Thursday Past was our intra club mini meet. I was stoked for a good showing, eager to show off my newly developed flip turns skill, and to set some times. Unfortunately, Things don’t always go as planned.

We did 3 events. I chose the 100m and 400m free, everyone did the 200m free. This was the first event, mainly because Coach Paul wanted a good fresh 200m time as a standard.

I started off way too hard, and by 100m, my arms were almost seazed. By the end, I was shaking. I have no idea what my time was, but I am sure it was brutal.

my luck in the draw meant I had a decent rest until the 100 free, because I was in the final heat, but it also meant back to back with the 400m. Again, I went out way too hard. I tried to do flip turns, and they were awful. I barely broke 1:30 which was my original goal, so I should have been happy, but given I did a 1:32 on Tuesday in long descending set, I really thought that with a diving start, and good turns I could have been way faster.

Then without much of a cooldown, it was out of the water and back on the blocks for the 400m. That one really hurt. After just completing a 100m sprint, I was really struggling. I decided to stick with open turns and try and relax, but part way through, I started to feel like puking, so I had to take it down another notch. After 350, the girl in the lane next stopped, and I did too thinking I had miscounted. Turns out she miscounted and I quickly pushed off and finished my lat lap to make 400.

The Bad: I felt brutal on the short stuff. I am definitely not a short stuff kind of guy.

The Good: Even with the lap confusion in the 400, as well as the back to back, my 400 time was 2 seconds better than last February, so I know that I have a way better swim in me.

From here: Practice more turns. Get em down pat.

REMEMBER

2 sleeps to my giveaway. Don’t forget the bonus.

This weekend was Ironman Cozumel, and one of my favorite bloggers, Semi Pro triathlete, Charisa, completed the race. I believe she finished with a 27th overall, and 7th in her division.

I use the term semi pro to describe someone like Charisa, who is good enough to compete with the very best, but has decided to train and race while still holding down a full time job. That takes a lot of guts knowing that you are taking your weekend warrior schedule, and putting it up against professionals who’s full time job is to Train, Eat, Sleep, recover, Repeat.

I am sure the Cozumel race was very challenging, especially on the swim. I have visited Coz, on a diving trip. When you dive the reefs there, you just float near the sea bottom and let the currents carry you along as you check out the marine life.




This makes for awesome diving, but I am sure those same currents makes for brutal Ironman swims.

Congratulations to Charisa, and I am looking forward to an awesome race report.

Just 3 sleeps to my giveaway.

And still bonus entries up for grabs here.

Hands up anyone who ate too much turkey yesterday?

Hands up anyone who got up at 4:00am to line up outside a Best Buy to buy something you don’t need for 20% off?

Hands up anyone who slept in with a Tryptophan, Carbernet hang over?

And finally, don’t forget the giveaway.

Don’t forget the bonus entries here to find out how.

Now some lighthearted humour!

I have finished reading my giveaway book, and my plan is to post a review next week. I really enjoyed the glimpse into the life of an Olympic champion. In fact so much that I have ordered a second book, referenced by Dara called Champions: The Making of Olympic Swimmers

I know I said my next book would be Brian Boyles Iron Heart but Champions looks like a very interesting read.

In it, the author, Daniel Chambliss, writes about coach coach Mark Schubert, and his swimmers at the swimming facility at Mission Viejo California, as they prepare for the 1984 olympics.

The book was pricey, almost 120 CAD for a new one, probably due to the fact it’s a pretty old publication (1988). But I managed to score a used copy for under 5, which ended up around 10 with shipping. I am looking forward to this read.

OTHER BUSINESS

Many thanks to Missy, who guest posted yesterday. If enough people bug her, she may come out of the shadows, and start writing again. I sure do miss her clever posts, and Wednesday Funnies.

And finally, don’t forget the giveaway. The draw is in a week. Remember, there are bonus entries up for grabs. Go here to find out how.

As promised, you loved her blog, and missed her when she left. So without further adieu, here she is, all the way from her kitchen, Iron Missy!!!!! (And congrats to Big Daddy for the bonus entry in my giveaway) And now (In the voice of Ed McMahon)Heeeeeres MISSY!



What’s up bitches!??! Bet you thought you had heard the last of me, yeah, yeah, you were hoping, I know the truth. The truth is…well, it’s been a life things kind of year for me. I will spare you the boring the details (truly, it has been fairly dull) and try to get to the goods.

Catch up – Since the American Triple T Ohio at the end of May, my long runs are five miles, my swims are zero metards and cycling max’s out at 20 miles a week these days. I HAVE been learning to swing a kettlebell (shhhh, I love it, I suck at it but I’ve never had such a power packed, short workout help so much), training and taking care of dogs, the elderly and the young and taking a little R&R time for me and the fam. For those of you that don’t know me and my blogoflife, it’s still alive right here

My life is still a Seinfeld episode, one after the other, crazy shit, random shit day after day. Just last nite, I was busy minding my own business (sleeping) when one, poo footed, invalid dog (Gunnar) decided to jump on my bed. Yes, you heard me, the little shit stepped in crap and decided to share at midnight…after I had been sleeping for three hours already. NICEEEE. So disgusting, trying to sanitize my sheets right now. I might just throw them away. Here is a lovely picture of Gunnar with his too cool for school shades on. He DOES think he is ‘all that.’



Other thoughts and TOTAL randomness. In no particular order…

I had to go to Bed Bath and Beyond for my super special coffee filter. Butttt, when did that place get so full of trash? I mean, a pad of fake grass so your dog can pee in doors called the Potty Mat or some crap. If you want a pet to pee inside your house, get a cat.

When you go out to lunch with a bunch of guys from work, do not randomly pull out anything that might resemble a roll of mints…you may just be offering a tampon. Ask me how I know? I’m so lucky that these guys like me.

When you tell people that you’ve done ironman (or insert other ridiculous endurance race here), people think you’re a bad ass. UNTIL they see you try to do a circuit/kettlebell workout and you’re shaking because you can’t hold up your own weight. Thankfully, I’m not a pussy and can just push through it, but still, it’s embarrassing.

Oh, if you’re ever looking to HATE triathlon, try the American Triple T Ohio, you may never do another tri again. Caveat – it was THEE BEST, most FUN and HARDEST race I have ever done, hands down (plus we rocked out). At the same time, I don’t feel like I missed out by not doing a late season race OR working out through the blistering heat of the summer.

Watching your manly husband prance around a show ring with a dog will put you in stitches. I don’t think I got us any extra points by pointing and laughing at him but the little pup still got his title so someone did something right.

I thought I would miss swimming. I’ve been in a pool 3x since the end of May, yeah, I don’t miss the wet hair on a cold day and the dry skin…but I DO miss the people.

I have been totally self absorbed and have not been keeping up in blogland so please forgive me. I may come back some day and shock all of you.

Hope you are well…Missy

First of all, my giveaway seems to be stalled at the halfway mark, so rather than prolong the agony I am going to set Thursday of next week as the draw date. But as an incentive to bump up my total number of comments, here is what I am going to do. If you refer someone to my post, and they leave a comment, you get an extra entry. In fact one for every referral.

Here’s how it’ll work. You refer someone, send an email to flatoutjim@gmail.com, with the subject “giveaway referral” and let me know their name and blog if they have one. As soon as I see the comment on my First of all, my giveaway post, You get an extra entry. No cheating. You can’t email me saying you referred Barbie, and get an extra entry. It has to be a new comment.

Second, stay tuned tomorrow for a guest post from a former very popular blogger who retired from bloggy world. She has agreed to give us an update on what she’s up to, in her own unique style. AND if you can guess who it is before I post tomorrow, I’ll give you a bonus entry. Again send an email to flatoutjim@gmail.com, with the subject giveaway referral.

Third and finally, for your reading, enjoyment here is an article on the U.S. Masters web site about shoulder stretches for swimmers.

Notice the tight tuck, excellent position, and competition suit, this is not me!

Oh the joy of having a lane all to yourself. This a rarity during lunch hour swims at Mount Pearl Pool. There are usually a few regulars in the “FAST LANE”, who do actually swim, but it’s pretty disorganized. Then there’s at least one old guy, who insists on flailing up and down the “FAST LANE” (it’s all about perspective)and nobody is breaking his rhythm.

But Friday, there must have been a bingo on somewhere, because instead of the usual 50 or so seniors, (sixty five and older,) there was 15, if that many, and my lane, the “FAST LANE” was empty. (Of course this may be normal for Friday.)

I soon got over my guilt and took advantage of the situation. I was planning to try and practice some flip turns, depending on how busy the pool was. But with the lane all to myself I flipped in with both barrels.

I figured 1000m of freestyle with flipturns would be a good way to get comfortable. I would either learn to do a turn, or drown trying. I decided on 20 x 50m with a turn on a very conservative 1:15 interval. That was on top of a warmup of 200m with flips at the deepend, and a finishing set of 100 with a flip at both ends. (The shallow end is pretty shallow, and there’s not much room for error on the push off)

The result? Of the 20 turns, I would rate 16 as decent turns. 4 of them were actually really good, for me. 4 were pretty bad, in fact on 2 of them I missed the wall altogether. But that’s ok, you gotta take the good with the bad.

By the end of the practice, I felt really good about them. So now it’s all about more Practice Practice Practice. I may even start inserting them into my workouts. I now feel like a REAL swimmer.

Giveaway

Don’t forget my giveaway. Just to remind everyone, the target is 50 comments. I am now at 23, almost half way, but the momentum is slowing down, so I may throw in a little added incentive. Stay tuned.

You gotta check out this blog. As reported by Tri Juice, Brian Boyle just completed Ironman Florida, in a time of 10:14:20.

Brian is becoming one of those synonymous names in the Ironman world, like Rick and Dick, Sister Madonna, or The Blazeman.

Brian’s story is that he was nearly killed in a car crash in 2004. It was devastating accident, and every time I read about the injuries he sustained, I am still dumbfounded.

But not only did he recover, but he defied his doctors who predicted he would never walk again, and has now completed 3 Ironman races including the big one in Kona. He has raced at Ironman Newfoundland, and Clearwater.



Clearwater is where I met him, two years ago. There was a local connection as his grandfather was born in Newfoundland, and he still has ties here. Soft spoken and very approachable were my impressions of Brian.

In addition to all that, as well as TV appearances on Ellen, and The Today Show, Brian is now a published Author. His book Iron Heart: The True Story of How I Came Back from the Dead

This just may be my next read after I finish Dara Torres: Age Is Just a Number

Giveaway

Don’t forget. my giveaway currently now at 22 comments. My target is still 50, so send all your friends.

Ironman Arizona goes on Sunday. And once again I have 2 friends down there right now getting ready to hit the water and pavement.

Maureen and Janine. Both are experienced triathletes, and have been in the sport about as long as me. This is Maurine’s first crack at the long race. As for Janine, I think it’s her first as well, but I am not 100% sure.

I will be tracking them both on Sunday, as well as anyone else that are regulars to Flatoutbuddy. So if anyone reading this is racing Sunday leave me a comment so I can track you as well.

My Book Arrived

That’s right, In the mail yesterday. The same one as my giveaway, so if you want the book, and haven’t signed up yet, leave a comment in my post. I am already a third of the way through, and so far it’s a very interesting read. Some very interesting insights into the world of competitive swimming, and what Dara went through in each of her comebacks.

So if you want the book, and haven’t signed up yet, leave a comment in my post HERE.

It’s my blog, and I can do whatever I want. This post has nothing to do with triathlon. This one is for the hockey nuts out there.

I had a chance to watch some Olympic caliber hockey this past weekend as the 4 Nations Cup took place in St. John’s.

This is an invitational tournament featuring the 4 top international Girls hockey teams. Yes that’s right I said Girls. And for old school fans who think girls hockey is boring, well just stay home and watch the leafs and Sens YAWNNN!

The gold medal game was between Archrivals, Team Canada, and Team U.S.A. (The rest of the world really has to catch up)

It was one of the best hockey games I have ever seen. Canada rebounded from their round robin shootout loss on Wednesday to win the final 3 to 2 in overtime. It was fast and fierce, and although the game is officially “NO CONTACT” when players were fighting for a 50/50 puck in the corner, there were no holds barred.

Best player on the ice for the U.S. was 5’0” 130 lb Erika Lawler. She was a firecracker, all over the ice, in the face of Canada’s best players every shift. Best player for Canada, hands down Rebecca Johnston, who not only scored the winning goal, but drove the net and drew the penalty that gave Canada the Powerplay.

On that same play came a scary incident, when U.S. player Kacey Bellamy crashed into the boards after tripping Johnston. She injured herself, and was taken off on a stretcher. I can’t find much in the way of status reports on her, but hopefully she is not badly hurt, and can return to the ice soon.

So if anyone ever has a chance to watch hockey of this caliber, do yourselves a favour, and go. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Giveaway

Don’t forget two giveaways. Barbie from Trying a Tri, and mine currently stuck at 16 comments. My target is 50, so send all your friends.

Don’t you love free stuff?

First of all, Barbi from Trying a Tri has her own giveaway. A packet of cool Aussy theme products and nicknacks. It looks pretty awesome. Go to her blog to check out the rules.

Second, I am up to 15 comments, that’s almost one third of the way to my target. Remember, spread the word. Details are HERE

Third, my blog had a visit from a retired blogger who was very popular before she decided to pack it in. If you are wondering who, check out the comments on my contest post. I am trying to entice her to make a guest appearance, and she just might be falling for it. Stay Tuned.

Fourth and Finally, Thank goodness I am back on track. Tuesday morning masters was awesome again. A few more drill and kick sets this go round, so my distance was just under 3000. But it felt good to feel good, if you know what I mean.

That’s all, Check out the giveaways.

First of all, Don’t forget my giveaway. I am looking for 50 comments, as of this morning, I have 12. Contest Details are HERE, spread the word. The free book is below.

It was a brutal week for training. I know it’s transition period, and it shouldn’t really matter, but swimming has been going good this fall, and I have been pretty faithful, until last week.

You know how you are when you kind of feel sick, but not seriously sick. Just enough to make you feel like you don’t want to do anything. That was me yesterday.

It really started Wednesday. I didn’t make my Wednesday swim which isn’t a big deal because it is usually only drills, and slow swimming. Still, I hate missing them, but something came up, so I didn’t make it.

Then on Thursday, with the Remembrance holiday, the family wanted to go out for supper, and since I love to eat as much as I do train and race I wasn’t about to deny the family my company. So I blew off masters for some quality time.

I did manage an easy 45 minute, 1500m morning dip on Friday, but it felt horrible. It felt like catching air, not water. I was all over the place, but knowing I could swim Saturday and Sunday, I didn’t let it bother me.

But Saturday, my errands ran longer than usual, so I missed a chance to swim that day.

Finally on Sunday, I just felt really crappy. So I blew off my second masters workout, and went to bed early. Hopefully my body responds, and I can break the cycle today.

I have my TYR swim bag packed, and am ready to hit the pool at lunch, then Tuesday masters tomorrow morning. By this evening, I hope to be either back on track, or sick enough to stay home and get over it.

Once again, here is the book for the giveaway, Details are HERE. Best of luck.

Don’t forget to check out my Free Giveaway.

Click HERE, Read the Rules, leave a comment, Wait for the draw.

So far I am only up to 3 comments. The quicker I get to 50, the quicker someone wins the prize.

Good Luck.

I have been thinking about doing a giveaway, for a while, but just never committed. Since we are closing in on Christmas I think the time is right to dive in. If this goes well, I may do another one or two.

The Rules

1. Leave a comment on this post. Include your email address if you are not a regular blogger with contact information in your profile.

2. Only one entry per person. Leave as many comments as you want, but it only gets you one ticket.

3. Winner will be determined by a random draw. Their name announced on my blog, and also sent an email.

4. The name will be chosen once I reach 50 unique comments on this post.

That means your chances are 1 in 50. It also means I need some help hitting 50 comments. Yes this is really a shameful way to drive traffic my way, and entice fellow bloggers to send referrals to my site. So get your bloggie friends or your real time friends (if you have any) to surf over, check out my blog, and leave a comment.

The prize will be shipped from Amazon.ca. I’ll pay for shipping, but if you live outside Canada, you will be responsible for duty charges. SORRY! Nothing I can do about that.

Why Now?

Barbie over at Trying a Tri is thinking about doing a giveaway, so I thought if I did one, she might do it as well.

Why This Book?

I already have it on order, and I have already read the prologue on the Amazon site. I have been a fan of Dara ever since I watched the USA Olympic Trials before Beijing. I think it will be an awesome read, and I plan to post a review once I am done.

This is my first time, so be gentle. Good luck, and if there are any questions, contact me.

My bike is safely stored away, my newtons, are tucked cozy in their closet. The season is now officially over for me, so it’s as good a time as any to go back and review my summer of swimming riding and running.

It was a bumpy ride, and started off pretty crappy. But as I closed in on my A race, things started to look up, and I finished with a bang.

My long term plan was to focus on Personal Best times in a 5k, and 10k road race, as well as in a 20k ITT. But the big prize for me was a PR at the St. John’s Triathlon. If I raced well, maybe even an agegroup podium finish.

My 47:14 at the Harbour Front 10k was within the conservative target I had set for myself, but it wasn’t great. The 39:05 at My first 20k ITT was also within my goal of breaking 40 early in the season, but was over 3 minutes off my PB of 35:47 and I knew I would have a lot of work to do over the summer.

The lowest point of the season was the Paradise Triathlon. It was brutal. My swim was slower than expected, my bike was even worse. The only bright spot was a decent run, but overall I was disappointed. I was way behind peers who I usually stay close to, and occasionally pass.

But part of the process is taking efforts like that, learning from them, and using the experience to get stronger, and faster. With a little hard work, and some smart training, I started to see some improvement on the bike. Leading into the Carbonear Triathlon, I was feeling good, and had an awesome event.

That set me up for the race I was focusing on. The St. John’s triathlon. On race morning, I was feeling good, focused, and I had no nerves. My effort on the bike was solid, and I managed to hold off several surging agegroup peers on the run. I was rewarded with a personal best in less than ideal conditions, and a third place podium finish in my agegroup.

After a few days of recovery, I eased back onto the bike, and 9 days after my PB at the St. John’s Tri, I shattered my PB in a 20k ITT.

In retrospect, to come back so hard so soon after a tough race was probably a mistake as I paid for it with a very sore lower back that percisted, and kept me off the bike and out of my newtons, for almost 6 weeks.

Instead I focused on swimming, and the open water swim series where my best time was 22:24.

I finished the season with the Turkey Tea 10k. Still hopeful for a Personal Best of around 44 minutes, I ran it hard, and re-agrivated my injury. But since I was done with riding and running for the season, and since I was confident it would heal, I didn’t sweat it. By now our masters swim season was in full force, and I had a renewed vigour for focusing on my swimming.

So there it is. Next season will be tough to top, and I have been notorious for following up an excellent season with a crappy one, so next year my focus will be to break that trend, and have an even better year.

Here’s to 2011.

First off, I neglected to mention Robert, the One Hour Ironman, who also completed Florida this weekend. Robert has a very cool web site, and has published a book about training for an Ironman on 1 hour a day. What does 1 hour a day get you? Under 13 hours. There must be more to the story, so I guess I have to check out the book. Congratulations to Robert. Next up is Texas.

Now for this morning. Off to the Mount Pearl Marlins, Masters workout. This morning the feature was a 800m timed set. But before that was a slow steady build to get everyone ready. The last set before the 800 was 4 x 100 descending, and then 400 smooth. And I smoked the 100’s, probably too fast, finishing with a 1:36.

Then the 800. My target was under 15, and my time ended up 14:20, so pleased I am, and all before 8:00am. I lost count, but my lane mate passed me twice. (She is really fast) so when she stopped, I knew I had an extra 2 laps to go.

I hate morning workouts, so I am sure that if it were a sensible time of day, I could be even faster.

The next timed challenge will be our 15 minute timed swim in about 2 weeks. So wish me luck.

We were struck with an uncharacteristically warm November weekend with sunshine and temperatures in the mid teens. It was a prime opportunity to do some last minute outdoor work around the house, put a huge dent into my “Gutting out the Basement Project” and check out some sporting events.

I opted to not ride or run, but instead dismantle the kid’s, wife’s, and my bikes and store them in the loft of the shed for the winter. The method to my madness is to build a cool workout area in the basement where the junk used to be.

Throughout the day I was online checking the results of Ironman Florida 2011. I had six athletes I was tracking. five local athletes, all of whom were there not just to finish but to do serious damage. Best of the bunch was Otto Ryan who cracked 10 hours with a solid effort and an awesome run.

Also completing the race was Chloe who also had an awesome time of 12:56:18, just cracked the 13 hour mark.

Then there was a local swim meet put off by our local swim team, The St. John’s Legends. Kids from all across the province were en mass at the Aquarena for the event, and what a sight to see hundreds of kids of all ages lined up on the pool deck warming up and waiting for their events. I managed to watch the boys 1500m (1550m for the winner Gavin Dyke). It was awesome and inspiring to watch these teenagers bang out lap after lap, and keep their stroke doing it.

Then topping it off was our Sunday night masters featuring 2 sets of 700m.

And that was the weekend. Thank goodness I am back at work and can relax.

That's Chloe who is racing this weekend. Wish her luck, and check out her blog.

Here are a couple of more things about Ironman Florida this weekend.

First off, as pointed out on my last post, the race is Saturday, not Sunday.

Second, please join me in wishing luck to Chloe from Running With A Bottle of Wine. Chloe lives in Panama City Beach, and is racing on Saturday, so she gets to sleep in her own bed, cook in her own kitchen, and doesn’t have to drag bike parts half way across the continent, and re-assemble it in a squatty hotel room. How cool is that. Her blog is well done and worth checking out. I am trying to convince her to write about the race from a local point of view, and give a little local advice on where to go and what to do when in PCB.

Third, according to my Google Analytics account, I am getting lots of hits on my Ironman Florida 2010 Dos and Don’ts post from 2010. It seems there are lots of people looking for any little piece of information that might give them an advantage, or at least put their mind at ease. The post can be found here.

Fourth and finally, check the day for the athlete’s pre-race banquet. It is most likely TONIGHT, Thursday, but confirm it on the schedule in the athletes guide. Every race I had competed in up to Ironman Florida had the pre race meal the day before the race. So me thinking it was going to be on Friday, missed it. Don’t make the same rookie mistake.

Once again good luck to all competitors. It’s going to be a great weekend.

Ironman Florida 2011 goes this SATURDAY (not Sunday.) I have buddies travelling there today, and I am so jealous. The forecast for Sunday is sunny and 69 degrees, with light winds. A far cry from 2006 where the temp at the start of the race was 32 degrees and the wind was howling.

Some new from Florida, as far as I can tell, NO OIL! It’s been out of the news recently, so here’s hoping no news is good news.

Also, the race has a modified bike course. The new route changes the course from a loop to an out and back by eliminating the section on County 388 between State 79 and State 77. Unless you have done the race before, it will likely mean nothing, but from what I can remember, racers will see less country homes, and more pine trees. You can find out a little more about the new route at TriJuice.

Personally, I like out and back courses. You get to see more athletes, maybe even a glimpse of the frontrunners, including the pros. And if you are in the hunt for an age group podium finish, or a qualifying slot, you get to size up the competition. That’s providing of course you know who they are, but if you are that good, you should find out who they are as part of your race prep. I wouldn’t have to worry about it.

For anyone heading to Panama City Beach, and you are like me, and the grease at the Wafflehouse is just a little too much, so there is an IHOP just over the bridge in Panama City. To get there; take Route 30, to 98, then onto 75. IHOP is just a couple of clicks up the road on the left. (Google Directions Here). If you need a good caffeine fix, it looks like there are a couple of Starbucks in PCB, so you won’t have to cross the bridge into Panama City. And if you are like me, and the grease at the Wafflehouse is just a little too much, so there is also an IHOP there as well.

And one last hint, get to Walmart early in the week, or all the Gatorade will be gone. No kidding. Just bare shelves. And good luck to everyone.

A busy work week, and a slack work-out week along with a dose of the cold made for a less than inspired blogger last week. So I have committed to pull up my compression socks, and do some solid workouts, and some solid posts this week.

After missing pool sessions Tuesday and Thursday, (My first missed workouts of the year) I headed out Friday evening for a brief “Get the feel for the water session” again. Unfortunately, a packed program with swim lessons, and diving team practice meant pool width lanes. That’s 18m across the pool. I was not impressed.

So Saturday, I planned a moderate but focused workout until I walked onto the deck of the pool. The 25 yard MUN pool, was jam packed. There are only 5 lanes, and they all had no less than 5 to 7 people swimming, with not a clue as to lane etiquette. So it turned into a “Go when you can session”

But after yesterdays masters fix, I am back to feeling good again.

So this week, more kick practice, more flipturn practice, and lots of helping my kids devour Halloween treats.