Homeward Bound to the Toronto Triathlon Festival

This post would have been finished days ago, but I have been distracted a lot by the Olympic Games in London.  Catching a lot of the sports online during the day and then also watching some of the tape-delayed events on TV in the evening.

I've now been racing triathlon for 4 seasons.  I have raced in other states and even in Canada last year, but nothing could beat racing in your hometown.  Months ago, when I read a tweet about the Toronto Triathlon Festival, I decided pretty quickly that this race would have to be on my race schedule.  As we were already heading home to Toronto just 2 weeks prior to this race for my nieces wedding, this would have to be a trip I did on my own.  I was impressed by the race organizers as they already had a PC (physically challenged) category set up.  The reason I mention this is that when I decide to do a race, I often have to ask about a PC category.  Most race directors will oblige and add the category, but it's a shame that I have to ask.  I feel if a race is sanctioned by the USAT or any other governing group, a PC category should be mandatory.  It often makes me laugh that they have a category for heavier racers (CLYDESDALE and ATHENA) which is something with which most people have control, but not for something like a physical challenge, which is certainly nothing I did to myself.  Now I know, some people are generally bigger than others, but many Clydesdales can lose enough weight in order to be racing alongside all the other triathletes.  I'm sure I might get some flack for this comment, but it's the way I feel.

Anyway, after I registered the race director contacted me and suggested I do a write-up about my racing experience in order to be considered for TRIATHLETE of the MONTH leading up to the race.  I did a write-up and was quickly told I had been selected for the month of MARCH.  What was most impressive to me was a newsletter came out with the announcement of my selection along with Simon Whitfield.  Most triathletes and Canadians will know him as the flag bearer for the 2012 Canadian Olympic team.  I will be getting up on Aug 7th at 5AM in order to watch him race for Canada in London.  Before I left for Toronto, I printed out a copy of the newsletter in order ask Simon to sign it.  Kinda cool with a pic of my family and I on one side, and Simon on the other!  I was awarded a return flight with Porter Airlines for being selected.  I plan on using the ticket to fly home in the fall for a special function at NSS, my high school in Toronto.  

TTF Newsletter

I am still in touch with my kindergarten teacher, Marilyn Fennell.  Her and her husband, Freddie, live in downtown Toronto.  Their place is not far from the race venue down at Ontario Place.  The arranged for me to stay in a guest apartment in the building for the weekend.  This would certainly make getting to the race site a lot easier, as I needed to be there both Friday and Saturday, prior to the race on Sunday.  As I would be traveling down alone, I didn't want to spend all day Friday driving (more than 500 miles), so I arranged to stay overnight at a hotel in Utica, NY on Thursday night and then make the rest of the way to Toronto early Friday morning.

The drive down on both Thursday and Friday were without incident, unless you include the border crossing at Lewiston, NY.  There were 12 lanes to chose from, and I of course, chose the slowest line.   I thought I must have the one real detailed customs agent.  Well, when I got up to the booth, I found out, that was not the case.  The agent asked me citizen, purpose of visit, etc.   When I mentioned I was going to race in a triathlon, she asked me all about it.  I then realize, I got the "CHATTY CATHY" customs agent.  It sure did not make the ride any easier.

I got into Toronto in the early afternoon and made my way along the Gardiner Expressway.  I was now driving on the same highway that would be closed on Sunday for the race.  I had an awesome view of the both the CN Tower and Rogers' Centre (formerly the Skydome).

Part of the bike course along the Gardiner

 I arrived at Fred and Marilyn's and unpacked my gear.  I was planning on leaving my bike in the care and then assembling it and riding it on Saturday afternoon.  My plan was to get down to the Westin hotel to check in and register for the "Fun Run".  I had connected online with Travis McKenzie from Nine17sports who were the event management team for the race and I was eager to meet him.

I arrived in time for the run which I thought was a 5K and ended up being about a 1K, which made me really happy.  The run was a little PR  event by the TTF and Porter Airlines in preparation for the race.  It was simply a run around the boardwalk near the hotel and took me about 7:40 or so.

After the Porter Airlines "Fun Run" photo by Flashmobs

I was really excited about what I was going to do next.  I have been in touch through Facebook with a couple of my old high school buddies and we were planning a little get together for Friday night.  We were set to meet up at a little bar down in Korea town (Bathurst and Bloor) called the Victory Cafe.   When I showed up and looked around I found my buddies, Toby, Jan, and Wade.  Chris (who organized the get-together) showed up a little later.  It was a simple evening of catching up, some beers (carbo loading?)  and lots of old stories about high school days.  The group of guys actually see each other a lot, a long with quite a few others.

Toby, Jan, me, and Wade

I am one of the few who actually moved quite a bit away from the Toronto area.  We hung around for quite a while, headed a popular Toronto landmark called Grossmans' Tavern looking for some live music.  Our timing was not great, as the band had just started their break.  I hung out for a while but really felt the need to get some rest.  I said good-night and then headed back to where I was staying.

Saturday morning was relaxed I met Fred and Marilyn for some breakfast and then made my way over to the pool with Marilyn for a swim.   It was nice to stretch out a bit and I think I only did about 1000 yards or so.

Prior to heading to the race briefing I thought it would be a good idea to get my bike out and take if for a little ride.  I got out and was planning on a real short ride, but bring back in my old stomping grounds, I decided to ride up to my old highschool, NSS, to check out the new turf field they had installed.  Alum, Dale Callender and former phys ed teacher, Jim Hutton were the driving force behind getting the money and donations together to get build this field to honor, former high school football coach, Clarke Pulford.  The ride was nice as I headed up to Mt. Pleasant and Eglinton.  Riding back down, I wanted to see how fast I could get riding down Yonge St.  Being a Saturday afternoon, I thought the traffic was not too bad.  The cruise down Yonge St was quite cool

After the ride I got ready to head back down to the Westin for packet pick-up and my race briefing. 
For a new race, there were not a lot of glitches.  I found my race number and then went into the room for the briefing.  At the end of the briefing by both Steve Fleck and Travis McKenzie, they opened the floor to questions.  Once those were handled, we went to get our packets, timing chips, etc.  This was one place where there was a little confusion.  The 100+ of us in the room were all allowed through a single door to then wait in lines.  The system they had was a bit chaotic and of course rewarded people who were great at cutting lines.  Living for more than a few years in the U.S. has given me some experience with this.  The nice and mostly Canadian crowd, patiently waited in some lines that seemed not to move.  I simply went to the last line and found out it moved pretty well.  I got my material and then looked around the Expo.  The Expos are quite neat, but I rarely find anything worth getting.

I walked around a while and then made my way back up to the St. Clair and Yonge area.  I was going to try and meet up with another old friend from the neighborhood where I grew up.  This was Michael Crooks, whose older sister, Charmaine Crooks, ran for Canada at numerous Commenwealth and Olympic games.  She is currently a member of the IOC.  Things did not work out meeting up with Michael.  I don't know if it was cell-phone problems, but we never seemed to connect that afternoon.  I found a nice restaurant to try and have a late lunch/early dinner.  When I asked at the Starbucks, they suggested I try and small pub called The Fox and the Fiddle.  I managed to get a nice salad and plate of pasta and the cost did not really break the bank.

I sat there for a while and then made my way back to the apartment.  After dropping off my race materials, I dropped in on Fred and Marilyn for a bit before turning in for the night.  I put my feet up for a while and watched a bit of TV prior to packing my race bag.  I thought it would be smart to get all the gear I did not need packed in my car.  After that, I set out my food for the morning and then turned in.

Transition was not to open until 5:15AM, so I woke at 4AM and then proceeded to get dressed and eat.  I had no way to mix a smoothie, so I had a large chocolate light, Muscle Milk along with a banana and bagel.  This would be my coolest race morning ride as I basically rode straight down Yonge St to the Lakeshore and then over to Ontario Place.  There was plenty of parking near transition.

I found a spot and then took my bike out of the car along with my ORCA race-bag.  It was a short walk to transition where I quickly found my bike rack.  As a para-triathlete, they gave us a special area right next to the pros.  Both Simon Whitfield and Paula Findlay would also be racing, but only in the sprint distance as a final training exercise before heading off to London.

Ted and me.

I had plenty of time to set-up and while doing so, I was admiring the views of the Toronto skyline.  I was able to meet up with my high school friend Ted Katsoris.  He is also triathlete and we have been in touch over the last few years after we connected on, yes here it is again, facebook.  When Simon and Paula showed up I tried to wait for a chance to chat with Simon for a second.  When I walked over to him, he extended his hand and said, "Hi John, how are you?"  Now of course, you might say, well, isn't that how decent people are supposed to great each other.  I was freaked out, that he knew my name.  Now we had been in touch on twitter and facebook, but only in passing, so I was impressed he knew my name.

Me along with Canada's flag-bearer in the Opening Ceremonies

He did joke with me and asked why I had a chair in transition.  I mentioned it was part of being a para-triathlete, where he then responded, "Well, if I am out of the water first, I'm stealing your chair!"  Well of course, he was out of the water before me, but my chair was still there after my swim.  I asked Simon to sign the newsletter and he graciously obliged.  I also had a chance to wish Paula good luck in the Olympics as well. I then finished up in transition and made my way to the swim start.

The USAT has a rule where pare-triathletes generally go into the swim in the first wave, but in Canada we are put in the last wave.  The swim was an in the water start after a jump in off a small dock.  I was the only male in the last 2 waves and when the announcer mentioned the fact that he wanted all ladies in the water for the last wave, I could not resist, and called out, "What about me?"  Steve Findlay was on the mic and of course, he quickly had a giggle and apologized, and said, "All the ladies and JOHN in the water please."

Heading towards T1 (by Mike Cheliak)

The swim was in a sheltered marina area right off of Ontario Place.  The course had lots of turns as we mostly followed the perimeter of the basin until we came back towards the boats.  With the sun shining it was difficult to swim back towards the east.  Being in the last wave and starting near the back, I figured I would see very few swimmers.  Well, that was not totally the case.  I saw he same woman for most of the swim and even passed a few of the struggling athletes who were swimming on their backs.  There were some steps out of the water that were easy to climb and there was even someone there to offer a hand if it was needed.  For the 1.5KM swim my time was 0:44:04 (489/501 overall).

It was a short run in to transition and to my bike.  A quick look around and I noticed there were still a number of bikes remaining, so at that point I realized I was not the last out of the water.  Transition was pretty quick at 1:59, but right after the timing mat was a large hill we needed to walk our bikes up that would take us to a bridge over Lakeshore Dr.  Once on the bike this course was what I was most waiting for.  I would be hard to race and at the same time enjoy the view of the city where I was born, but I did my best.  We got to ride through the Exhibiton (CNE) grounds (past the famous "FOOD BUILDING" ) and except for one marshall not really doing her job, the course was well marked.  Once out of the grounds we made our way onto the Gardiner Expressway.  Not a lot of cities allow road (even better, highway) closures, but we had both the eastbound Gardiner and northbound DVP closed to traffic for this race.  We ride all the way past the CN Tower, Rogers' Center (formerly the Skydome) through the downtown core out east towards the DVP.  The ramp onto the DVP was an awesome downhill where I was able to reach in excess of 35mph.  I wondered how I would fare getting up the ramp on my way back.  Once onto the DVP it is a ride on some pretty smooth roads up to Eglinton Avenue where we had a sharp turnaround.  I was passed by a few bikes on my ride, and in turn passed others as well.  At the turn around I got off my bike to re-fill my aero bottle.  With my short arms, I can't reach the bottle cage and need to stop riding to re-fill.  The ride back down to the city was breath-taking and FAST.

That hill I worried about back onto the Gardiner really was not that bad.  I was able to ride up at a good pace and head back westbound.  Once at the CNE we needed to ride about another 2 miles or so to then turn around and head back east again towards the CNE.  There was a very sharp right up a ramp back into the CNE.  Once on the grounds I noticed the first riders from the Sprint race heading out for their ride.  We started at 8AM and their race had a 9:30AM start.  Once across the timing pad, my time for the ride was 1:40:32 (492/501).  Not my fastest 40KM race time, but a very good time for me none the less.

Another quick transition time and I was out for the run.  The course was an out and back along a path called the Martin Goodman Trail that follows westbound along Lakeshore Drive.  We had to deal with the general public all along the path and that included plenty of cyclists and roller bladers.   There was not a lot of shade along the run, and the sun was shining without any cloud cover.  I did not make the same mistake about ADVIL this time and took 2 right out of transition with a gel and some water.  My back held on for the entire run and I simply tried my best to pace myself as there were light posts all along the path.  I kept up pretty well, running between 3 or 4 of them and then walking between 2.  I did that for most of the way to the turn around.  And then did my best to run a bit more on the way back.  The highlight certainly had to be running by Sunnyside Pool, which is now named in memory of Gus Ryder.  He was my first swimming teacher when I was a young child.  He also coached Marilyn Bell, who was the first PERSON to swim across Lake Ontario.   I wondered then, what he would think seeing me race that day, as back then when I did learn to swim with him, I was doing it in a class with other so-called disabled children.

One thing I wish that race volunteers who take it upon themselves to yell out how far you have to go, did so with some accuracy.  At least two different volunteers yelled out how far we had to go and they were way off.  One said, "2.5KM to go" when actually we had more than 4KM to go.  Also, they did have markers along the path marking the distance, but "someone" thought it would be funny to switch a lot of them around. For example, I passed the 4KM marker, followed by the 6KM then the 5KM.  Also, at one point, the distance between the 7KM and 8KM markers, was less than 1/2 a KM.  No worries, I tried my best to pay attention to my own body and GPS watch.  My buddy Wade showed up on his bike to cheer me on with about 4KM to go.  He asked if I wanted him to stay with me, and I kindly (I think?), said "No thanks".

Crossing the finish line.

As we entered Coronation Park, I could hear the music and the crowds of spectators and athletes who had already finished, grew larger.  I noticed a familiar face with Marilyn about 100m from the finish and then my buddy Toby as well, cheering me on.  I turned the final bend and headed to the finish.  As I crossed the line, I checked my watch and, with the mess up from the swim, I was unsure if I had finished under 4:00:00.  I would find out later in the day, after checking online, my time for the run was 1:31:00 flat, and as I had hoped, my overall time was 3:59:48.  I think this is my 4th race finishing during the 59th minute.  Certainly two great things to take away from the race, both my bike and run were substantially faster than NYC, which I completed two weeks prior.  I know they are different courses, but it still feels good to go faster over equal distances.

Finishline Video

CITY-TV News Story about the TTF

CITY-TV news was at the finish line and I was interviewed by them and was excited to be able to watch the news later at my sister's home with my mother watching as well.

Stacey meeting me after the race!

One of my former students, Stacey, made it down to the city to meet me at the finish, and that certainly meant so much to me.  Along with Marilyn and my high school buddies; Wade, Toby, and Chris it was great having some friendly faces to see and the finish line.

After the race I headed back to the apartment to clean up and say "Thanks" to Fred and Marilyn for their hospitality.  I drove up to Orangeville to see Bonnie, Gord, Mark, Kelly, Haydyn, and of course, my mom.  We had a nice dinner and of course, I took a relaxing dip in the pool.

The only bad part about this trip would be the LONG ride home on Monday.  I left Bonnie's at about 8AM and don't think I got back to Salem until about 10PM or so.  It was a difficulty trip, but I really wanted to be home with Sue and Owen.  I know I've said this before, but Sue does SO MUCH to help support me in what I'm doing and the time she spends at home with Owen means so much to me.

NYC Triathlon Weekend - 2012

Before I get into the actual race report, I do want to thank many of you.  If many of you may remember, I ended up with a free entry to this race thanks to a "facebook" contest.  There was a photo contest where the pic from the 2011 NYC Triathlon with the most "likes" would win a free entry to the race this year.  Well, with more than 700 "likes" I was able to win a free entry.  I am sure that had a lot to do with many of my friends clicking on the pic, but more importantly, spreading the word around.  It saved me a lot of money that I could put towards gas and other possible expenses for the weekend.

I was going to be completing this race as a member of Achilles International and was quite excited at all the pre-race info I was receiving from them leading up to the race.  There was a meal planned for the night prior to the race and even a swim session planned at the JCC.  This would end being a great chance to meet some  new members of the team.  The team not only consists of us challenged athletes.  There are numerous volunteers along with Kat, Ellie, and Andy and also a number of able-bodied racers who would be racing as charity runners to raise money for Achilles.

The ride down on Friday night was a breeze.  I've now done the trip alone 3 times in the last year so it seems to go pretty fast.  A couple of audio books to listen to and then of course, I love to tune into NYC sports radio, it is usually very entertaining.

I arrived around 3pm and found a free parking sport right at the corner where transition is for the race.  I would leave my bike in the trunk until tomorrow and then go bring it down.  I love races where bike check-in is the night before the race.  Makes it that much easier on race morning to get your things organized.  I got out my three bags and made my way to the train.  Achilles had arranged a room at a nice place over in midtown called "The Union League Club".  The gave me (along with 2 other athletes) a great rate for a two night weekend stay.

I walked the 3 blocks to the #1 train over at 78th Street and Broadway and made my way down to get my ticket and board the train.  I had just called Sue to tell her I had arrived.  When I boarded the train, I reached down to use my phone to check the time and it was GONE.  I immediately thought someone had stolen it while I was paying for my ticket.  I got off the train at the first stop, walked over the platform and boarded the train back to 78th Street.  I got out onto street level and then walked back to the spot where I had called Sue and started looking.  No phone on the ground, down the stairs into the station, by the machine, or by the turnstile.  Then I remembered, getting through the turnstile had been real difficult with 3 bags and possibly, my phone had fallen out of the case on my belt.  I turned and walked over the ticket agent and asked about a missing phone.  She reached over and slowly showed me a phone and said, "Is it this one?"  And it was!  I said "thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!"  Her response was a calm, "This is your lucky day."  It sure was seeming to be that way.

Now it was HOT!.   And with all the extra walking, I was drenched.  I made my way to 42nd St and then took the shuttle to Grand Central Station and walked the few blocks to the hotel.  It took a while, but I made it.  When I checked in the room was as nice as it had looked online.  The only drawback is that I would need a gymnastics vault to get up on the bed.  It had to be at least 3 feet high.  I rested for a bit, then packed my bag for my 2nd attempt at the "NYC Underwear Run."  It is always held in Central Park and is a 1.7 mile run around the middle loop of the park ending at the same finish line we would use on Sunday.

From the Huffington Post

I first headed up the hotel where the race expo would be.  It was busy, but not too crowded.  I looked around a bit and managed to talk with a guy from KSWISS about my QUICKY BLADE LIGHTS.  There have been wearing in a weird spot on both shoes and he took a pic and said he would talk to the designers and get back to me.  I love the shoes and hope they can explain what's up or get me a new pair.

I headed up to 72nd Street and Central Park West.  As I got closer to the location for the run, I could hear the usual P.A. announcers getting the crowd riled up and I was also able dozens of people "dropping trow".  Some where getting ready to run and others, simply to show off.  I checked in and then walked over to the big fountain to change.

Carolyn, Leona, and Jan with me just after the run.

Carolyn, actually ran the same run last year and I think she recognized me, but Jan raced with me in Peterborough last year.  She is with a group from Canada called WON WITH ONE.  The work with visually impaired triathletes.  Leona came down from Canada to race as well and Carolyn was going to be here guide.  The 4 of us did the last 1/2 mile of the run as a group and crossed the line together.  Jan would race on Sunday guiding another athlete named Dave from PEI.  My friend Cav, from TriLife was to meet up and do the run but he was running late from work.  He is a pediatric ER doctor in NYC.  He caught up with me after the race and we made the decision to go from some beer and grub at a place over on Amsterdam Ave.  We met with a few of friends, including Haddai, who I had briefly met when I was at the Quassy race last month.  I had a great dinner with them and washed it down with a pint of Guinness.  I didn't want to stay up too late, so I headed for the subway and then back to my hotel.

Me along with Ironman, Sarah Reinertsen

John Korff, who organizers and runs the NYC Triathlon, puts on a breakfast every Saturday morning before the race.  I went last year and did not want to miss this year's either.  It's a great chance to meet up with other challenged athletes and now that I was returning, we could talk about how our year of racing had gone.  At this point, I am still the only dwarf triathlete that I am aware of.  I have been contacted by two other's in the past weeks and both men will be attempting their first try-a-tri, which is a mini-sprint distance race.  As I entered the restaurant I saw Barb Evans, a new but dear friend.  She is the NE-USA rep for the CAF.  Sitting beside her, was KONA Ironman finisher, Sarah Reinertsen.  I first saw Sarah on "The Amazing Race" had has now also read her book.  She is an amazing athlete who lost her leg at a young age due to a birth defect.

Here's where the benefit of Achilles started to pay dividends.  They had a van available that would be taking us around for the rest of the day.  With the race the next day, this would certainly help keep the legs somewhat rested.  We took the van over to the JCC for a very short and relaxing swim session.  Some of the visually impaired athletes were going to practice some swimming with their guides.  I got the chance to meet a number of great Achilles (and some CAF as well) athletes including Diane Berberian, Ben Simmons, Bill Longwell, Eliza Cooper, Ricardo Corral, Sarah Heller, and Liz McTernan (I apologize for others I may have left out).  I also caught up with others during the weekend that I remember from last year's race and other road races as well, and that included, Geoff Kennedy, Willie (One Arm) Stewart, Joe Bellantoni, Lamar Brown. Minda Dentler, and Melissa Stockwell.

The swim was a short one but a nice chance to stretch a bit and then next thing I knew, we were all going out to brunch together.  I am finding out that this group likes to eat as often as they can.  We packed up the van and made our way to a nice little deli.  They were quick to get our orders and get the food out to us (except for Liz's meal, which was something they just had to warm up!) as we had to be at a handler and athlete pre-race meeting for 2:30pm.

The pre-race meeting went off pretty well with a number of questions related to handling and helping the athletes along certain places on the course.  I chose not have a handler, only because I have never used one, so why should I start?  It would be nice, and maybe I will start once I start racing officially in my proper category.  Funny thing, in this race, the race organizers chose to put me in the correct category, TRI3.  I guess without having an official classifier, its their prerogative to do so.  I wasn't going to complain.  After the briefing we picked up our race packets and then I had a chance to go through the race expo again.  It's fun to roam around and try to pick out all the first timers.  A lot of them break that one cardinal rule I remember and that is not to use something for the first time on race day.  They tend to be the people buying fuel belts etc. I know, we were all first-timers at one point in time.

Bike is ready to go.

My twitter friend, Bianca.

The next stop was to check in our bikes.  Most of the other para athletes were needing the have their hand-cycles and push chairs transported down.  Since I had already parked right at transition, all I needed was a ride down to get my bike out of the car.  Having a van to ride in was a god-send.  No need to walk blocks and take the subway.  This would be a sure way to keep my legs some-what fresh for the race tomorrow.  After getting dropped off, I got to my car, assembled the front wheel of my bike and rode it down to transition.  After placing it on the rack, I walked about a bit checking out some of the other machines used by the other PC triathletes.  I was excited to get a chance to meet up with an athlete I had met through Twitter.  Bianca would be racing her first triathlon here in NYC.  She was just around transition checking out the RUN OUT and SWIM IN areas.  We met up and had some quick introductions and wished each other well.

Believe it or not, the next stop, was another meal with the Achilles team.  There was a nice pre-race dinner planned at SAMBUCA.  The food was terrific and it was great to be with everyone as we all prepared for our big day tomorrow.  I talked with both Bill and Diane, who were staying at the same hotel with me and we agreed to leave together in a taxi and then meet in the morning at 4AM and then taxi together to transition in the morning.

Achilles is about eating and RACING.  That is Eliza and her guide along with me.

When I returned to the room I spent a lot of nervous time packing up my transition bag and then resting.  I drifted off to sleep at about 10:30 (with a 3:30AM wake-up), was woken up at 12:30AM by some amazing thunder and lightening.  I quickly drifted back to sleep and then woke up to the alarm.  I had some "breakfast".  There was no fridge in my room, so my nutrition consisted of bagel with PB, some Muscle-milk, banana and a Clif bar.  I packed up all my gear and made my way down to the lobby to meet Bill (and his girlfriend?) and Diane.  The doorman quickly hailed a taxi and we were off to the transition area.  We got out of the cab and I quickly ran over to my car and placed my non-essential gear in the trunk.  I made the very short walk to my bike and started to prepare to race.

Early race morning.

Prep went off without too much trouble.  There had been a bit of rain but my bike was not soaked at all.  Getting things ready was not a rush at all since we arrived at about 4:40AM and I did not need to be out of transition for a little more than an hour.  Once ready (with after race gear bag), I started to make the walk up to swim start.  We basically walked along the promenade (1.5KM) up to the start.  What a great bonus to meet up with Bianca again as I walked up.  I could tell she was excited and a bit nervous, as we all were really.  As we neared the start, the crowds of athletes got bigger and bigger.  Another bonus for us PC athletes, there was a tent available to rest in along with the PROS (who were already in the water by the time I arrived).  I rested and talked a lot with other athletes as we prepared.  The first 2000 athletes or so go off before us and then there is a 20 min wait.  After that, we go off.  They have us jump in 5-10 athletes at a time so really, there is TONS of space available and very little contact with other swimmers.  I was in the 3rd wave of PC athletes and was READY TO GO when it was my turn.

Heading to get on my bike.

I quickly noticed though the water was calmer than last year, there seemed to be a lot more debris on the water.  The temp was fine and the current was moving along quite well, but slowing as the morning progressed.  I was about 1/3 into the swim, when I was unceremoniously smacked in the face with a dead fish that was floating on the surface.  I later found out, a number of swimmers commented on the same occurrence.  It didn't really bother me.  As I neared swim exit, I did a pretty good job lining up the exit barge.  They have lifeguards standing on the steps reaching out to grab us as we exit. (SWIM 1.5KM: 25:06, 2nd in division, 3169th, overall)

I was using a new set-up with my gear.  Instead of the long sleeve wet-suit top I have been using, I was trying out my sleeveless ORCA Heatseeker top.  It was much tighter and gave me lots more range of movement with my arms.  When I got out of the water, I asked for help with my top from the wet-suit strippers.  The run up to transition is long one where we have to run about 200m down to the end and then back into and down to my bike, a total of distance of about 400 to 500 meters.  Transition went well and I was out with my bike as quickly as I could with all the running. (T1: 6:59, 1650th overall)

That's the GW Bridge in the background!

The exit out of T1 is very technical.  You need to travel down onto the same promenade where the swimmers are coming from and then up a VERY steep pathway out onto the round about that takes you to the West Side Highway.  If you keep you bike in too high of a gear, you are apt to find it too hard to climb and could fall over.  I had no problems with the ascent.  There was a nice crowd to cheer at the cornet of 79th and Riverside as we headed around another sharp corner onto the on-ramp up to the highway.

About to go out on the 10K run.

There was a little water left over from the rain, but the roads were not too slick.  Things were going real well until I hit mile 8 and then I heard a snap as I tried to change from my small to big chain ring.  The cable broke and I could no longer shift into my higher gears.  That meant I had to do the remaining 18 miles on my smallest gears.  OK for going up hills, but I would be getting much speed anywhere else and would have to rely on gravity for help on the downhills.   There are at least 3 challenging hills on the course, but since it is an out and back, means you get to go down those hills as well.  Without the benefit of my big chain ring I was still able to cruise at 35mph going down two of those hills.  The crowds picked up again as we neared T2.  The bike dismount line is at the bottom of a short steep hill.  I am sure its hairy at times, but when I cam in things were not that bad.  (Bike 40KM: 1:47:52, 3rd, 3230th).  I got off the bike and changed pretty quickly.  I saw the Advil sitting on the ground near my shoes and should have taken it, but chose not to.  It came back to haunt me pretty quickly on the run. (T2: 4:04, 2900th).

By far, one of my favorite pics of me running.
Only a few steps later and I was hunched over.  
Running up 72nd  Street.

The run out of transition includes a quick run down 3 steps and then a run around and up a steep hill.  We run past a stature of Eleanor Roosevelt out onto 72nd Street,  The stretch along 72nd Street up to Central Park is the most amazing part of this race.  The road is closed to traffic and there are fans lining both sides of the street, especially at the corners or each block.  My back started to get sore very quickly.  I tried to as best I could, but could not maintain a running pace.  The cheering fans really helped to keep me going, but I had to walk and stretch a number of times before I got into the park.  I SO MUCH WANTED TO RUN, but it hurt.  I tugged on Katie's sock and it gave me some strength.  When I got to the park the crowd quickly dwindled and I passed the 1 mile mark.  The first water and med stop did not have any advil.  I did what I could and did a lot of walking and running onto mile 2 and the next med stop.  The attendant there did have some advil that she was glad to share.  I took 2 and put an ice pack down my back.  In about 1 to 2 minutes, the pain disappeared and I was able to run.  The 3rd mile was my best pace where I managed a 13:45 mile, but all in all the run was quite slow.  I SO WANTED to beat last year's time, but I quickly realized that would not happen.  For a last resort, I wanted to finish faster than 4 hours, and unfortunately that did not happen either.  My time for the run was 1:38:12 (3rd, 3572nd) which have me an average pace of 15:49, which is a heck of a lot slower than most of my training BRICK runs.  Most of them were between 13:45 to 14:20.  Overall, my final time was 4:02:11 (3rd, 3399th).  For information, there were a total of 3529 starters in this race.

Chatting with Andy after the race.  He is the MAN!
Such a help all weekend.

Lots of love at the finish line with plenty of Achilles athletes around.  Managed to get some food at the Accenture hospitality tent (THANKS JUSTIN!) after changing into my clothes from my personal needs bag.  After the PC athletes awards were given out, I made my way over to grab a pedi-cab back to transition.  I got my bike and gear and loaded it all into my car.

John Korff was gracious enough to again offer burgers and refreshments at a lovely place on 79th at Amsterdam called "Blondies".  I was lucky enough to sit with my dear friend Barb and also Jeff Glasbrenner, another PC athlete.  I visited with lots of old friends but was eager to make the 4 hour drive back home.  I left and had some time to visit with my friend Cav again, as he was having a small get together at his flat with some of his Tri-Life team mates.  I stayed for a drink, headed to Starbucks for some energy (MOCHA) for the road and then started the 4 hour drive back home.  I was amazed as I only made one 10 minute stop for gas during the entire trip.  I was sure eager to get home to see Sue and Owen.

I know this might sound cliche, but I truly believe you can get some sort of victory from every race, regardless of the result in terms of time or place finished.  Having my bike problems was a real test and rather than stop, I kept going.  I learned something about my ability to deal with a sudden and unplanned mechanical problem.  My sore back, that was my problem and a silly mistake.  I should have pre-medicated right off of the bike.  I will certainly do that in Toronto this weekend.  Not everyone gets a chance to race on the streets of NYC.  I will get that chance in SPADES this November, as I race in my first marathon, along with other Achilles athletes in the 2012 NYC Marathon.

**A few of these pics were mine, a number were from Jan Ditchfield and some were from Achilles International.**

  







    

NOT THE WEEKEND I WAS HOPING FOR.

"It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret." -Jackie Joyner-Kersee

This was to be a weekend filled with excitement.  I would be travelling down to CT to see some friends from TRI LIFE and Miriam from Enduraguide; stay with a lovely family I know through LPA; race in the REV3 Quassy Olympic distance triathlon and then finally meet up with pro triathlete Kelly Williamson. Kelly and I connected almost a year ago and we have been corresponding virtually through social media.  She was instrumental in helping me raise enough money so I could travel out to Iowa last summer to race in the HyVee 5i50 US Triathlon Championships.  I had even been asked by Rev3 to do a brief interview on what the "finish line" means to me in regards to triathlon.

The trip down on Friday was uneventful and I managed to get down to the race site by about  4:30 in the afternoon.  The weather was calling for some major rain (and mother nature did not disappoint) on Saturday.  We were required to rack our bikes on Friday night and I had a large plastic bag I would use to cover my bike to try and keep it dry.  Check-in went fine and all aspects were pretty smooth.  After checking in I contacted Greg through REV3 to see about arranging the interview.  He said we would not be able to do it on Friday unless I was able to go where he was at an off-site hotel.  As chance would have it, some of my friends were staying there and it was on the way to my friend's place in Monroe, CT.  I hurried over there and once I found Greg and his crew, who was he finishing up interviewing, but Kelly.  I'm sure she probably thought I was "stalking" her now and was maybe a bit reluctant she had "friended" me so many months ago.  I hope she was relieved when she finally realized I was there for an interview as well.  We had a quick chat. She wished me luck for Saturday and I did the same for her for Sunday and promised to be out there cheering for her.  The interview went well and we were done in about 15-20 minutes.  Funny thing, Greg, his wife and another member of his crew were from southern Ontario near Barrie.  Most of my family is in the southern Ontario region.


After the interview I contacted Miriam by phone only to find out she was not coming down until later in the day Saturday.  We chatted for a bit and she wished me luck.  I then tried to get in touch with my Tri Life friends.  They were already settling down to dinner off-site and were going to call it an early night.  I then contacted Leticia in Monroe and found some dinner on my way there.  It was a tiny little hole in wall place called Lorenzo's.  Took my chance and waited a LONG TIME for a plate of pasta.  The food was great but really wish I knew ahead of time I would wait more than 50 minutes for my food.  I ended up getting to Leticia's house by about 8:30pm.  A little later than I had hoped.  Her and her husband Pedro have a young son named Jaden who has achondroplasia and Autism.  He is a beautiful young boy who is full of life and potential.  Leticia and her family were getting ready to do a Autism walk on Sunday in support of Jayden and others like him.  Their crew is called "Jaden's Angels".  If you are inclined to make a donation on his behalf, feel free to click this link AUTISM SPEAKS.

Me and my buddy Jayden

After a brief visit I headed to bed in order to be rested for my 4AM wake-up for the race.  Of course, just before I headed of to bed, Leticia was able help me put on my race TATS.  Leticia was hoping to be able to come to the race later in the day and see me cross the finish line.

These TATS are nice because they can
stay on for days and are kind of
a nice badge of honor to wear.

Once I settled in for the evening and got my race gear repacked and ready, the RAIN STARTED.  I would lay awake on and off most of the evening listening to the rain.  I hoped it would stop and it never did.  That along with my usual pre-race nerves kept me up a lot of the night.  I did manage some sleep and was woken by "It's a Beautiful Day", by U2. I was up quickly and ready to get out the door by about 4:50AM.  I arrived on race site close to 5:30AM, and of course the rain continued to fall.  I did manage to park in a handicapped spot right next to transition.   I got my poncho out and proceeded to go see how my bike was doing.  I was upset when I arrived to see no sign of the bag I had used to cover my bike.  The bike was soaked as were a lot of others, but I was annoyed the bag had either blown away or been removed.


The rain stopped for a little bit and then we were actually tempted it might start to lighten up a bit.  That was all for not, as the rain quickly came back and basically would fall on and off all day.  I managed to arrange my bike and running shoes in a plastic bag and all my other gear as well in transition.  I grabbed my wet suit gear and got changed and then made my way down to the water.  I had time for a quick dip and the temp (they stated it was 71 degrees) was fine.  No worries about a cold shock.  I swam around a bit and soon realized it was actually colder out of the water.  


There was some glitches with buoys moving around and the timing clock set up and we ended up getting into the water around 10 minutes late and 7:10AM.  I was in the first wave and found my place in the back of the wave, quickly waded into the water and then started swimming.  I was doing okay for about 5 minutes or so and then the trouble started.  I could not catch my breath.  I rolled on my back (first time in three years) to catch my breath.  Rolled back on my front and quickly had trouble again.  A kayaker named Jim came over to give me a short rest and then I tried again to no avail.  Once the next wave came swimming by I really got nervous and called for help.  Jim threw me the lifeguard tube and I started to realize my day of racing might be ending.  I tried to swim one last time and got just as winded again and waved for a rescue boat to come and get me.  They helped me into the boat and I was emotionally and mentally spent.  I laid down in the boat and started to sob.  I don't know why, but I apologized to the rescuers.  Of course, they told me that was unnecessary.   When I got to shore they asked for my timing chip and that's when I knew I was DONE.  I got a ride on a cart to the medical tent to be checked out.  The driver of the cart was Eric, the race director for REV3 Quassy.  I had corresponded with him prior to the race about specifics regarding racing as a para-triathlete.  Here's where the real mind games started with me.  

I started to worry about people who did not know see me get pulled out of the water and what were they thinking.  I could not get that out of my head.  For some reason I felt I was letting a lot of people down.  Here I was walking to the med tent and then back to transition.  Cap and goggles in hand walking, not racing.  I had to ask to go to my bike to get my keys so I could get some warm clothes on.  People running by me with their bikes, cowbells ringin the background.  And me walking.  People were looking at me, the "little person" and what were they thinking?  There is he, he tried, but couldn't do it.  Yes I have done more than 15 triathlons and other road races, but they didn't know that.  All they saw was this person who they probably figured couldn't do it, not doing it.  It HURT!  I know when I talk to groups of teenagers at other schools about what it means to be a little person, part of my chat revolves around telling them to ignore people they don't know who tell them negative things.  Don't listen to them, they aren't important in your life.  Surround yourself with supports, not doubters.  And what was I doing?  Listening to the voices in my head.  And then someone had to say something.  As I was taking my bike from transition, some older guy watching the race, probably someone's father or grand-father who came to watch, says to me, "Calling it a day?"  I was so ready to go off on him, but I didn't.  I glared at him and loaded my bike in the car.  I was able to find a gap in the action after the last bike had left and before the first place rider came it, to leave the lot.  They were nice enough to allow me to leave otherwise I would have to wait until the end of the race which would be at least 2.5 to 3 hours later.

I got on the road and drove back to Leticia's house to get my bag.  I was planning on staying there Saturday night in order to watch the 1/2 on Sunday and then drive back home on Sunday.  I could not bear staying around.  I drove home after pulling over to put a post on the FACEBOOK about my need to withdraw.  As I made stops along the way home I managed to check what people were saying in response and I was moved to tears a number of times.  The support I was shown really helped me quickly realize, its not those doubters that matter.  I have always known that, but for a brief period of time, its all I cared about.  The negative energy was quickly redirected.  After chatting with a few people I also soon realized my difficulty in the water was probably environmental.  I had neglected to take my allergy meds the night before the race and the water was covered with pollen prior to the race.  When under the water you could see the  yellowy-green particles suspended in the water.  I must have breathed in a bunch of it while swimming and it caused my lunges to close up.  I am quite confident that is what happened. 

Again, I need to thank the dozens of people who posted comments, sent me emails, or even phoned to check on me.  This 24 hour pity-party has certainly ended.  Hugs from Sue and Owen certainly helped get me to a much better place. Though this might seem silly, I also asked Sue to help remove my race TATS.  I could not return to work on Monday with those on my arms which I feel are a sign of a finisher, not someone who had to stop for the day.  I know this might seem silly, but I feel better removing them.

I would later hear from another athlete that there were more than 30 bike accidents on the course due to the slick roads.  In hindsight, maybe this was again someone watching out for me.  I would have prefered to race as I have done so in two other rainy races (NYC Triathlon in 2011 and Timberman in 2010).   I was "saved" from a terrible bike accident on Thursday, just 2 days before this race.  Riding home from work I went off the road when a car got too close to me and I ended up doing a 180 over the handlebars and landed on a pile of cushy leaves just a few feet from a couple of trees.  Maybe I am keeping my guardian angel busier than I thought.

I also am thankful that the REV3 water safety team were keeping a close eye on me.  When I asked for help they came, but allowed me to keep going until I had enough.  I am absolutely sure had it gone worse a lot faster, they would have been there to help right away.  When I was stuggling, I could see 3 different boats and/or kayaks close by watching me and when I finally did wave my hand and call out for help, an athlete nearby quickly stopped and yelled for help for me as well.  THANK-YOU! 

My next race is the NYC Triathlon in early July.  I promise I will be ready both physically and mentally for this challenge.

OK, it's official.  I am in the NYC Marathon.  I received the email confirmation earlier this week.  I have a busy triathlon season this summer, but KNOW I will be ready to run the race of my life in early November.  With my last triathlon scheduled for early September I am confident I will be ready for the 26.2 mile run 2 months later.

I am writing this just 5 days away from my first triathlon of the 2012 season.  I finally decided to race the REV3 – Quassy Olympic distance tri down in Middlebury, CT.  I will travel down on Friday night, race on Saturday and then watch the Pros and friends race the ½ Iron distance race on Sunday.   I am looking forward to meeting pro Kelly Williamson in person and of course seeing my friend Miriam Wieskind again. Miriam is the owner of the Enduraguide website.

On May 20th I completed the Tour de Cure for the 3rd year in a row.  I did a 64 mile ride around the north shore of Massachusetts.  I managed to complete it this year more than 30 minutes faster than last year.  I know its not a race, but I still managed to put my best effort completing the distance.  The course was not as hilly as last year's, but still a 30 minute improvement felt like a real success.  The best part of the being I managed to raise $200 for the ADA and Sue and Owen came up to Pingree for the end of the ride to have some lunch with me on site.

A few days later I went down to Waltham to compete in a 5K race to support Team Hoyt.  Like the TdC, it was my 3rd year running this race.  Something about this course brings out the best in me.  I don't know if its the inspiriation of racing to support Dick and Rick Hoyt, the time of day (race start is 6:30pm) or maybe its just a course that suits me, but I completed the 5K race in a personal best time.  My finish time was 38:30, which was 51 seconds faster than last year. 

My training has gone well and I feel I am ready for a great race this coming weekend.  My only concern is the temperature of the water.  It's an early season race so the lake temps will probably be in the 65-68 degree range.  I will heading down on Friday night and will be staying with some dear friends about 30 minutes away from the race site. 

I did a lot of umpiring this past weekend.  There was a double header on Saturday (VERY HOT and HUMID) and then another game on Sunday.  All 3 games were in Marblehead.

Today was a super family day.  I marched in the Memorial Day parade with Owen and his cub scout troop.  After that all 3 of us headed up to Newburyport for the afternoon.  It was so nice simply spending the day with Sue and Owen walking around enjoying the beautiful weather in such a quaint seaport town.  After that we returned home and Owen and I were able to have a 3 mile bike ride around the neighborhood.   

Three Weeks Away from REV3 Quassy Oly

With a little more than 3 weeks to go before my first triathlon of 2012, training is going very well.  I am not registered for it, but still planning on doing REV3 Quassy Oly. This week is a 12 hour week and the weather is not totally co-operating.  I had an awesome 5.7 mile run on Tuesday after work.  The plan was to run through Bradley Palmer Park and then turn left out of the park and make my way back to Pingree.  The road was nice and hilly but also really narrow.  There was virtually no shoulder and a number of cars had to stop to let me run by due to oncoming traffic.

I have really taken to running without music.  I find listening to my body, especially my feet and my breathing is actually quite beneficial.  On a treadmill, I still need the tunes, but outside, I feel this is the way to go.  I can't wear the music during a triathlon, so like the saying goes, train like you race.

The hill workouts I have been doing are also starting to pay off.  I found my usual technique of walking up the hills does not cut it.  I was actually running up a lot of the hills and felt the need to crest the hill and run down as well!  I only walked to drink and take a gel, so the system seems to be working.

I hope to finally do a group ride this Saturday with my friends from Team Comp.  I am riding in the TOUR DE CURE on May 20th and fund raising is not going so well.  If anyone reading is willing to make a donation, I would greatly appreciate your help.

Tour de Cure - Donation page for J Young

It's been a WHILE, but here is my first post of 2012.

What a great winter we've had here in New England.  Very little snow so the roads have been totally clear and yet I only got my bike out a couple of weeks ago.  Yesterday was my first ride to work and back.  It started out quite chilly (35 degrees) but the ride home was a heck of a lot warmer.

The main reason for this post, is a race report for the "Columbia University Road Runners 5K" in NYC.  The race was on March 25th.  The best part about the weekend was catching up with both new and old friends.  The worst part was that Sue and Owen had decided to stay back in Salem.  Would you believe Owen picked going to see "Blue Man Group" over watching me do a 5K?  Of course, an easy decision for sure!

Lots of updates over the winter season to talk about before I get to the race report, so here goes.

• I won a free entry to return to the NYC Triathlon in July.  It was a Facebook contest where people had a "like" a photo.  I had more than 700 likes and was overwhelmed by the support.
• I was given a free entry to return and race at Hy-Vee over the Labor Day weekend in Iowa.
• I won a free pair of K-SWISS Kwicky Blade Lights from elite triathlete Angi Greene.
• Connected with elite runner and clothing designer Verity Breen who has been a source of information and encouragement as I prepare to race my first marathon in November.  She has selected me to be a brand ambassador for her line of clothing called "Thirty Birds".
• I have also joined "Achilles International" which is a running/tri club based out of NYC.  Their director, Kat Bateman, contacted me about joining.  I will race on that team a number of times over the summer.  The bonus about joining is that all members can race in the NYC Marathon.  I am hoping to do a marathon this year in the hopes of finishing under 6 hours.  If I do so, I have been told I can race the Boston Marathon as a physically challenged runner.
• The Pingree Girls' Swim Team finished 2nd at New Englands this season.  Two of our swimmers were selected as Swimming All-Stars by the local paper.  And the real kicker for me, is that the paper also selected me as the Swim Coach of the Year.  I had no idea I was even being considered, so it is certainly a great honor.
• And finally, I have decided to race in the the inaugural "Toronto Triathlon Festival" in July this summer.  It will be a blast completing in a race in my hometown.  Hopefully some old friends and family can come out and watch me race.  I just heard from the race organizers that they have selected me as Triathlete of the Month for March .

Now onto my first race on 2012.  This race was suggested to me by Kat Bateman from Achilles.  She suggested this would be a good opportunity for me to meet up some of the other Achilles runners.  I agreed and also realized I would be able to meet up with some "new" and "old" friends.

So I headed down on Friday morning after dropping Owen off at school.  The drive was uneventful and to save some money I packed a lunch and snacks.  The 4 hour drive wasn't really that bad allowing for stops along the way to stretch my legs and such.  I arrived in NYC and circled the block around where I would be staying on the upper west side until I found a spot.  I ended up parking on Riverside Dr (AGAIN) and would be able to leave my car there for the entire weekend.  I phoned up my friend Barbara from CAF as she was able to arrange an apartment for me to stay in.  I headed down to her place, lower down in Manhatten to get the keys.  We had a quick visit and I headed up to my temporary base around 78th and West Side Dr.  After getting all my stuff in the apartment I took some time to rest before heading to Brooklyn to meet up with my friend Miriam.  She is the owner of a website called ENDURAGUIDE.

Pizza at Anthony's in Brooklyn is amazing!

We have a mutual friend in Joan Murray with the USAT.  Miriam did a online interview about me a few months ago.  We were planning on meeting at the YMCA in Brooklyn and then we would be heading out for some REAL NEW YORK PIZZA.


OKAY...............here's where I stop and say, ARGH.  I started this post weeks ago and kept dreading finishing it and I don't know why.  So I am going to stop now.

Highlights of the trip were of course meeting Miriam and Kat.  Catching up with my dear friend Barbara Evans from CAF was AWESOME!  Just chatting and having dinner on Saturday night with her were so much fun.

But that's where this report ends.  The race was great!  I didn't PR my best 5K time, but I did manage to run  sub 14 min miles, which was my goal for my first race of 2012.

Here's where I now pledge to make at least one blog post for the remainder of 2012.  I PROMISE!!!

Finishing in 43:15.  Not a PR, but great for first race of 2012.

Some struggles............but "Life is Good!"

The first pic of me running with BOTH feet off the ground!

Since Hy-Vee in early September, my life in the multi-sport world has slowed down and I have been able to concentrate on family and work. All I have left in the 2011 season are some road races. I managed to complete the Wicked 1/2 Marathon on September 24th. I had a real "reach" of a finish time hoping to finish in 2:50 and managed to complete the race 3:04:15. Though I did hit my target, I was able to finish 7 minutes faster than last year, so I had to be pleased with the PR.

I tweaked my right calf while running at the Y about a week later.  I immediately stopped and stretched it out.  I then finished my run and things seemed fine.  Leading up to the Witch City 5K on October 23rd, things seemed to be going well.  I prepped for the race like usual with the same morning routine and pre-race breakfast.  I hydrated well, got to the race, stretched and prepared as usual.  I got ready to race.  Beth form the Y gave the start signal and off I went.  It was seriously only 200 yards or so into the race, and both calves seized HARD.  I slowed down to a walk and did not know what do do.  Hundreds of people were going past and I could barely walk.  I thought for few minutes that stopping would probably be the best choice.  This would then be my first DNF.  I chose to continue on.  I walked along until the first mile marker and was surprised when I reached it in a little over 16 minutes.

A lot of the same police in Salem do the race marshaling, so as I reached each controlled intersection it was encouraging to hear them try and nudge me along.  They could easily tell I was having a real struggle.  I started my old trick from the 1/2 Ironman and would run to a pole and then walk to the next and that seemed to work quite well.  I reached the water stop around the Boys and Girls Club and then headed back along Derby towards the Willows. 

I continued most of the race using that same pacing and then a managed to run for about the last 200 meters or so.  My finishing time was 0:50:06, which in fact was a lot better than I was expecting at the start of the race.  I figured it would take more than an hour.  At that rate I was only 12 minutes slower than my best time.  So, was not hurt that bad, or was I really a pretty slow runner to begin with?  What does it matter, I finished.

I got in my car and got home and immediately took a Epsom salt bath.  A couple of days later I managed to see a massage therapist who was able to determine I has some tightness in my IT  band.  I continue to stretch and do so some fitness ball, roller and mat work.  I have managed a couple of 2 and 3 mile runs and still I get some slight tightness in the calves, but things are getting better.  I really want to run though since I just purchased a new TIMEX -GPS - Triathlon watch and want to full get to use some of it's great mapping and training features.

A couple of real cool things happened to help with next year's race season.  The NYC Triathlon had a contest where you could enter a pic of yourself and the one with the most "likes" would win a free entry.  There were 16 photos and I ended up winning with almost 700 likes.  A pretty amazing feat and it sure showed the power or exponential growth and connections in social networking.  I had quite a few friends posting on the their own sites to try and get their friends to help.  It all worked, along with quite a few of my own students checking out the picture, on their own time off school campus of course.  About 4 days after winning that contest, I was contacted by the Hy-Vee Triathlon organizers and was given a free entry into next year's race in Des Moines.  We are working on trying to organize a family trip to Minnesota to coincide with the race.  

A very inspiring thing happened to me last weekend and it has somehow left me speechless.  I made a contact through the photo contest who is friends with one of my online friends.  He presently weighs close to 400 lbs and has started to exercise, lose some weight and someday soon compete in his first 1/2 Marathon.  On the Saturday where we changed from Daylight to Standard time he was planning on doing a 5K at 1:50AM.  This way when he finishes he is right back at the time he started.  He was able to finish the race in under and hour.  The amazing thing to me is that he wants me to send him an autographed picture.  He has followed my blog and says that something about what I am doing is inspiring to him.  That was sure a humbling request.  I never thought I would ever be asked for something like that.  I haven't sent him one yet, but that's only because I don't have a proper picture printed up.

Next up for me is the Feaster Five in Andover on Thanksgiving Day.  I was emailed by Dave McGillvary and was invited to race there this year.  I am doing my best in the hopes that my calves are ready to have a really good and solid race.