RobbyB

What with all the celebrating, eating and drinking over the holidays, it's too easy to get carried away with setting crazy resolutions in January. Plus, with the arrival of Elsa Grace, who knew what kind of time there would be? Would there even be time to train? Would I want to? All good questions that I put off for a month until we got into a more "normal"¹ schedule.

Now that Elsa's eight(!) weeks old. we're getting closer to a normal schedule, and since a year (Okay, 11 months) is too long to commit to, I decided to use month-long chunks. It's also handy that February is the shortest month -- not that I'm afraid of commitment or anything. So for February, since I need to get back to active movements, I've committed to doing something active² every day.

Thus far, I'm two for two. Woot! I got a short bike ride in Monday and a nice run in the snow Tuesday morning. (And yes, I ran because it was snowing, not in spite of it.) With any luck, I hope to make it 28 for 28. I'll try to keep some updates logged here, but you can always follow me on Twitter, too.

¹ What's normal anyways?

² Active can be any swim, bike, or run. It can also be breaking out the Wii Fit Plus, or basketball, or walks with my family.

• Evotri Road Trip to New Orleans (Pre race report)
  
• Spirit of Racine Half (A half PR of 4:40!)
  
• Madison Mini Marathon PR
• Delivered I-15 (a big work project)
• Going to six different weddings (two in one weekend!)
• Finishing the front porch railing on the house
• Finished 1st in my age group for the Aquathon series
  
• Started announcing races for Race Day Events
  
• And most importantly, we welcomed Elsa Grace:

Today I ran my final race of the summer season, the inaugural Madison Mini Marathon, a half marathon in the heart of downtown Madison. Hosted at the Memorial Union, the course set itself up to show off the best of Madison, the Capitol Square, State Street, Kohl Center, Vilas Park, Arboretum, the Lake Shore Path, and finish line at the Memorial Union.

Straight away, the start was up Langdon. A hill the entire way to the Capitol, it was a good thing I warmed up by running to the start line. It worried me when I glanced at the first mile, a 7:09, so I backed off a bit and settled into a groove of a sub 7:40/mile pace. The miles ticked off relatively fast, and before I new it, mile 5 flew by. By now, I noticed two others at my pace. We constantly traded places, right until the 7th mile. By now the urge to pee that haunted me since the beginning of the race was too unbearable, so I took the break, feeling more relaxed and ready to continue. Out of the bin, I noticed my running mates were only 30 seconds ahead, something I could make up.

I knew that if I made to the lakeshore path and the final two miles in any kind of shape, I could make a decent effort for a decent finish. One last gel, and I was ready for the finish. Around a few bends and the turnaround, I was cruising right along. At mile 12, I saw 1:31 and change on the clock. A sub-1:40 -- an extreme goal at the start of the race -- was within reach.

I made the path a "no comfort zone" to make sure I wouldn't relax and fall into an easy pace. It also helped to pass folks that had passed me much earlier. The final few turns and downhill to the finish, a big high five to Stu, and a fine finish.

Overall, a PR of 1:39:18, with relatively even splits (except for the bathroom break in the middle). I was surprised at how comfortable, but at the same time uncomfortable, the race was. A great course, showing the best parts of running in Madison. Giving the location and timings, it's likely on the list of races to do again.

After a tough day in New Orleans, I decided within that week upon coming home I would return to Racine for its excellent half-distance triathlon. I first raced in Racine in 2005 (wicked hot) and returned for a nice day in 2006. This time I was going for broke, with a goal of a sub five hour day. I had it all figured out: 0:25/2:45/1:45 with 5 min of transitions is exactly five hours. With a current aided swim course and perfect conditions, I realized that goal in a major way.

All of us in the upper Midwest are waiting for summer to arrive. We get hints of 80 degree days now and then, but nothing has stuck thus far. This was more than evident in the water temperature of Lake Mendota on Thursday evening. For the first race in Fleet Feet Madison's Aquathon series, the City of Madison declared the water temp at 62°F. Yikes. To warm up (if you could call it that) I waded in and took my time getting used to the water. It was cold and hard to maintain a smooth stroke. I just had to remember that everyone would be going through the same thing.

SWIM
Lots of young'ns from the UW were there racing as a team, so there were plenty of us by the first buoy. Also, I need to figure out how to get a black line on the bottom of the lake because I couldn't swim in a straight line at all. The cold water forced me to breath every stroke, and with it, I kept veering right. WAY right. By the second and last turn, there were only three of us. And on the way in, only two. I never felt warm on the swim and my muscle tightness reflected it. I missed the $50 gift card by a few seconds, but was happy just getting out of the water second overall.

T1
I nearly toppled over in transition from dizziness. It was extra difficult putting socks and shoes on really cold feet.

RUN
Out on the run, there must have been a nicely sized group behind me, because I was passed relatively quickly by about five people. But, they weren't pulling away as fast as they have in the past -- a good sign. I held my pace, keeping it as steady as possible, as I tend to let the mind wander and my pace slows. It was hard to do with numb legs for the first mile or so. Up and over the final hill, I gunned it for the finish, keeping my promise to myself to not let anyone pass me on the finishing straight.

Final numbers:
1K Swim: 11:47 - 2nd Overall
5K Run: 22:48 - Aquathon split PR!
Total: 35:23 - 11th Overall (2nd in AG)

Have you signed up for The Wisconsin Brick Adventure (WIBA) yet? The laid-back, self-supported training weekend on the Ironman Wisconsin course is coming up really soon. Swim, bike and ride with Evotri team members and others that have experience in the race. Check the site out for more information and registration. Hurry! Registration closes soon!

We were watching HGTV's House Hunter's International tonight about an American who quit his job in the US to move to Argentina, where he started a successful real estate business, and now needs a vacation home.

Curious about his business, I did a quick Google search and found his story on his website. Clicking around some more on his site, I found a link to renovations, in which he describes how he spent lots of time and effort on a house in Punte del Este. Turns out, it was the same house he "chose" on the TV show. Only the house they showed him (number 2 on the episode) was the same one he highlights on his website, post renovation! They just took down some pictures that he put up after he moved in. It was a total sham!

How many of the episodes are a big fake? Was the episode before about the wine loving couple moving back to Long Island to a new home right on a vineyard too good to be true? Makes you think, doesn't it? Stupid reality TV.

Remember the wager I had with Stu? Not long after NOLA, he sent me his first letter. In case you can't read it, this is what it says.

Rob

(1) Rob is, at least at NOLA, faster than Stu!
(2) Stu was slower than Rob at NOLA!
(3) In general, Rob is better than (at least at NOLA) Stu :)

Oh...how this hurts. Time for me to sign up with Coach Hillary Biscay. Only 5 more to go!

[Signed] Stu

[On Envelope flap] This Hurts. I want a rematch

Unlike my pal Michelle (who also beat Stu), I'm going to post every single one of the six I'm owed. But, we're working to see if we can't meet up for another race sometime this year. I'll gladly have the rematch and even up the stakes, if necessary. Bring it.

The day was like any other. It didn't feel like a race day. Maybe it was because this is my sixth year in a row doing this race (with a couple of times before the current streak), so perhaps it has lost some of its excitement. When it came down to it, I just wasn't prepared.

When I woke up it was 58°. By the time I finished breakfast, it was 53°, and by the time I left two hours later, it was 51°. It was pouring rain as well so we drove, skipping the walk & warm-up. Once at the race start, I realized three things: 1) I forgot to wear my watch, 2) I didn't bring a Gu, and 3) I didn't wear gloves. The only thing I could fix was number 3, jumping into the Walgreens on the corner and finding a nice set of white gloves. It was difficult to choose amongst the awesome ones with basketballs and baseballs and soccer balls, but the white seemed to suit me best. Mona at the counter even cut them open without any prompting from me. Thanks Mona!

In the mean time, the rain stopped and I got in a few laps around the square that served as my warm-up. I got with my Wave D mates, and we were off in a flash. With no watch, I was running completely by feel. Just two days previous, I ran 3 miles right after a bike ride at an approximately 7 minute-mile pace. I was hoping to hold exactly that pace for the entire 8K, so I tried to repeat that feeling for the race.

At the first mile, someone announced we were at 6:45. And it started to rain. Up Observatory Hill steady and smooth and down again. Mile two and it's raining harder now. All along, I get the feeling that I've been in these conditions before. Rain was washing out of the adjacent parking lot in rivers. There was no escaping it. We were getting just as wet from below as above. Claps of thunder and flashes of lightning brought some fireworks and hoots from the crowd.

By the third mile, I feel sluggish. My head hung low with the rain still pelting down. I try to keep with the folks passing me, hanging on for as long as I can before they pull away. By now, each one of my shoes has untied itself, and I stopped each time to retie my laces, losing about 10 seconds each time. When my left shoe untied again, I left it alone.

By mile 4, I was feeling some pain, but I knew that I had less than 7 minutes left. I focused on keeping my head up, and using my arms. Up the last hill and push to the 50-yard line. The clock read 36:42 as I crossed, which was the run time from the first wave. I didn't take note of what my time differential at the beginning, so I didn't know how I did.

Apparently, we left 1:30 after the beginning, as I finished in a personal best 35:12, well within the goal of sub-36, but tantalizingly close to an unexpected sub-35. If it doesn't rain, or I don't stop to tie my shoes, and I'm there. So the weekly speed work is really helping. Sweet. Given the conditions, I'm quite pleased with the results, and I plan on continuing the weekly speed workouts.

At the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour last night, we saw the following video, The Red Helmet, winner of the Nissan Outdoor Games. Please take the five minutes to view the fantastic film below:

After that, it makes you wonder: what's your red helmet?

Mine was a simple quote my brother said to me. I've likely said it before here, but I have to say it again. He said to me, "There will always be a first." So true, no matter what you do, you have to do it a first time. Your first swim, first kiss, first jump from a plane, first job interview, first triathlon, and so on.

So, what's your red helmet?