Quick words

all is well and i have spent the last week sick as a dog and catching up since being back from Kona. the girsl are doing well and Blu was the one who got me sick but is better now. so E and I have not been training too much and we got forced out of the last 2 tri's we were going to do becuse of being sick. i am really bummed about this as i wanted to race bad. so now it is running season and road racing is where it is at. running running and more running with no swimming and just 3 days not 6 of cycling. this run season i will be doing different things then last: more track, more plyo's and more miles!!!!! gotta go out now for an hour easy run.
coffeee of the day= organic guatemalan

KONA-THE RACE

ok so another IM Hawaii wrapped up yesterday and i have now had 24 hours to reflect on the race. i also had 4 hours of great training here on the island and that gave me time to collect my thoughts on what is the worlds toughest one day event.
the day began before sunrise with a full battery and 1 gig card in the Nikon strapped to my back. after some quick oats, a call to erinne and of course 2 cups of IM brew i went out. i had my media credentials with me to photo and report in our next newsletter for october. i jumped on my ghisallo and pedaled to the race start.

i went right to the swim start and started shooting friends and other athletes. i got right up to Dede Griesbauer and clicked away. she is very sweet and Dede you did great and hung tough!
i then had to stae our the sweet spot for the swim start. the bronze sun rose over the mountains and shed light on the big blue pacific with swimmers scattered around the beach like ants. i have to admit: i've been here four times and never really desired to race this animal but this year is different. i have the twisting urge deep in my gut and and in my head that i want the suffering that the island brings to each athlete. in due time, all in due time!
i quickly heard that Faris was a no show. c'mon man, you come here, check your bike the day before and then no show. i'm pretty sure he was sick as my concensus with him is that he is afraid of no one and my limited conversations lead me to believe he isn't the type to wimp out.
i got some good shots of the swim start and the pro's exiting. the navy Seals landing in the water was cool but i think they missed there mark as they were supposed to come closer in. not that i told them this!

after the swim i ran like the wind to make it to the press truck. now i have reported about the press truck in the past and this year there were not so many people, nor europeans. this is a good thing as last year they didn't quite get the deoderant memo. UGH! this is a four deal where yo uare in a cage ont he back of a pickup truck. the truck heaves and sways side to side and speeds up and slows down to catch the Pro riders. as soon as we got out to the highway- BAM Natasha Badmann goes down right in front of us and i don't recall seeing a moto in the way. she just hit a cone a flipped. she laid on the groud for many minutes. the medical guys got her. Second FAVE to win out. then we stormed up to get to the front guys. normann was in the rear of the line of riders holding his stomach and taking some pills from the med van. i knew right there that he was going to be out. if he didn't blast passed them then he was non player in a sport where he has to be THE player.
chris lieto was in the front now by 2:30 and i hung out with his brother and other family as his lead grew. for the women dede had a god lead followed by MJ, Belinda Granger, Kate Major and the like. we were now standing at mile 40/80 and the sun was blazing worse then any florida day. there was little wind and no clouds so we were roasting like a pig on Christmas. the lietos were very cool and look for Matt to mix it up at IMFL. the men made there way back and Lieto was int he lead by 4:30 with Torbjorn right behind him. Macca, Deboom, Alexander were all in a pack behind (editors note: when i say pack i do not mean draft pack as they were all riding legal within the 10 meter rule).
on the way back we got shots of the women like Crissie Wellington (Team TBB), MJ (she would drop out right after we left her), Granger, Major,McGlone, Keat(very tough girl).
we made our way back to town and i went back to the media center in the host hotel for updates and then back to Alii drive to shoot more on the run. it was severly hot to say the least. listen, those high compression socks work. i got a pair and they do keep you cooler. they are also supposed to help with more circulation. the science seems sound so look for more of them in your long course races.
the run was brutul and for the racers too. there was a mix up in the players and then macca was in front and wellington as well. now i knew about wellington and what she could do as she races on Team TBB with Lisbeth and AJ. i didn't know she could win but could do well. she just turned Pro in February. THIS IS A HUGE STORY. she beat so mnay grils here that have been fighting for the win for many many years. i thought Sam McGlone did great as well in her first race here. GO FIGURE: all the faves faded and these girls come out of nowhere to take it. I am also very proud Team TBB Rebecca Preston for her 5th place here. GO BECK!

shouts out to to all my AG tri buds. Tough Tara way to hang in there. Ramsey, Marni, CG Brian way to have a great race. you all are very tough.

the day ended around 9pm with a collapse on the bed and many thoughts to fill my head. hey that rhymes. i'm a poet and didn't even know it.

check out the pictures on the bodyzen photos page in a week or so!
aloha till 2008!

Kona Pt. 2

So today was a nice one. I spent some time at the FrequenSea booth answering questions and giving info on this great new health product. Well let me back up. i did a nice 1 hour run early in the AM and then had some office time at thee condo. anyway after the booth tlaks i went to take pictures of the swim start and low and behold my good buddy Eddie Branigan is right there. i had no idea he was coming and he left it as a surprise to me so now i got a good buddy to hang out with. we then went to the Pro Athlete Press Conference and it was a doosy. typically the top 5 males and females from the previous year are all there answering questions from the worlds press. well after everyone knows about the BIG tiff between Normann, Macca and Faris and there has been so much written about that i was watiting to see what would happen. well, MACCA is a no show. you believe that??? what if yo uare his sponsor and he should be plugging your company and speaking about his approach to the race. but he was a no show and it was a very civil. good questions were asked and michellie, desiree and lisa were all class acts.
eddie and i hit a nice 20:00 ocean swim and then i hit the trisports.com party (thanks guys) and then a bit of a dinner and now hear i am writing to you all. tomorrow is a little bit of the same and then the race lifs off on saturday. more then!

KONA Pt. 1

So I left yesterday for Kona and the flights were really easy. Ft. Lauderdale to Phoenix to Kona. easy and simple flight. the PHX to KOA flight was 80% tri heads and a lot of movers and shakers on the flight. one of the reasons i come out here is to meet and deal with industry folk and on my flight was legendary tri photograper Timothy Carlson. this guys photos rock and in my opinion are the best tri pictures around. see his stuff at insidetri.com. also tri heros Karen Smyers and Jimmy Riccitello were chilling. NOTe to self: if you have a 6 hour flight then be sure not to get very back row where your seats do not recline. UH OH! so i get here and it feels like fricking an hour ago i was here. this is my fourth time here and i have never done the race but will one day. but it feels like yesterday i was here. time flies!!
i took it easy last night and went on a 45:00 easy run. THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE THE FIT FEEL FAT. man, people are is serious shape here and i see fit people every day. i was asleep by 8pm but aowke many times during the night as we are 6 hours back here. at 5am i was out the door to one of my favorite places on Planet Earth. Lave Java (islandlavajava.com) after a bowl of oatmeal and two mugs of the Kona Medium Roast0this stuff is so smooth and like jet fuel.) i went home and got my gear together. i met some friends at the pool to swim and had a good 2200 meter workout. i mounted my Ghisallo and went on a two hour trek on the Queen K highway where the race is. i have a rule not to train very hard the day after a long flight but rather keep it low intensity. well, after 3 minutes in the saddle i found myself on the back of a paceline of 2 guys doing 50 KPH. i sat with them for 40 minutes or so as they cuised and surged and cruised some more. it is so hot out there and there is no shade. we had a tailwind and were really cooking and i was not looking forward to the long solo ride back into the wind but aftere an hour i turned around and rode easy on the downhills and worked the uphills. some UBER female passed me and i got on her wheel and she was cooking man. it was all i could do to stay on her wheel but she helped me cruise home. nice ride all in all. BUT, i would say 80% of the athletes here have TT helmets on. big change from last year. so i am off to meetings and events for the rest of the day and perhaps a sunset surf. aloha Mr. Hand!

Interbike Year 4 and other updates

AHHHHHHHHHH

another interbike come and gone and whats hot is hot and if you're not hot well then you're cold. it was really a guys trip again as me and some mates made our way to sin city for the latest and greatest in bike tech. this is a great show if you are into cycling and this year like last is all about carbon carbon carbon. now tri companies are hiding brakes under forks and frames for less drag. TT helmets were all the rage and every company has there own stiff this and less flex that. i like that QR is improving the new line with a Lucero Lite, regular lucero and now Titanium lucero. a ti bike is a great ride and i think people are forgetting this. i ride a litespeed ti road bike and it is the bomb. the show went by quick and i really liked the latest in clothing tech and the way companies are fusing materials and creating some very flash apparel. check out triathletemag.com as they have some great photos of the line up from the show.



baby blu is great and is saying papa all the time.

the rest of the month is pretty hectic as we go to the Zephyr Sport Champs in Florida this week and then i leave for IM Hawaii next week for 7 days and then back for a few weeks and then the 70.3 champs in clearwater are going to be cool as i'll be escorting AJ and up and coming tri stud reinaldo colucci around.



there are still 3 more tris this year for me and 2 more for EZ and she is on a tear this week trying to get some speed. we are drinking Jittery Joes this week and it rocks big time!