Monday, July 27, 2009

TURN LEFT AT THE BURRITTO

You gotta love a triathlon that has a theme. The Fairport Pirate Triathlon is not only one of the best small triathlons around...it gets into the theme..thats for sure. Notice the pirate stuff all over the Finish area. The triathlon is very inexpensive..How about 20 bucks!!!!!! I have done it many times...this year however, I sat it out as I am recovering from my shin splints and stress fracture I suffered from my 50 mile ultra marathon in June.



My son, Pat raced..and this is him...speeding to the start area out of transistion as he was running late. The day was goregous...breezy..clear..



Ohh..and did I mentioned they get into the act??? Brian Davidson was giving his witty pre race instructions and dropped a few ARRRGHHHS!! too. By the way, he stripped out of the constume and raced as well.

One thing he told the triathletes was to make sure to swim to the left of the GIANT BURRITO floating in the water. One sponsor is Chipotle. Talk about product placement!!!! That silver thing that looks like a bullet was actually a buoy.


The course has a steep..but short hill coming out of transistion that catches some racers in the wrong gear. This view looks down into trans..and the lake beyond.


The bike finishes as racers speed down the hill....brake and dismount.. I was too slow..but thats Patrick in yellow shirt going down.


And thats Pat coming back up to begin the short run.. He was moving well...and making up for the bike. His tires were low and he said the wind was fairly brisk in open stretches....


Patrick finished strong and hung out a little with our buddy Eddie Police, who had a very good race coming off a 5:18 showing last week at the Musselman Half Iron. At Fairport, Pat was 4th in a very competitive age group.!!
Fairport is just a great small race.. I really enjoyed watching and shooting pics and chatting with all the racers and their families. Next week I am swimming for Team Dawud in the Cleveland Triathlon. This week I will try to run a couple miles on the trails at North Chagrin. The leg is much better.
Finally..Props to Lindsay Buckingham and Meagan Hayes ..two of our Fox 8 producers who finished their first triathlons at Huntington Beach. Pictures will follow.!!
Life's a Blast

Sunday, July 26, 2009

GIANT BURRITO

I SAW A GIANT BURRITO IN THE WATER AT THE FAIRPORT PIRATE TRIATHLON. TOO MUCH. HAVE A LITTLE REPORT UP. DID NOT RACE BUT IT WAS A BLAST TO WATCH....

PHOTOS ETC TO FOLLOW.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

YouthFul Desire

Testing Headlight in darkened room eating huge bowl of pasta!!!


J.T's shoes prior to 50 miler...fighting over who gets to start!!!!!


Sitting into front of a pixel challenged screen..my laptop and looking for the words to describe the athletic state I am in now. 56 years and looking to recapture the joy of being a kid. Do you know the John Mayer song 1983 ??? Heres some lyrics "Here I stand, six feet small.... romanticizing years ago"
He goes on to sing " these days I wish I was six again..oh make me a red cape...I wanna be superman.ohh if only my life was more like 1983 ".

(click link below for Mayer live)


Mayer captures the feelings I sometimes get when I think back to youth, when all was play and responsibility was years in the future. We played hard. We laughed and we made our rules and we lived by them. Now we Train. We sometimes put the joy out of our psyches as we mindlessly log our miles and look ahead to the next race. the next workout..the next accomplishment. Do we really savor just how special a workout might have been. How long do we celebrate meeting a goal??? When I finished my 50 mile ultra, I immediately started thinking of what I could do next. Why was I so fixed on the road ahead and not doing the cha cha in that moment. Shame on me.
I can be guilty of this when I interview athletes. I might ask them about enjoying what they just did..but I bore in and ask about whats next. "Can you guys really beat the Steelers now that you've handled the Jets.
There are so many things I do want to do in endurance sports but I just have to remember to play while straining....to wink while wilting in the sun..to chuckle as I churn the gears. If I don't p.r. an event, I have to be bold enough to announce to the world.. "The time I just posted is a number, but the fun I had in getting to this point has done me a world of good.!!!!!

Quick training notes. 4 swim workouts in past week. Two pool workouts. 1.2 miles each. 2 swims in Lake Erie. Lifting well. Eating too much, but am using this recovery time to enjoy the things I was too strict about training for the 50 miler. I have love handles. Better show The Bride!!!
Life's a Blast

Sunday, July 5, 2009

SHAQ-TACULAR

Hi everyone...17 days removed from the 50 mile ultra and I have been doing lots of weight lifting and a little elliptical work, but my left foot-ankle is still troublesome..so I am being very cautious.

I was going to start running Monday the 6th, but on Saturday night I was walking briskly from the studio to the control room at the station and I got some pretty intense pain...so I am backing off. I will go see a specialist.

But, while I was trying to get better I got the good news that my blogging buddy (actually he is buddy to many as he is well read) DONALD.. finished the incredibly tough Western States 100 Endurance Run.

That is Kona to triathletes. Carnegie Hall for pianists and Yankee Stadium to baseball players.

I might be somewhat new to ultra running, but I always credit Donald for his guidance into the ultra running world and for his ability to write very thoughtful pieces with humor and interest. He is a very good journalist, and if you visit his blog, you'll read about his experience in that very arduous race. Congrats Donald. And thanks for helping me get more and more into the trails, thanks to your writing.

Since he is a journalist, he might get a chuckle about my exchange with Shaquille Oneal when Shaq came to Cleveland for a press conference. Snippets were all over the media. Shaq was pretty funny. I think I was the 3rd reporter to get the mike before an overflow gym at the Cavs facility.

TRIGUYJT " John Telich Fox 8 ...Welcome to Cleveland...I'm shocked you are not tweeting up there on the dais?? Why not?? (Shaq is a big fan of Twitter)

SHAQ "Cuz I'm up here answering your question (laughter from everyone)

TRIGUYJT "Yeah, I appreciate you paying attention..(laughter). I notice alot of law enforcement people here today. Can you tell us what kind of involvement you will have here".?

SHAQ "I'm actually undercover here (laughter)...no.. I do have an interest and I will be looking into some things... but really..I'm just here for one thing. "Get a ring for the King". (applause..laughter)

and on and on the press conference went. As I have written before, its fun stuff and it will be pretty wild around here covering both LeBron and Shaq.

On the training front, our swim club at Fairport Harbor beach starts Tuesday the 7th...if you are in the Cleveland area...drive out... 7:30am. We have kayaks to assist people who might be intimidated by the open water. Usually, we swim about 1.5 to 2.0 miles..give or take a little yardage... After that, we have breakfast.

I have no idea what will be my next race...I just want to make sure the foot is better...My mom always said patience is a virtue and I am trying to practice that.

In the meantime..Life's a Blast!!!