A New Triathlon Guppy

greetings gang

I ran into a guy this morning at the caffeine fillup stop...aka.. Starbucks. He knew who I was from the television. So, after I answered a few questions about the Browns newest coach, He asked me about racing in triathlons. Turns out he got into the sport last year. He was a tall guy, well built. Athletic. Could probably swim-bike-run circles around me. I told him I have done alot of triathlons. Over a 100. Started in the sport when I was 32. I am now 57.6112 years old. I asked him what problems he encountered in his first race.

He paused. Collected himself and said he rented a wetsuit for the race day. It was a race at Mentor Headlands. He made the mistake of never using the wetsuit before race day. Thought he could just pop it on and swim like a fish. Turns out he panicked. Two reasons. 1. The suits, for those of you who have never raced, or worn one; can be restrictive in the chest area. Better word would be claustrophobic. 2. He was not prepared for the rush of swimmers around him. He said once he got into the race and panicked, he had to unzip the suit a little to catch his breath and to chase away the anxiety. Took about a minute and then he adjusted.

So, if you are getting into triathlons and want the wetsuit experience, make sure you swim a few times with the wetsuit. Funny thing is, once you get used to it..you feel very secure. Why else would I strap on a wetsuit and set off to swim for a breakwall close to a mile away and come back.

Happy training and racing..
Life's a Blast

Iditarod for Humans

Shocked aren't you??? I have posted twice now in 4 days. The recent post, which came after six months off..dealt with a rope skipping workout I did. Intense..but well within the realm of "Giving everything you have, but wanting more"
Today, I drove to the Brecksville Reservation to catch up with old buddies, whom I have raced with in some triathlons. Dynamic couple..Eric and Aimee. Each is an Ironman, and cool folks. Aimee is the "Snow Queen" as she, Eric and Dale helped me learn some of the trails a few years ago in the CVNP when I got into trail running. Also today, we ran with Tina, a cancer survivor and Deb.
Started at the Station Road Trail Head. -4 Degrees when we got going. Trails had lots of snow and the cross country skiers had knocked down some of the snow. I wanted to do close to two hours, but was just along with the gang and not being technical about anything... It was a good time. Eric, whom I nicknamed Yellow Buck because of his jacket, had a way of running ahead of us, then because the trails in the woods were serpentine, he would amazingly appear out of nowhere. Took me a bit to realize he was darting through the deepest woods, probably ticking off the deer, who I joke are probably distant cousins... We were out about an hour and 20 to 30 minutes..navigating was slow due to the snow, but it was great!! Some coffee and a breakfast sandwhich at Paneras and it was a good, good morning..
Still mulling over race plans. One of my co workers, Doug is getting into Triathlons this year and I think is racing at Wendys in Columbus early in the season. It will be his first. I was thinking that could be a good race to do....(done it before) and would give me chance to give Doug any pointers..last minute, or ease any worries.. We'll see.
Toodles. Life's a Blast

J.T. BACK AT YAH!!!

Greetings from the abyss.

I am back to blogging. Its been awhile. I will try to post twice weekly, and the missives might be more brief. Its my own shrinkage thing, I guess. The last 3 months have been pretty eventful for our family as my Mom took ill and passed away on Nov 21st. We stayed at hospice for the better part of 5 weeks until she went to meet her Lord and Saviour. I am at peace because Mom so very much was a woman of faith. She lived it. I humbly try to follow her example.
However, the working out was pretty consistent but the diet suffered a bit. Hey, it was also the Holidays. For about a month, I have been really strong in my workouts and am still pointing towards a couple of ultra marathons on the trails.. 2-3 triathlons, and I might even toss in a 10 mile plus open water swim.
As I mentioned, I will keep you up to date on workouts and goals. I will also detail, on occasion some of the behind the scenes things that go on when one reports and anchors the sports on television. I am now in my 31st straight year here at Fox8 in Cleveland. Folks tell me thats some kind of record. They also say I am insane for covering losers for so long!!
This week I did my second workout using the suspension training called TRX. I will detail one of the classes soon. For now, heres a sampling of one rope skipping workout I did just this morning. (1-19-11) (Note the bermuda shorts!! Its Not what you wear, its what You Do!!
Warm up 10 minutes straight..medium tempo
Do 10 sets of :30 seconds MAX intensity with :60 REST.
3 Minutes easy skipping.
Then, do 5 sets of :30 seconds MAX intensity with :30 Rest
2 minutes easy skipping
5 minutes strong tempo, then cool down....
Thats it folks. Good luck with your training and racing..
Life's a Blast