Over! Done! Finished!

Well finals ARE NOW DONE WITH!! I'm so stoked. I got A's in all my classes and now can get down to some serious training with no guilt whatsoever. It's gonna be a sweet Christmas Vaction.

Offseason? What offseason?

I can't wait until finals are over this week. Then bike emphasis month will began. I shall bike like a maniac and do my best to train like a spartan. I'm doing a 5k this weekend out at white rock lake as well. Should be fun.

On another note I've decided to start charging people when I write running or training programs for them. Not a lot mind you. I know I'm not anywhere near an expert when it comes to knowledge regarding training and racing. But I have done my fair share of reading and I've been racing for 5 years now. I think the knowledge I do have and am ever expanding, coupled with my experience now further enhanced with trips to National and World Championship events warrants a certain degree of cost. I hope to be able to help out first time runners/triathletes or others that are fairly new to the sport.

I won't go into great detail but I really do have a passion for helping others that desire to become more physically fit. I take pride in the fact that I have played a small role in influencing many friends to become more active and healthy in their daily lives. I take great joy in knowing that I can be a positive influence to others looking up to me as a role model for good health and fitness. Then I love the oppurtunity to take them out when they start getting pesky idea's about their level of fitness and how it might, just possibly, be able to combat mine and absolutely CRUSHING THEIR SOULS!!! Just kidding. I do love to keep people humble though. If you know what I mean. :) No worries. There are plenty of people out there that can drop me like a bad habit when it comes time to measure up.

Happy training all.

The Danger's of Cycling

I realize cycling is a dangerous sport. I have come to terms with the fact that one day I will be struck by a car. One day I will be in a crash. It happens. The saying is that "there are two types of cyclists, those who have been hit by a car, and those who will be." It's always a matter of inches. I can't count the numerous times I WOULD have been struck if I had been 2 inches to the left at precisely the wrong moment. Thankfully I have never been hit, though I have friends who have. And let me tell you, I'm really not looking forward to the day.

However this weekend I had an experience that I hadn't put to much prior thought into before. I got bit by a dog. Now don't get me wrong, the little rascal's chase me ALL the time. However, this was the first time I've ever had one of the animals sink it's teeth into my flesh.

Ian, Michael and I were out doing a 3 hr ride and were about 25 miles from my house. If you know the Dallas area at all then we were out by Kaufman. A really poor area out in the boondocks. We were literally about 5 minutes from turning around when the mutt left his front yard to pursue me. Actually there were a couple of them but this one guy is the only one that matters to me.

This wasn't even the first time we'd been chased on this ride and I wasn't overly concerned. I slowed down as he ran next to me because Ian was behind me and there was already another dog ahead a little ways. It ran along barking and I yelled at it to "GET BACK!!" and "NO!!!" Then out of nowhere he launched himself at me and attached his rather sharp teeth to my ankle. As I tried to get it off I was amazed at the strength in it's jaws and after a couple seconds I shook him off. I unclipped the foot that had been bit and tried to swing it at the dog's head as it was still running next to me. Let me tell you, thats not easy to do while sitting on a bicycle and I didn't even come close to making contact. (So says Ian)

Well the owners finally ran out and yelled at the dog to get back. I stopped and hopped off my bike, walking around to test out my ankle. The actual bite didn't really hurt. There was a fairly deep gash in my ankle but what really bothered me was it felt like my ankle had been twisted. I hobble around a little trying to regain my composure and testing the the amount of pain walking took.

The family gathered around obviously upset over what had happened. They assured me that the dog had all it's shots. What they TOLD me didn't matter to much and I was current on mine so it didn't really matter. The wife went to get some stuff to bandage me up and I did my best to assure them I wasn't going to sue them. These people were obviously poor. They lived in a trailer home off the side of the road with 3 kids and what seemed like about a dozen dogs. I wasn't mad at them, it's one of those things that just happens. I got bandaged up while they continued to apologize. The distress on their faces was evident and they obviously were not convinced that I wasn't planning on getting back at them somehow. I did get a name and number (who knows if its accurate.) just in case. And obviously I know where they live. Then I remounted my bike and we headed back home.

It hurt while watching the Ironman yesterday and I was limping around the house. But today I played ultimate frisbee with it wrapped up and even though it's still a little swollen I think I'll be alright. I'm sure though there's are still a mom and dad out in the kaufman boonies worried to death that they'll be recieving a phone call this week about what they owe for the accident. Thats not my intention at all but hey, I'll let em suffer a little.

Workout Weekend

Most people might think of thanksgiving as a time to to kick back with the family, stuff themselves full of goodies, and start off the holiday weight gaining season with a bang. I don't. Well ok I do love spending time with my family, and come to think of it I also like stuffing myself full of unhealthy foods. BUT I also see the thanksgiving weekend as a glorious time to spend at my grandparents ranch down in the hill country of Texas.

This year was fantastic. It started off with the Austin turkey trot which was extremely cold, windy and awesome. I was still very tight from playing soccer on sunday but I went in with the mindset of just having fun and running a solid race. For this reason I started off a little slower then I normaly would and it resulted in a much more pleasurable experience with a still very good time for me. My first mile was like 6:20 and I ran steady until 2 miles to go where I closed with 2 5:55 miles. I didn't notice I was picking up the pace a bunch but I was trying to hang with this guy just in front of me and that probably helped. The Austin turkey trot is ridiculously hilly and there is one hill especially inside the last half mile that is absolutely killer. Well I knew it was coming and so I relaxed up it and stayed right behind this dude who I'd been following the last 2 or 3 miles. Then when we made the right hand turn towards the finish I kicked it in and beat him by a few seconds. I was definitely exhausted by the end but part of this was due to the cold air I wasn't used to and after a minute or two I was fine.

Friday saw me doing a 35 mile bike ride with my friend Ian. This ride included the steepest hill I have EVER gone up in my life. Afterwards we mapped it online and it's like a 17% grade! Crazy! It's less then a quarter mile long but I couldn't make it up the first time. Yes, it's true, I did the walk of shame. then I went back down and tried it again this time making it to the top. After the bike I got off and bricked to a 40 minute run that included lactic repeats of 5x40 seconds FAST on the 1 min with 3 minutes rest between sets. (I think I hate that workout more then any other)

Saturday was the ill-fated day that saw us attempting to ride in the 40 degree, pouring rain, gusting wind weather. But after wrapping ourselves in plastic and going out 10 miles we were done and turned around to come home. The trek home was miserable. Uphill, into the wind, soaking wet and freezing it was pretty much everything a cyclist wouldn't ask for. But we did something.

Sunday was a 70 minute run in which I did almost 9 miles up and down big rolling hills along ranch rd 12. I like the cooler weather but I wouldn't mind it a little warmer.

Now it's back in the pool 5 times a week. I'm looking forward to school being over so I can start biking more and hopefully will get to do a training camp with the team after christmas. Happy holidays to you!!

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving is almost upon us. This has to be one of my favourite holidays. (Actually I enjoy pretty much any holiday that gets me time off school.) Nonetheless Thanksgiving holds a special place in my heart as it is the one time of the year I feel absolutely no guilt about stuffing myself as full as I can possibly be.

I have my routine all laid out. The whole family always goes down to Austin because that is where my moms side of the family lives. On Thanksgiving morning I wake up early to drag whatever family members I have managed guilt into doing the Austin turkey trot downtown. There we line up with some 20,000 other runners to take part in the annual 5-mile run. After that we head back out to my grandparents ranch, tired, sweaty and satisfied. I then do my best to abstain from food the rest of the morning until it is time for the actual meal. Then unabated I go at the glorious feast laid out before me with a fervour normally reserved only for opening Christmas presents or perhaps chasing down a breakaway on my bike.

After this first round I go back for seconds, and sometimes thirds. (There's always room for ONE more roll right?) Dessert is somewhat an afterthought but eventually after everything has settled there may be some room at the time for a slice of pumpkin pie and whipped cream. The afternoon is reserved for sitting, napping, and watching the cowboys. Oh the glory. I can't wait.


On another note I did compete in a swim meet this last weekend. It was tough but fun. I swam the 1500m, 400m, 200m and 100m freestyle as well as the 100 IM. I can definitely still improve but it was good to get some time standards. I'm looking forward to doing some good training down in the Austin hills this week. AFTER I've recovered from my gluttonous Thanksgiving feast.

R.I.P. Dorothy

Dorothy died Wednesday morning, Please continue to pray for her husband and three orphaned children.

Pray for Dorothy

This was copied directly from a slowtwitch forum. Just this last weekend at IM Florida.


"Dorothy Barnett Griffin, who many of you know from LifeTime Masters Swimming (the Plano, TX group), is in the hospital in Panama City. Dorothy and Mike Griffin were doing their first full Ironman triathlon Saturday in Panama City Florida. Apparently Dorothy had some issues late in the swim (unsure what precipitated the difficulties) and was pulled from the water. She was not breathing so they immediately began CPR, and there was water in her lungs. When they got her to shore they used the defibrillator and got her to the hospital. They pulled Mike from the route at about mile 56 as he had a fast swim and was unaware of any problems. Yesterday they drilled a hole in her head to release the pressure on her brain, which was swelling, and put some type of stint in it. She was placed on a ventilator and is in intensive care. Dorothy and Mike's parents and their kids and some of Dorothy's siblings are in Florida with her."


Since this first post on November, 5th Dorothy has had another hole drilled in her head and been almost taken off life support because they couldn't find sign of any brain activity. They checked again and were able to see that there was still some activity there and some blood was getting to her brain. I haven't heard much lately but her condition was not improving as of Wednesday.

What makes this even more tragic is that she was widowed about 3 years ago. She has either 3 or 4 kids (I haven't been able to gather anything conclusive from the previous posts.) all from her previous marriage. The kids are older, ranging fromm 11-16 or so and were on the beach waiting for the mom to come out of the water. She was the second to last swimmer and had been taking breaks, holding onto kayaks, laughing and apparently in a good mood. It was the latter part of the swim when she all of a sudden disappeared. They quickly got her out and brought her to shore while doing CPR on the jet ski. Can you imagine those kids standing on the beach looking for their mom to cheer her on in her first attempt at an ironman, no sign of her when all of a sudden here appears a jet ski with their mom laying motionless on it while a medical team gives her CPR? Awful. Every report I've heard said the first aid staff did a superb job trying to revive her, and they had her in an ambulance within a very short time.

So now these kids, who have already lost their dad can do nothing but hope and pray that their mom will survive. It breaks my heart. It really does. Here she was competing in and endurance event, an Ironman, something I hope to accomplish one day. It's a sport I love, it gets people to live a more active and fulfilling lifestyle. She's from my very same metroplex. I could drive up to plano in about 45 minutes or so. I've talked with some athlete in the area who know and have even trained with her. It hits pretty darn close to home.

I don't know her latest condition but please pray that she is able to make a full recovery.