Jeff's Blog

New Isaac Pics

2008-11-30T16:27:00.001-08:00

Isaac is now 3 months old and we have a lot of new pictures!
Here is a sample of those pics....

Isaac ready for Halloween!!

Going on a trip!

Hanging out with his buddy!

This one was just too cute to pass up!!

After a bath while we were decorating for Christmas!

Enjoying the Christmas lights!

Getting Tangled!!

Meet Isaac!!

2008-09-02T08:59:00.000-07:00

Okay so now that he is a week old I think I have some time to add some pictures of Isaac to my blog. Here he is from newly born to a week old!!

Still in the hospital.

Peacefully sleeping

Being held by Daddy.

Enjoying a bath. :)

My Way or the Tri Way

2008-08-06T17:39:00.000-07:00

July 27th I raced in the My Way or the Tri Way Triathlon at the Aurora Reservoir. If you are unfamiliar with this race it allows the participants to do the events in any order they want. About half the field still kept the SBR format, but I chose not to. This was my second race and having struggled with the Run during the 5430 Sprint I decided to do that first and then go to the Swim and finish with the Bike. The field was pretty small (only about 300 total racers (triathletes and duathletes)) which I feel made for a more relaxing atmosphere. Everyone started from just outside the transition area and at the sound of the horn took off to whichever event they had chosen to do first. The run went out to the dam and across and then returned on the same route. I decided to stay towards the back of the pack for the start since I’m not a speedy runner, but surprisingly I passed more people than I thought I would. Of the racers who started with the run I was the 15 out of the 41. The swim was actually a little more difficult than I had expected. Since I did that event second and the racer in front of me was about 2 minutes ahead, there was no real aid in direction. The buoys marking the turn around were directly into the sun which made judging them difficult and not having any other swimmers around to follow meant I was on my own and had to check my line more frequently than I remember doing in June. I did eventually pass 3 or 4 others, but my time was probably a little slower than it could have been. Finally came the Bike. I was able to pass several participants during this section. Quite a few people had mountain or cruiser styled bikes, so I imagine this was a first time for some of them. There was one guy who I passed that on the next uphill he passed me, I passed him again after the crest, but once again he passed me and was able to keep ahead of me by a fair margin the last mile back to transition. As for my results, I was able to do the swim in 1:30 less than I did in June, the Bike was at about the same pace, but the run was faster by 1:15 per mile. That gave me a placing of 66 out of the 240+ total triathletes and 5th out of the 25 participants doing the Run-Swim-Bike formatted race. I am definitely happy with my performance and look forward to the Crescent Moon Tri in Sept. Here are some pics from the event...

So far so good...

2008-07-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

Thankfully up to this point I haven't had any problems with my bike during a race. Of course I've really only done one race, so I'm sure it's bound to happen at some point, but not yet! Today though while out for a short 16 mile ride, I'm going downhill, and fast, through an intersection that has some cracks in the roadway and all of the sudden I hear an unmistakable "PSSSSSSSSS..." I pull over and sure enough, my back tire is quickly losing its air!! I have never had an opportunity to change a flat on the side of the rode (I have changed them in my garage thankfully), so I pull out my tools and get to work. The one thing I had a problem with, was my CO2 inflator, since I had never used it before, but I soon figured that out and was back on the road in no time "flat". :) All in all, I would say it was good practice for when it inevitably will happen during a triathlon or some other big biking event.

Latest News...

2008-07-07T16:23:00.001-07:00

So I completed another race yesterday. This was a toughie!! The Summer Roundup 12k is part of Colorado Springs Triple Crown of running which includes a 10 mile run through Garden of the Gods and the half marathon ascent of Pikes Peak. This race may not sound as grueling as the other two longer ones, but it is extremely tough in its own right. 12k equates to just less than 7.5 miles and the first half of the race requires ascending 1200 feet. Now that also means that the second half has that much descending, but after running the first half uphill, running downhill is very stressful on your legs, or rather, was very stressful on MY legs! There were some people that I know had they taken a spill going back down, they would have ended up in the hospital. I opted to do what I could to keep my speed under control which meant that heading back down the hill I got passed more than when I was going up the hill. My finishing time was 1:12:28 which put me right in the middle of the men’s field. Currently, my legs are killing me, along with a couple of blisters on my feet. I imagine they are more from the second half of the race, than the first. In time all that will heal as well, and now it is time to get ready for my next triathlon coming up in a few weeks.

After the race I went up to the Beaver Tail Triathlon (which is put on by the board of the Pikes Peak Triathlon Club) to help out with course direction and to take some pictures. It was a beautiful venue for an Xterra type Triathlon. Below are some pictures I took during the race. As you can see the racers had to deal with water during all three segments of the race, not just the swim!!

One View Point

2008-06-25T20:10:00.000-07:00

So now my wife really thinks I'm crazy. I have now signed up for my third triathlon for the season. This again is a sprint level tri, but should be challenging in its own right since my son will be arriving just a few weeks prior to it. The challenge is going to be keeping up with my training while adding the new responsibilities of having an infant around including the lack of sleep that is sure to happen. I imagine that I'll cope with the sleep thing. If you know me well, you know that I can sleep where-ever and when-ever I need to. So there it is, my first triathlon season now has three triathlons in it. 1 is complete and the other two are yet to come.

Train well in whatever you do!

One Tri down, Who knows how many to go!!

2008-06-15T14:45:00.000-07:00

Just a short report on my very first Triathlon! In a word, it was tough!! Now, I don't think it was unbearable, but it was definitely challenging. The swim was great. Water temp may have been a little on the cool side, and I did get a mouthful at one point, but 15 minutes for a half mile swim is easily something I never could have done if it weren't for my triathlon training. Next came the Bike. Thankfully, I started in the third wave of contestants (out of 9), so I got passed more than I had to pass other riders in this portion. Some of those guys on their bikes are really speedy, passing me as though I were standing still. An hour for the biking segment is about what I expected. Finally came the run. This is easily where I need to spend more time training. The start of the run kicked my butt. I think part of it was having too much still in my stomach when I got off the bike. There were a few times during the first mile when I had walk because my stomach was not feeling very good. Mind you though I did not stop during those times. By the 1 mile mark though my stomach had settled and I completed the run in a little under a half hour. All in all my unofficial time was 1:45, which is where I thought I would be. Of course the after race festivities were cool as well. Along with some breakfast (fresh fruit, pancakes and bagels) there was beer from a local micro brew there to wash it all down. In between beers I also had a short massage and my legs really needed that! Well, I think it is time to start training for my next race in July. This was a truly great experience!!

Later,
Jeff

The time has come!!

2008-06-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

My anticipation is building. Not just for the birth of my son in a few weeks, but also for my first triathlon in a couple of days. This summer is definitely a life changing time. Now it’s going to be a much more complex juggling of priorities, goals and sufficient rest. Of course certain priorities are already decided. Being a contributing member to my sons growth is number 1, but that also requires that I am healthy (read as restful, not in-shape). One of the key reasons for my objective to get in shape though was the desire to be able to keep up with the kids (yes, I used the plural word) as they grow. I just couldn’t see myself finding the focus to trim down once one of them was around and growing. Now though since I am starting off in good shape and know just how good it feels to be this way and eating healthy, it’ll be easier to stay that way. But now back to my triathlon coming up this weekend. I hope that any one reading this on Saturday the 14th or Sunday morning the 15th will keep me in their thoughts while I race. It starts around 7:30 and I am shooting for less than 2 hours, which is well within my means. That’s all for now.

Have a great weekend!!
Jeff

3D Ultrasound Images

2008-06-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

Misty and I visited a 3D Ultrasound facility yesterday and the little guy cooperated some. He was keeping his hands up by his face which made getting good shots a little difficult. Misty also mentioned that there areonly 11 weeks until his expected arrival!! I call this first shot "I have a question!"

50 Mile Bike Ride

2008-06-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

So I completed the 50 mile route of the Elephant Rock Charity ride this past Sunday!! It was tough. The first 15 miles were uphill and into a stiff wind. That also was the most crowded portion of the ride with shoulder to shoulder cyclists. During that segment of the ride I was lucky enough to catch onto a couple of fast moving groups of riders and for my first experience in group cycling that was a pretty neat experience! I never really realized how much of a benefit it is to riders to be in a group like that. I now more fully understand why it is not allowed in non-ITU triathlons. Once I reached Palmer Lake, there was only a little more uphill to struggle through, but there was a whole lot of downhill to relax and enjoy! The finishing banner was a welcome site as was seeing my wife waiting there for me to catch a picture of my completion. All in all it was a great ride and I fully expect to do it again next year!

Below are a couple of pictures of me at the cycling event.

Leaving the Douglas County Fair Grounds

Finishing 3 and a half hours later!!

Now I do also need to mention that before the event, I finally got my hair cut. :)

2008-05-27T18:21:00.001-07:00

With the long weekend I was able to get a lot of training done and feel very good about the progress I am making towards my triathlons and other races/events. Starting with Friday I have gone Biking, swimming, 1-hr of stretching, hiking, biking again, running, 1-hr of resistance work, and lastly this afternoon went swimming again. I had planned to do a great swim-bike-run workout yesterday, but alas when I got to the Y (after a 20 min. bike) it was closed for the holiday. So I rode home and finished my workout without the swim portion. The biking wasn’t long, but there are a couple of pretty hefty hills between my house and the Y. For the rest of the week, I’ve got light training planned. I’ll run tomorrow, but then Thursday will be my day off since I have softball that evening and I don’t want to wear myself out before that. Friday I’ll do a morning resistance workout, and then Saturday a swim and run workout saving my biking for Sunday and the Elephant Rock bicycle ride!!

Three weeks till the big race!!

2008-05-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, been pretty busy with traveling for work. Training is going well and I am pretty happy with the 5 mile race in the Garden of the Gods that I ran in. I completed it in just under 48 minutes which put my pace at around 9.5 minutes per mile. That is not going to set any speed records, but since I haven't participated in any type of racing since high school, I am definitely happy with it. In about one week, I'll be doing a 50 mile bike ride in the Castle Rock area called the Elephant Rock Charity ride. I'm sure that willl be a blast as well, plus I got a cycling jersey out of it that is pretty sweet. I'll definitely post a pic of that after the event.

Later!

This Past Week!

2008-04-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

Well this past week has been pretty full. Misty and I saw her doctor on Monday for her 22 week checkup and just a couple of days ago I actually felt the little guy move. I think he kicked me. Gonna have to have a little chat with him about that when he arrives. I'm feeling much better after having been down for a spell with some type of chest and head cold, but got in plenty of workouts this week. I ran 7 miles, biked 16 and swam 2.5 miles. This coming Saturday I'll be running in the "Take 5 in the Garden" 5 mile race with some co-workers. That'll be a good training run; nice and hilly!

Only 49 days till the big race!

Slight set back in my training...

2008-04-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

This past week has not been good. I got some type of head/chest cold and have been trying to recover from the congestion for the past week. I did get a couple of workouts in, but they weren't very intense or long in duration. Well, enough of that! This week is get back on the ball week. I've got 2 months until my first Triathlon, so no more getting sick for me! This afternoon, I'll get in a nice bike ride, and then tomorrow I'll do some running. Hope everyone is doing well.

56 days until my first Triathlon!!

And the Results are in....

2008-04-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

Well, if you want to spoil my fun and just scroll down to the pictures I guess I can't stop you, but while at the Ultrasound appointment we got to see some very good images (as far as ultrasound images go) of our son. Oops! I shouldn't have let it slip so soon. We did also get to see that he is healthy and at a good weight for his age (10oz).

He was not shy at all about letting us know either. :)

This shot is of his profile. His forehead is the bright curve on the right hand side you can also see his eye, nose and I think those are some teeth as well.

Thank you all for your well wishes and you'll be able to meet him at the very end of August!

Almost time!

2008-04-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

Okay so everyone should know by now that Tuesday is the day we'll find out whether we are expecting a boy or a girl. In the meantime, I had one heck of a tough workout yesterday. I went to the Y in the morning and did the swim workout I was planning to do, but while there a couple of people I know who are also training for triathlons invited me to ride at the academy with them. Of course I hemmed and hawed a bit, but in the end went for the ride. It was a tough ride after the long swim, but was more fun than riding there by myself which is what I had planned to do today!

Welcome

2008-03-31T18:20:00.000-07:00

How you found this blog is beyond me (unless I sent you a link of course), but you're here so welcome.

A little extra about me...
Over the past year, I have dropped 40lbs (which I am very happy for) and now the craziness that enticed me to lose that weight has shifted into training for a triathlon, or two... maybe three? Anyway, I am enjoying all of the training involved and look forward to my first race in 75 days. I'm sure quite a bit of this blog for the next few months will revolve around my training. In fact Saturday I was out for a bike/run workout which was really tough. 12 miles on the bike and 3 running. It was a beautiful day though so I can't complain. Overall, it took 1:10 minutes so I am well on my way to finishing a .5 mile swim, 17 mile bike and 3.1 mile run in the middle of June!!

That is all for now, I would post about my family, but they don't know I have even done this yet so I'll wait until next week to start talking about them!

Later!
Jeff