This is NOT an April Fool's Joke

March was.....to put it bluntly,

one

HUGE

month!

After almost 60 hours of efforts (I came up 3 mins short), I wound up with:
Swim: 35,250 yards
Bike: 466.15 miles
Run: 155.52 miles (are you kidding me?!?!?)

Basically I got it done in March and this will be the volume to not only carry me through my Half Ironman in a mere 10 days, but also is setting me up perfectly with a solid base when I hit Ironman specific training on May 1st.

I never DREAMED of running that much in 31 days. That comes out to be 5 miles EVERY day! Looking back, I ran a total of 56.67 miles in March of '09, and just 87 miles during March of last year. (I had a 40 mile week this past month!)

March was a major yo-yo month. I had a good week, then I had a bad week, then I had an excellent week, then I had a crappy week, finishing (so far) with a pretty decent week.

I did one race, a 15K down in Central Park and had a HUGE PR (by 9 mins). I think the running volume with intensity, especially on some of the long runs, has finally paid off.

Here are some race photos for your enjoyment :)

WHAT am I looking at?!?

Chipmunk cheeks! Was I exhaling?

Actual finish time: 1:06:04

So to silence all of you race fashion policemen and policewomen, I wore tights this time :) Apparently running pants was a major running fashion crime! haha!

As of right now, my legs are 80% healed from the race and I am preparing for one last onslaught this weekend before Galveston. 3.5 hour ride on Saturday plus a 30 min brick, followed by a 2 hour run on Sunday. Wow! Its easy volume. NO intensity! A bit different from my past tapers but I trust my coach and I am sure he knows what he is preaching. (I think he is doing St. Croix in a few weeks to qualify for Kona).

Have a good weekend!

Yasso 800's + McMillan Running Calculator + 15K PR = Twilight Zone Theme Song!!!

I had a bit of a Eureka moment this morning while running around the track getting my speed workout in. A few week's ago I did a 6 x (800 hard, 400 easy) set on the track. Basically I came up two 800's shy of completing a Yasso 800 workout, which can determine a possible marathon time by taking the average of your 800's. My average came out to be 3:22, aka, a possible 3:22 marathon time. Riiiiiiiight! I laughed it off! (I have never ran a marathon. Heck, I have never ran more than 15.5 miles!)

Well after my 15K PR this past Sunday, I entered my time into the trusty McMillan Running Calculator to see calculated times for other distances.

A 1:06:04 15K yields this chart:

3:20:05 Marathon?!?!?!? Wait a sec, did the almost-Yasso 800 workout actually speak some truth?!??!?!

So I took a 3:22:00 marathon and plugged it into the calculator. It spit back:

1:06:42 for the 15K time. Holy @*#&@* Batman!

For those of you experienced Marathon runners, how trusty have your times been with the McMillan Running calculator? Have you ever used Yasso 800's to determine a Marathon time and how close was it?

Which brings me to my next point. The NYC Marathon in November. I have a gauranteed entry and basically paid almost $200 last year to NOT run it. I'd hate to lose my entry and I'd also hate to pay another almost $200 to NOT run it again.

So I have decided TO run it! Regardless of what the McMillan charts say above, I have no goals for this race yet (As in a time to shoot for: I will know more in the weeks and days leading up to the race). This race is still a LONG ways away and I first have to power through an Ironman first. I talked with my coach and brought up the concern of "will I be recovered in time for another build for this marathon in November?" He responded with "Yes and Yes."

I have till April 19th to pay more $$$ and officially re-enter.

THIS is my INNER FIRE for the day!

Help Me Light Some Inner Fires; The Countdown Begins!!!

For those of you who don't know, I have my first major race of the season coming up in less than two weeks on April 10th down in Galveston, Texas. I am doing the Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas...aka the longest name of a race in the history of triathlon.

For keeping things simple around here, we shall refer to this race simply as the Galveston 70.3. Better? Oh! Blogging superstar Jeff @ DangleTheCarrot is doing this race as well as he preps himself for his first full Ironman, Ironman Texas, in late May.

People often find the taper to be one of the hardest things to do leading up to a race. I often find that the week BEFORE the taper is often the hardest, not just because it is very physically demanding, but also mentally it's tough because you have to put in one more week of demanding work, THEN back it off for a week and go crazy simultaneously.

I find finding the motivation to put the hard work in that last week is really what makes it hard. Let's take last week for example. I had just come off of a solid 16 hour week that transitioned into a week where NOTHING went right. The weather was absolute crap; I was having "issues" out on the run. My work schedule was messing up my swim schedule. Blah blah blah blah, whine whine whine whine, play the violin and get me a tissue cuz I am crying like a little baby right now. Oh! The Whambulance just drove by....

So there you have it. Finding the motivation to get outside or into the pool to get the workout done is basically 50% of the workout. I know I have done the work and put the time in, I just don't wanna blow it!

And this is where I refer to what I call THE INNER FIRE! This is that burning inside desire to GET OUT THERE and get the workout done according to plan and to your best ability. These are the sessions that count and that pay dividends come race day.

I have about 12 more days of lighting these inner fires before race day. It's simple. You wake up, you figure out what you need to get done on that particular day, and you mentally do the workout in your head. You think about what you are going to eat before, during and after. You think about how you are going to stretch after. You even think about where you are going to hit the gas and where you are going to recovery during the workout. Every workout has a goal.

So only 12 days? Can I get some help?

Hello Monday, Here is my first video blog post!

I picked up a Flip MinoHD video camera last week so I have decided to do a video blog post to change things up! I also learned how to use my web cam finally (don't ask). I complained that there are only so many ways to explain another 3 hour ride and 30 min brick run, so here is another way. Man, I must do a lot of rambling, but here I am in the flesh and blood explaining things not in the written word. Enjoy! (and excuse my lazy eyelid. I can't help it! haha!)....oh and you might need to up the volume a bit @ times...I have no way to balance the audio between my web cam and Flip.

Wow! I didn't mean to ramble on for 10 minutes! OOPS! If you got bored, at least skip ahead to the very end. I think its funny and its the first time that has happened to me since I was a kid.

Sunday I did the 15K race. Here is my post race reaction!

As promised, here are my splits:
15K(9.3 miles), 1:06:04 / 7:07 pace avg
Mile 1: 7:21
Mile 2: 6:44
Mile 3: 7:42 (WTF?)
Mile 4: 6:57
Mile 5: 7:05
Mile 6: 7:08
Mile 7: 6:59
Mile 8: 7:00
Mile 9: 6:56
last 0.3: 2:10

That mile 3 split KILLED my overall average! GAH! Oh well! I am still super pumped with how I did today. After a 5K warmup, the race, and a .6 mile cool down, I rounded out the day with 13.1.


Since I parked a block away from the Shake Shack on 77th & Columbus, I couldn't pass up the opportunity for some uber greasy recovery food:

NOM NOM NOM NOM!!!

Hope you have a good Monday! Crank up your volume LOUD for this classic. Hope it "electrifies" you!

Don't Compare

I guess it is just human nature to compare yourself to others? With triathlon especially, it is VERY easy to compare yourself to your fellow athletes, especially those who are the same gender and age as you. Doing this is downright DANGEROUS.

I don't do this and anytime I see someone putting up HUGE volume and that person happens to be doing the same race as me, I always tell myself this: 

"This other person and I most likely have different goals. We also probably have different backgrounds. We are most likely at different points in the season. That person is an orange, and I am an apple."

(source)

My post earlier this week showing off some huge numbers was merely for my benefit. I always look back on posts like that to see progress and to see where I was at that point in the season.

Lake Placid is my A++++ race this season. These numbers really are out of line for a race that far off in the distance. The reason why they are so inflated right now is for a 70.3 down in Galveston in 2.5 weeks. Basically I am hitting my peak volume for that race now. Volume will decrease from the race onwards until May 1, when the build to Lake Placid begins. If Lake Placid was the only race on the horizon, trust me, I'd be doing a LOT more couch surfing right now! haha!

Upping volume prematurely because you think you are slacking will only give you one thing: INJURY.

So swallow your pride, check your ego at the door, and follow YOUR plan. Happy training!

I will never BUY peanut butter ever again....

...because making it so much better! (and cheaper)

After trying all natural peanut butter a few years ago, I wasn't too keen on the taste. However, the taste has grown on me slowly, and after trying some Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter, I was totally converted to all natural peanut butter. The price though, was kinda a sore point. Fortunately with a powerful food processor, you can make it at home for a MUCH cheaper price! $2.99 to be exact. Regina @ Chiu On This mentioned to me that she makes her own.

The ingredients are really simple:
16 oz jar of Raw UNSALTED Roasted Peanuts
1/4 tsp of salt (yep, very little needed!)
1 tsp honey (totally optional! I like it with and without depending on my mood)

So I like a more roasted flavor in my peanut butter, so I roasted mine for 10 mins @ 350 degrees, or until you smell the peanuts wafting out of the oven. Roasting them further is optional as they are already roasted when you buy them.

I HIGHLY recommend SILPAT silicon pads.

Pull out your trusty food processor. Make sure it has a STRONG motor.

When grinding, the peanuts go through a bunch of phases of consistency. Its amazing how the oils are so locked into the peanuts that they finally "come out" only at the last minute. Its funny how they turn from dust into liquid.

This is the "dust" phase, as I call it

Turns into a ball as the oils are starting to show up

I start adding the honey and salt at this point, so that it absorbs into the oils that are starting to show

Like butter, which has a sharp melting temperature, peanut butter has a sharp "not peanut butter yet" to "ok, its now peanut butter." That "right" consistency is very stubborn. You are grinding and grinding, the motor is getting hot, yet its still not smooth enough. Suddenly you blink, and it "turns" into peanut butter!

All done! Well, sorta. Still one more step.

I like chunky peanut butter. So I reserved maybe a half cup of peanuts to chop then fold into the batch.

CHOPPED!

All done!

I eat a LOT of peanut butter. I also like to eat a lot more all natural (most of the time). When I learned what is in commercial smooth peanut butter by reading on the label, I learned it has things such as molasses, high fructose corn syrup, palm oil, added peanut oil, various forms of hydrogenated oils. GROSS! No wonder its so smooth and lasts forever! Its added with all of this junk!

I recommend keeping your home made peanut butter in the fridge so the natural fats don't go rancid. It also keeps the oils from going too nuts (haha, that was an accidental pun!). The oils WILL separate, so just remix with a spoon every time you pull it out.

Enjoy!

The Nerd Report: Week in Review....AND ANGRY BIRDS RIO!!! WOO HOO!

I'll try to keep the numbers down, but numbers wise, it was a HUGE week! Now into my 4th season of Triathlon, I just wrapped up my biggest week EVAR. 16 hours and a bunch of yards and miles later, my legs are DONE.

Swim: 8500 yards, 2:55:00
Bike: 131.71 miles, 7:26:10
Run: 41.02 miles, 5:36:13 (holy @#&%!!!!)
-------------------------
15:57:23

So THAT is what it is like to crack the 40 miles run in one week mark. I guess I was so busy rearranging my schedule and just working out that I didn't even notice the miles ticking by.

I had two breakthrough runs over the week. One was my weekly speed workout, where after a 15 min warmup, I went 9 x 2:00 fast, 2:00 easy, then a 10 min cool down. My legs felt AWESOME. It was an after work run so I ran into the darkness and it was also my first shorts and T-Shirt run of the season. You ever have those runs where you feel invincible? This was one of them.

The second breakthrough run was my long run on Saturday. It was a 90 min progression run where you go slow for 30 mins, medium for 30 mins, fast for 20 mins, then cool down for 10 mins. I did this same exact run on Feb 13th, so 5 weeks ago. I love runs that I repeat that I can compare data. Yes, I am a numbers nerd, but! nothing is better than looking at data that confirms progress. In the past 5 weeks, I HAVE progressed!

3/19 long run vs 2/13 long run
30 mins @ 144 bpm, 8:41 pace vs 144 bpm, 8:31 pace
30 mins @ 155 bpm, 7:45 pace vs 155bpm, 8:03 pace
20 mins @ 164 bpm, 7:00 pace vs 165 bpm, 7:27 pace
10 mins @ 146 bpm, 8:34 pace vs 150 bpm, 8:51 pace

So it look me a bit more to get warmed up, but once I was going, I was GOING! I also recovered way faster this time. I seem to recall that amputation was the only remedy after the 2/13 run. haha!

Today was my long run and brick day. My legs were not really feeling that well, but I still knocked out 58+ miles in 3 hours, then hit the run for my fastest yet brick run of the season. I wasn't even pushing it at first. I just ran by feel and then determined what I would do based upon how I felt at the turnaround. Wound up with:

4 miles, 30:27
Mile 1: 7:52
Mile 2: 7:37
Mile 3: 7:33
Mile 4: 7:27

My legs right now feel really good. They felt like crap after coming off of the bike, but got looser and felt better as the run progressed. Hope this happens in three weeks in Galveston!
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Finally, here is my plug for my movie coming out on April 15th, Rio. We have partnered up with the folks who make Angry Birds and they have made a "Rio" version of it. Don't believe me?

Angry Birds is SO addicting! Can't wait to play this. They have replaced the pigs with the Monkeys from the movie. So funny!

AND! Wanna see the first two minutes of RIO? Yes you do!!!

CRANK UP THE VOLUME!!!!

If you are curious what I did in these first two minutes, I'll tell ya! Any parrot you see with feathers and fur is my work, as is the baby Blu bird, which was an express job, done in 4 weeks. I can't believe I did that bird that fast!

So I am extending my Exciting and Unusual Giveaway a bit more. If you want to win a signed Rio poster signed by yours truly, ENTER HERE!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Do you feel like you are in input/output machine?

I don't know what is going on this week, but everything has been going at Ludicrous speed!

I am making a point to be social with PEOPLE at least 2X a week this training season, whether its going out or having people over for dinner. I'll tell you that with a super heavy week of training, balancing it all is pretty exhausting! Add in total mayhem @ work on certain days, let's just say I have been THE MASTER of rearranging workouts to fit it all in. No matter how hectic it gets this week, I am fitting it all in!!!

Which brings me to the title of this post. I have been eating NON STOP!!! I can't stop eating. Wanna know why? Oh let's see. Monday was a three for one day, aka run in the AM, swim @ lunch, bike after work. I think I downed two peanut butter and banana tortilla wraps and a steak fajita and God knows what else. Tuesday was an hour on the trainer followed by a 60 min run.

Today was a total screw up with the weather and with meetings surrounding my lunch hour. What went from a morning run to a lunch time swim turned into a 60 min speed fest run after work followed by a 3000 yard beat down after the run!


*BREATH IN, BREATH OUT*

So I downed a peanut butter and banana tortilla wrap before the run, got the run in, then downed another peanut butter and banana tortilla wrap before the swim, got home and downed a 600 calorie protein smoothie. I was SO HUNGRY! I CAN'T STOP EATING!!!!

*BREATH IN, BREATH OUT*

Tomorrow AM will be another hour long run, with a 1:15 to 1:30 outdoor time trial fest after work followed by a huge dinner over at a friends house.

Thank goodness I splurged @ Zachy's in Scarsdale (Best Wine Store EVAR!)

Bordeaux (Merlot), Malbec, Barolo

Blame it on Congress, or Blame It on Evolution, or Blame it on Daylight Savings Time

I'm gonna blame it on stupid-ism:

I present Exhibit A:

(Face Palm!)....even the Article title has a gigantic typo in it....

Let's hope this person has been removed from the gene pool.........Fortunately I believe the article is a hoax (let's hope for humanity's sake!!!).

I'll tell ya one thing I do HATE about Daylight Savings Time in the Spring: There goes the morning light! Getting out to run @ 6:30 or even 6:15 has been great. You can get a long run in before work and still have time for a big breakfast and a long stretch.

Now 6:15 light has turned into 7:15 light.....UHG! Time to rebreakout the head lamp :(

The silver lining though is that TRAINER SEASON IS OVER!!!!! OH HAPPY DANCE!!!! There is now enough light to ride the bike after work. Albeit its gonna be a fast 60 min ride after work, but its no more trainer. Phew!
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Thanks everyone for your input from my HELP WANTED post last week. I now have a list of content and posts that will keep me busy for some time. You guys rock!

In Blah Blah Land in Blog Blog Land: Reader input needed!

I have been blogging for about three and a half years now. This blog first started as merely a daily diary of me quickly writing, "Ran X miles in Y time then hit the pool for Z yards in Q time." Blammo, dunno. NEXT!

Then I discovered the power of commenting and following other people's blogs. Suddenly blogging wasn't just merely writing bland "I did this, then I did that." Blogging suddenly became crack!

Meanwhile, I was slowly upping the distances and different kinds of races as this blog grew. Everything was new and exiting as I tackled my first 10K, my first Half Marathon, my first sprint tri, olympic tri, first Half Ironman, doing 4 Half Ironmans in one season, etc etc etc.......

Then the workout posting kinda died and got bland.

Why?

Cuz I have already been there and done that.

I am training for another Half Ironman in 4 weeks, my 6th, and while my heart is totally into training for it, my heart really hasn't been into blogging about it. Its getting harder and harder to find new and creative ways to describe last weekend's long ride followed by a brick run or another beat down in the pool. Afterall, this is what this blog is all about, right?

I guess I am starting to show signs of severe blogger's block.

Soooooooo, I wanna put it out to you all for idea's on what I can do to switch things up around and get things interesting again.

I am SERIOUSLY open to anything!!!

800's On The Track and The Red Wine Theory

I have really been enjoying the track lately now that the snow is all gone. There is something about the track that you can see defined distances in front of you that you know exactly where your goal is to stop running or stop running hard.

So this morning was a 15 min easy warmup, then 6 x (800 hard, 400 easy) with a 10 min cool down.

My 800's came out as:
Interval 1: 3:26, avg HR 158, max 171
Interval 2: 3:26, avg HR 167, max 173
Interval 3: 3:25, avg HR 169, max 174
Interval 4: 3:20, avg HR 171, max 177
Interval 5: 3:19, avg HR 171, max 178
Interval 6: 3:17, avg HR 172, max 177
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/72098083

So, um, if I did 4 more of those, would that qualify for a Yasso 800 workout? You have to do 10 of them, right? This was a great workout! By the time I got home I knocked off 8 miles. I couldn't believe 8 miles went by so quickly!

So last night I polished off half a bottle of some yummy Cabernet Sauvignon. I was feeling pretty good :) The night before I ran that training half marathon in Central Park I had two awesome glasses of Malbec (my new favorite wine).

What am I getting at?

Seems like getting buzzed off of red wine has a pretty positive effect on a run the following morning. When I rode with Kristin @ The Lazy Marathoner a few times last fall, she told me she had a couple glasses of wine the night before she tackled and PR'ed Lake Placid. She was surely onto something!!!

Now despite our small sample size of red wine = good performance, the bigger issue here is that you CAN embellish in the good things in life and still put up a good performance. Yes, you can have your wine and drink it too! Some amateur age groupers see alcohol as the devil and as a negative performance item, but I say screw it!!! Drink your red wine cuz it tastes soooooooooo good! And hey! It might even give you a few good days!!!

And what is even stranger is that I have this strong craving for drinking some Barolo. I don't think I have EVER drank a glass of Barolo, but after reading up on it and it being called "The King of Wine" from Italy, I think a tasting is in order :)
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Gonna mention my "Unusual but VERY EXCITING giveaway" another time. Do you want to win a signed poster of "Rio"? An animated feature film made by yours truly? CLICK HERE to enter!

What is even cooler is that they made a "Rio" float for Carnival this year down in Rio de Janeiro!!! Here are some cools photos of our director, Carlos Saldanha, riding at the head of the float and other shots! So cool!

He is on the left in front of the flag

Isn't that amazing!

Super cool shot!

Look out for a new Angry Birds flair ;)

A Breakthrough Weekend!

First! If you haven't seen or entered my "Unusual But VERY EXCITING Giveaway" yet, please do so! I am giving away a signed "Rio" poster, signed by the folks who made the movie, aka, ME :) You have 4 chances to win it!

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This past weekend was the weekend I had been waiting for all season: The weekend where every workout is an uber success.

Saturday was another 2.5 hour ride followed by a 4 mile brick run. Sunday was a 1:45:00 min run. Lots of volume. So what are the options? 1) Sandbag the ride and brick run to save the legs for the long run? 2) Kill the legs on the ride and brick run and sandbag the long run? OR! 3) Kill your legs on the ride and brick run then murder your legs on the long run?

I went with option #3 :)

I went farther and faster on a hillier and MUCH windier ride than the previous weekend's long ride, ran faster on the brick run, then almost PR'ed my half marathon run on the long run.

It was a good weekend :)

Saturday's ride came out as 50.67 miles in 2:37:10 for a 19.34 mph avg. The wind on the way back was brutal! I was getting blown all over the road and every time a gust would nail me I would scream as loud as I could. The wind was really killing my speed averages, especially on the flats and even on some downhills. Nothing more frustrating then riding downhill and feeling like you are riding through molasses.

So my power average came out as 185 watts with 199 watts normalized. This was vs the previous weekend's ride of 178 watts @ 18.68 mph, but 3+ miles shorter and on a flatter route. Already within a week my body is responding to the long rides and is improving. Not quite there yet on the bike, but getting closer!

By the time I finished the bike, I thought my legs were just toast and that this brick run was going to suuuuuuuuuuuck. So I just started running, keeping an easy-ish pace. My legs responded well! I finished with 4 miles in 30:45 for a 7:41 pace. Splits came out as:
Mile 1: 7:48
Mile 2: 7:42
Mile 3: 7:38
Mile 4: 7:35

Woke up Sunday morning to some fresh-ish feeling legs and ran around Central Park 2X. After ~2.5 miles that rain storm that socked the Northeast got me and it was rainy-city for the next 10.6 miles. I don't mind running in the rain! Some of my best runs have been in the rain because it keeps your body cooled down. I wound up with 13.1 miles in 1:45:45, so 26 secs slower than my half marathon PR. Coach wanted me to run with a heart rate between 150-160 bpm, and I did it with a 155 average. Good to know what that heart rate zone will yield.

My splits came out as (before my GPS distance crapped out on me):
Mile 1: 8:38
Mile 2: 8:06
Mile 3: 8:23
Mile 4: 8:09
Mile 5: 7:53
Mile 6: 7:50
Mile 7: 7:52
Mile 8: 7:48
Mile 9: 8:03
Mile 10: 7:48

Then mile 11 showed a 6:37 pace and I had slowed down by that point so I knew it wasn't tracking distance correctly anymore. Fortunately I know that each loop around the park is 6.05 miles, so once I hit loop #2 @ 12.1 miles, I estimated a 0.5 mile out and 0.5 mile back, which surprisingly was accurate when I checked it on mapmyride.com! I love running around Central Park :)

Last week was some nice, but faster volume, especially on the run:
Swim: 8300 yards
Bike: 90 miles
Run: 36.46 miles

Hope you had a great weekend!

An Unusual but VERY EXCITING Giveaway!

First, I haven't done a giveaway in a looooong time.

And!

Second, for those of you who don't know what I do for a living to pay for my triathlon drug addiction, I make animated movies. More specifically I put hair, fur, feathers, leaves, and grass onto digital animated characters, trees, and landscapes. Wha? You ask? Yes, I am a professional pet groomer and lawn mower......on the computer.

Well! Our next movie, "Rio" is coming out in less than 6 weeks on April 15th!!!! So exciting!!!

So as part of the gigantic marketing machine to spread the word of this movie to make it sell lots and lots of movie tickets, I am going to do my part on this blog.

For starters, I am going to give away a signed official "Rio" movie poster, signed by the entire Blue Sky Studios Fur Department!

Yep, we are the bestest department in this entire company! Speaking of our company, ever see any of the "Ice Age" movies? That is us as well!

My role on the film was to figure out how to groom all of the birds efficiently AND I got the honor of grooming the feathers and fur onto Blu (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (voiced by Anne Hathaway), the two main bird characters in the movie. It was an 18 month long project to groom just the two birds! Tedious work you ask? Yeppers! But it was worth it as they came out VERY beautiful in the end.

So you wanna win this awesome signed poster? Its easy! Leave me a comment saying you want it!

Want a better chance of winning it? Head on over to Rio's official Facebook page and "Like" the movie. Lemme know you liked it via a second comment....

Want an even better chance of winning it? Spread the word! Post this on your blog or twitter and lemme know you did via a third comment.

Want an even better better chance of winning it? Become a follower! (look over to the right--------)

So four chances to win this signed official "Rio" poster. How much better can it get?!?! I am leaving the entry open until Friday March 18th.

The movie is spectacular! Hope you go see it on APRIL 15th! Look for my name, Jon Campbell, in the credits under the Fur Department. Thanks!

A Major Raid was Conducted Today.....

From the Associated Press

Authorities in White Plains, NY early this morning conducted a raid on a one bedroom household after an anonymous tip lead Police to believe that triathlon drug trafficking was occurring inside the premises. The anonymous tipster also mentioned that lots of traffic was coming and going very early in the morning. Police hoped to catch the suspect on site.

Police Lieutenant Andy Potts, who lead the raid, told reporters, "We hit a significant gold mine with this raid. We seized 14 kilos, or 7 'bricks' of what are known as the on the street as triathlon burritos. They were some of the largest and most potent 'bricks' we have ever seized. A junkie on one of those could run for miles!" 

But that was not all that was found in this raid, as Lieutenant Potts also reported, "4 packets of 'Gu' were found as well as measuring equipment and a 2 oz sample of triathlon fairy dust, also known as Infinit. With the equipment we found, this guy was surely distributing heavy volumes of material."

In fact this is not the first raid conducted on this premises. Suspect Jon Campbell, who was arrested with possession of a record 196 packets of Gu last December, was later found that morning on Rt 100 going about 23 mph on a Blue Cervelo. His USAT license had lapsed, so an additional charge of riding while unlicensed, a felony, was brought against him. More than likely the felony will be dropped down to a misdemeanor.

Since Mr. Campbell is currently out on Probation and he is a severe flight risk, bail was not granted at his arraignment in Westchester County Court.

Hello March & February in Review

I wasted no time getting March going by hitting the track for the first time this season (the snow finally melted!) for a 30 x (20 sec hard, 40 sec easy) run workout. 20 secs all out over and over and over and over again start to hurt after awhile! I rounded out the morning with 6.78 miles.

So, Hello March! I have a feeling its going to be a good month, that is, it BETTER be a freaking good month! I have 4 weeks to basically annihilate my body to whip my ass into 70.3 shape!

Here are my February #'s:
Swim: 31500 yards; 11.5 hours
Bike: 350.46 miles, 20.5 hours
Run: 129.18 miles, 18.3 hours

I guess I could describe February as a rock solid month of consistent work. I swam 3X's, biked 4X's, and ran 5X's every week. This was a total PR month for run volume. Every week was a 30+ mile run week, with 35 miles as the highest.

So what else went on in February? I guess the stand out things are that I ran a 4 mile race in Central Park at the beginning of the month, and PR-ed the distance. I also got a creepy photo taken of me looking to kill the photographer:

Apparently running pants are not running fashion friendly...

Bacon will NEVER jump the shark. I fried a lot of bacon this month and fried eggs IN the bacon grease:

Breakfast of Champs!

Some A-Hole decided to hit me, then run for it!

And I bought a snorkel, and proceeded to make myself look like a complete dork ;)

Duuuuuuurrrrrrrrrr

How did your February go? Hit any milestones?