Race reports, adventures, travel, fun, misc...

I just heard that someone got into Ironman Kona this year by submitting a motivational essay. I'll give this a shot when applications open up next year..... I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row. I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru. Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When ...

This was such an in incredible experience that I don't even know where to begin. I guess I shouldn't bore you with the training details that got me here and will just fast forward to race day.   Approximately 2,600 age group amateur athletes and 36 pros started. To avoid the human mosh pit that is synonymous with an Ironman swim start my plan was to wait 60 seconds for the madness to get out in front and then I would start. This race had over 1,000 first timers so many others had the same plan. Gun goes off at 7:00 AM and there are about 100 of us just sitting back and waiting. 30 seconds was all I could take before the adrenaline took over and I took off for the 2.4 mile 2 lap swim. The first few minutes were great. Open water with not too many people around me allowed me to settle into a groove quickly. Swimming the lake a month prior and the day before the race made me comfortable enough not to freak out like I do at most starts. I caught up to the madnes...

For most of the year I’ve been thinking about how I am going to obtain entry into an official full Ironman distance event (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run). There are 24 "officially sponsored" Ironman annual events and they’re far and hard to get into, due to their popularity in the triathlon community. Lately I’ve had my heart set on the Lake Placid event. In part due to the town’s Olympic history and also its proximity to home, compared to the other events around the country and worldwide. Registration for this event opened at noon on July 26th. I hit the site @ 12:03 and it was already sold out. Opportunity #1 missed. My coach recently told me that Lake Placid has a sister race - the Providence Half Ironman - whose participants have first dibs at registering for next year’s Lake Placid Ironman. “Great.” I thought, “That’s my way in. I’ll do the half this year and get into Lake Placid for 2012!” I eagerly awaited registration to open for the Providence, Rhode ...

I will start off by apologizing for making fun of the French accent. I have some great associates and friends there so they know I'm just kidding around. Since I speak (sometimes) with an accent feel free to make fun of it ! It's 10:00 AMish . Train from Paris to London leaving @ 4:30 PM. Driving time from Grenoble to Paris : 5 hrs. I leave myself 6 thinking I'll be in London with plenty of time to check in and still grab a pint. Roads are relatively empty. Driving 110 to 130 km/h most of the time despite the heavy rain and occasional down pour. The ESP light goes on (traction control) and I get a big flashing error on the display. So what? I don't need traction control. The roads are awesome and road etiquette is always observed. Except by the American in the Peugeot 307....that would be me. I accidentally pass on the right once and get angry hi-beam flashes for a while. The tolls are incredibly expensive. The last stretch of highway before Paris, about 2 hours worth,...