those annoying spam e-mails you get from friends. I know they think the information is valid since they got it from a "good" source. But when I see that it's been forwarded ten times prior I immediately get suspicious.

This one I recognized and being in IT I know this is a crock of sh*t. The main focus of the e-mail hoax is:

When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will
track it (If you are a Microsoft Windows user) for a two weeks
time period.

Ummm.....yeah....right. Won't/can't happen.

I like to take a couple minutes to search key phrases in the "e-mail" and see what pops up.

With this one I used Pearlas Sandborn as the search criteria.

Oh look. Snopes.com is the first hit.....along with hoax-slayer.com and breakthechain.org.

I responded to everyone in the e-mail list stating it was a hoax and that I did a web search.

I mean several web sites said it was a hoax and everything on the internet is true....right? Al Gore wouldn't let his brainchild lie to us....would he?

The entire purpose of this type of e-mail is to waste time and resources. Clog up e-mail servers and have people send it to everyone in their contacts.

STOP.THE.INSANITY!!!!!!

I'm not bashing my friends but I feel the need to educate them on these items.

Rant..Done.

Game..On.

Everyone has a weakness. But it's really a matter of how strong is a person to admit/accept that weakness. Even more so how committed is one to correcting the weakness.

There are many weaknesses out there that usually fall into two categories: mental and physical.

I know I have mental weakness. I'm a procrastinator. I actually find myself doing my best work under an intense deadline and within a short period of time. I also procrastinate if I don't have a huge interest in the task. There may be other things that are more fun to work on or do.

I also think I've developed an ADD type of mental weakness. It's not the chemical imbalance ADD that is treated with Ritlin. No, I'm talking about the lack of focus that many people are now displaying because of technology. How many distractions do I encounter during a single day?

• Work e-mail where people are expecting immediate answers.
• Personal e-mail that I check way too often.
• Instant messaging.
• Cell phone calls.
• Text messages.
• Blog posts - writing and reading.
• Youtube videos
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Weblinks that lead to more weblinks
• Television
• Radio

Yeah.....the good old USA has become the United States of ADD.

I've been getting better about my mental focus. I go off-line with my e-mail and only update it 2 or 3 times a day. I shut down the personal instant messaging....work stays active. I'm writing down a to do list. It's time to get my head in the game.

It's hard to believe an Ironman triathlete would have any physical weaknesses. It all depends upon how you look at it and what forces the revelation. For me it was a 5k+ at the beginning of October.

What is a 5k+? It was a Crossfit Cleveland event recommended by a couple of our friends.

The workout was to do the following:

Run 500 meters
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 squats

Repeat 10 times.

The numbers don't look to intimidating until you look at the finals stats.

Run 5k....5000 meters
50 pull-ups
100 push-ups
150 squats.

I did okay. Finished in just over 37 minutes. The pull-ups and push-ups are what killed me.

I am not the strongest in the upper body. I really don't like to lift weights. I've tried to follow a lifting routine several times only to fall of it completely out of boredom or the better weather of spring. I hate to spend a workout indoors lifting weights when I could instead be outside running or riding.

Anyways, my upper body was pretty shot by the end of the 5k+. My legs were fine. My chest and biceps were screaming. I completed everything in just over 37 minutes....about 10 minutes after the first finisher.....and about 20 seconds ahead of Aimee. Aimee paced herself much better than I and was able to do the upper body exercises better than I since she teaches Body Sculpting two times a week.

Yeah....Aimee did great.

We did the 5k+ on Saturday morning. I was fine for the rest of the week, but starting Monday DOMS showed up. You know who DOMS is.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.

The only problem with this is that I was not experiencing muscle soreness. It down right f*ck!n' hurt!

I was messed up for a week.

I couldn't straighten my arms because the biceps were tight.
I was having a hard time reaching back to put on my jacket.
I had to bend over in the shower to wash my hair.
I was rolling out of bed because I couldn't push myself up.
I borrowed my neighbors tractor to cut the grass because I couldn't pull start my own lawnmower. Even then I had a hard time steering and the bumps in the yard made my pectoral muscles bounce up and down......ooooo that hurts.

I will never forget what that felt like. I never want to feel that again.

So what do I do to after I recovered from my 5k+?

I joined Crossfit Cleveland.

I needed these workouts.

I wanted these workouts.

As I approach my 43rd birthday I do need to incorporate strength training into my workouts. I also know this will improve my overall fitness. My core will be stronger and my endurance will improve.

I've been hitting the workouts twice a week and am also trying to do one at home on the weekend.

I can tell it's helping. My push-ups and pull-ups are coming along. Aimee is noticing some changes also.

So yeah......find a weakness and do something about it. It will make you a better person.

That is essentially how I have felt over the past several months. My posts have been weak....if you want to describe it as that.

I mean...nothing for the month of November?!?!?!? Holy lack of motivation Batman!

I stood in the bathroom the other day and the sight inspired me.

Hey now people....keep it clean. This is a family type blog. It's not like I was taking a wiz or standing in front of the mirror naked....but I have been told.....

TIME TO PULL IT BACK TOGETHER PRETTY BOY.

Actually I was staring at this.....


Yeah....laundry. And you can ignore my pink bathrobe hanging on the wall.

But I looked at the pile of clothes spilling out of the hamper onto the floor and realized.....
"Yep, that's what my life has been like the past several months."

And I blame work. In this economy I can't complain. I have a job I enjoy and every once in a while it gets super crazy...but I do love a challenge.

My last official race was the DoubleMussel at the end of July. My season was essentially over and that is when a huuuuggggeeeee project at work started to get very active. At times I felt overwhelmed and ready to toss in the towel because everything was piling up and spilling over.....kind of like laundry needing to be washed.

I didn't even want to read my favorite blogs. I would try to catch up in spurts but some of you I am seriously behind. Tri-Diesel: 30 behind. Mel's 2nd chances: 56 posts unread. T-Bone's reports: 27 posts including his Ironman Kona reports. Jess's journey: 56.

So what does one do when faced with what appears to be an insurmountable task.

You sort it out.


It's doesn't look as bad now. Work on each item individually and eventually all the laundry is done.

Mid November the HUGE project started to taper off. There are still some loose ends to tie up but I am able to work on other projects, think about blogging again and start updating everyone on my training.

Aimee was a grounding point during all of this.....just like she always is.

Big things are happening for 2010.

....HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!!!!!

What.....who.....me?

Yeah you.

Who's yelling at me?

It's me....P2C. You know. Your tri bike.


Oh man you had me worried there. I thought it was some of my blog readers coming after me.

No one reads your stupid blog you hack. So once again, Where the hell have you been?

I've been around.

Not with me you haven't.

I know. August was my off month. I didn't forget about you. We had a good ride at Musselman both days. I figured you needed some time off also.




Fine...sure. I wouldn't have cared but you didn't touch me for two weeks after Musselman.

I know.

I was dirty. You put me away in the garage and I was dirty.

I know.

No you don't know. I WAS DIRTY! You peed on me....TWICE. Remember?

Oh that. Yeah, I guess you are right. Sorry about that.

Sorry don't cut it. YOU PEED ON ME!!!!!

I tried to wash you down during the ride. I sprayed water on you.

Oh sure. What about the chain. Water....chain.....rust. Duuuuuhhhhhhh.

Okay. I was a little slow cleaning you. I cleaned you up pretty nice. Lubed the chain. Cleaned the carbon fiber real good.

Then you just left me to collect dust in the garage. You sure know how to tease a guy. Put me in the bike stand right at the edge of the garage. Able to see the outside without a chance to get my tires on the pavement. DAMN YOU!!!!

August was a very busy month and I needed the time off. Don't forget, our season started early this year with Triple T. I was ready for a break.




Sure fine. A small ride would have been nice. Instead you use me as a holder for your bug spray. Thanks a lot.

Hold on. Let me see where August went. I can't believe it's September already.

August 1 Aimee and I had dinner with friends in Vermilion. Oh there was a lot of wine and we closed the restaurant. No chance getting up early to ride the next morning. However, I did ride the..mountain..bike..uh forget about that.

Go oooonnnn.

August 8/9 I had to work then we volunteered at the Greater Cleveland Triathlon. It turned into a duathlon because of the strong lake current. You should have seen all of the...Cervelo...bikes...at..the.race....uh forget about that too.

You mean my extended family was there! Damn you.

August 15/16 was more work and the Vermilion tri. I was in no shape to race but Aimee did the Aquabike.




That prissy pink Cervelo was able to race. This is totally unfair.

August 22/23 I had more work....again.

And last weekend August 29/30 Aimee and I went to Denver to visit Marc and Gloria. We saw Depeche Mode in concert at Red Rock. We also drove to the top of Pikes Peak.

We also went through a park called Garden of the Gods



Oh and then you probably rode one of Marc's bikes while you were there.

Actually no. Aimee and I ran in a race called the Skirt Chaser 5k. The women had a 3 minute head start on the guys.

Did Aimee kick your ass?

Almost. I didn't get her until 2.5 miles. We did cross the finish line together holding hands. We were both 11th in our age group. Aimee talked with Nicole Deboom after the race.

You're about to make me puke.

August certainly did fly by. How about a ride tonight? Do you want to get out on the road?

Sure but I don't quite feel right. Something is different. WHERE ARE MY FLASHPOINTS!!!!!

I let Eric B borrow them for Ironman Louisville. They looked sweet on his white Trek. He flatted twice because of some tacks on the road. But he finished in 12:10:10.


FLATTED!!! I'm about to faint. I need some fresh air.

Okay. I'll get changed and we can go for a ride.

And put some damn air in my tires. I feel about 60 pounds low. If I didn't like that guy so much I'd toss him in a ditch.

All set. Let's see how my legs are today. I don't want to go too fast but I'll open it up a couple of times.

Damn right. I'm built for speed mother fu.....

STOP RIGHT THERE!! This is a family type of blog. I have youngins' reading my posts.

Fine. Let's get going then. "BAAACCCKKK in the saddle again"

That's right. Game On.

....and the body will follow. (PTMATBWF)

My tri buddy Eric B. sent me that message as I drove down to southern Ohio for the Triple T. It served me well on the last day during the half marathon. When I returned home I sent him a message asking where he found this saying.

His very modest answer, "I did." I did a google search of the phrase and sure enough, there were several hits of topics close to the phrase but none exact. Eric's phrasing is perfect in my opinion.

I pushed him further as to where the phrase came from. He had been reading a book about the Navy SEALS when it came to him. To be a good soldier, especially at that level, one must be prepared to go above and beyond. To be a great soldier (armed forces special forces like Delta, Rangers and SEALs) may require a soldier to push so hard that the outcome is one of two: completion of the mission or die trying.

Okay, I know this is a little extreme for triathlon or any other sport but let's take it in perspective. Many athletic events are all about pushing ones self to the limits or reaching personal goals. No where is this more evident than triathlon and running.

Look at these two pictures....stern concentration and determination on their faces.





I'll also include cycling because I have a personal bias towards it even though it does not receive the mainstream recognition since Lance Armstrong retired. But there is something to be said about riding 100 miles in one day, especially when most people can't imagine driving that far in a car.

Even in professional sports I can appreciate the talent the top athletes display and they do push themselves damn hard, but the industry is so tainted with drugs and thugs that I can barely stand watching any of that shit. There is something to be said for real athletes who push themselves to the edge for pride and honor instead of the big paycheck. "Pay me mo' money because I am that good" F' you all you spoiled little prissy boys....make..me..sick.

Give me an age grouper who pukes his guts out after an Olympic triathlon on Sunday then goes to his office job on Monday with nothing but a pat on the back and a sense of fulfillment in his heart. I will also cheer louder for the back of the pack runner who is completing their first 5k, 10k, half or full marathon. They have won over my respect.

Okay.....time to pull it back now. Just had to get that out a little......damn pretty boy Favre needs to STAY retired......bit so that I can get back to writing about.......and tell Manny to grow up, damn finger nail biting, dread lock wearing Marley wanna be who actually looks like a Predator.....pushing the mind.

So a couple of weeks ago Aimee and I attended an event where Ray Zahab spoke. Ray was one of the runners in Running the Sahara. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but he was an excellent speaker. At first I thought he was just going to tell us about his wild and crazy adventures, but he tied everything together with a purpose and lessons learned.

I realized, "Well duh.....you try running across the Sahara or Antarctica and see if you can't learn something about yourself or the others around you." Talk about pushing your mind. This guy had to fight two occurrences of dysentery, sand storms, blisters, high heat and dehydration with no rest days. Across the Sahara they were out there for 100 days......running.....every.day.

Push that!

Now hang onto your pants....I'm finally going to tie it all together myself with the help of Ray.

His most memorable quote...........

"Running is 90% mental, the rest is all in your head."

Push the mind....and the body will follow.

The mind is a powerful tool. You take it with you where ever you go. Do not listen or believe what you body or anyone else is telling you, especially if the word "can't" is involved.

Thanks to Cyndi and Eric for "pushing" me to write this post. Sometimes I just need a little help from my friends.

Game On.

And yet another week slips by with little action in the blog-o-sphere. Oh I've been reading my favs and posting comments but the posts on my own have just not been there. I commented on Cyndi's blog about not worrying about missed workouts and not playing catch-up.

Normally I would do that with my own blog but this time I'm going to brain dump and recap the last week.

Last Monday I was out of town at a customer for 3 days. No problem there is a YMCA in town and I can still swim and run. Problem.....the pool is closed for repairs. I'm flexible....I deal with it.

Tuesday was another quality treadmill workout. It's a fun one where you keep a steady pace but you change the elevation every 60 seconds. You can read about it here.

Wednesday I drive back home and ride on the trainer. Nothing heavy but something to loosen the legs.

Thursday I ran again. 6.5 miles with some tempo at 1 mile, .25 mile and .5 mile distances. Another quality workout.

Friday is rest day. Whew. Except for a fund raising wine tasting at the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame.

Saturday was a quality brick. Aimee and I rode together for 2:15 hours then I rode for another 1:30. The portion I rode alone was some great tempo work on the bike followed by a 4.5 mile run. I knew it was going to hurt but I pushed myself twice for a .5 mile and then a .25 mile surge. I don't know how long I ran but the brick total was probably 4:15.

This day was filled with quality. The best part was riding with Aimee then having her ride the mountain bike during my run.

In case I haven't said it before, she is awesome. We followed up our training day with dinner downtown before Aimee and a friend saw Chelsea Handler. I played chauffer and dropped them off at the theater. I visited my brother before picking them up again.

Sunday we ran with some friends. Well, Aimee ran with friends while I hit the Buckeye trail between Brecksville Reservation and Snowville Road. My legs were so heavy for the first several miles and then things started to feel pretty good. I love being the only one on the trails and just loosing myself to the wooded path. Still pretty muddy but the legs were coming through for me. I finished that run with 9 miles in 1:27 time.

So today was just a nice day to loosen up in the pool. It was the first time in over 10 days. I swam 1000 yards to loosen up before getting in the whirlpool. Tomorrow is a hard swim workout. Maybe the long break from the pool with provide some good times in the water.

Brain dump over. Hopefully I won't need to do this again too soon because the Game appears to be gettin' On.