Sunday, July 10, 2011

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.

Friday, July 8, 2011

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



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.