17	Igor Sysoev	RUS	1:56:01	0:06:19
27	14	Ritchie Nicholls	GBR	1:56:54	0:07:12
28	15	Brian Fleischmann	USA	1:57:52	0:08:10
29	25	Marcus Ornellas	BRA	1:58:30	0:08:48
30	24	Kevin Everett	USA	1:59:35	0:09:53

Piggy Man or Pigman

Pigman Half had it's best weather ever yesterday.  Temperatures in the mid 70's, suprisingly low humidity and wind made for a PR day for most returning pig men and women.  I also was able lower my course record from 3:57 something to 3:53:03.  Most of the drop came from a faster run (1:14:30).  The run course has no shade and bakes athletes into crispy Lycra treats, so cooler temperatures helps a great deal.

The Gear West crew was happy to take the club competition too.  Kevin O'Connor, Thad Ingersoll, Kortney Haag, Suzie Finger, and I made up the 2 women 3 men combo.

Felt Demo Days at Gear West Bike & Tri

The Felt Demo trailer will be at Gear West August 6th from 12 - 5pm.  The trailer will be fully stocked with 2011 road, triathlon, and mountain bikes. Bring your shoes, pedals, and helmet.      List of bikes

TTN Chisago and Everything since June

Please remember to vote for World Bicycle Relief and DKT for the People's Choice Awards

My 9th Life Time Fitness Race

I always think racing Life Time Fitness Triathlon is going to be less stress and easier than traveling to a  race.  However, usually the opposite is true. There is more pressure to preform in front of the home town crowd.  The shop and my wife are always super busy the week of the race.  This is also week I use during the season to do maintenance on my race bike.  When I'm traveling the bike stays in the case and only sees day light at the races.  And, on Monday I dislocated my shoulder which was my own fault, but it added medical visits and additional exercises to an already busy week.  However, this is nothing compared to having10 kids and two dogs, so what am I complaining about?

First, I wanted to thank everyone for cheering from me.  A special thanks to everyone cheering from Carrie Tollefson's Training Camp.  The louder the better.  The other pros were jealous about how loud everyone for cheering for me.  I wish I could have beat Kaleb in the sprint finish for all of you.  I gave it every thing I had, which is all you can do.   The run just wasn't going well for me on Saturday.  It was my worst run ever at the Life Time event and at Triathlon.  However, I had a good bike leg.   The swim went as well as expected with a bum shoulder.  So, I came out of the water in 9th, biked into third, and ran like crap in to 7th.  That makes for a hard day, but it actually went somewhat according to plan.  After the swim, I decided to bike hard and go for the bike prime, which is worth more than finishing 5th.  Biking harder put me in third, but hurt my run.  Sometimes, you have to figure out how to make the most money you can in the middle of the race.  And, sometimes I can still run well after biking hard.

However there were highlights: Winning the bike preime, new race kit, and loud cheering.

And, I'm done

Good/Bad race aside, I think my new uniform and custom bike/helmet decals are sweet (see bike photo).  If anyone is looking for a new one piece suit, I would definitely recommend trying this Elite Tri Suit.  It's the most comfortable piece of tri apparel I've ever worn.

Skirt Chaser Ride - July 15th

I'm going to be a domestique for anyone who wants to chase down the women.  I'll be leading out the peloton of men who will be in pursuit of the break-away group of women.  The goal is to make the junction before the ride ends.  Once, the groups come to together everyone gets to cruise to the finish line.

More Information & Registration

Life Time Fitness / Injury Update

I'm a tentative "go" for the big local Life Time Fitness or Minneapolis Triathlon this weekend.  My left shoulder was dislocated on Monday evening by a combination of my reluctance to listen to my wife, our 80 pound Chocolate Lab, and fireworks.  Great combination.  You can probably guessed that our dog, Henry, was startled by a fireworks in the neighborhood and my wife told be careful holding onto him, which I failed to do.  Fortunately, my should popped back into space immediately.

Monday night wasn't too painful.  I actually swam Tuesday morning.  Wednesday was awful.  Thursday my shoulder was improving.  Friday I could swim but at a reduced capacity.  I'm hoping for more improvement throughout the day and overnight.  Start time is 7:10:43 AM.  It will be a start line decision, but things are moving in the right direction.

If you wanted to know I had treatment on it Tuesday and Thursday at Spine & Sport Institute.

Janus Charity Challenge: People's Choice Awards

Vote for my charity and save the World

More serious, I'm part of the People's Choice Awards with the Janus Charity Challenge.  Four other professional triathlete and myself are competing to inspire you to vote for our charities.  The charities are competing for a $20,000 prize purse.  The Life Time Fitness expo and race are the opening event for the contest. 

World Bicycle Relief is my charity of choice.  World Bicycle Relief is a great way to empower individual, families, and communities.  Transportation by bicycling is a simple and sustainable way to help people get to work, get to school, complete essential tasks, become independent, leave abusive relationships, and pursue opportunity.  

Please make your vote today. 

Philly Triathlon

I ended up 7th at the Philadelphia Triathlon, which isn't a great result or worth much money.  However, I was happy with the progression of my fitness.  The swim was good.  The bike was poor but I haven't been working on it.  The run was okay despite being tired from training.

The race was great: perfect weather, good road conditions, and a great home stay.  Thanks again to the Ryans for hosting me for the 5th time.  If you want to do a destination urban race, Philly is a great race to do.

Results,
Andy Potts           1:46:06
Matt Reed            1:46:47
Greg Bennet        1:46:48
Cameron Dye       1:48:23
Chris Foster         1:49:32
Andrew Yoder      1:49:41
David Thompson 1:50:54
Tim Reed             1:51:49
Holden Cameau   1:52:00
Stephen Hacket    1:52:53

DC Triathlon

I felt like crap the entire race, but my result wasn't too crappy.

Top Six: Becky L, DKT, Nicole K, Tim R, Alicia K, Paul M, Rebecca W, Jordan J, Laurel W, Holden C, Tenille H

I finished 3rd at the DC Triathlon Sunday.  I had a good swim for me, which probably saved the day.  I came out just 30 seconds behind the leaders, except John Kenny.  He was off the front.  The bike ride was a struggle.  My legs felt weak and burned the entire race, but I did ride to the leaders.  Paul Matthews rode off the front gaining a 2 minute advantage going into T2.  I came into T2 in 3rd, 30 seconds down on Jordan Jones.  Tim Reed ran up to me and we ran together until mile 4 when we both passed Jordan Jones.  Tim slipped away and finished 20 seconds up on me.  Paul was 90 seconds ahead.  My run was okay, but slightly off pace.  I was happy to cross the line.

This result put me in 8th for the 5150 series, so I should make it to the Championship race in Des Moines.

Series Standings

Men's Results
Paul Matthews       1:49:58
Tim Reed               1:51:05
David Thompson   1:51:24
Jordan Jones          1:51:50
Holden Comeau    1:52:38

Top Ten Reasons to do Trinona Next Year

I think Trinona is my new favorite race, displacing Escape from Alcatraz.

10. Adhesize bike numbers: No tape or pins required.  White numbers on black background was unique too.

9. They have race T-Shirts that my wife will actually let me wear outside the house.

8. Winona is only a 2 hour 20 min scenic drive from the Twin Cities

7. Choice of Sprint or Olympic distances.

6. Great city park for the race venue and plenty of close parking.

 
5. A super "cute" kids race the day before.  Great if you have young ones, and incredibly fun to watch.

4. Four Hotels with in 1 mile of transition



3. King of the Bluffs competition - toughest Olympic distance bike course in the Midwest.

2. Substantial hardware.  Trophies are made of stone and are worth keeping


And, the number one reason for doing Trinona is...









1. Podium Girls - That's all you need to know.  Why aren't you signed up and training for next year.

Looking for a Training Partner

All of my training partners have disappeared.  It's too hot for Henry (the dog) to run.  One of my human running partners had a baby and the other two humans moved.

If you are someone or know someone who wants to train hard, let me know. The individual must be willing to do most workout from St Paul, MN.  Cycling and/or running involved.

Send an email to david@thompsontri.com

Rev 3 Quassy Half

Good run, an okay bike, but the run hurt… At mile 6 Merlin was telling Cougar that, “We’re running on vapor.”

I was actually looking forward to this race. It’s a tough race all around and as expected the field was stacked like every race this season. Forty men started the race. The water temperature was 69 degrees and the air temp was 49 degrees. This means no wetsuits for the pros, which also means you won’t fell your feet or genitals until the run. I was happy with my swim, roughly 50 seconds back from main break of 5. John Kenny was off the front. I had put plenty of good competitors behind me, including Joe Gamble and James Cunnama (eventual winner). The bike was okay too. I caught the break of 5 early; the best guess is mile 10. So, I thought I was riding well. I took advantage of the descents hoping to slip off the front two times, but that didn’t happen.

The critical section of the bike was the last 20 miles. Joe Gambles and James Cunnama caught us and made a big push. I wasn’t able to keep up, and a few people did better than I in the closing miles of the bike. I started the run with Matty Reed, Richard Allen, and John Kenny. Richie Cunningham was just ahead of us. The race order at this point was Andrew Starykowzic, James Cunnama, Joe Gambles, Terenzo Bezzone, Paul Matthews, Dan Hugo and then us. My feet were still frozen, so I jammed them into my shoes to hard and folded the insoles in the toe box, which I didn’t know until mile 2 as my feet warmed up enough. I stopped to fix the problem and lost contact with Richard Allen and Richie. However, my running legs were still pretty good at this point, so I had hopes of catching back up. I did pass Dan Hugo, but was repassed at mile 10.

That Mig messed Cougar up

My splits were 2 mile 10:31, 3 mile 16:16, 4, mile 21:45, 5 mile 28:20, 6 mile 34:40, 7 mile 41:50, 8 mile 48:30, 9 mile 54:40, 10 mile 1:00:13, 11 mile 1:05:50 13.1 mile 1:26ish.  At mile 6, Merline was telling Cougar that, “We’re running on vapor...” (Top Gun reference) I would have liked to slow down. However, I was in 8th (in the money), so I needed to keep fighting.  Nutrition wasn’t the problem. It’s was the distance, training, and hard racing that did me in. Yeah, I could have us been more conservative, but I'd perfer to race for the win. I’d rather be in contention for the win at some point and finish 14th than never be in the race and finish 8th.

Results

TTN Cap Tex Race Report Video

Rev 3 Knoxville, Memphis in May, and Cap Tex Tri

Pole position at Memphis in May Triathlon

Overall, I'm seeing improvements and racing myself back into shape. I finished 6th today losing a sprint finish to Matt Reed.  The good news is I caught him on the run.  In Memphis, I finished 4th and at Rev3 Knoxville I managed 7th.

 Memphis in May went a little better I rode well and ran okay. I averaged 28.7mph on the bike, which is pancake flat.  The run was long, so it's hard to compare my time to other races.  But, I ran okay relative to the competition.  The weather probably help us out a bit.  It rained most of the bike, but the lightening stopped just long enough for us to get out to the water.  At the this race the pro started last, so most of the age groupers were done when we started.  If it hadn't race and stayed cloudy it would've been super hot (90s and humid).

At Rev3 I had a better swim - not great but better.  Overall, I'll take the improvement in fitness and results.

TTN Rev3 Knoxville & Memphis in May Triathlon Race Report

TTN St Anthlony's Triathlon Video Race Report

St Anthony's 2011

Butt Kicking, Ass Kicking - That seemed to be the consensus of a men's pro field about the race today.  Bevan Docherty summed it up in his Tweet - "Just got my ass kicked at St Anthony's, 9th! You really have 2 specialize in the type of Triathlon u do now days! Drafting or Non drafting!"  I'd put myself in the same lot.  I was happy with my effort.  My fitness level just isn't up to par yet.  I ended up 13th. With 54 men in the field must of us got our "schooled" today.

This was the largest and best field I've seen in the in a long time.  54 men started the race.  Welcome to a non-drafting world cup.  Other notes for the race were a short swim because of wind.  Organizers made a modified 1000 m rectangular course North of transition with a long run to transition.  The regular 1500 m course is Spa Beach South of the course.  This was also the 2nd race in the 5150 series, so I did get some series points.

I guess it was an exciting finish.  After the 5k run turn around, I thought Cameron Dye had it in the bag, but Matt Reed and Filip Ospaly caught him in the finishing shoot.  Here's the results

Men's Results

1.            Filip Ospaly         1:41:22

2.            Matthew Reed     1:41:36

3.            Cameron Dye      1:41:41

4.            Stuart Hayes        1:42:03

5.            Benjamin Collins  1:42:13

6.            Andy Potts           1:42:38

7.            Kris Gemmell       1:43:02

8.            Paul Matthews     1:43:17

9.            Bevan Docherty   1:43:56

10.          Chris Foster         1:44:07

11.          Stanislov Krylov   1:44:46

12.          Kaleb Vanort       1:44:48

13.          David Thompson  1:45:13

14.          Kevin Everett       1:45:28

15.          Michael Poole      1:45:49

Fighting Crime

This is the short version of a long but interesting story.   While working on the in-floor heat for the mudroom during the later stages of the remodeling project.  I forgot to lock the recently installed rear door to the house.  I realize my mistake halfway through applying the scratch coat of thin-set mortar over the heating cables.  I told my wife about this too.  Neither of us thought it would be a big deal since our house had been with out a rear door for 2 months.  The risk of not having a secure door for one more night seemed small.

During night our dog, Henry, started barking, which woke us half up.  This is some what of a regular event. Henry doesn't like anyone outside to make noise after he goes to sleep.  Hannah told him to "shut up," and he was quiet for 5 more seconds.  Then, he got really mean.  At this point, I got out of bed and found Henry ready "rip sh!t up" at the top of the stairs.  Henry usually sleeps on the main floor, but tonight he was barricaded on the 2nd floor because we sealed tile in the basement.  When I removed the barricade, Henry tore down the stairs and toward the back of the house.  I knew someone had definitely been in the house because the lights were on and the drywall fence to keep people from stepping the fresh mortar was moved aside.  The back door was also left cracked open.

Our house was a mess from all the construction, so I couldn't really tell if anything had been stolen.  As I was looking a round, I noticed the backyard gate was crack open.  Just then, I noticed the motion light by the garage door light up and face pop out the door.  As quick as I could, I threw on my snow pants, jacket, and boots and ran out the back door to the garage into the frigid winter air.   I noticed one the bikes was gone from the garage stalls.  I was sure the burglar would be long gone by now.  He had been chased out the house by our dog and was now on a bike.  However, I look down the alley he was leisurely riding East as if everything was cool.  I took off sprint down the alley and caught up the guy about 200 yard way.  As I was chasing him, I was sure he would hear me coming.  My heavy breathing, puffy coat, boots, or crunch of the snow would alert him.  Regardless, he didn't know I was there until I hit him with a flying tackle.

The one thought I had as my shoulder hit his rib cage was, "this better be my bike."  Fortunately, it was my bike and this wasn't just an early morning commuter.  Surprised, he yelled some obscenities at me and I yelled some back after grabbing my bike.  He made excuses for why he was riding my bike and scattered to the other side of the street.  There is a little more to the story, but to sum it up.  He ran off, and I returned to the house with my bike.  The cops caught him 20 minutes later.  The Saint Paul Police were awesome.

The other funny side story is about 2 weeks earlier I told Hannah, "that if anyone took our bikes I just run them down and tackle them."

Substituting Kitchen Remodeling as Off-Season Training

The reason for this blog post is answer the questions: "How was my off season?, How's training going?, Did you race over the winter?, Why haven't you updated your blog?

Old Kitchen

Winning the Rev 3 Triathlon series and finishing 3rd in the Toyota Cup series last season allowed me to take on remodeling our Kitchen and back entry this off season.  I enjoy construction projects.  Solving spacial problems and good old fashion hard work is satisfying.  It also helps ward off winter depression.  We've done a fair amount of work on our 1890's house since we purchased it, but this was the biggest and most expensive project.  The back of the house or kitchen had the issues with a walk through bathroom to the back stairs, treacherous stairs to the basement, no rear entry closet, bad kitchen flow, little kitchen storage, and multiple so-so revovations over 121 years.

Here's a little outline:  Blue - contracted, Gray - contracted but I helped, Black - did it ourselves


End of October

• Clean out backyard and start jack hammering out the old side walk and backstairs
• Haul in new landscaping rock to put under the back deck and mudroom
• Pack up everything in the kitchen and basement and move in to storage
• Cover basement floors
• Build temporary kitchen in laundry room with old kitchen cabinets

November

• Pour footings for deck, kitchen bump out, and mudroom
• Framing bump out, mudroom, deck
• Move electrical service panel and exterior connection
• Cut hole for new stair case
• Seal kitchen of from the rest of the house
• Demo interior - dusting mess, sweating, and cold
• Sheeting, weather proofing exterior walls
• Install windows and exterior doors

December

• Rough in plumbing: new sink location, toilet, move gas line for stove and dryer
• Roofing - brutally cold and snowy 16 inches fell halfway through
• Demo of old exterior walls
• Rough in new electrical
• Insulation: basement and kitchen
• Build and install kitchen to basement stairs in new location
• Demo and frame new location for ovens
• Demo old stairs for new bathroom and insulate
• Install venting for new bathroom fan and stove top

January

• Repair subfloor
• Floor: remove bad sections and relay with extra from cut of new stair location (difficult work)
• Sand and seal and cover for dry wall installation
• Dry wall
• Mud and Taping 
• Sanding
• Painting
• Finish coat: floor stairs, windows

February

New Kitchen

• Install in-floor heat in mudroom
• Cabinets: We helped install cabinets.  Hardest strength day of the project.  Cabinets are heavy.
• Finish electrical work
• Tile bathroom, mudroom, and stairs ledge
• Counter top installation
• Finish plumbing: connecting fixtures
• Clean up and up packing kitchen and basement

Remaining work

• Siding
• Decking
• Interior trim for windows, doors, and floors
• Walk-way in backyard
• Backyard clean up

TTN Nautica South Beach Tri Video Race Report

Unofficial Nautica South Beach Tri Race Report

Eric Wynn Photo

What is official these days?  Here's the results as best I can remember.

Men
1. Cameron Dye
2. Andy Potts
3. Filip Ospaly
4. Michael Weiss
5. Andrew Yoder
6. Kaleb Vanort
7. Vladimer Polikarpenko
8. David Thompson
9. Unknown European
10. Dirk Bockel

I was happy with my result.  A top ten is good for me this time of year.  Swim, bike, and run were all okay.  Nothing to brag about, so I don't need to keep writing.  The official TTN video report will be out tomorrow.  For the women.  Sarah Haskin's won.  Becky Lavalle was 6th, and that is the extent of my knowledge.  Other note, pro men and women started together.  I don't know if this was good or bad for me or any one else.  Miami Beach was beautiful.  The water was crystal clear, but the run course on the board walk wasn't.  I think a few wondering walkers got run over.  You think they would figure out that they're in the middle of a race the first time we go by.

TTN 2011 Powerman Alabama News Report

Powerman Alabama

Kevin O'Connor

This race is always a suffer fest for me.  It's the first race of season after resting from the previous season's injuries.  I usually try to work on my swimming over the winter, so the fact that I haven't been running or biking is made apparent during a duathlon.  This was my 7th Powerman Alabama.  This year it was nice to do the race with Kevin O'Connor, who is my friend, boss, and sponsor all rolled into one.  He was in the same training situation as I - ready to get sore.  Kevin wrote a great race report for Minnesota Tri News, so I'm not going to reinvent the wheel.

Kevin's race report

Let me start by saying that the race is one of the "must do" races. It is 
very challenging but not over the top hard. Team Magic does a first rate 
job of race production and it was clear that everyone was enjoying 
themselves. The 10k, 60k, 10k course is completely in the confines of 
Oakwood State Park. The run course is like shaped like a upper case letter 
"Y". You run out to the right and turn around at about mile 2 and then run 
towards the second turnaround. The race organizers wanted to make certain 
the race lived up to it's name of Powerman so they changed the run course 
from previous years. The second spur of the run lets you start a one mile 
climb up the side of the large hill on the one lane road through the state 
forest. The turn around is at the top of the hill (4 mile mark) and you get 
to run down the 10% towards the run finish.

The bike leg is an out and back 20K route which you ride 3 times. Perfect 
asphalt (not a single pothole), virtually no vehicle traffic, and never 
ending rolling hills including two big hills in each direction. The route 
is challenging but time passed quickly with multiple passes on the course. 
It also gave spectators another opportunity to see the athletes 2 extra 
times. The bike route was as spectacular as the run route.

As for the race itself it was USAT Long Course Duathlon National 
Championships and it was well deserving for such a challenging course. 
David Thompson and I traveled down together and with our similar, simple 
traveling style it was relaxing for both. David finished 3rd pro and was 
typically positive following the race. Most satisfying for him was the fact 
that his knee didn't bother him at all. For the past 3 seasons he has had 
to be careful with his training and racing due to a knee injury that was 
initially brought on by an undiagnosed hernia. His knee is now 
hypersensitive to overuse. David took some serious time off from cycling 
this winter and is in the early stages of getting back in shape. He headed 
down simply to get in a good workout and get the first race of the season in 
the books. After the race he had nothing but positive things to say about 
Ryan Guillano's winning performance. Ryan went faster than Jorie's course 
record and Ryan did it on a much harder run course. Derick Treadwell was 
second and with 4th place far behind David he cruised in without having to 
turn himself inside out to hold his place.

For my race I was hoping to reverse the 1-2 position with Dave Slavinsky of 
New Jersey from Short Course Du Nationals last year. Dave was the 2010 USAT 
Duathlete of the Year and he outraced me at Nationals. We both turn 40 
years of age this year so we got to race head to head still. The other 
master there to race was Steve Dupree of Colorado. Steve is a former pro 
duathlete that now at age 44 races in the amateur ranks for the second 
season. I was hoping to make it a real race with Dave but no such luck. As 
Dupree took off on from the gun, Dave started chatting with me for the first 
3 miles as I pushed to run the 5:40 pace. Dave is quite friendly, very 
nice, and even faster than he is nice. As we started the 1 mile climb he 
held his pace and cut the distance to Dupree in half by the time we finished 
opening run. On the bike I was hoping to close some of the gap to him and 
reel in Dupree. No such luck. I was able to start the second run just 20 
seconds behind Dupree but Dave blew the two of us away on the bike. What 
was most impressive is the fact that he ran the second 10K faster than his 
opening 10K(exact same route both runs). He ran 35:04 putting him 45 
seconds faster than the second fastest run by overall pro winner Ryan 
Guilliano. His time put him in 2nd place overall, first amateur by 3+ 
minutes, and Long Course National Champion. It was also complete validation 
that he is the best amateur duathlete in the country and his 2010 award was 
well deserved.

The race was so enjoyable on so many levels. Great Venue, well organized, 
relaxing but professional atmosphere, and a race that leaves you with 
complete satisfaction when you cross the finish line. And although I am 
having some real trouble walking downstairs I want to head back just to 
tackle the race again. Of the 200+ races I have completed, Powerman Alabama 
is at the top of my list with just a couple others.

Side note on Ryan Guilliano, he went 22 minutes faster total this year that he did last year and 12 minutes faster on the bike.  What's more impressive is that the run course was tougher this year.

2011 Race Schedule

Weekend     Event
3/26/2011     Powerman Alabama
4/2/2011
4/9/2011       Nautica South Beach Triathlon
4/16/2011     State Swim Meet UMN
4/23/2011
4/30/2011     St. Anthony's Triathlon 5150
5/7/2011
5/14/2011     Rev3 Olympic
5/21/2011     Memphis in May or Gear West Du
5/28/2011     Apple Duathlon & Capital of TX
6/4/2011       Rev3 Half or Escape
6/11/2011     Trinona
6/18/2011     Rodchester or Washington DC
6/25/2011     Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon
7/2/2011       Minnie Man
7/9/2011       Life Time Fitness
7/16/2011
7/23/2011     Chisago Half
7/30/2011
8/6/2011       Nautica New York City
8/13/2011  
8/20/2011     Pigman Triathlon
8/27/2011     Chicago Triathlon
9/3/2011       Hy-Vee Triathlon
9/10/2011     Rev3 Full
9/17/2011
9/24/2011     Perigrine Charities
10/1/2011     Toyota US Open
10/8/2011     Rev3 Half SC
10/15/2011
10/22/2011   5150 Galvestion
10/29/2011
11/5/2011
11/12/2011   5150 Clearwater