I have been given 7 weeks.
My beautiful wife of 3 months will be running the Boston Marathon, which is great. I was going to Boston to watch with my friend who also has his wife running Boston. It was going to be a nice vacation. To my surprise Clint turned on me and with little training decided to run the Marine Corps Marathon in hopes of qualifying for Boston. 3 hours, 9 minutes, and 40 seconds later he crossed the line. I waited for the phone call....
I was told I would be spectating at Boston alone unless I manned up (he used more persuasive wording) and qualified too. So the Dallas Whiterock is in 7 weeks. Thats 7 weeks to go from casual 4 mile runs to 3:10 Marathon shape.
wish me luck
Adam
Austin Tri-Cyclist Blog
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Electronic Dura Ace on the Cervelo P4
We recently built up a P4 with Di2. The good news is that it not only works... but its F'in awesome.
The ability to shift gears from from both the basebar and the aerobars has been a major highlight.
Our mechanics were able to incorporate the battery and a lot of the wiring within the aero bottle by
cutting out the bottom of it. So at this point is not so much a bottle, but a battery fairing gizmo.
Easton Crankset with Sram 54t ring and Mavic Ti Pedals
Notice the wire entering the bottle
FD wire exiting bottle
Casing removed to show hardware
Top shot of modified battery mount and wiring
If you are in town for the Longhorn 70.3 be sure to stop by and check it out. You will be impressed
by the perfect shifting of Di2.
-The team at Austin Tri-Cyclist
http://www.austintricyclist.com/
The ability to shift gears from from both the basebar and the aerobars has been a major highlight.
Our mechanics were able to incorporate the battery and a lot of the wiring within the aero bottle by
cutting out the bottom of it. So at this point is not so much a bottle, but a battery fairing gizmo.
Easton Crankset with Sram 54t ring and Mavic Ti Pedals
Notice the wire entering the bottle
FD wire exiting bottle
Casing removed to show hardware
Top shot of modified battery mount and wiring
If you are in town for the Longhorn 70.3 be sure to stop by and check it out. You will be impressed
by the perfect shifting of Di2.
-The team at Austin Tri-Cyclist
http://www.austintricyclist.com/
Monday, October 12, 2009
Kona Numbers
Just the facts, ma'am.
From Triathlete magazine:
Bike Count:
Cervelo: 462
Scott: 109
Specialized: 93
Wheels:
Zipp: 1936
HED: 229
Mavic: 165
Womens Podium:
1. Chrissie Wellington (GBR) 8:54:02
2. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 9:13:59
3, Virginia Berasategui (ESP) 9:15:28
Mens Podium:
1. Craig Alexander (AUS) 8:20:21
2. Chris Lieto (USA) 8:22:56
3. Andreas Raelert (GER) 8:24L32
From Triathlete magazine:
Bike Count:
Cervelo: 462
Scott: 109
Specialized: 93
Wheels:
Zipp: 1936
HED: 229
Mavic: 165
Womens Podium:
1. Chrissie Wellington (GBR) 8:54:02
2. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 9:13:59
3, Virginia Berasategui (ESP) 9:15:28
Mens Podium:
1. Craig Alexander (AUS) 8:20:21
2. Chris Lieto (USA) 8:22:56
3. Andreas Raelert (GER) 8:24L32
Friday, October 9, 2009
Longhorn 70.3 Expo Sale
Austin Tri-Cyclist is proud to support the athletes of the Longhorn 70.3 on October 25, 2009. So for the week of the race the store that has the largest selection of triathlon gear in the state of Texas is offering some great deals. Here is your chance to upgrade your current rig.
30% OFF 2009 Zoot Shoes
20% OFF 2009 Easton Wheels
20% OFF 2009 American Classic Wheels
25% OFF Mavic Computers
- Clothing and wetsuits will be marked down also! We carry Zoot, Sugoi, Descente, 2XU, Rocket Science Sports, TYR, and De Soto.
- Need nutrition? We have a large selection of gels, drinks, and recovery products.
- Looking for that triathlon eye-candy....come by and check out our Cervelo P4 with Electronic Dura Ace. Experience first hand why reviews rave about Cervelo and Di2.
- Also ask about our Demo Bike Sale. Cervelo - Argon 18 - Cannondale
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Uber bikes 2010
Its that time of the year again! Christmas for the bike industry is this week. Here are some pics of the sweet eye candy that will be hitting the shelves soon. If you want more pics just google interbike and you can see it all.
Argon 18 E-114
Cervelo P4
Cannondale Slice
Kestrel 4000 SL
Argon 18 E-114
Cervelo P4
Cannondale Slice
Kestrel 4000 SL
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
My First Ironman
My First Ironman. “its better to undertrain than to overtrain”
Watching TV can definitely rot your brain. Clint and I were watching the Ironman and thought, “Geez, I wonder if I could do that” So we decided to go ahead and sign up. We had never done a triathlon before, didn’t own a bike, and swimming was limited to playing sharks and minnows. We did have some running ability since we ran cross country and track in high school (we were both 18 at the time).
So first thing first. We needed to do a triathlon to see what is like. Luckily a race called the “My First Triathlon” was coming up. A grueling race of 200m swim, 6 mile bike, 2 mile run was coming up. This will be our Ironman tune-up. What did I learn from this race….several things.
1. I can’t swim very well. I can swim it just takes some time.
2. I need to get a bike (I borrowed an old beat up POS)
3. Triathlons are really fun
So we had a little less than a year to train for the California Ironman. For swimming I joined a local gym and would swim laps for 30 minutes 3-4 times a week. For the bike I went and bought a cool Trek 1000, and there wasn’t an ounce of carbon fiber on that enitre bike. Just 25 lbs of cool aluminum.
Training consisted of 50-100 miles a week of biking, 30 miles a week of running, and 3 miles a week of swimming. My long workouts consisted of an 80 mile bike ride, a 14 mile run, and 1.5 mile swim. Perhaps not the best Ironman leadup.
2 weeks out from the race
I decided it was time to taper. How did I taper you might ask…road trip was the answer. Clint was already in California so another friend of mine volunteered to drive out to San Diego with me. On our way out we would hit up the Grand Canyon, lots of camping, hiking, and an overall good time. So for the 2 weeks leading up to the Ironman I did absolutely no swimming or biking, but I did go on the occasional run through the Arizona desert.
Road Trip
We left for Cali taking a nice round about route going through Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah. On the way out to the race we hit a border station in amd I guess to young guys driving around we must have looked a little suspicious. So naturally they pulled us out of the car and had the dogs take a gander through our car. It didn’t bother at all, but my friend was getting nervous. APPARENTLY in the glove box he had some pharaphanelia left. Luckily nothing to get the dogs suspicious, but we decided its best to ditch such things for the remainder of the trip. PHEW. The next stop was to head to the Grand Canyon to do some hiking and camping. The Grand Canyon is definitely grand. We hiked down and back up which was my Ironman training for the day. After some camping we headed to the Hoover Dam and drove through Vegas. Great views and good times. The taper continues.
Finally we made it to San Diego a few days before the big day and enjoyed the expo. If you havent been to an Ironman Expo or similiarly large event it’s a pretty cool scene. During the expo and packet pickup we got a booklet of all the Ionman races and course profiles. We flipped through it and saw one with a killer bike course. Lots of climbing, more than the others….I said to clint “this one sucks” we then realize that its Ironman California. We chuckled at that one.
Ironman California.
Swim.
The swim was a 2 loop course in 64 degree California water. All 2400 of us lined up in the water and treaded water for 10 minutes. Then BOOM! the cannon goes off. My good friend Clint looks over to me and says something along the lines of “good luck, here we go” just as he swings his arm to make his first swim stroke he smacks me across the face messing up my goggles. He looks back and says “sorry” then takes off swimming. He contest that it was purely accidental, but I have my doubts. So there I am putting on my goggles as 2400 people try to swim around me. I get them on and take off….take off is a strong word. It was take 5 strokes then stop fror the crowd, take 5 more, stop, 5 more, stop, you get the idea. After about a mile I finally stop getting punched and kicked and can settle into a nice rhythm. A good hour and 18 minutes go by and I am done! Hurray. I climb out of the water and I must have looked like death because 3 volunteers asked me if I was okay. I was, just a little cold and wet. Perfectly normal for swimming in california waters.
Bike.
The bike. What can I say but I was definitely not prepared for the bike. 112 miles is really long. I mean its really really long whe your longest ride was an 80 mile ride. Over the years I must have blocked out a lot of the bike memeories. I do recall on the bike course I was cresting one of the climbs and a marine was standing on the top yelling “ Dead guy at the bottom, slow down”. “Uh what?” was my reaction as I pedaled on down. Sure enough there was an ambulance with a sheet pulled over someone. That incident kept me alert for the rest of the ride. Apparently he lost control and went head first into the gaurdrail. Terrible accident. As I was ending the ride I saw the end of the bike in sight. I actually felt like I was tearing up because I was SO HAPPY the bike was over. All I had left was to run a marathon. Thank God. A good 6 and a half hours in the saddle.
Run.
When I started the marathon I was over joyed. I took off running feeling revived and full of life. Mile 1 was in 7:15, mile 2: 7:30, mile 3: 8:30, mile 4: 9:30. Suddnely I felt not so full of life. I pressed on though. They had great buffet stations every mile so I focused on trotting along to the next station where I would stop and get something to eat. The run was nice and flat which was an immense change of scenery. The entire second half of the marathon I saw people sitting on the street crubs cheering me on and thinking, I really want to sit down. I have never wanted to sit down that much in my entire life. The curb was calling to me. But sit down I did not. I kept on trucking along at my awful pace thinking about that great tasting potato soup at each mile. Let me digress on the potato soup. It was amazing. I still have dreams about its warm goodness touching my lips. Just one time in your life go and deplete yourself of all the salt in your body, getting really tired, a little bit cold, and drink some warm potato soup. ….I cant stop thinking about it. Okay so I keep trucking along and am coming down to the final miles and am thinking this is a great experience. I came into the final finish after 4 hours and 40 minutes of running and even though it was late and it took just under 14 hoursto complete the whole kit and kaboodle I felt proud of what I accomplished, though next time I will train properly. I crossed the finish line, was handed a medal, shirt, and a foil thingy, I think my picture was taken too. Its all a blur. I quickly looked around and found what I had been searching for – a curb. I sat. I smiled and was happy to say I am an Ironman.
Consulations
I also got my name mentioned in the local newpaper as the youngest competitor. I won $20 from my cross country coach who said I wouldnt make it out of the swim. I didnt die as I think both of my parents feared. Boy, when you are 18 you do all kinds of crazy stuff.
-Adam
Watching TV can definitely rot your brain. Clint and I were watching the Ironman and thought, “Geez, I wonder if I could do that” So we decided to go ahead and sign up. We had never done a triathlon before, didn’t own a bike, and swimming was limited to playing sharks and minnows. We did have some running ability since we ran cross country and track in high school (we were both 18 at the time).
So first thing first. We needed to do a triathlon to see what is like. Luckily a race called the “My First Triathlon” was coming up. A grueling race of 200m swim, 6 mile bike, 2 mile run was coming up. This will be our Ironman tune-up. What did I learn from this race….several things.
1. I can’t swim very well. I can swim it just takes some time.
2. I need to get a bike (I borrowed an old beat up POS)
3. Triathlons are really fun
So we had a little less than a year to train for the California Ironman. For swimming I joined a local gym and would swim laps for 30 minutes 3-4 times a week. For the bike I went and bought a cool Trek 1000, and there wasn’t an ounce of carbon fiber on that enitre bike. Just 25 lbs of cool aluminum.
Training consisted of 50-100 miles a week of biking, 30 miles a week of running, and 3 miles a week of swimming. My long workouts consisted of an 80 mile bike ride, a 14 mile run, and 1.5 mile swim. Perhaps not the best Ironman leadup.
2 weeks out from the race
I decided it was time to taper. How did I taper you might ask…road trip was the answer. Clint was already in California so another friend of mine volunteered to drive out to San Diego with me. On our way out we would hit up the Grand Canyon, lots of camping, hiking, and an overall good time. So for the 2 weeks leading up to the Ironman I did absolutely no swimming or biking, but I did go on the occasional run through the Arizona desert.
Road Trip
We left for Cali taking a nice round about route going through Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah. On the way out to the race we hit a border station in amd I guess to young guys driving around we must have looked a little suspicious. So naturally they pulled us out of the car and had the dogs take a gander through our car. It didn’t bother at all, but my friend was getting nervous. APPARENTLY in the glove box he had some pharaphanelia left. Luckily nothing to get the dogs suspicious, but we decided its best to ditch such things for the remainder of the trip. PHEW. The next stop was to head to the Grand Canyon to do some hiking and camping. The Grand Canyon is definitely grand. We hiked down and back up which was my Ironman training for the day. After some camping we headed to the Hoover Dam and drove through Vegas. Great views and good times. The taper continues.
Finally we made it to San Diego a few days before the big day and enjoyed the expo. If you havent been to an Ironman Expo or similiarly large event it’s a pretty cool scene. During the expo and packet pickup we got a booklet of all the Ionman races and course profiles. We flipped through it and saw one with a killer bike course. Lots of climbing, more than the others….I said to clint “this one sucks” we then realize that its Ironman California. We chuckled at that one.
Ironman California.
Swim.
The swim was a 2 loop course in 64 degree California water. All 2400 of us lined up in the water and treaded water for 10 minutes. Then BOOM! the cannon goes off. My good friend Clint looks over to me and says something along the lines of “good luck, here we go” just as he swings his arm to make his first swim stroke he smacks me across the face messing up my goggles. He looks back and says “sorry” then takes off swimming. He contest that it was purely accidental, but I have my doubts. So there I am putting on my goggles as 2400 people try to swim around me. I get them on and take off….take off is a strong word. It was take 5 strokes then stop fror the crowd, take 5 more, stop, 5 more, stop, you get the idea. After about a mile I finally stop getting punched and kicked and can settle into a nice rhythm. A good hour and 18 minutes go by and I am done! Hurray. I climb out of the water and I must have looked like death because 3 volunteers asked me if I was okay. I was, just a little cold and wet. Perfectly normal for swimming in california waters.
Bike.
The bike. What can I say but I was definitely not prepared for the bike. 112 miles is really long. I mean its really really long whe your longest ride was an 80 mile ride. Over the years I must have blocked out a lot of the bike memeories. I do recall on the bike course I was cresting one of the climbs and a marine was standing on the top yelling “ Dead guy at the bottom, slow down”. “Uh what?” was my reaction as I pedaled on down. Sure enough there was an ambulance with a sheet pulled over someone. That incident kept me alert for the rest of the ride. Apparently he lost control and went head first into the gaurdrail. Terrible accident. As I was ending the ride I saw the end of the bike in sight. I actually felt like I was tearing up because I was SO HAPPY the bike was over. All I had left was to run a marathon. Thank God. A good 6 and a half hours in the saddle.
Run.
When I started the marathon I was over joyed. I took off running feeling revived and full of life. Mile 1 was in 7:15, mile 2: 7:30, mile 3: 8:30, mile 4: 9:30. Suddnely I felt not so full of life. I pressed on though. They had great buffet stations every mile so I focused on trotting along to the next station where I would stop and get something to eat. The run was nice and flat which was an immense change of scenery. The entire second half of the marathon I saw people sitting on the street crubs cheering me on and thinking, I really want to sit down. I have never wanted to sit down that much in my entire life. The curb was calling to me. But sit down I did not. I kept on trucking along at my awful pace thinking about that great tasting potato soup at each mile. Let me digress on the potato soup. It was amazing. I still have dreams about its warm goodness touching my lips. Just one time in your life go and deplete yourself of all the salt in your body, getting really tired, a little bit cold, and drink some warm potato soup. ….I cant stop thinking about it. Okay so I keep trucking along and am coming down to the final miles and am thinking this is a great experience. I came into the final finish after 4 hours and 40 minutes of running and even though it was late and it took just under 14 hoursto complete the whole kit and kaboodle I felt proud of what I accomplished, though next time I will train properly. I crossed the finish line, was handed a medal, shirt, and a foil thingy, I think my picture was taken too. Its all a blur. I quickly looked around and found what I had been searching for – a curb. I sat. I smiled and was happy to say I am an Ironman.
Consulations
I also got my name mentioned in the local newpaper as the youngest competitor. I won $20 from my cross country coach who said I wouldnt make it out of the swim. I didnt die as I think both of my parents feared. Boy, when you are 18 you do all kinds of crazy stuff.
-Adam
Monday, September 7, 2009
Married life
Thanks everyone for all the congratulations. It is great to hear it everytime. Here is a photo of everyone in actual clothes and not spandex for once! The first month was fun and easy! Cant wait for the rest.
in photo: Adam and Rita Stroobant, Marty Yudisky, Brad and Leah Wimberly, Don, Missy, Taylor, and Emily Ruthven, Corey May, Patrick Darragh, Patrick Healey, Liz Leathe, James Supak, Shawn and Jenny Ullman, Amy and Brandon Marsh, Jason Lewiss, B Jane, Josh and Brittany Lee, George and Olga Schmitz, Hunter Dobson.
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