It's a barn burner...

It would be great if this HOT weather could last for just one more month, leading up to my departure to Hawaii on October 3rd. Today, it got to 40 C / 104 F, perfect Kona training weather.

This afternoon I did over 100 km on the bike in this heat. I loved it. Other than the mini-mini-mini-heat-stroke when I got back home, all was well. Yesterday's heat stroke after my long run was much more severe.

During the ride, I went through 6 water bottles. Thank goodness Shaw showed me his secret watering "fill up" hole. It's located perfectly for a long out and back ride. The water is also amazingly good and very cold. Shaw says it's spring fed and people come from all over to fill up large jugs of it.

Before I started my ride, I was a little concerned about my hip/buttocks area. After yesterday's long run it started hurting. It feels like a "charlie horse" and I think I got it from being jumped on during the "Battle Royal" wrestling match we had on the trampoline this past weekend. It was probably Matty O's, "The People's Elbow".

The good news is it didn't bother me too much on the bike and I finally had a decent ride. When I got home it was sore and decided against doing a scheduled run and opted for injury recovery rest. I stretched it and that was painful enough.

Tonight I applied to the Guinness Book of World records for a beer marathon. I don't believe it's ever been attempted so I filled out the paperwork and will know if it's accepted in 4 - 6 weeks.

The premise is that I drink a beer for every mile of the marathon without throwing up. That would be 26 beers (12 oz - 4% alcohol) in the fastest possible finishing time. I've heard a guy doing a half marathon who drank a beer at every mile, but never a full marathon. I think it would be cool if I could do it and get to hang a certificate from the Guinness Book of World Records in my "man cave".

The month is over and even with taking 9 rest days, post IMLP, I still managed to do 1284 km of training. I'm happy with that and feel with another solid month of training and long sessions, I should be ready for Kona. My only concern is training in cold weather and not the heat and wilting in Kona. I'm also concerned about getting injured and not being able to race, but that's an on-going concern at any time.

Mod Bike - 3:21:31 / 101.13 km / 30.1 kph / 122 avg hr.

10

The House of Heavy Hitters...

It looks like the overwhelming consensus from the House of Payne 5 km Beer Run participants that it was a fun time.

I love it when a plan comes together. I also loved Matty O's race report blog post, it's at http://mattheworavec.blogspot.com/2010/08/house-of-payne-5k-beer-run-race-report.html

Today I was looking at yesterday's blog post pictures and re-reading the write up and thinking, "blog readers must be asking, who are these people?" What type of adult regresses back to teenage years at worst, and young adult years at best.

The results will probably surprise. Of the twelve participants, all are married, none are divorced, eight have kids, eight are triathletes, three have 15 Ironman finishes between each of them, one is a Kona Qualifier and the most remarkable, is most are LEADERS in their chosen career path.

If you're wondering "what do these people do for a living". Below is the answer to that question.

Sr. Sales Representative

Police Officer

Health Inspector

Accountant - Mergers and Acquisitions

Canadian Tire Dealer

Copy Writer

Business Development and Marketing Director

Lawyer - International Mergers and Acquisitions

NASA Research Scientist

Structural Engineer / Landscape Company Owner

Computer Programmer

Monitoring Centre Officer (Department of Corrections)

Among the "Royal Battle" participants, each seem to have the similar day-after injuries, which included sore muscles, sore or sprained body parts and "rug burn" on the knees and elbows.

For me, I think I got the worst of it. I understand the sore temples, that was from Al's "brain buster" and the sore abs and "rug burn" was from just plain wrestling. What I haven't figured out is how I hurt my ankle?

Hindsight being 20/20, with Kona only being 6 weeks away, I probably "should not" have been wrestling. Thank goodness the Lord takes care of "babies and drunks", and in my case, it could be argued I'm both.

The heat has returned to Toronto, today it got up to 41 C / 105.8 F and I decided to do my long run in the thick of it. This time I brought water and it barely helped. It was a hot and slow run on my number one side road route. With 30 minutes left in the run, I crossed paths with Alan Adcock, he was riding his bike towards me and stopped.

I felt bad for Alan, his mom had just based away recently and he was having a tough time dealing with it. It all happened so fast, he was on holidays at a cottage up north, the phone call came in and he was on the next plane to South Africa where his mom lived and he grew up. It was completely unexpected.

It was nice to catch up with Alan, near the end of our conversation, he suggested I should get back running before my legs "seize up". To late. It took about 5 minutes for them to get some fluidity back. Near the end of the run, I was "toast". The heat was unbearable. All I could think about was poor Simon (12:37) and Bob Lynch (12:56), who experienced similar heat yesterday during Ironman Kentucky.

I could tell from Simon's time and his brief tweets after finishing that it was a near 6 hour marathon walk. I did Ironman Kentucky in 2008 and it was similar conditions to what these guys experienced, in 2008 it was 93 F.

The worst part about the IMKY run course is it "sucks". It is through the inner city, it's not an attractive run and there is NO shade. It reminds me a lot of IM China, and this year, the conditions in China were near the same as Kentucky.

From his run times, I knew Simon was walking most of it. This may sound strange, but I have more respect for someone that's having a bad day and finishes, even if it means walking, than for someone who qualifies for Kona.

The mental strain is unbearable. None of us train "to walk". I know Simon was there for one reason and one reason only, to qualify for Kona. It was his last shot for this year and he got robbed earlier in the year at IMMY, with a 10:15 and fifth place finish in the 40-44 age group. I think this was Simon's 18th Ironman finish and he wanted so bad to go to Kona this year.

With that said, "Simon's my hero". He kept the dream alive and for the first time ever, IMKY had a 500 people in his age group and many of them were "dynamo's". Unless Simon got a cool day, I knew it was going to be a tough day for him. He's been training less than normal and it wasn't in the Malaysian heat, he had been visiting family and training in the "cooler" weather of the U.K.

Finishing an Ironman in the face of major adversity and disappointment is the true "Ironman" spirit. It's easy to quit, especially when you've done 17 already, you have nothing to prove. Yet Simon persevered. I'm curious to read his race report. I'm sure it was a tough day.

Again, congrats to Bob Lynch and Simon Cross on your Ironman finish. For Bob, he's a fire fighter from Windsor who follows my blog and would have been at the beer run if it wasn't for IMKY, it was his first ever Ironman finish. Special congrats to you Bob. Also, thanks for the TPPF contribution, tasted good.

Also, one other shout out to Brent Prokop who also finished Ironman Canada in 11:04. I think it was Brent's first as well. Nice job Brent. All three of these guys are in the 40-44 category, which is one tough age group to qualify for Kona in.

When I got back from my run, I was in near "heat stroke" territory. It was so hot today that Toronto announced an "extreme heat alert". They say all week will be hot as well. I was going to do a ride, but couldn't. I needed liquid and sleep. I postponed the ride to tomorrow.

However, finishing a run like that is gratifying. My dream would be for the heat to last until October 3rd when I leave for Kona. It's amazing how heat "saps your energy and slows you down". I did A LOT of walking today in order to keep aerobic.

The good news was my ankle wasn't bothering me too much. Actually, it may be more accurate to say, I didn't notice it. The pain of running with "rug burn" on my knees and elbows overrode all other pain. It took a long while for the sweat to dissipate the cracking of dry scab pain that happened with every step.

Long Run - 2:18:21 / 24.31 km / 5:41 per km pace

Post party black and blue...

This morning we woke up to a sparkling clean house, thanks to Matt, Heather and Leo.

I came down the stairs and Matt and Heather were sitting on the sofa, side by side watching TV and looking like two "little angles". I was like, "Wow, you didn't have to clean this up, you shouldn't have, but I'm sure Alice will really appreciate it". They also cleaned the downstairs bar area as well.

Leo had just come back from his run and was looking fresh. I decided to mess up the kitchen and make some breakfast for everyone. With triathletes in the house, you want to make sure they get the "healthy food" their bodies and arteries deserve, so I made Bacon, Eggs, Toast, Pancakes and Coffee. A meal fit for a Denny's Platinum Card holder.

I'm not the cook of the family and I guess I did something wrong because right after I started frying the bacon, the Fire Alarm went off. Matt turned the stove fan on and opened the back door, I opened the front door and used my hat to fan away at the alarm. The amazing thing is that with the Alarm sirening for what seemed like a minute, none of the kids woke up.

After breakfast Leo left, and Matt, Heather and myself went for a 40 km ride in the escarpment. It was a beautiful day for a ride, not a cloud in the sky and perfectly warm.

It was a really easy pace and as luck would have it, Matt and Heather got stopped by a female Police officer and were being questioned about riding side by side and blocking a semi-truck from passing. I think the Police Officer was John's friend from yesterday.

The last time Matt was in Canada he got pulled over by Police and now he's two for two. The first time, he learnt Canadian Police Officers don't like to be called Mounties. At the end of the ride, I circled by Jamie's and he wasn't there. His garage doors were opened and at least Matt and Heather got a chance to look at his cars.

On one of the Ferrari's on his driveway, I noticed what I thought was a polishing rag. Upon closer inspection, it was a House of Payne Beer Run shirt. It's good to see Jamie has already put his shirt to good use.

After Matt and Heather left to head back home, I took my empty keg back and bought a new one. The first thing I noticed is that I'm "hurting" physically. Al Nolan was wrestling and gave me a "brain buster" to my temples, and they were still sore. I also had scabs forming on my elbows and knees from rubbing on the trampoline.

As well, my left cheek bone hurts. I'm not sure why, but I assume someone fell on my face while we were wresting. However, the worst injury I have right now is my left ankle. It is so sore and it's swollen to the size of a golf ball. I have NO IDEA how I got it. I was going to go for a run today, but decided to postpone it until tomorrow and give it more time to heal. I hope it's just a sprain.

Today I was looking at photos from yesterday's Beer Run and party. There is some great shots. Unfortunately I can't post them all, some could potentially impact careers, negatively. One of the shots that I thought was the funniest was one that showed a party at another house in the background.

The house is owned by a Police Officer and he was having an outdoor afternoon party at the exact same time as ours. We could see their party and they could see ours. Theirs looked very "family" or "church" orientated, with a level of civility and maturity.

I could only imagine what they were saying to each other when they looked over and saw grown men wrestling on the trampoline or a women taking a "pull" from the beer bong, or the "host" peeing off the deck and 70's music playing loudly. I posted a shot of Heather and if you enlarge the image and look in the background, you'll see the neighbour party I'm talking about. Which party would you rather be at???

Tonight I decided to re-watch the UFC pay per view event. I really want to know what happens. I emailed Jamie and told him I got a new Keg, he thought I was joking when I told him it was emptied last night, that's the equivalent of drinking 7.5 cases of 24 beers in less than a week.

John Barclay was also disappointed, he hasn't yet had one beer from the Kegerator. By the time he got back to our place after going home to take care of his dog Nero, it was all gone. Poor John. Although, I'm sure it won't be long until he drinks "fresh juice" from the Beer Tree.

Alice was super appreciative that Matt, Heather and Leo cleaned up. The place was a mess with beer bottles and glasses. Alice told me she much prefers the Kegerator over beer bottles. Putting glasses in a dishwasher is much easier than boxing and returning empties. I agree and it just shows how much of "a giver" I am.

I also like buying kegs of beer. There is no greater feeling than walking into the beer store with a large empty Keg and have them wheel out a 58 litre full keg on a dolly. It's very ceremonial. The looks on others faces is "priceless" and if they see my Ironman tattoo or logo on a shirt, they must be thinking, "who is this guy?" It probably doesn't compute.

Today, when we were leaving the Beer Store, one guy said, "man, you guys are thirsty, I'm coming to your house".

Easy Bike Ride - 1:40:39 / 40.07 km / 23.89 kph

9

Payne-a-Booze-ola.

Last night was a late one, Matty O and I hung around the downstairs bar until the sun came up. It was a PB, I've never stayed up that early.

We moved upstairs and I was lying on the couch and he gently tapped me out. At 45, I found my match, I couldn't keep up with a 26 year old from Ohio.

I got all of about 2 hours of sleep and it was go time again. Jamie emailed, then came by. He was going for a bike ride and wanted to know if anyone wanted to come. Matt and I quickly got dressed and went.

The minute I got on the bike I knew I was in no condition to ride. My brain was a little "mushy" and my legs had NO power. Ten minutes into the ride they dropped me and I was so far behind, I turned around and went home.

It was probably for the best, I had a beer run course that I needed to be set up. This is the third year for the House of Payne 5 KM Beer run and everything needed to be ready for noon. It was already 10:45 am when I got back home and that didn't leave me much time.

Between Alice and I, and a little help from Barb and Alex, it didn't take long for the course to be set up. I knew I wasn't going to set a HOP 5 Km Personal Best run time, just from walking the course to put up the signs I was already sweating.

In the past two days, I had a LOT of beer and a total of about only 6 hours of terrible sleep over two days . I was a little mad at myself for not going to bed earlier last night.

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to enjoy the run or party from being too tired. At that moment, I decided that I was going to "make it work". Somehow, I was going to pull this off, stay awake, party hard and have a good time. Which I did.

It was a good turnout for the run, there was a total of 12 participants this year, of which, 4 had done each of the previous years beer runs. When people hear the word "Beer Run" they think "Fun", however it's not easy for most. During the out and back run, Corey ran past saying, "this is harder than I thought".

For me, it's not a problem to drink beer and run, and all things considered I was happy with my time, I did it in 25:44 and ran in a keg costume. Which is not bad, considering my previous night of debauchery with only 2 hours sleep and not pounding them back as fast as normal. Not to mention finishing a Century ride yesterday as well.

It was a great group of people and a lot of fun. Matt and Heather came all the way from Cleveland to do it. Corey and Leo where a couple of Ontario blog followers I hadn't met before. The rest were friends, friends of friends and neighbours.

Every year the race evolves. This year was the first year we allowed shots. As we were finishing, Jamie came up with an idea that we should "all" run the last lap with the last guy, which turned out to be my neighbour John Fortuna. It was a great idea and will now be a tradition.

It was an awesome moment, John Fortuna was running with a large group running along side and behind him. I had a large beer glass in my hand and at one point we started passing it around and everyone started taking a drink out of it, as if we had just won the "Stanley Cup". John is not a runner and usually finishes last every year, he said it was "a lot less lonely this year".

As always, everyone finishes and gets a shirt and a "lay" put around their necks. I always joke, "if you finished the House of Payne beer run, you're guaranteed to get laid". We hung around on the drive way "whooping" it up, drinking and talking. This is one of my favorite parts of the day, I love seeing how the "volume" of loudness increases along side the "volume" of alcohol consumed.

There seemed to be a consensus that next year if you chose to drink shots, you have to drink two shots per lap. Drinking 6 beers is harder than doing shots, although you couldn't tell from Matty O's walking near the end after doing shots, he was afraid something was going to come up. The beer drinkers were most proud that they did it "old school".

This years top three were Bill Woodhams - 1st, John Fortuna -2nd and yours truly - 3rd.

At one point, a Police car pulled up outside the house. I wasn't watching too closely and Mr. John Barclay, "aka Super Cop", handled it. Or at least I thought. He seemed to talking with his head in the car for a long time. Eventually, I even started to get a little concerned and thinking, "I wonder if everything is okay?"

I ended up walking over to the car to check it out and the rest of group was watching. There was a group element of "what's going on with John and the Police car?". The minute I poked my head in the door, I realized that the Woman Police Officer was one of John's best family friends and the mom of a girl in Reid's class. John, Heather (John's Wife) and her were just "shooting the shit".

Not to let a good moment go to waste. I asked John's friend to pretend to arrest me in front of the group. She wouldn't. She said she sees my blog and she knows that if she does that, moments later, I'll have it on You Tube. I promised I wouldn't do that, but she wasn't going to bite, she was too smart for that.

I told her, that's it, I'm jumping in the back seat and she said, "no you're not" and then used the power locks to lock the door on me. At this point, I got the groups attention and yelled to them that she wouldn't let me in. I then proceeded to go to the back of the car and start to "dry hump it" from behind. Here I was, in the front of my house, on our open street and I was "humping" the back of a Police car. Everyone got a good laugh out of that one.

Then I went to the front of the car and started "humping" it from the front and she hit the "siren" for a second to get me off. If any of the neighbours saw this, I could only imagine what they must have been thinking, "What the hell is going on? You've got to look at this, our neighbour is humping a Police car". It did take to long after that, that she had enough and left with a smile on her face. She was a really good sport.

After a while the party moved to the basement bar and patio area and I pulled out the cigars. The Kegerator was an instant hit. People were on the patio underneath the deck and I went on the deck above to start barbecuing the burgers and hot dogs. At one point, I had to go to the washroom, so I gave the people below a "golden shower" water show. I guess all they saw was this stream of water shooting off the deck and onto the grass down below. Some wanted to know if it was "real" or not. It was real.

The food was a hit, especially the hot dogs. I got those big ones they sell at Costco. It was a lot of fun, everyone was sitting around, talking, joking, smoking, drinking and having a good time. At every party, there is always one guy that has "way to much to drink". Often it's been me. Today, it was Leo.

Leo was so "pumped" to be had the House of Payne Beer Run and was a blog follower I had never met. He had me talking to his buddy "Ryan" and his "Dad" on his cell phone. Leo was like, "here, here, talk to Ryan, he also follows your blog" or "here, my Dad's on the phone, do you mind saying hi?"

Before I knew it, in the middle of the afternoon, Leo was passed out on the couch. I decided to create a "Hallmark Moment". I took a permanent black marker and drew a moustache on Leo as he slept. It was a long moustache with curls at the end. I called everyone to come and take a look and people started laughing and Leo ended up waking up and joining us back at the party.

He had no idea there was a moustache drawn on his face and it was hard for anyone to look or talk to him without laughing. Leo had no clue what was on his face. It was hilarious. Leo would say something and people would look at him and laugh, it was hard not to. This went on for a long time and my hope was that no one would say anything and Leo would go home with at hand drawn moustache.

I thought it would be so fun to see Leo walk into his house and say hi to his wife and kids and then say, "what, what are you looking at?" and have them ask him were he got the moustache. Or better yet, if he was pulled over by a Police Officer or went into a store with his hand drawn moustache. It would have been the gift that just keeps giving. Unfortunately, and fortunately for Leo, Doru told him. Doru is to nice of a guy to "over prank".

One of the funniest things was watching Al Nolan try to drive Reid's chopper bike around the pool table in the basement. The moment I saw him riding indoors, I was like, "What the heck is going on, this is crazy, who rides a bike indoors, what if Alice sees this, Al this is completely inappropriate.....hey, I wonder if we can go double?". I jumped on the back and eventually Al did a loop with me on the back.

The next phase of the party was the "Battle Royal" on the trampoline. It started with a couple of guys and evolved to a trampoline full of grown men wrestling like kids. I eventually decided to join in on the fun and grabbed a lawn chair and threw it over the netting and into the ring. As it was in the air, I dived into the ring. It came down and just missed Al Nolan's big mellon.

It was full out WWE style wrestling and it didn't take me long to realize Matty O is one strong dude. I had a hold on him and my fingers were locked and he grabbed me by my wrists and pulled them apart effortlessly. I was amazed at his strength. We were lucky no one left with any broken bones or having to be taken to the hospital. My only injury was some good "rug burns" on my knees and elbows.

After a little rest and more laughs, Al wanted to see "the beer bong" and take a "pull" from it. Keeping out of sight of Alice, I snuck into the house and pulled it out of the closet and loaded it up. When Al saw it, he became frightened. It is VERY industrial looking. The drinking hose is close to 2 inches round.

I got Al into position, his knees on the grass and he took his first pull. It was a "sissy" pull. Then we started doing the rounds. Matty O did one, then Al redeemed himself with a manly pull, I had one and then Heather O had one. Heather put us all to shame. She drained what was left to applause. It was probably a 3 or 4 beer pull. It was a sight I will soon not forget. She is truly a beer bong "champion". If they have a Beer Bong drinking contest, she's got to enter it.

Every party has it's ceremonial guy who throws up. Today's it was Corey. He took a pull from the beer bong pipe and it must have done something to his tummy. Up came wiener chunks, no liquid, just chunks.

Alice put an end to the beer bong. She took it and hid it somewhere. She knows the "damage" it could case and wouldn't tell me where it was. I felt like a little kid and someone took away my toy. I know in my heart it was for the best, but I still wanted my "beer bong" back.

The rest of the night was more talking, drinking, laughing and partying and then the unbelievable happened, Corey took the last "pull from the Kegerator" and it was "empty". What the F#ck??? In less than one week, 160 lbs / 58 litres of beer was gone. I couldn't believe it. Never in a million years did I think we'd go threw $300 worth of beer.

It was a bitter sweet moment. I was impressed that we drained the Keg, it makes for a good story, but I was disappointed because I was now out of beer. It was a good thing it was only 8:30 pm and the beer store was still open. Whew!!! Disaster averted.

The final phase of Payne-a-Poolza was "UFC Pay Per View". Part of the group was inside watching it and the other part was outside on the patio talking. I was inside and was fading fast. I started watching from my bar chair and could barely stay awake. I then moved to the floor beside the pool table and was lying down and watching it. Not before to long I would watch for a while, then close my eyes, then watch and repeat.

Shortly thereafter, Corey and Breanne left and I saw them out and rather than go back downstairs, I "tapped out", and went to bed. I can't remember the last time I was in bed before 11 pm and "I've never" went to bed early at any party I've hosted.

The party must of ended around 1 am, that's when Alice came to bed. She woke me up when he came in the bedroom, I was expecting the clock to say 4 am. She had just finished "tucking" Leo into bed. I was actually happy it was only 1 am, it means I didn't miss much, other than watching the fight and finding out who won the main event.

P.S. The pictures above are not the "censored" pictures. Some photos couldn't be posted because "some people" think it's important to "keep their jobs".

Run - 25:34 / 5 Km

Bike - 17 minutes

25

Early morning...

I can' remember the last time I woke up at 5 am to train. The only time I'm up that early is to race, or take a pee and go back to bed.

Normally I do my long rides on Saturday. Tomorrow I'm hosting the third annual House of Payne 5 Km Beer Run and won't have time to do my Saturday long ride. With Kona only 6 weeks away I can't afford, nor want to miss a long bike.

I had a client meeting in the afternoon and in order to get the ride done and get to the meeting on time I had no choice but to start early. Hence, the reason I needed to get up at 5 am on a Friday Morning.

It was dark and cold outside when I woke up. The plan was to leave at 6 am and meet up with Shaw an hour away. I left the house and had to turn back after two minutes, my new aero bars needed adjustment and I needed to put a jacket on. It was colder than I anticipated.

About 20 minutes into the ride, the sun came up and somehow I lost one of my toe warmers. It didn't take long until the foot without the toe warmer was near frozen. It's amazing the difference a toe warmer makes.

The minute I started riding, I knew it was going to be "ugly", I was riding slow. Yesterday's bike and run "super sessions" took a toll on my legs. An unexpected oddity was my heart rate was unusually low. I had trouble getting it over 110 bpm. I was pushing as hard as my legs would allow me and at times my heart rate was under 100 bpm. At times my heart rate would be at 110 bpm and Shaws was 126 bpm.

Eventually, I met up with Shaw and we rode out to Guelph and then over to Rockwood to Cambridge and back to Burlington. By around 10 am it started to warm up. For me, it was a long ride. For Shaw it was a recovery ride, which is a good thing, with my slow speed, he was able to take it easy.

When Shaw and I eventually parted, I checked my email. It turns out my 2:30 meeting got moved to 1 pm. Dang, I'd have to push it to get back home, shower and get to the office in time. The extra effort got the heart rate up, but not by much. My big goal was to finish with at least 160 km / 100 miles of riding. Which I did.

About 5 km from home, a guy on a Giant bike with a red "wife beater" shirt on, passed by me. I imagined him laughing at a guy in an triathlon bike, decked out in aero helmet and he pass me.

It took two seconds and I went from 27 kph to 41 kph and blew by him and didn't stop until I got home. I left him far behind. It's amazing how pride can help the intensity of a workout and I asked myself "why didn't I do that all day?"

When I got home, I originally planned on doing a brick, but with the meeting getting moved up, I had no time. I barely had enough time to shower and get out of the house. I ended up making it to the meeting five minutes after the client arrived. It all worked out in the end and the meeting was successful.

Near the end of the meeting I was tired. The key to training is not to stop. Once you stop, you get tired. Had I not had to rush to the meeting, I would have had no problem doing the brick run. Now, 90 minutes later, I barely had enough energy to drive home without wanting to fall asleep.

When I got home, I tried to sleep and even had Alice pick me up some sugary coma inducing ice cream. It didn't work. I did manage to get a brief 20 minute nap and it almost got my energy up to a level where I was motivated to finish my 30 minute brick run. In the end, I postponed it to next weekends long ride which didn't have a brick run attached to it.

I also found out that Shaw continued on longer than planned and finished his first ever Century ride. The amazing thing is that for a guy who'll do about 15,000 km of riding this year, he's never done a Century before. Congrats Shaw!!!

Going to bed at 1 am and then waking up at 5 am and not having a sound sleep is tiring. In about 20 minutes from now, I'm now ready to have some steaks from the barbecue and some recovery drink from the Kegerator.

I just got an email from Matty O and he and Heather just left Cleveland. I expect him showing up at my place around midnight. I'm glad their running behind, it gives extra time for the gasoline smell to dissipate from the "Hotel Tool Shed".

The plan, and I stress "the plan", is to do a 90 minute ride tomorrow morning before the beer run with Matty and Heather and maybe Jamie.

Thanks goodness for Alice, she's been taking care of getting all the beer run stuff ready. We're ready and I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I don't think it will be one of my fastest runs or I'd be surprised if it is. You never know, it all depends on how tonight's recovery drink works and if I get much sleep. Truthfully, I don't see myself catching up on too much sleep this weekend. Typical, what else is new.

As a side bar, I found out that Simon Cross from Tri-Twins has kept a secret from us all. He has travelled from Malaysia and was a late minute entrant into Ironman Kentucky this weekend. His bib number is 2381.

Along with Simon, Bob Lynch the fireman and regular blog follower and commenter from Windsor will also be racing his first ever Ironman in Kentucky. His bib is 2365. And last but not least, Brent Prokop (@2slowtwitch) is racing Ironman Canada this weekend, his bib is 160.

Good luck to all you guys on Sunday. I'll be watching, probably with a hangover from the beer run and cheering very quietly.

Long Bike - 5:39:24 / 160.22 km / 28.3 kph / 116 avg hr

28

Super Day...

Today's training included workouts called a "super run" and "super bike". It's the first time I've ever done these types of training sessions.

Right after I qualified for Kona, coach Luis of MAO suggested I do these sessions and put together a custom training program for me.

I felt so special and was looking forward to trying something new. Chad Holderbaum, another MAO athlete and Kona qualifier does them and told me they're not fun.

The premise behind them it they are essentially tempo rides and runs that incorporate speed work sessions near the end. Luis felt my heart rate is so low and my aerobic base so strong, that "super runs and super bikes" would help me race faster. This new program is less hours of training and more intensity.

I was busy with work all morning and around 1 pm John Fortin came by and dropped of my indoor bike trainer. I now have no excuse to not ride if it's dark out. He hung around for a bit and talked. I couldn't even get him to drink a beer. He's in the monastery until after IMWI.

I finally got out the door for my ride around 2 pm and just over an hour later, one of the risers on my aero bars broke off as I rode over a bumpy road. My first reaction was to quit, my second reaction was to persevere and just ride sitting upright. Which I ended up doing. The only downside was it was tough to "hammer" during the intervals.

When I got home I immediately called Wheels of Bloor. They were closing at 7:30 pm and told me to bring the bike down ASAP. Along the way, I picked up Jamie's bike and took it as well, his gears weren't working properly and it would save him a drive. Wheels is not nearby, it's in Toronto, and took me over an hour to drive there in busy traffic.

I got to Wheels less than 30 minutes before closing. When they looked at my bars, they didn't see it as an easy fix. The screw was lodged in the bar and they had no way of "tapping" it out. Instead, they put new ones on.

It was quite a sight to watch my bike get fixed. With the time pressure of the store closing shortly, they had 3 guys working on it. It looked like an operating room. One was taking off the old bars, while another was changing cables and another was putting on the new ones as the old ones came off. Jamie's bike was on another rack and they were adjusting his gears.

In the end, the "aero surgery" cost me $175. All from a screw shearing off and me having no time for them to keep the bike and try to tap it out. The moment I brought it in I told them I have to do a long ride tomorrow and I can't leave it with them.

As I was leaving, I offered them an extra $20 to buy the guys beers for fitting me in and doing it right away, they wouldn't take it. They said, "that's what we get paid to do, it's no big deal". I can't speak highly enough about these guys.

I dropped Jamie's bike off and he tried to convince me to hang around the back yard. It was "Rambo" movie watching night. As tempting as it was, I couldn't. I still had a "super run" to do.

I got home and as I was taking off the bike rack, my neighbour Giles came over to say hi. We spoke for a while and he mentioned he's just started reading my blog. He really enjoyed the recent C.C. posts.

Giles congratulated me on my Kona qualification and mentioned that it didn't seem that long ago that I was at his house in my "fat glory" telling him I was more of an endurance type of guy and him laughing to himself, thinking, "yeah right, endurance athlete?" He told me "little did he know at the time that inside that fat body there really was an endurance athlete". Giles said, "feel free to mention that story on your blog".

Tonight was my first run in the dark in a long time and it was cooler than I'm used to, I even ran in long sleeves. During the run, it hit me that Summers coming to an end. The minute I started running I felt STRONG. It never fails, the more training and the less rest I get, the faster I get.

I was speaking with my unofficial coach Gord Brauer on the way to the bike shop. I was telling him that I wished the coaches had let me continue with my regular Ironman training right after IMLP.

I didn't feel I needed the break. Gord agreed. He's known me for a long time and said, "you're not a regular guy, your body doesn't need time off, you do better without rest". He's right. For future, I'm going to make my own decision on how long my active recovery needs to be.

The speed run was enjoyable. I liked the intervals at race pace. My last one was my best. I finished my last 2 minute interval at a 4:04 per kilometer pace after 75 minutes of running. When I got home, my stomach was "grumbling", it was porta-pottie time. The cause was the McDonald's ice cream cone I had on the way back from the bike shop.

It's going to be an early morning for me tomorrow. I need to be up at 5 am to be on the road for 6 am. I've got a meeting at 2:30 pm with an important client and I need to get my long ride and brick run in before hand. Saturday is the Beer Run and I can't do it then.

It will be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow morning. I'm riding with Shaw again, I hope I'm stronger on the bike than last weekend. I'd hate to slow him up a second week in a row.

Super Bike - 3:06:16 / 95.11 km / 30.6 kph average

Super Run - 1:20:09 / 17.46 km / 4:35 pkm average

Below is a video from @skdickey on twitter. It's kind of fun, for those that have or plan on doing an Ironman, the questions from non-triathletes are ALL the same. Below is a conversation that seems all to familiar.

Cell-mas...

I woke up at 3 am last night. I had been tossing and turning and doing some heavy evaluation and self motivation as I dreamt. I awakened ready to train.

I almost went for a run, but I thought 3 am might be a little too early. Technically, I consider 3 am the night before, not the morning of.

I think because of that, it freaks me out to go for a run at 3 am, I think the "bad people" could still be out. By 4 am, "most bad people have finished doing their bad people stuff". At 3 am, guys like Jeffery Dahmer are still working, after 4 am, they're cleaning up, sealing heads in oil drums, or getting ready to go to work.

Instead, I updated my blog and then went back to sleep, only to wake up tired. I went from wanting to train at 3 am to being too tired to train at 6 am. Regardless, I was committed to training this morning, it wasn't a matter of if, it was a matter of when.

I had a very important meeting at 11:30 am, that would take up most of the day. I wanted to make sure I got a clarity and patience inducing run in beforehand. I went downstairs and started napping on the sofa. My plan was too catch up on my sleep until I was ready to run.

For the next three hours, every 15 - 20 minutes I'd open my eyes, look at the clock and evaluate if I was ready to run. Eventually at 9:30 am, I woke up with my training mojo back and within 5 minutes was out the door for my run.

On the run I listed to the a business audio book called "The Dip" by Seth Godin. It was a glorious run. It was sunny, warm, very little wind and my mind was getting filled up with all sorts of interesting concepts. For no reason, it felt like a memorable run.

I was surprised I ran as fast as I did. There was a lot of cigar smoke caught in my lungs from last night, and mentally, I thought I lost my speed after Sunday's unusually slow long run pace. A highlight of the run was my knee didn't bother me. I think taking yesterday off was a blessing, it gave my knee and muscles an extra day to heal and recover.

For the next two days, I'm going to have some heavy duty training. I've got some make-up workouts from earlier in the week and with Saturday being the "House of Payne Beer Run", I need to get my long ride in before that.

Today, my afternoon meeting ran longer than expected. I didn't get home until 5:30 pm and didn't have enough daylight left in the day to do a 3 hour ride. Which reminds me, I should get my indoor trainer back from John Fortin, I'm going to need to use it now that the days are becoming shorter.

Weight wise, I'm feeling good. I had to wear my jeans to the meeting today and they didn't feel "snug". I haven't weighed myself since pre-IMLP and frankly, I'm afraid to get on the scale. I don't want to stand on it unless I KNOW I'm under 183 lbs. Otherwise, I'd become depressed.

My current thoughts are, "If my clothes fit, all's good, no need to weigh myself". I've never had any phobia's, although I think I may be getting "Scale-a-phobia". It's the fear of standing on a scale and KNOWING the truth.

Tonight, I ate dinner and passed out in a coma on the couch for a couple hours. It felt so right and was refreshing. I eventually woke up to the sound of Reid.

Reid was "giggling" like a school girl is because UPS delivered his new cell phone and he was texting. The minute I walked in the door he was all over me to set it up. Frankly, I didn't think he'd use it much, especially the texting. Reading and spelling "ain't" his strong suit. I was wrong.

All he's been doing is texting. I'm shocked that he's into it so much and I'm glad I got the unlimited text plan. I can tell it's a novelty to him, "he's laughing at lame texts". He's so excited to have his own phone and to be able to text that he's "giddy". It's like having another daughter in the house.

Reid's already getting the "texters-humpback". The upside is he's now on the texters-diet plan. His hands are busy texting and not eating.

Tempo Run - 55:23 / 11.10 km / 4:58 pace / 142 avg hr

Playing it safe...

I hope this will me my last post about my Kegerator. Since I got it, it's been all consuming and really should be called a "Crack-erator".

There is really two issues. The first is I want to set it up so my beer pours perfectly. The second is it's too easy to want to have a beer, which turns into more than one, which turns into drinking beer too often.

I bought the Kegerator a month ago. Since then, I think I've overcome every problem you can experience with a Kegerator. The biggest problem, which I eventually solved, was the temperature wasn't a cold as I wanted it.

When I got the Kegerator and set it up, it was working to manufacturers specs and the beer was about 38 F. If it were not for Jamie having a Kegerator, I would have thought my beer was fine. He felt my beer wasn't cold enough. The beer from his Kegerator poured close to 32 F and truth be told, the colder the beer the better.

Of course, once you get a Kegerator you start to look at beer a whole lot different. I found myself turning into a beer connoisseur. Every restaurant or bar I went to, or when I drank from Jamie's Kegerator, I found myself examining "the bubbles", "the head" and the "chill factor".

It became apparent to me that I needed to figure out how to make my Kegerator colder and adjust the pour pressure. I started to focus on it with "Iron-will". I made it my mission to start by fixing my "chill" problem. I needed to find a way to get it down to 34 F / 1 C.

It took me three weeks to figure out how to do it, but I did it. The first thing I did was call the manufacturer. Unfortunately, their customer service phone line was "temporarily out of service". Then I started calling local appliance repair shops.

I called about 3 or 4 of them over a couple weeks and got the same answer. I'd explain the unit is working to manufacturers specifications, but I want it colder. I'd then ask, "do you know a way to over-ride the thermostat and make it get colder?"

You would have thought I was breaking the law. Each one of them replied in a similar and stern fashion and said they don't know how to do that and even if they did, they wouldn't, it's wrong to even consider it. With one guy, he was so "self-righteous" I tried to explain to him that "I own" the Kegerator, "can't I do with it what I want?". I was clear he didn't think so and wanted NO part of it.

Eventually I found one guy who was "somewhat helpful". Like all the others, he explained even if he knew how to lower the temperature, he wouldn't, he was acting like he could lose his licence. He then proceeded to give me a name of a guy who lived "on top of Hamilton Mountain". He said, "call this guy, he'll do anything for money".

I felt like I was buying drugs. Actually, I think buying crack or heroin would have been easier. Being undeterred, I felt I was making progress by getting the phone number of a "black market appliance repairman".

I called the guy and got a "cryptic" voice mail message. I wasn't clear on even what the business was, it had acronyms, but no reference to appliances. It was short and sweet, "You've called RBF, we are unavailable, please leave your number". Which I did.

I never did get a call back. A total of three weeks passed and I got a "bright idea", "why don't I call the place I bought it from and ask them?". They answered right away, understood my problem, and within minutes emailed me the instructions from the manufacturer on how to lower the Kegerators temperature. DOH!!!

When it comes to fixing mechanical stuff, I wasn't born with that DNA string. I closely read the instructions and instead of turning the adjustment screw to make it colder, I turned it the opposite way and it started to become warmer.

After a couple of days of monitoring it and it getting warmer, and me turning the screw more and it getting even more warmer, I was discouraged and in despair. My initial exuberance was no longer. Now I thought I had wrecked it some how. I tried calling the manufacturer again and still got "this phone line is temporally out of service".

As I sat at my kitchen table pondering what to do, I decided to re-read the email instructions and viola, I realized I turned the screw the wrong way. It was now "game on". What happened next was "shocking". Literally. I forgot to unplug the unit, like the instructions said I should, and as I was adjusting the thermostat I got a little electric zap. DOH!!!

Now, I'd like to say it was smooth sailing from this point, but it wasn't. I got the temperature down and went to pour myself a nice cold beer. I pulled the handle and "nothing", "notta", "no beer". Not even air blowing through.

I increased the C02 pressure, "nothing". I then "cranked up" the C02 pressure and more "nothing". I was back to "despair" from "exuberance". I emailed tech support at 1-800-Jamie and he figured the lines were frozen. Sure enough that was the case.

Once I thawed the lines, it started pouring again and I experienced a new problem. All I got was foam and the pouring dispenser was now leaking. I poured and poured and it was foam and foam and drippage and drippage and I was discouraged and discouraged.

I didn't understand the foam problem, although I thought the drippage may have been caused by me "cranking the pressure" and damaging a seal.

This all happened on a Saturday night. I was sitting at my bar trying to drink from my glass full of foamy beer while I was thinking "what could be the cause of the problem?" Then I heard a loud "hissing sound" coming from the Kegerator. It sounded like someone was letting air out of a car tire.

I ran to the unit and realized the C02 cartridge was now leaking. I turned it off and realized the connection came loose. Had I not been in the basement at the time, it would have emptied the entire tank and it would have caused another problem, "no air pressure".

The tech support and service from 1-800-Jamie is incredible. The following Sunday morning, after multiple emails describing the problems, without even asking, they sent over a technician. It was Jamie himself. He looked at the unit and determined "the keg was empty". DOH!!!

Sure enough, once I replaced the Keg with a full one and exchanged the pouring dispenser, the Kegerator is FINALLY working perfectly. Tonight it was pouring "perfectly chilled beer". Jamie came by with his right handed woman Barb tonight and drank from the "Fountain of Payne" and both agreed, my kegerator is now "pouring perfectly chilled beer".

It only took close to a month to solve all my Kegerator problems. In the process, I think I've learned everything you need to know about a Kegerator and draft beer. I don't even want to go into explaining the hours I spent surfing the net learning about draft beer. It was like I was researching a personal medical condition. I now feel like a "Keger-expert".

I'm glad the problem is solved, it's one less thing to worry about. During the past week, I can feel myself getting re-focused about both training and life. I'm starting to realize that these past four years I've experienced a major personal transformation and achieved every triathlon goal I set out to do.

If my past four years was a script, people would think it's unrealistic. If it was pitched as a movie it would be described as follows:

"In less than 4 years, an out of shape fat guy finishes his first sprint triathlon near dead last, he loses 50 lbs, finishes his first Ironman in 17 years, setting a PB in the process, then a year later he qualifies for the Half Ironman World Championships in Clearwater and a year after that qualifies for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii and the New York City Marathon".

It would be a feel good plot and if it wasn't a true story no one would believe it. Now I'm ready for new Act 2 goals. I don't know what they are yet. I have given myself until January to figure it out. I do know it will revolve around my career. My intuition is telling me it will be about fitting my Ironman training in around my work. For the past four years, it's been the opposite.

I am excited about opening the next chapter in my life. The confidence I've gained over the past four years of knowing "the unrealistic is possible" is motivating. I truly feel "I can accomplish anything I set my mind too". In the past it was just a saying. Now I consider I proved it can be a reality.

Like I said, I don't know what my next life goal will be, although, I have decided it has to be attained within four years. I figure if I can go from Fat to Kona qualifier in 4 years, I should be able to do anything in four years.

Today I didn't train. I was on the fence. I'd like to say my knee prevented me from training, which it did, but truth be told, I didn't feel like it. I was still feeling the exhaustion from the heavy weekend of training and partying.

Instead of training, I invited Jamie and Barb over and we hung out having beers and cigars. After they left, I ordered KFC. It's been a while since I had it and I "pigged out". As strange as this sounds, if I need motivation to train, "I eat crap food".

I have such a fear of getting "fat", that if I eat poorly or have a night of debautery, a switch goes off in my head and the next day I'm highly motivated to train. Tomorrow will be no different I'm sure.

Tonight Alyssa showed me and Alice a picture of myself and my Aunt Sandi. I was 12 years old. Alyssa thought Reid looks just like me, although he's currently a year and a half older than me when that picture was taken. I don't see it, but she insists it looks just like Reid.

No Training - Slacker

9

Wiped out..

I knew it was only time until I fell off my bike. It's been about 2 years since my last spill. What I didn't expect was that it would be on my street, a couple doors down from our house, on Reid's chopper bike.

This morning I had a small ride scheduled and decided not to do it. The main reason was because I felt a "slight" overuse injury at the side of my left knee.

On top of that, I was also mentally burnt from the 14 hours of training over the last three days, AND, the weather sucked, it was colder and raining most of the day. It was a perfect storm of why today was going to be an unscheduled rest day.

All day I was just "dead tired". I was glad I didn't have too much important stuff to deal with at work today. Work wise, it's the calm before the storm, I'm waiting for some software to be upgraded and later this week it's full marketing steam ahead on a project I'm excited about.

I officially ordered Reid his cell phone. He keeps telling me that if he was to do it again, "he wouldn't do a triathlon for a phone, it's not worth it". Alyssa's also happy, I ordered her an iPhone 4 with almost unlimited data. She wasn't expecting an iPhone. Alice is even getting a new phone. The best part is I got each of them new phones and the entire plan is only going to cost me $95 per month.

As part of my recovery day, rather than train, I went to Jamie's, drank some beer, smoked a cigar and watched a couple movies. When I got back, I decided to try and fix the gears on Reid's Chopper bike. They don't work.

We went to the front of the house, I kept playing with cables and then I'd ask him to go for a ride and try it out. Nothing would happen and then I'd repeat the exercise. Eventually, I decided to do my own test ride.

It wasn't raining, but the ground was wet. I decided to turn around on a "patterned concrete" driveway. Little did I realize it was "slick" from the rain and at a VERY low speed I wiped out and banged my left knee hard on the pavement.

Reid ran over and was laughing, wanting to know if I was drunk? Which, unfortunately, I wasn't. He ran right by me, as I was laying on the ground on my back in pain, and picked up his bike looking for scratches. He then walked away with his bike as I was still lying on the ground holding my knee and chuckling in pain.

If any of our neighbours witnessed my wipe out I'm sure it would have been hilarious. Definitely You Tube worthy. What a sight, a grown man riding a kids Chopper bike and wiping out during a low speed turn, then lying in pain on someones driveway.

The worst part is the bruised knee feeling. It's the exact area that felt sore this morning. Now instead of a mild overuse injury, there is no mistaking the current "throbbing" pain. The bone feels like it's "bruised".

One last thing. Reid played a pretty good prank on me a week ago. Since I got a new full sized standee for the "man cave", I gave him my old football player standee for the "boy cave". One morning I woke up, opened my bedroom door and "almost crapped my pants".

He positioned it right outside the door and when I opened it, it looked like someone was standing there. It spooked me. Reid said my "whoa" squeal and follow up laughing and cursing woke him up AND made his day.

Unscheduled Rest Day

12

It wasn't easy...

In the past six days, I did just under 20 hours of training. This week was my first full training week and today, not surprisingly, was the toughest.

I woke up and my legs felt strong, or at least I thought. Rather than do my long run first thing in the morning, I decided to relax and try to fix my Kegerator.

I was emailing Jamie back and forth for technical support, then I heard a knock on the door and it was Jamie. He was sick of emailing back and forth and came to look at it.

It turns out that issue was the Keg was empty. In less than a month, 58 liters of beer was gone. The best part is that for the Beer Run, I'll have a nice full cold Keg ready for pouring.

I took the empty Keg back and got a new one from the Hamilton Beer Store, the Burlington location had no Coors light. From now on I'm going to Hamilton, the Kegs they sell are MUCH colder than the Burlington store. It has a huge warehouse and looks like a commercial distribution hub with a super cold cooling system.

This is the second large Keg I've ever bought. It was raining when I bought the first Keg and now it was raining when I bought the second one. The worst part is that I have to wheel the Keg downhill along the side of the house. It's slippery, muddy and a little dangerous with a 165 lbs of beer on a dolly. Then I have to wheel the keg into the house and the wheels are wet and muddy.

Before I got home with my Keg, I also picked up a new pair of earphones for my iPhone. I ended up going with a sports Panasonic pair that are water proof, wrap around the ear and have ear buds. I couldn't go on today's run without them. The old ones were driving me crazy with only one ear working and it "crackling". On the way out of the store there was a hot dog vendor, I couldn't help myself, I bought a dog.

Eventually, I pushed myself out the door for my run. The minute I started I knew it was going to be slow and hard. My legs had no spring in them and it had stopped raining and was humid. I felt like quitting at the 47 minute mark. I can't count how many times I thought I should just give Alice a call to pick me up. Not to mention, I kept burping up hot dog for the first half of the run.

Instead, of calling Alice, I started doing the occasional 30 second walk. At one point, I took a pee and forgot to turn my watch back on. I didn't realize it was off until 12 minutes passed. There is nothing more upsetting than not knowing your actual time and distance. It was a good thing I had my polar and it had a watch on it.

When I got to the halfway point, I created a new lap on the Garmin to keep track of the actual distance and I used the polar for the time. I wanted to quit so badly. I kept telling myself, "I can't, this is a critical workout for Kona, pay in training and play at the race".

Then something strange happened, I stopped thinking about it and just ran. It was like my legs were on auto pilot. With 45 minutes left, I knew I was going to make it home.

I finished with soaking wet feet. It wasn't from rain, it was from sweat. My entire body was dripping wet. All I wanted was something to drink, I hadn't taken any water with me on my run. I was thirsty and had Alice pour me a large pitcher of water as I stretched outside.

After showering, I put on my compression tights and it wasn't easy, especially when you're tired. I was lying on my back on my bed and it probably took me over five minutes. My legs were so fatigued I figured it couldn't hurt.

Also, on a personal note, I found out my mother shot a hole in one on Friday on a 100 yard par 3. Pretty impressive, especially when you consider she only started paying golf 5-7 years ago and is not a natural athlete.

Long Run - 2:20:49 / 25.50 km / 5:31 per km pace

Burger ride...

As sick as it sounds, I was looking forward to today's 7 hour ride. In preparation, I was a semi-good boy last night, I didn't party too hard and got to bed by 1 am.

This mornings plan was to head out with Jamie at 9 am and meet up with Shaw an hour away. I woke up at 8:44 am, Jamie bailed, and I was 15 minutes late getting out of the house and was rushed the entire time.

It was a cloudy day and the weather man said it may start raining in the late afternoon. I was glad I had a planned "rendezvous" time with Shaw. It forced me to get out of the house early. Normally, I get up and go when I feel ready. Although, I would have loved about a 40 minutes to have my coffee and relax before the ride.

From the minute I jumped on my bike I didn't feel strong. Half an hour into the ride I saw a small group of riders behind me. They were humping fast and before I knew it, they were beside me. I looked over and I saw this big, warm, welcoming smile. It was Mark Rutledge!!!

I met Mark on a bike ride in 2008. I was training for Louisville and he was training for Ironman Canada and we would go on long rides together. It was really great seeing him again. He was riding with a couple other guys and I rode beside Mark and talked briefly until they turned to go another direction.

Mark asked if I wanted to join them and I told him I couldn't, "I was meeting up with another guy". Truth be told, I'm glad I had to meet up with Shaw, these guys were "flying" and riding "drafting style". When I ride in a group, I want to socialize with no drafting.

Ten minutes later, I hooked up with Shaw. Like Mark, I met Shaw riding. He's 34 years old competitive cyclist and trains 15 hours a week, taking off only one rest day. Shaw's all of 155 lbs and climbs like there is no hill. He's a great training partner if you want to be pushed and have good conversation.

About 2:45 into the ride, my heart-light went out. I hadn't eaten or drank much and although I was wanting to get into a "semi-bonk" state at some point during the ride, this was much earlier than expected. I was now struggling to keep a 28 kph average speed.

Having a bonking moment, I find fun. I don't eat and drink as much as I would in a race. I think it helps condition the body to operate with less. I've heard some of the pros, like Chrissie Wellington, will do a 5 hour ride with no food.

I felt bad for Shaw, he was strong and I was holding him up. I told him he could "take off and leave me behind", but he declined. That's my style too, "no brother left behind". If you start together you finish together.

The ride reminded me of the one I had with Carlos early in the year when I was at a similar semi-bonk stage, perhaps a little worse and grinded it out for 5:30. The only difference was this ride was scheduled to be longer. I think my power was down from yesterday's four training sessions.

At one point I asked Shaw to stop at the next convenience store. I had a sandwich and bought some cranberry and grapefruit juice. It helped. The "semi-bonk" started to go away, the lack of power remained.

We headed back to Cambridge, where Shaw lives. His ride would end there and I'd continue on. Just before he got there, he stopped to show me a natural spring water location where he fills his water bottles. It was awesome, cold, clean water. I tried it and it tasted great. I'm so glad he showed it to me, it's about 50 km away from my home and along one of my regular out and back routes.

After I left Shaw, I had 2:45 left on my ride. I DID NOT WANT TO DO IT. It was spitting rain for a while and now it was raining. I had brief thoughts of, "I could call Alice, I could cut my ride short, my bum hurts, the ear phones on my iPhone are not working, my neck hurts". Eventually, I just SIU'd it and kept going.

I decided to take a different route, one I'd never taken before and wasn't sure where it would take me. With 2:45 left on the ride, I had time to get lost, which I did. With an hour left in the ride I had NO idea where I was. I pulled out the iPhone, opened the GPS feature, realized I was in Ancaster and spent the next 5 minutes trying to figure out the best way home.

I must say it was cool getting lost. It turns the ride from "grinding it out" to an "adventure". It kind of feels like your travelling across country and trying to figure out the best way to get from A to B. It was like being a kid again.

It was semi-busy highways I "had" to follow to get back to Burlington. With approximately 45 minutes left in the ride, I saw a roadside "Burger" place and decided to stop and have one. I figured, if you're going to go long, why not have some fun along the way. No one says you have to "torture" yourself all the time.

That burger hit the spot. As a matter of fact, I started getting stronger. I felt stronger for the last hour of the ride than the previous 2 hours. My legs felt like I was an hour into a regular ride. I probably had at least 2 - 3 more hours of riding in me.

With 10 km left, it started "pouring" rain. Other than being worried about my camera getting wet (the iPhone was in a plastic sandwich bag) I thoroughly enjoyed the rain. It was making the ride somewhat epic. I even decided to take a longer route and add more time than I had to, just to ensure the ride would be over 200 km. I also wanted to compensate for the slow overall speed.

I ended up doing a mini-tour of Ontario. I rode from Burlington to Acton, Georgetown, Cambridge, Dundas, Ancaster and back to Burlington.

When I pulled into my driveway, I was looking forward to my run. There is no way you're going to "bail" on a brick run after 7 hours in the saddle. That's something you'll regret. It essentially "negates" the ride and all you would remember is "pussying" out. Besides, 30 minutes of running seems much faster than 30 minutes on the bike.

The moment I finished, after I stretched and before even showering, I checked my Kegerator. I've been disassembling and trying to override the thermostat in order to get it colder. It's important that after a long day of training, you take care of the "priorities" in your life.

I then showered and even shaved my legs. It didn't even feel like I had a long training day. My legs came back feeling stronger than when I started. I was overall pleased with the ride, it was my first long ride since IMLP and this was my first full week back on the "big boys" training program. I wanted to start earlier, but coach Luis recommended against it.

The rest of the night started with barbecuing some nice big steaks and then trying to "nurse" my Kegerator back to health. I think increasing the temperature had caused the lines to freeze and all I was getting was foam. Which probably wasn't a bad thing, it kept me drinking less. I had to wait for the foam to go away before I could drink it.

I will say, I'm committed to this Kegerator. It's my baby. I don't care what it takes, but I'm going to get it almost freezing my beer and pouring perfectly. There will be no "tough love" or giving up on it. I'm making it my current "life mission" to get it exactly how I want it. I also now have a little drippage problem happening after I pour. By the time I'm done, I'll have my Kegerator expertise "black belt". Jamie's advice has also been a great help.

Rather than be discouraged, I'm giving it a nice "rub and pat" like a dog and telling it everything will be alright, "don't worry, you'll be fixed and running perfect in no time". The ONLY pressure I have is getting it working perfectly before this weekends Beer Run.

The rest of the night was sitting at the downstairs bar, watching "Lock up". Those guys are crazy son of a bitches.

Long Bike - 7:15:24 / 204.82 km / 28.22 kph avg

Brick Run - 31:11 / 5.91 km / 5:16 per km pace

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