Ironman Lake Placid 2014

Notes from the IM official site;
"Adverse weather affects the age group race
Thunder and lightning in the area forced race officials to cancel the second loop of the swim for the age group athletes. The official age group results will include one loop of the swim, the bike, T2, and the run. T1 will not be included."

I feel sorry for the competitors mostly, but it also sounds like a dreadful morning for spectators, volunteers and race organizers. Jan and I went to watch the race in 2008 and it rained quite a bit, though not horribly hard during the bike that year. In 2009 when Jan completed the race it rained some during the swim then cleared up. But neither year had the lightning this year brought. Yuck.

I also found this photo, which is quite disturbing on many levels;

Okay ladies, stop staring at the speedo man with the buttoned up white cover over his privates.

1. As MW wrote to me, who dresses like this in the morning and decides at the last minute that he must have a visor?
2. And why is the visor backwards? 
3. With any luck the State Trooper ran him over.
4. Speedo Man is obviously quite comfortable in his own skin (since that's mostly all he's wearing).while running and cheering, but what happens when he's done? He just calmly walks back to the car like he's strolling to the grocery store?
5. Where are his car keys?
6. What, do we live in France now and are watching the Tour de France with the loonies they have spectating?
7. I think he's wearing socks. Again, it begs the question why? His feet get cold?
8. Speedo guy has a really large....watch on his left hand. So, I'm going out for a run in my speedo, 90% naked, and I need to get the exact time and distance I ran?
9. I don't think there is a gel pocket in those shorts.
10. Okay, where is the Smart phone hidden?

Ironman

Yesterday I received notification in my email that a new full IM race will be held in Muskoka, Ontario Canada. Why do I receive this notifications? I'm not sure, it must be a holdover from Jan entering Louisville and Lake Placid.
The new race will be held August 30, 2015 and the previous 70.3IM will be moved to July, making a perfect training race for the full distance. The cost is only 700 Canadian, plus HST (tax) plus Active.com fees. ($757 US, plus tax and fee, so way over $800).

Today, I was presented with a new offer in my email. If I register within the next 24 hours for Lake Placid IM 2015, I also get entry to the Syracuse 70.3 race held a month earlier, the so called "RACE READY PACKAGE". This package is limited to 400 athletes and costs $940 plus Active.com fees. It's a bargain I guess as Lake Placid IM entry alone is $725 plus fees. I suppose if you are entering LP anyhow this package kind of makes sense assuming Syracuse is your destination of choice for a 1/2 IM.

Interesting, when we went to watch the 2008 LPIM, to register for 2009 your best shot was to wait in line on Monday morning, charge account in hand, for 2-3 hours. With the link above you can register before this year's race, if you are ready to commit to two races next summer.

This also tells me the IM corporation (now an equity group owns IM, not a private person) is looking for new methods of marketing their product, expanding the brand and driving profits. When Jan completed LP in 2009 around 2,100 people were allowed in the race. The transition area was busy, lets say, but roomy enough. This year (Sunday actually) 2,500 are expected to start the race. At $700 per runner entry fee that's an additional $280,000, not bad if you can keep the race safe and not burn out the local townspeople.

So hurry, click on the one of the links above. Just choose Canada or the Adirondacks for your race!

Red-Eye Flights

Many U.S. airlines schedule red-eye flights to accommodate passengers needs. My belief this should be a discounted ticket due to the inconvenience and inevitable tiredness that will occur for several days after. Of course that doesn't happen.
A couple of friends of mine, let's call them Eileen and Mike, just came home from vacationing in Salt Lake City and arrived in Rochester on the red-eye. A recent poll came up with 10 things that happen or to be concerned about on red-eye flights.

1. Many of the passengers fall asleep, what keeps the pilots awake? Are they really awake or is the plane on cruise control?
2. If a plane speeds at night does anyone care or know? Is there a speed limit in the sky like the interstate system for automobiles? If the plane flew at 390mph instead of 340, what difference would it make?
3. People sometimes snore at night. This can be annoying if you aren't the snorer. Typically my friend Mike might get punched by Eileen for snoring, but on the plane can she go around punching every snorer? No, at least not without being on YouTube or Good Morning America. This is a minor victory for Mike.
4. I want whatever brand coffee the flight crew is having to help me stay awake at work.
5. If it's two in the morning and a passenger gets hungry does the flight crew mind him/her going to the kitchen and making their own snack? Isn't that what people do at home, like Dagwood?
6. I hope everyone wears their pajamas, no naked sleeping on the plane!
7. Does the flight crew only do red-eye flights, like when I only worked the B or C shift at Kodak?
8. Be sure to bring your own blankie, using the multi-used airplane blanket is a bit icky.
9. If you must take your shoes off to sleep make sure you have a good pair of socks. No one wants to see holes in your socks as you walk to the bathroom at 2am. Clean socks, please, no stinky feet wanted either!
10. Don't forget the sleep mask, headphones, soothing music and brush your teeth before boarding to make it seem like you are going to bed.

WHTK Hot Talk Radio

This morning I filled out my "Best Sports Movie of All Time" contest entry on WHTK radio. I had a nice surprise while checking the leaders for prizes, I'm in second place! Out of 142 entries I moved up to second. The contest began with 64 movies.
What this says it that I may not be able to play sports well, but I have watched lots of sports movies throughout my life and pick the best. It's down to the final eight movies now;
The Natural vs. Miracle, Brian's Song vs Blind Side, Bull Durham vs. Moneyball and Rocky vs Major League.

My picks this week are, The Natural, Bull Durham, Brian's Song and Rocky.

Officially Finished!

Hooray! After five days I am an official Mini-Mussel finisher! It took awhile, but the backup reader did actually work for Score-This and they located my finish time, 1:41:14. Just as Jan had told me, I did have a great swim, 13:21, which was 11/48 in my age group. In previous triathlon attempts I was lucky to be in the top 60%. Lessons and practice paid off, who knew that would work?
Overall I was 26/48 in age group, not great, got destroyed on bike and transition 2 when I couldn't get my damn bike shoe unbuckled.
Next up, Shoreline Triathlon this Sunday. I hope we can actually swim in Lake Ontario.

Muscling Musselman

There won't be any long-term repercussions for my health from swallowing several large mouthfuls of water from the Cayuga and Seneca canal during the mini-Mussel sprint triathlon, right? I made sure back at the motel Saturday night to clean out my system with three beers and a glass of wine I stole from Jan, just in case some strange micro-organisms were floating around inside. As of Monday everything in my body seems to be working fine.

It was a great day for a tri and 800 people showed up on Saturday, July 12 to participate in the sprint (750meter swim, 16 mile bike, 5k run). We began in deep water near the border of where the canal and Seneca Lake meet. Plenty of room for the wave starts, though there was some congestion the closer we came to the finish, with faster swimmers from late starting waves overtaking slower people in earlier waves. I actually did this! It felt great. I was in the old man swim wave (55+) the second to last group to start the race, 25 minutes after the first group went. Over 50 swimmers were in my wave. I believe I was in the top 12 in my group. There is something to be said for months of lessons this spring and a new wet suit (one without holes).

The bike was another story. In the 55-59 group 9 men were 20mph or more, another 12 were over 19mph. I was a paltry 17.2. I lost 5-8 minutes on the bike. It is obvious I will only be an average, maybe, triathlete unless I can bike 2 miles an hour faster.

The run seemed harder than it should it have been. I averaged 8:34/mile, around 15th in the age group. Four years ago at this race I ran 1 minute a mile faster. Jan had my overall time at 1:41:14, around 25/48 finishers in the age group. It seems my chip didn't read when crossing the finish line and I'm not showing up at all. The timer on race day said she had all my splits but the last one, which is weird since the announcer called my name when finishing. Oh well. Jan has photographs, so I know I did finish.

DOs and DO NOTs of running a marathon

Funny cartoons on running a marathon, courtesy of "The Oatmeal."