Fitness

I know all you old school ganstas are thinking this post is about N.W.A.'s classic jam, 100 Miles and Running, but alas, it's not. Instead, I'm giving big ups to the Nike+ iPod crew today. I was pleasantly surprised to get this cool certificate of congratulations for running 100 miles.
It's almost as cool as having Lance Armstrong congratulate you for finishing a "killer calorie crunching workout".
Check it.

This is my third triathlon on this course, and that familiarity really helped out today. I screamed through the course, without any major mistakes. The swim felt great, had to be a personal record. The run also felt very good.

The specs: 400 yard swim, bike distance 11 miles, 3.1 mile run.

Another good tri in Pleasanton, yesterday. But this one was (unfortunately) most memorable for the triathletes dreaded enemy — the flat tire.

Yes, as improbable as it seems, I got a flat half way through the bike course. And yes, it sucks worse than you expect. The good news is that I was prepared for it, with an extra tube and pump. I was surprised by the number of people who called out asking if I needed any help. That was really cool. And I was even more surprised by the sheer number of people who passed me as I was fixing the flat. My best guess is a 5 minute delay. After I was back riding again, my legs felt pretty good! So I really poured it on, while I could.

The specs: 400 yard swim, bike distance 11 miles, 3.1 mile run.

What a great experience this sprint triathlon is! All tri noobs should definitely look into the Tri for Fun series.
It’s been going on for 20 years now, so it’s handled very smoothly from registration to the well marked course to the “let’s all have fun” atmosphere.

As far as my performance, I was pleased. My transitions went very smoothly, and had no major problems. The one item that sticks out in my mind, is that the speaker, who gave the pre-race pep talk, suggested to swim as far in as possible. She said that it’s much too hard and wastes a lot of energy running in the water. So I took that advice to heart, and swam to the beach with only 12 inches of water or so.

The specs: 400 yard swim, bike distance 11 miles, 3.1 mile run.

OK, people, enough with the "don't buy gas on Friday emails." That doesn't work. It hasn't worked. Won't ever work. Realistically, only Dilbert-like telecommuting and alternative transportation vehicles will help us reduce the current cost of gasoline. Yesterday I (figuratively) raised a clenched fist in protest against big oil by riding my bike to work! You can check the path via Google's awesome "My Maps" functionality. You are looking at 20 miles (round trip) of fossil fuelled independence.

Today I ran the Pat's Run race in San Jose. This was a very well run event. Lots of volunteers, good coordination. Everything was done first class. There was a strong feeling of Pat Tillman, and wanting to honor his memory throughout the day. There were big billboards with quotes he had made, the the race ended on the 42 yard line, it was a 4.2 mile race. I'm sorry to admit that I expected there to be more political overtones to the event. But there really was not any. Just a great run. I set two goals for myself, no walking (failed) and to run faster than a 10 minute pace. My official overall time was 40:02, which means a 9:32 pace. Sweet!