Nice Weather, Dogs, and WIld Flowers

Last weekend my saddle time was well spent in Austin.. The cycling awareness in Austin is 100 times more than what it is in Lake Jackson/small town USA, this makes training so much more fun. Not to mention that its impossible to go more 5 min without seeing another cyclist. Already looking for another opportunity for another Austin training weekend... Also looking at job opportunities in the area, so if anyone knows of an opportunity for employment of a sleepy redneck, Holla Atcha Boy!

So besides the riding... my old friend Cooter has a step brother to play with now.








And the Blue Bonnets are everywhere.... Sorry about the "junk" in the pictures, driving while taking pictures doesn't lend itself to the best quality shots..

Gotta love the scenery....

Watcha Gonna do with ALL that Junk?????

Pace Less Hammer More!!!!

Training Weekend

The best part of triathlon and feeding the training addiction is how quickly it infects those around you. So just as I am a slave to improving my PR my older brother is getting started and is fully infected with the tri virus.

So, my weekend starts at 4:00 today as I will leave work to deliver the dog (that bit my sons face) that has been a friend of mine since Aug 99'; to my brothers house in Austin. Where he will reside until death or until my brother has children, then at that point we might have to rethink the situation. He has been a great friend to me and I truly hate to see him go. He doesn't understand the ride in the police car, or the night at the SPCA, or the 10 days of quarantine he was released from last night. There isn't a mean bone in his body, I should know, he's been my wing man since he was 6 weeks old. Getting rid of him is an easy decision to make, because we wont take the risk of another bite even if its only in jest. Any permanent damage to the child beyond this point would be negligent. If I was the child, that would be something unforgivable, after all there was a puncture less than an inch from his eye, that could have blinded him in one eye. So my good friend Cooter Brown I wish you a long happy life in Austin, hopefully you be able to befriend my brother as you have done me over the last 8 years.... Insallah Habbab...

On a brighter note: The riding this weekend will be intense, gotta love those Austin hills.. So the bike is staged accordingly on the roof of the car just waiting to be put in the game. "Put me in Coach, I'm ready, I'm ready" it whispers with no expression. "Be patient, your time will come" I reply...

Fridays ride will be spent on the Longhorn 70.3 route

Saturday will be the ATC ride. Read about it below, sounds really cool... Then in the evening LT swim sets.

http://www.austin360.com/news/content/recreation/guides/visit/cyclist.html

Sunday is still up in the air. Most likely it will be spent doing hill repeats. This next month will be spent mostly on the bike and in the pool as my knee is still healing. Running will not become a part of my training again until May 1. I've now been to 2 doctors both say the heavy mile weeks before the marathon is what did me in, because I didn't let it recover properly after the marathon.

The plan is to cycle and swim and not race until June 8th, at the Tejas Tri. Assuming it heals properly.

Even though no one reads this crap that post for the world to see, I wish everyone a wonderful weekend. Happy Training, Good Eats, and may you win the lotto if you have a ticket.. Adieu..

I'm waiting for someone to say this to me about this moronic blog of mine...

“Mr. Madison, what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”[Billy Madison]

Aquabike... Huh??

So this was my first attempt that remotely resembles a triathlon in 2008... Lonestar Triathlon, Uh, except it wasn't a tri.. Whatever it was, who cares, right! No one is reading this stuff anyway. Anyway, I didn't want my entry to serve as just a donation to Keith Jordan (RD) and his crew. I emailed him last week telling him that my knee wasn't letting me run (about 6:30am) and within 10 minutes send replied telling me I was all set for the aquabike.

Its better than nothing so I mentally prepared my simple mind (it didn't take long) for a 2-athlon..

Now, In the pool I'm swimming 1.2 miles in under 30 min.. So I was expecting maybe 32 or 33 in open water... Nope.. there I go thinking again... 38:00 min for the swim... That's still 38 seconds better than my last 1/2 IM swim, but I was not happy to see that on my wrist!!! Don't bother adjusting your screen this picture was taken by my lovely wife (she's got skillz) and NO I wasn't wearing a pink cap. My heat was the last in the water (red caps, thank you very much) although I was in the front of my heat, I was swimming through a sea of pink caps. After the turn at the last buoy it was like the start of the swim all over again. Everyone hitting each other, fighting for position, and I'm a gentleman so if I knocked any of the gals in the head please except my deepest apology... I wasn't having "swim rage" ....

Anyway, I got my act together, made it through T1 (or T-0nly1) and it was off to the races... Yeah right... Was it me or was that crosswind kicking every ones @SS??? I did my best to stay aero because every time I sat up the stretch my 220lb frame was like a sail catching wind. So despite the conditions I was still able to finish in 2:53:31 still better than my 3:02:35 that I did in Austin last year... So I guess I PR'd.. who knows?? It's really kinda weird getting in from the bike, chucking the bike on the rack and calling it quits...

I'm told that I shouldn't be so hard on myself, but I'm thinking that's what makes me faster..

Also, getting schooled by Simon Lessing was actually pretty cool. He passed me (doing the 1/4 iron) and dropped me, all I heard was that cool hum from his rear disk...

Besides all the pro's that showed for the race I heard that the drunk elf that visited us last year during Christmas was also in attendance... See picture below... However his identity wasn't known at first glance... Here he is drunk once again spouting some gibberish about wanting juice.. That's what he calls his sizz-urp... completely unaware of his surroundings and up to no good I'm sure..

In the picture below he is telling my wife about some sob story, every 5 minutes or so he utters "I love you man" and laughs.. Notice the black eye, I don't think he even remembers what the Deal-e-o Yo...

Actually, Easter weekend my old friend Cooter Brown took a shot at the kiddo. It was a lesson to us, dogs will be dogs... Anyway long story short, I was in the 25th mile of my long ride when I got the call that the ER was in the near future. Nothing major, but it was a close call because it was so close to his eye. With the new baby coming in less than 2 months Cooter Brown will be going to live in Austin with my bro. He's been my dog for almost 9 years, I hate to see him go but at least he's still in the family.

Man Down!!!

Painful pills to swallow... Beware... Not my usual goofy/moronic post.. Not that anyone is actually reading this...

Only about 2 weeks until lonestar 1/2 ironman and I'm in a 9 line bind. I've been fighting a popping, shifting, loose right knee and I think its finally gone completely. I visited a Dr. in Angleton (small town) not long after the Longhorn 1/2 IM when this all started. He said I had runners knee, and maybe I did because it went away. The marathon came and went with no pain. Then came the track workouts and a new kind of pain started. The pain that's similar to the first injury when I was 17. Went to the Dr. again this time he calls it arthritis (his solution is to stop running) and gives me an anti-inflammatory.

While in Canada I did a few 1 hour hill runs on the treadmill with no pain. OK, I'm happy now, thinking it gone again. Last Wednesday night at the softball game (after I was hit in the back with a line drive) I was up to bat again, made a little blooper past the short stop, when the right foot landed on first base I felt a "pop".... First thought, "Game over"... limped home that night..

Hoping for the best, I took it easy yesterday (AM & PM) changing my PM bike session to a swim. "No flutter kick for you" the Kick Nazi screams... while in the water I try to water run.. Nope, that dog ain't gonna hunt.. nothing is supposed to hurt in the water, I'm pulling my hair out in frustration... this blows....

So today, I have a late morning meeting on a job site close to my house so I sleep in a bit. The knee is done I know it, walking with a limp is unavoidable. Bending my knee with weight on it shoots pain through my body. Walking up stairs on the job site was difficult...

Well, next week I have another appt with a different Dr. I will bring him my x-rays and MRI hopefully if damage occurred after the MRI there will be some previous sign of it so I don't have to take another...

This carries such an empty feeling with it. Choices are limited this weekend and the weather is supposed to be great. I was planning another bike ride to Manvel for a swim then riding home. Walking up stairs is a challenge thus no riding/swimming/running this weekend...

Man down... Man Down...

No Pacing more, No Hammering more... Just sit and watch others Hammer... uhhhhggggg!!

“To the question whether I am a pessimist or an optimist, I answer that my knowledge is pessimistic, but my willing and hoping are optimistic”

Albert Schweitzer...

Taking One For The Team

Taking one for the team takes on a different meaning as a person gets older. Last night in the local softball (beer league) your truly took one for the team. First a little bit of background, I have mentioned The Hometown Heroes before in a previous blog, but since I'm the only one reading this and there is time to spare today, I'll mention it again.

The Hometown Heroes is made up of Lake Jackson natives and refugees of all sorts. Although it started off as a group of early 20's ex-jock, college flunkies, and community college goers and me (the elder and possibly one of the least mature of the group). Our theme song was "I wanna Rock" and our mission statement " To wreck homes, family's, good driving records, and GPA's; not as individuals but as a collective group of young men" of which none related to me of course..

Over the past few years some of the faces have changed but there are a few constants we stick with. Like "Fight Club" it's somewhat anonymous. So, Constant #1 no real names are used. Thus, I'm "The Doug" as most nicknames don't stick, this one somehow did. Constant #2 although we obviously have a couple superstars on the team everyone is equal, therefor we're all number one. Constant #3, Even though excessive beer drinking isn't required, it is preferred. Partaking of the sauce isn't my thing, although from time to time its done in protest.

Please excuse the freckles. Last night I took one for the team. Let me set the stage, considering my long ball skills, Doug (batting last in the order) popped a little base hit to center and was sitting on first. So, the Hero's lead off with a lefty who hits a line drive directly at my (Doug's) manhood. So a quick on my toes move put me in the fetal position. Doug's manhood was safe, the ball stayed fair, and little birds and stars were scene moving in a clockwise motion about Doug's noggin... Somehow, Doug got to second fell on the ground and whined like a newborn. Once in the laughter slowed, the shooter on the grassy knoll was nice enough to sign the wound, pat me on the bottom, and let me know that "The Doug"took one for the team like a man...

I slept well knowing the boys weren't let down last night... woo-sah...

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf." -

Tug McGraw, asked whether he preferred grass or Astroturf