A Different Kind of Bike Ride on Christmas Day

While I have been cycling on a two wheel bike, my children and future son-in-law have been riding four wheel ATVs. On Christmas day, I joined the rest of my family in their love of riding four wheelers. After opening the presents, the “bikes” were load onto the trailer and into the back of pickup trucks and off to Carnegie Park we went. I must admit it was a blast, riding in the mud, over hills and through water!!!

[Left] Jessica after riding for a few hours in the mud

[Right & Below] Mike on his new quad, after playing in the mud.

[Left] Me and Drew (Jessica's fiancee)

[Above L to R] Drew, Jessica, and Cousin Dave, and of course Harly

After riding, we or I should say the guys loaded the bikes, and we headed home to take hot showers. Awaiting us at my home was a crock pot of beef ribs, which melted off the bones. Next I began cooking a tri tip, and mash potoates plus vegs.

Christmas was a good day!!!

Aches and Pains of trying to run

Dec. 22

I tried running my scheduled workout, but only 5 minutes into the run, my groin was in PAIN!!! I couln't run. I felt like crying, thinking how am I going to do Ironman when I can't even run 5 minutes w/o pain. So I walked, and tried running again after a few minutes. Still PAIN. I walked home very sad, and feeling defeated. I then went into problem solving mode. How can I make this better? I decided to call Trevor who is a Chiropractor /MD to see me and for an adjustment. Thank goodness he had an opening, if I could get to his office in 25 minutes (Liv to Pleasant Hill) Did it. With some adjusting, PT, and takening it a bit easy. I'm feeling better, but not 100%.

Christmas Toys for Stanford Children

My fellow ironteam mates collected toys and gift cards for the children at Stanford Hospital undergoing treatment for cancer. Below is a message of thanks:

From Kris:
"Good Morning Team... and happiest of holiday wishes to you all!!

The toys we collected were passed along to Keith and Brandy Regan on Tuesday morning. This morning I received the notes below from Brandy to thank us all and give a little insight into how the gifts will be appreciated by everyone.So... AWESOME JOB!!

regards - kris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Brandy

"Perfect! All your efforts will pay off, believe me!!! Two years ago we did the same toy drive and let me tell you It was one of our best days.

To make a very long story short, two years ago there was a brother and sister who were diagnosed only 4 months of each other. Both were teenagers, both with two different types of cancer. For the older kids we had purchased $75 best buy cards. Anyways 4 months ago the sister had died. So we went to her funeral and afterwards her brother came up to us and said those gifts on Christmas made them feel so much better, as if other people cared about them as well. It was very heartwarming. It was his sisters funeral and he wanted to thank us for the gifts. Just goes to show every single act of kindness will and can make a difference.

Keith and I will also be purchasing gift cards from ColesCure for the teenagers. I find it so important that we all do a little bit to help each other out. Its amazing, what could be a small deed turns out to be something so rewarding and fulfilling.

The IronTeam amazes me. I have been training for my marathon and I can barely imagine my 26.2 miles. You all are very strong willed, emotionally and physically strong to accomplish such a goal. Im in awe!!! Please send our thank you's to the team. We will definitely let everyone know in the cancer ward what amazing work you all do....

Thank you again,

Tilden Park Run

[Tiden Park 7:50 am Sunday 12/18 Coach Wayne giving us instructions before the run]






The previous pictures below might give the appearance I’m partying more than training rest assured it just isn't so.




Last week workouts were something like:
Wednesday: Run 30 minutes before work.
Thursday: Swim 2300 yards after work, grab a bit to eat with a friend. Home at 10:00pm.
Friday: One hour of P.T. in the Rockridge area of Oakland.
Saturday: Bike ride in SF for 2 hours, 15 minutes, and much of that was in the pouring rain, next off the bike for a quick 15 minute run. This is called a “brick” workout when you bike then quickly lace up your running shoes and run. It gets the leg muscle used to biking and running.
Sunday: Run 80 minutes in Tilden Park along the Bay View trail. It started out cold, but quickly turned to heavy rain, with wind so strong at times it felt like I was not even moving.

[L] After the run, I'm soaking wet from head to toe, but it wasn't that bad. Felt invigorated. I did it!

Girlfriends at a Christmas Party

[L to R] JoAnn, Dennette, Me, and Sandy

These girlfriends I've had for over 20 years, so you can image the amount of talking we recently did at a Christmas Party. Lots of catching up to do, since these days I'm usually on a bike, in the water, or running on a trail somewhere in the greater Bay Area. Staying connected to friends, while training for Ironman can be difficult.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays !!!!

Paradise Park Swim/Spin/Run

Paradise Park in Tiburon was the site of our triple workout on Sunday morning



In the true order of triathlons, the team starts with a swim, in the chilly water of Paradise Park.

Time: 8:00 am Distance: 1000 yards


***Note: for the record, I did not exit correctly off of one of the freeways, and spent time correcting my directional errors. Darn it. I arrived too late to swim. **** But I was able to take these great photos.

Next we gets on our bikes for 50 minutes. Our bikes are locked into a special "trainer". This keeps our bike stable, while we spin in place. Think spin class outdoors, and on your own bike. One of our coaches, Tom, tells us how fast to spin, and in what gear. They have us working hard, notice the jacket is off.

Following the bike, we ran for 30 minutes within the park, along dirt trails, across grass and then up two very steep set of stairs. I ran this circular loop 4 times! Boy was my heart rate getting pretty high as I was climbing the stairs.

Practice ends, we stretch in the parking lot and then load the training gear, back into the cars.

Next stop: BREAKFAST!!!

at Dipsea in Mill Valley, for a world famous breakfast. (Really I just made up the world famous part, but I did learn the restaurant is well know for their food. And it's the name of a well know trail run)

Well that is it for another Sunday of training on the road to Ironman Canada.

The Night Before Chemo, By Heather Warrick

The Night Before Chemo, By Heather Warrick
T’was the night before chemo, when all through the room
Not a patient was stirring, from Ativan I presume
The chemo bags were hung on I.V. poles with care
In hopes that a cure soon would be there
The patients were nestled all snug in their lounge chairs
Sipping Ensure and hugging Relay teddy bears
And the nurse in her scrubs and I in my wig
Had just settled down for another chemo gig
When out in the parking lot there arose such a clatter
I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter
Away to the window, I flew like a flash
Tore open the blinds and threw up on the glass
Soothing my nausea with the fresh cool breeze
The wind took my wig and it flew with such ease
When what to my wondering eyes did I see?
Eight tiny nurses giggling with glee
Leading the pack was an oncologist so sweet
With a mission of cancer that they would beat
To help with side effects from chemo we blame
Was his arsenal of drugs that he shouted by name
"Now Xanax!, now Ativan!, now Zofran! and Compazine!
Lets offer comfort with bon bons and magazines.”
"On Vicodin!, on Darvocet!, on Tylenol! and Morphine!
Let’s make them loopy and make a big scene!”
To the top of Mt. Courage, to the top of Mt. Hope
Now dash away, dash away so we can help cope
With tumors and lesions and lumps it is clear
We must make their cancer finally disappear!
So up to the clinic-top, they flew and flew
With a sleigh full of drugs and the doctor too
Then with a jingling I heard from their purse
Was the prancing and pawing of each little nurse
As I drew in my head and was turning around
In through the vent the doctor came with a bound
His eyes, how they twinkled, his dimples so merry
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry
He was dressed all in white with an ugly plaid tie
He preached to the patients, “Do not ask why.”
Have courage, choose hope and just think positive
Live, love and laugh and your life will be lucrative

Never forget that you are heroes in my book
Conquering cancer without a second look
With a wink of his eye and a twist of his head
He soon let me know I had nothing to dread
A bundle of drugs he had flung on his back
He looked like a drug dealer opening his pack
He spoke not a word but went straight to work
Making me feel sick, so I called him a jerk
A human pin cushion, I had become
So multiple pokes, again I succumb
But then I remembered, my life he was saving
So I realized I better start really behaving
"What comes around goes around" I always say
And a bad attitude might haunt me one day
I thanked him for fighting with me side by side
With two against one, cancer cannot hide
Then laying his finger aside of his nose
And giving a nod, up the vent he rose
He sprang to his sleigh, gave the nurses a sign
To travel the world fighting cancer like mine
The sleigh was our hope and he was the driver
Bringing strength and good cheer to every survivor
I heard him exclaim as he flew out of sight
Happy Holidays to all and to all a good night!

The Base Phase is about....

getting comfortable. The first three months of Iron Team is considered the "Base Phase"

These are some of the things I'm working on getting comfortable with:
- bicycling in general, descending, climbing, and being in a bike seat for hours at a time
- making sure bike fit is good and bike seat/shorts are comfortable (I've got an appointment w/ my physical therapist to evaluate my bike fit)
- knowing how to change a tire and feel confident changing one (or two) in a race (I'm working on this one. Still not confident with changing a tire)
- running at a good pace, running slowly, and running in the right pair of shoes and socks (Got it!)
- training 6 days a week (working on this, I manage to workout 5 days a week and sometime 6, but boy do I need my long naps on the weekends. I believe it's called recovery and as you age....you need more recovery time, just don't bounce back like I was 20 or 30. But then again nor do cancer patients after a round of Chemo. Gotta keep the focus, as to why I do this. Fund Research. Find a cure and/or better types of treatments)
- getting in that open water and swimming without guidelines (Got this one down! Yippee ;-)
- eating while working out and knowing what tastes good (working on it)
- making time for training (Wow this one is a big one for me. It so hard to find the time to work in all the trainings and it's only the base phase!!! )
- finding people on the team that you can workout with time/skill/location-wise-
- knowing your spots, bike spots, pool, places to run (learning these "spots" and finding new ones all the time.)

While Ironman is still many, many months away. I must continue working on and focus on getting comfortable with myself/team workout locations, focus on the drill work, and time management. Later....I'll work on increasing my strength and ability to train with longer distances .

Burrrrr....Practice Tri

This morning at 7:15 am I was on Treasure Island setting up my transition area. The transition area is where you layout/set up all the gear required for the event. As you can see triathlons require a lot of gear!!! Wetsuit, goggles, swim cap, body glide, towels (2), one water bottle to rinse off your feet, bike, helmet, biking shoes, 2 water bottles for you bike, sunglasses, socks, nutrition, arm & leg warmers, jacket, running shoes, visor. Some people I know like the guy behind me (and Jim), really know how to condense to just the very basics. Me. I somehow brought everything, except the kitchen sink and since I had the room to spread it all out. I did. What the heck, during a "real" event, this isn't an option. Then we are packed like sardines.




[Right] The information/food booth. Staffed by all our coaches and mentors.








[Left] Coach Wayne giving us our instructions for the day.
'Ok team today we're going to....
Swim in the cove 950 yards, bike 12 miles, and run 3 miles. Now you have 7 minutes before we head over to the cove. Not 10 minutes..." Coach Wayne is very good with keeping us on time. I hope to learn this skill set over the course of training.

The team heading down towards the water's edge.

Burrrrr.....the water was extremely cold!!! When I put my face in the water to start the race. It felt like dunking my face in a bucket of ice. But it didn't slow me down. I came in 4th, out of 65 swimmers today. Woo Hoo!!! Now the bike portion was a completely different story. I was soooo slow, everyone was passing me (later on I learned my back brake was rubbing the entire time! call me Lance, but it's true)

Next the run....my feet were still frozen, but I kept moving one foot in front of the other. Finished the run with an ok time of a 10 minute mile.

Here's a different view of the cove I swam in. The swim course was just left of the boats. Now for the story as to how I got this great shot. The Bay Bridge was shut down for about a half-hour due to police activity. A package was found on the bridge near Treasure Island, and it had to be removed. So I made the most of the situation, and for the first time in my life, I walked on the Bay Bridge and took pictures. This is one of them. As is the picture of my car (white w/bike on top, no driver) and the others cars parked on the bridge.



Wow! What a Sunday morning.