A busy and confusing week...my thoughts about the Boston bombing.

This is truly one of those times I just don't know where to start.  It's in my nature to start at the beginning and it always takes me longer to write these words because there is so much to say.

Let's get started.....

As part of our training Aimee and I scheduled a trip to Athens, OH for some good long course tri training.  The hills in southern Ohio offer some great riding and preparation for some of the races we would be participating in.

We scheduled it for the weekend of 4/13 -14, because it was also the weekend for the Athens Marathon/Half Marathon.

I advertised it as a group training event for anyone interested in joining us.  We had a total of 6 people go south for the weekend.  Mike, John, Ray and Jen joined Aimee and I.

We gathered Saturday morning at the "traditional" starting point for Tom's Trillium Tour.

Aimee and I had ridden this tour in 2010 when she was training for Ironman St. George.

It was a cool windy day but everyone did a great job covering various distances.  The planned loop was 56 miles but I managed to squeeze in a solid 66 miles as I rode back to check on people before major turns.

We finished the ride and drove the rest of the way to Athens.  We checked into our hotels, picked up our race packets and had a fun dinner together.

Sunday morning greeted us with cool temperatures which were perfect for running a half marathon.  Jen was going to run hard and see how her training was progressing.  I wanted to at least negative split the out and back run.  Everyone else was in it to train for upcoming events.  Ray was running with his daughter who is a sophomore at Ohio University.

Everyone was very satisfied with their results.  Jen was smokin' and took fifth overall female, won her age group and set a PR of 1:31 for the Half Marathon distance.  She is one woman I don't mind being chicked by.  I was 7 minutes back from Jen but crossed the finish line completely satisfied with how I ran the race.  My legs were toast during the last 2 miles but I pushed through it all.

After the race Jen and I were waiting for the others to finish.  As we walked to our cars for warmer clothes we talked briefly about the Boston Marathon.  Jen has qualified and may decide to run in 2014.

My feelings about Boston are a little different.  I'm a runner without a doubt.  I love it and if I'm on the trails I can loose myself to the run.  But I just don't consider myself a marathoner.  I've completed three marathons.  Ironman Lake Placid (2006), Grand Rapids Marathon (2007), and Ironman Wisconsin (2008).  I will complete my fourth marathon this fall when I return to Ironman Wisconsin with Aimee and my friends.

I have no desire to try and qualify for Boston.  I am completely amazed by the people who run marathons and qualify for Boston, sometimes year after year.

Some of my friends have raced Boston at the elite level.  Some have busted the ass during their qualifying race to sit back and relax during Boston in order to soak in the atmosphere.

I get it.  I understand it.  I just don't have it as a priority on my list right now.

By the time we got home Sunday evening I was tired from the traveling and solid training.  Thank goodness the following week would be a recovery week.

I was working in a computer room Monday when the first text reached my phone.  My friend Ken sent me, "Bombs at Boston finish line."  I first thought he meant some celebratory fireworks.  But when he follows it up with....

"Holy fuck"....I knew it was serious.

The first thing that popped into my mind was this picture.

That is James and Andrea LaMastra.  A Cleveland husband, wife and parents.  Jim is a pro triathlete and Andrea is a damn good athlete as well....smiling on their way to the Boston Marathon start line.

All I could think of was how a happy event could turn so horribly wrong.  I knew several other people from Cleveland who were in Boston.  Fortunately they all made it back home safely.

One of my close triathlon friends was at mile 26.1 when the explosions occurred.  I was so relieved to hear that she was okay.

Just like everyone across the country, and around the world, I was trying to get as much information about what happened.   I knew I just needed to wait because details would surface on their own.  Was a group responsible or some crazed individual?  Was the attacker foreign or domestic?

Waiting for information to surface my feeling were all over the board.  As I thought about what must have happened it made me sad.  Hearing the reports about what the carnage was like deepened the agony.  And then everything changed to anger and outrage. 

I don't know if my current reading list contributed to my anger but I thought about it.  Two books I had read before the Boston Marathon were American Sniper and Lone Survivor.  Both books were written by former Navy SEALs who had served in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

I won't go into details about the books but I would highly recommend them to anyone wanting to understand what the American military was up against in the Middle East.  Both books are excellent. 

The only thing I can figure is that the books renewed my allegiance to the US of A and fueled my anger for anyone wanting to attack us. 

I kept reading the news reports and it wasn't until the next day when the anger would finally be replaced with tears.  Because despite everything that went wrong during those 15 seconds when the bombs exploded, what happened before the smoke even cleared stands out in my mind.

America, specifically the residents of Boston, sprang into action. 

Helping the injured.  Comforting the confused.  Controlling the chaos.

Reading the stories and seeing the pictures of people in action brought the tears to the corners of my eyes.  People running towards the smoke and blood.  Carrying people to the medical tents.  People using their clothes to stop the bleeding and sometimes even using their bare hands.

The residents along the marathon route who brought in the cold, huddled masses of runners who could not reach the finish line or hotels.   Restaurants offering food, water and shelter while everything was being sorted out.  These people didn't need to be asked to help.  They knew it was their responsibility to help...their fellow humans.

And then the actions of the different law enforcement agencies as they came together to hunt down those responsible. 

Yes....America sprang into action as it always does. 

Locally we all wondered how to spring into action.  We started hearing about group runs in other cities to support Boston, the runners who were in Boston, the spectators of the race (and tragedy) and the victims.

Our friend Amy suggested a group run Thursday morning.  I turned it into a Facebook event and invited everyone who could make it.  I knew a 5:15AM run would be a tough sell but the response was amazing. 

We had 23 people show up on a 50 degree morning.  Some even wore their Boston best.   Jocelyn ,who is front and center, was one of the Cleveland athletes who ran the marathon on Monday.  She wasn't going to let it stop her from running with us.  We had a good time and remembered that running is what binds us together and make us better people.  Look at all those great smiles. 

Two days later.....Saturday.  Both bombing suspects were found.  One dead and the other critically wounded.  Perhaps now we will find some answers.  But what I saw Saturday night helped me understand "reaction" to such momentous events. 


Aimee and I were watching National Geographics The Decade That Made Us.   It is a six part mini-series about the 80's.  It is a very good show that describes how the 80's helped launch the world into the future and triggered how we live today.

My son Andrew and his wife Jessica had stopped over.  The current show was about the mid-80's and the new Space Shuttle program.  We were watching the events unfold on January 28, 1986.  I remember the date because I was on the campus of Bowling Green State University wondering why the flags were at half mast. 

The four of us watched the Shuttle lift off from the platform at Kennedy Space Center and rise into the clear blue sky.  Andrew wasn't born yet and Jess was maybe 6 months old. 

All of a sudden the Shuttle exploded and I heard Jess gasp.  This was the first time she had seen the 1986 explosion.  I quickly looked at her face and saw the shock from the explosion.  The same shock  that must have been on the faces of those people near the Boston Marathon finish line.  The same shock that must have been on the faces of everyone around the world when they heard the news of the bombing.  The same shock that settled into my gut when I first heard of the bombing.

It was at that moment I realized that life if full of shock and awe.  In this day and age we are more readily exposed to it now because of cable TV, the internet, social media and all sorts of ways to keep "up to date".  But it goes back deep into the history of our country.

Lincoln assassination.  Kennedy assassination.  Shuttle explosions.  Hurricanes and tornadoes.  9/11 and many more.

And now Patriots Day 2013 at the Boston Marathon.

Unfortunately this is the world we live in.  But as long as we keep a firm grasp on our humanity....our compassion...our love of life....the evil in this world doesn't have a chance.  Evil manages to rear it's ugly head reminding us to be vigilant.  But we as humans, not just Americans...but people of the earth, always find a way to push it back down. 

I pray for those that need closure from the events on April 15th.  I hope they find it because they are surrounded by a country that cares more than they will ever know. 

Game On.

Have you seen my toy?

Yeah....I'm talking to you. 

I'm Zoe and I can't find one of my favorite toys.  I think those two "people" that live in my house are hiding it. 

I mean...like...this is one of my favorite toys.  I've had it ever since I moved in. 

Here's a better picture in case you have seen it somewhere.

No? 

You still haven't seen it? 

Oh...you can't really make out what it is?

This is what it used to look like.

Yeah, I know.  I ripped off the horns, arms, legs.  The stuffing and squeaker are long gone.

But it's my favorite toy.

You mean they bought me a new one?  Why haven't they given it to me!?!?!?

Happy Dog, Happy Dog...I'm a Happy Dog.

Look at squirrel.......

We Live Where?

Right.

We...Live...In...OHIO.

Not Florida.  Not Arizona.  And not Southern California. 

The past couple of days I have been hearing the same thing everywhere I am. 

"I am so tired of this weather." 

I heard it when I was in Wisconsin. 

I've heard it on the news and I've heard it from friends here in Northeast Ohio.

I'm sorry my friends but it may be spring on the calendar but this is still March.  And to me March means crappy weather.

So I'm not letting the new snow or grey clouds get me down.  I'm heading outside for a run or maybe even a bike ride. 

This shit makes us tougher and prepared for when the crap hits the fan come race day.  

So for now keep on bitchin'.  I'm just going to silently shake my head and wish you would HTFU.

You don't hear my friends in Michigan racing Barry Roubaix complaining.  Of course some of them are drunk tonight......go figure.

Game On my friends. 

My Verona.....

My day finished around 5PM so I decided to visit Madison's sister, Verona.  Verona is where the double loop of the Ironman Wisconsin bike course begins. 

I would be remiss not driving the bike course and getting a little refresher from when I was last there 5 years ago. 

It was nice to see some familiar portions of the course.  It also provided me with some reminders of how to train for the route. 

Or course the roads will look much better in 6 months.

Dear Madison

......thanks for the warm reception tonight.  I drove in last night to a beautiful sunset on the western horizon as I drove from Milwaukee.

However today, Monday, you placed a 3 inch blanket of wet snow on the city before the colder temperatures arrived.

I knew what you had in store.  I had done my research and packed accordingly.  I would swim at the Dane County Y in the morning and get in an evening run before the temperatures plunged overnight.

I just didn't expect so much snow.  And wind.

29 degrees with 15 MPH winds.  Brrrr.

My run along the Capital City Trail was very picturesque with the new layer of snow covering everything including the grass, trees and icy patches on the trail. 

I followed the single wheel track of the Surley Pugsley and even went down on the same icy patch that the rider did.

But that didn't deter me.  I was enjoying my run of solitude.

However, when I reached the end of the trail I turned around to feel your chilling deception.  No wonder the run was feeling so nice.  Your winds were pushing me along through the snow covered trail and slushy intersections. 

As I made the turn to make my way back to the warm confines of my hotel room you smacked me in the face.  Your winds plastered my wind breaker against my chest and sliced through my two layers of gloves.  My fingers could feel your icy grip despite my efforts.

But you underestimated me.  There is no surrendering.  There is no stopping my resolve to return to the hotel, fending off the cold biting wind.

Sure you can give me a little respite in the woods but rounding that corner I could feel your winds again pushing me back forcing me to give more than I wanted to during this recovery week.

The tracks I had made only 30 minutes prior were already disappearing under the fresh snow sweeping across the open fields.  Were those my footprints or someone elses from an earlier walk?  Even the groove left by the bicycle tires was filling in.

But my dear Madison, this is not the first time I have encountered your bitter cold.  I have felt that sting before.  I have also felt the warmth that you provide during the early fall months.

You must remember that I come from Cleveland.  We share the same love/hate for the seasons.  The cold gives way to the warmth or spring and summer.  Then the cold returns in the late fall.

So I am wise to  you Madison and I respect you.  But you must also respect me.

I am Goruck Tough.

I am an Ironman.

And come September 8th I will become Iron again.

Game On Madison.  Oh...and I'm bringing some friends too.


PS....I was in Madison for work and met with one of my co-workers Ed.  I told him about my run and he agreed that it was cold out.  In fact, Ed was the guy on the Surley.  He hit his head so hard that if it wasn't for his helmet I might have found him there dead on the trail.  AND...Ed will be doing IM MOO for the 10 year in a row come September....this is his last IM.

Girls With Sole Swim-a-Thon.....kindof

Today was the annual GWS swim-a-thon.  Two hours of fundraising fun with Liz and Harlan.  Unfortunately I couldn't make it.  The swim time conflicted with my regularly scheduled spin sessions. 

But I didn't want to miss out on trying to help raise some money for GWS.  After I refueled from the 2 hour spin session I headed to the Y for some pool time. 

I had a lane to myself, set down my water bottle and Gels for 2 hours of swimming.

I broke the swim in 1000 yard sets.  I alternated doing 10 x 100 then 5 x 200. 

I saw two of my tri friends Lori and Julie during my swim and it helped break up the monotony with a little bit a chatter with them.  Julie shared the lane with me for my final 45 minutes.

I decided to go with 2 hours of swimming by the clock on the wall since that was the pool time Harlan had arranged at the Rocky River pool.  I was shooing for as much yardage as I could in the time allowed.

On my last 1000 I miscounted and was excited to finish up so it was a weird amount of yardage.

My watch shows that I had a total swim time of 1 hour 52 minutes taking into account a couple of breaks to refuel and hydrate.  So 8 minutes of down time is actually pretty good.

The 1:20 on my watch is the final 100 yards I did.  I was happy with that split having completed 6,8000 yards averaging 1:30/100 with 10 seconds rest. 

Yep, with the final 100 I reached 6,900 yards.  I didn't realize my "shortage" until I got home and reviewed my splits.

It doesn't matter because that is $69 I am donating to Girls With Sole.  One dollar for each 100 yards.
Well worth it.  This money is used so Liz can keep her Game On with what she does through GWS.

Anyone want to match my donation?

CTC Swim Challenge - 2013

Last Sunday I participated in the Fourth Annual Cleveland Tri Club Swim Challenge.  This is the third year for me since I had to work on the day of the Challenge in 2012. 

In 2010 I swam 8k yards.
In 2011 I swam 10k yards.
2013 was going to be a repeat of 2011 as I had my eye on the 10k yard mark.....or in Swim Challenge terms it was 100 x 100.

I didn't do anything special for the build prior to the Challenge but I felt confident in my technique and fitness to get me to the end.

My longest single swim had been 5,000 yards a couple of weeks out.  However I have been swimming an additional third day each week with a Masters swim on Saturdays.

So I showed up intending to crank out my 20 x 500's as in previous years.  This year I was placed in lane two which was for some faster swimmers.  When I signed up the form asked what intervals I would be swimming.  I had circled 1:40 because that was the pace I was expecting.  However, the people in my lane were starting each interval on 1:40 meaning they would be swimming faster than that.

In fact, it meant the pace would be more around the 1:20/100 yard pace with 20 seconds rest.

I didn't make it through first 500 when it was apparent that my plans and their plans were going to clash significantly.  So I bailed on my plan and decided to follow what the others were doing. 

My first set with the group would be 10 x 100's.  I settled into the last position and tried to stay in the draft.  Yep...sure enough we were hitting 1:20 to the wall with 15 - 20 seconds rest.  I could do one of two things.  Drop down to another lane or suck it up and hang with the group as long as possible.

I stayed put in lane two with Larry, Melissa, Ed and Courtney.  That first 1,000 together actually went by quickly.  We changed things up to straight 500's and even a straight 1000, which I didn't want to do again.  Swimming 1000 yards straight is just more mind numbing than usual.

The 500's were pretty good early on because we were holding around 7 minutes for each 500.  But the later 500's were a struggle. 

At the 5k mark we took a small break to use the bathroom and fuel up for more swimming.  During the second half of the swim the magnificent 3 (Larry, Melissa and Ed) decided to kick 5 x 200.  Unfortunately I didn't have any of my swim toys like pull buoys, paddles, fins or a kick board.  Since this was a swim challenge I was going to swim the entire 10,000 yards. 

I took the rear of the pack again and swam freestyle behind the kickers. As long as I was starting and finishing with the group we were swimming the same amount and could verify the distance with each other.

And don't worry about Courtney.  She was still swimming with us....only faster than us.  Being a college senior, and a swimmer since age 6, she was just motoring along.  At one point we were swimming along and I felt her catch my feet.  I pulled as close to the lane line as possible in order to let her pass me before the wall.  I buried my head into the water so I could watch for her pass on my left side.

All of a sudden she was swimming underneath me with a powerful dolphin kick.  I slowed way down to let her surface and reach the wall.  When I talked to her after the swim she said that someone was coming the other way and she couldn't squeeze between us, so she went under me.  I was quite impressed by her underwater pass.  She finished her 10k yard well before we did.

With 2000 yards remaining Melissa said we could finish before noon if we kept a 7:20 - 7:30/500 split.  We only had the pool reserved from 9 - noon but I knew finishing before noon wasn't a priority. 

After the first 500 I was really starting to feel the loss of energy in the arms.  They were a little heavy and the pace was beginning to get out of my ability.  Ed opted to put his flippers back on to keep the pace.  I slid down to an open lane and finished my last 1,500 yards on my own. 

I finished just past 12:00 but I knew my actual swim time was less than 3 hours.  Probably more around 2:45. 

Overall I was happy with the swim.  Aimee did the swim challenge as well and completed 5000 yards.  That is the cool part about the challenge, everyone can come down and swim as many yards as they want.  People swam anywhere from 2,500 - 12,000 yards.  The people in lane 1, which held some superstar swimmers, went above and beyond the 10k.

I was most satisfied with the swim because I went outside my comfort zone in the pool.  I have been swimming 1:20/100 in the pool thanks to the Masters swim I've been going to on Saturdays.  But to maintain that type of pace was the unknown.  I wasn't sure if I would burn out well before reaching 10,000 yards.

I won't be swimming another 10,000 yards any time soon, until next years challenge.  Unless you are a top level swimmer this type of yardage is not necessary, but the challenge and bragging rights is just another way to show what you are capable of.  If you can do this what else can you do?

Game On.