what up to my peeps

well it's official, im unemployed hehe never felt better in my life. honestly the environment i was in had become toxic, lots of people walking around looking like they were lost, news each week of cuts - cuts - cuts, time for an n8 departure from otherwise doom and gloom

what have i been doing with myself? training faster and harder, no excuses if yaint goin to work ya best be in shape. a little PR included a swim from arizona to california 2.5 mi yep thats my n8 unemployed white ass right there on camera ;--)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAYfKijVZFU

n8

am i

an athlete?
in a conversation about upcomming events a friend had commented, wow ur becoming quite the athlete. excuse me uh are u looking at someone else, did we just meet? i had not considered this until just now.  all the training, all the work and personal investment, sacrafice, commitment, could it be true?

lets examine
i work out hard but not necessairly smart, so i have been told by other athletes. im way committed but in a fun way i wont blow off training but i will endulge a little, ok a lot, on weekends.  i do fair amount of researching technique and training regimine but i have no real coaching. im making consistent progress and see improvements in performance on all levels, confidence et al. im competetive maybe too competetive. wouldnt say im a good athlete lets go with getting better

performance
i have realized lately i quite enjoy the performance aspect of training/racing. to test my limits and measure how i perform when asked, will my strength and endurance deliver the desired results, or will i gas out and fail? its been an unreal feeling to be in open water and get the distance and speed i want, like the only limitation i have right now is time, to enter a half marathon, train for it, and complete it, to crush hills i once considered unrideable, to set the bar higher each time and reach that bar is an amazing feeling

athlete? maybe, having fun getting there, absolutly!

how to ensure you suck - duathlon post moretum

for a lesson in what not to do for race day the following will ensure you finish in the bottom of the pack. this dismal performance has but one upside, you can only do better next time.

• pre race meal: couldnt find an Italian restaurant so went to a mexican restaurant.  bad mexican food equals bad energy for race day.
• race clothing: do not wear a black shirt on a sunny day.  black shirt and sun equals overheating.
• race clothing: do not wear a nylon shirt with no zipper.  nylon is not the best wick material nor does it carry away moisture well.  something with a fine mesh that allows airflow and preferably with a zipper for fast cooling when needed.
• race clothing: do not remove your shit when you are over heating, too much exposed skin can lead to over exposure to sun and dehydration. also cuz its early in the season you look like a fat fu*k in your bike photos
• stretching: daily is preferable race day pre and post race is a must. do not miss this one
• pace: race the pace you train, bombing the bike leg because youre feeling super invincible will leave you fatigued for the next leg and overall costly mistake and possible injury.
• training: train bricks for the event you are racing, if you havent trained for the type of race or have no prior races in that format you should not be surprised if you suck.

this is my assessment of rookie mistakes, having posted gives me closure on my poorest performance to date.  worst of all i was actually doing well until the last run where i added 8 minutes to my time.  that was the difference between top 3 and bottom 2. i will be back to kick some duathalon ass then i will never race it again

Owed to Computer Operations team

today a persons life was changed, several people actually.  a team i manage finished up their last day at work, some had been on board 20 plus years.  the work they performed moved to an outsource firm in india

the team was a 24X7 computer operations monitoring and alerting NOC in IT operations terms and consisted of 7 to 8 people at various times.  responsible for monitoring the health of a $12M IT infrastructure for a $4B global company as well as executing a number of "off peak" processes that run when the rest of the world is in slumber land. 30K processes each night to be exact

during their tenure they participated in every significant event as the first line of defense when things went array.  they operated consistently and effectively like a fine tuned machine. calm in times of hurry, as was their nature executing a methodical processes tried and true until systems restored back to normal.  what they new more often then not restored peace and what they didn't know, they learned and added to their portfolio

during the years there were ups and downs, arguments like any family.  on one night shift a child was nearly born at work but for the team supervisor driving his employee to the hospital

in the end they walked out one by one to their exit interviews heads held high, after which they each turned in their badges to me and left the building.  some cried, some were angry, one shook my hand and said what the hell it was a good run

as the last man walked out i noticed a gathering in the parking lot.  there they stood in a circled embrace for some 10min or so.  a humbling experience for me, a terrifying experience for them

today a persons life was changed

n8

Working the shoe

so i have this problem i only have 1 bike and i absolutely love to ride it, ride ride ride mikey goes on his bike, honestly i will wear the damn bike out.  infact i would ride it even more if it werent requiring me to clip in and when i get to the market or coffee shop clip clop clip clop in the store i go with my version of camel toe and a helmet, haha that was funny $hit, ok it isnt that bad.

so im thinking what if i didnt have to get all into my gear to ride, what if i had a trap with a cleat on it that i can clip in? this idea has many applications lets say you're in T1 and you get ur runners on and jump on the bike you now have an advantage in T2. or lets say your friend comes over and wants to ride your bike, or your extra bike and both have cleats. or lets say you have an expensive bike and just cant get the hang of it and fall all the time but you want something a little more sexy then cages for pedals on your carbon fiber bike. hey i paid $60 dollars for a sexy carbon bottle cage because it looked cool.

i think my product has enough use cases to warrant attention. I need something you attach your cleat to so both hole patterns are possible. this took me to the LBS for some parts and an hour in the garage and wala (voila) i can now clip in.

trapcleat version 0.1 test ride: difficult to get my shoe in as it rotates down and not easy to flip up with the toe of my shoe.  also needs better lateral support and longer base.  probably not using all my pulling power efficiently.

summary: looks not bad, function poor.

hmmm lets see if i had longer base and more support i could grab the trap and use power more efficiently.  grab my old alpinstars, razor knife, chop saw and wala (voila) clearly i have too much time on my hands.

trapcleat version 0.2 test ride: much easier to get into, significantly better support and use of power actually i kinda like it. sadly i recall i paid a lot of money for those shoes.

summary: doesnt look so good at the moment but functions well. currently not big enough for running shoes so barefoot or socks only.

if i had the support of v.2 and the looks of v.1 something carbon with longer base, aero styling so it looks cool i think im there. this will have to be a sketch for now till i get som more supplies, comments are welcome.

trapcleat version 0.3 (draft)

n8 soul

i believe i can fly

today was the first time in a long while i felt free running. generally not one of my strengths, actually i suck, but 4mi in i just felt free, like i can run for ever. z4 intervals proved to be the only way to really slow me down, truth be told i would rather be in the salt water where im at my very best but for a run it was pretty damn satisfying to get that kind of performance.

re reading an older post, messages from max, i was reminded of being free and happy and all that is right in his world, he is truly an amazing dog and although it sounds weird he inspires me.


n8

bringing the heat

i have a blog friend over on another site that is whimpering about a tough year in 2010. actually i shouldn't poke fun because i think her story is legit and if not for setbacks last year, she would school me in any race.

as for me it was an epic year till november when i decided to coast for a while. a while became a long while and a few drinks became a few too many and too often. thus my svelte racing form became eh, muffin like by jan. when a close friend coaxed me out for a friendly 10k i was, as he stated in his british accent, absolutely miserable.

that said i throw down the following challenge. i will be in competitive condition by end february even with a trip to india i have scheduled and i will be back in top form by march.

my challenge goes out to kat to do the same. enter a race of your choosing and finish in the top one third by june and i will reimburse your entry fee or make a donation to a charity of your choosing.

n8 soul

n8 greetings

greetings and best holiday wishes to all the followers of my blog (haha) this year has been amazing break out year for me, so many great events and awesome people. lets recap camp pendleton, mission bay, long beach, ventura harbor, im beginning to feel like a sea lion :) lets not forget training in lake geneva  switzerland, oh yeah and special shout out to all the jelly fish that stung the f#%k out of me in cabo on my swim to the cabo arch and around to the pacific side, woot woot! nothing says your special like big red stripes down the side of your face and body when partying at the hotel pool. so to everyone out there i wish you a merry christmas and very safe and happy new year.  tune in next year to follow more of the insanity :)

heres what i know

i make decent bank, work for a solid company that has treated me well, bonus, promotions, options, pension, stock purchase, vacation; got all a that. still something is missing, like i have to test myself.

i know if i get out into my own gig all the ass holeios go away but so does the security blanket.  too bad it was soo sweet for so long but one by one i see people i respect rolling off.  people that believe relationships and trust are how business is done are leaving.

so, whats next? in a perfect world i do something i love and earn a decent living. its a risk for sure but with each day that passes the pressed shirts and  corp game becomes more distasteful. are the incentives worth the tradeoff? do i take the risk of doing my own thing and assume all the accountability for success or failure?

maybe it's not that complicated

n8 soul

need sunshine

soo its been possibly the gloomiest summer since i can remember, normally basking in the sun soaking up vitamin d just aint happening.

in a rather binging state i challenge my friend kirk and liz plus another couple to a lil trip to cabo to get away from work, cold weather and basically the real world.

so off to cabo in a private car with champagne this morning, we will drop in on sammy and the waboritas rest of the week.  the girls are planning on packing very small bikinis :) staying at http://www.me-cabo.com if anyone wants to hook up.

oh and i will so get my swim on on the ocean, more L8R

n8

step it up

finished LB this morning at 5am, seriously i was on fire 11 min swim, i didnt check the othe splits yet but i finished fast, im done playing around time to step up the game.  my head is right, body is right, gear is tight so why not.

game on MF!

ocean rocks

Ahhhh the ocean, mad swim in long beach sunday swimming along bellmont shores in prep for long beach triathlon.

its easy to do a mile just 100 yards off the beach is prolly 2 miles long from alamitos to LB, slipping along through salty 65 deg water in early morning marine layer, thick rich smelling air electrifying my senses, well not all my  senses :)

a sea lion pops his head up looks around then swims along side 50 or so yards off. not seen dolphins here but did see them in corona del mar and in north carolina two dolphins came over while was swimming a mile one of the dolphins purposely bumped me on the chest, my observer on the beach saw the whole thing.

Off in the distance can see the queen marry surrounded by thick marine layer she sits there looming in the mist. she is haunted you know you can rent a room and stay over, done it, pretty cool.

As im finishing up my mile and turn in toward the beach the earliest beach goers just arriving to stake their claim, walk out on the sand, look back to see if my sea lion friend is off playing with other interests. one more deep breath of the heavy sea air.

radical morning, just feel alive!

Attack ride

its over due, ive been babying the knee long enough and have enough lactic acid in my quads to light the house. time for an attack ride!!! so down to the river trail bike path to take out my aggression. paul and barbara are coming along but pauls bike is broken so he gets a mtn bike, sorry bout that but i have other plans today.

after a light stretch we're off, zero out the gps so i can monitor punishment. paul says dont worry ill keep up, uh right bro. out of the parking lot there is a short climb and im already in the big ring rather then shift im immediately out of the saddle, whoa calm the f*** down gangsta.

1st mile warm up i can already feel my legs want to work, the knee feels pretty good i reach down with one hand and touch the right side where the bump was, a lil tender, quit being a puss. up ahead an unsuspecting mountain biker, on ur left, bye bye. mile 3, 16.2 mph warm up is over and the first under pass, grab hydration, click click bam i love durace components, hammer down then 1 click for the uphill, im in full aero position now and come out of the saddle again on the uphill, geez.

two road bikes ahead they seem to be enjoying morning conversation. click, on ur left, by by road bikes. my quads and hams are on fire they want to go faster. 19 mph now heading into the s turns a bunch of turns on the bike path that are much sharper because there is never a car on them, lean in, bank right, power through the turns we're 8 miles in passing houses that back up to the bike path i catch the smell of bacon, mmmm bacon, bet they're cooking waffles too.

10 miles whoa that came up fast, turn around grab fluids, barbara and paul no where in sight, i hope theyre not mad at me. up right for a stretch and more fluids i see barbara coming but no paul, she tags me on the way by. back down into the aero position time to punish the crank i want to see just how much i have left. 12 mi in i get passed, what, a girl, hey ive been passed by her before, she wears those really short bike shorts, and long tan legs. this is motivation but she is still pulling away. click click, hammer down im watching the speed 19.1, 19.3, cummon dude you got more, click, 19.7, click im breathing hard now but gaining so here is the question, do i pass? not because im perving but im not sure i have whats needed to pull away if i do.

behind me i hear someone call out for the first time, coming around, shit a bike club, the puller is passing me and they go right by me and her, i can do this, i have a plan, click click hammer down i pull in behind the last bike and its like a vacuum, no air in front of me i sail right by her and actually let up and the speedo is 20.8 mph, sick. i bet these guys arent even trying this is probably just a casual training ride for them. yep, they're pulling away from me now im not sure they want me in their club.

16 miles in this is sooo fun, i wonder where i passed paul, seriously never saw him again. knee feels great im just gonna back it down and ride the last 4 a little easier. fluids, dont forget to hydrate, cruising now legs feel really great and appreciating the work. lots of sat morning riders out now heading into 18 mile mark 2 mi to go it's gonna be a beautiful day, im going to onetri before they close and buy me some new shoes :)

back at the parkinglot 1.13:32 over 20mi hmmm i prolly had more caus i backed it down on the last 4. i dont know how to calculate watts but will look up the conversion. hydrate, here comes barbara she did great today. no paul in sight. what an awesome day i love my bike :)

new gear

really, honestly i dont get why our gear is soo expensive? totally understand quality, reliability, durability and performance.  also the triathlon market is way smaller then say, tennis. but still i think gear we buy is over priced, i'm researching now hopefully its possible to bring a high quality product to consumers at a retail price half to two thirds of today's cost.  i will need some help from anyone that can provide advice.

hey if it doesn't work, i'll just keep training and log my research.

messages from max

out of the gate i have to tell you that max is my dog. if ur still strange enough then continue reading if not i wouldn't blame you for dismissing this post.  messages from max, a dog, really? wack!

first max is no ordinary dog, he's a miniature pincher 12 pounds of lightning in a compact frame. he plays games with rottweilers and labs in the park. he is all offense, no defense, his game is speed and reflexes, he can not be caught unless he wants to be. for fun ive offered teenage boys in the park a 20 spot if they can catch him only to see max take them on a hundred yard dash then come straight back toward his opponent, fake right, dart left and BAM face down on the grass. another victim.

mini pins are ratters meaning they hunt varmints. anything that moves in the yard is game on.  i don't promote his doing this but i have seen him close on a bird, the bird didn't fly up, it flew out across the lawn, mistake. i saw max hit a second gear and actually faster then the bird he knocked it down and well you get the idea, he's fast ok.

so what is the message from max? well, happiness for starters he is always, always happy. also max does things on his terms, min pins are different in that way. like the outside world we live in, you sort of try to give him the rules, things like go potty now, stay, sit and things like that. max does these things clearly because he has decided to. it's not because i say do it, he tells me when he wants to go outside for potty or when he wants to eat. he owns his world.

in maxes world yesterday is ancient history, today is worth savoring every second, tomorrow will be a new adventure so what are you down about? your a triathlete, run as fast as you can, swim as far as you can, play hard, eat what ever you want, and sleep harder.

these are the messages from max, own your world!

lake swim

just catching up after the long weekend, tuesday morning happened but im not sure how. at least saturday i was able to get in lake havasu and actually get a decent swim out of it. i find lakes more difficult with warm flat water having a different effect on me then colder salty ocean water. lakes are  not as good for training i think mainly it doesn't inspire me to want to put in the work. also the air temp in havasu is up over 100 deg every day, 90 or so by 10am so there isn't going to be a morning run in the picture.

p90x training uh didnt happen, ok lets be honest, we dont go to havasu to train now do we?

day one completed at the mini sand bar hanging with some of the quality folks that congregate there with an awesome sort of river vibe music pumping and very cool boats all tied together. maybe 250 or so people hanging out with a cold beer talking and making new friends, we met different people from as far away as texas and as close as the next town.

warm arizona sun setting down on the water we untied from the giant raft of boats anchored, flipped on the navigation lights and headed back to our friends vacation home.

that night for dinner ron cooked up some sea bass and yellowtail on the grill from a recent fishing trip to mexico seasoned with a cajun rub and cooked just until the fish began to separate.  the girls put out corn tortillas, fresh pico de galio,  and corn on the cobb, seriously off the flippin chart!

at that moment, possibly because of the rum, i had this amazing sense of thankfulness for the friends we have and the things we are able to do together. to say that we are blessed would be an understatement.

best of times

what a super awesome week, i got to spend quality time with my daughter nicole and zoey for the first time in a long long while.  spent a lot of time hanging out, a trip to the beach and park, watching movies, sitting on the back patio, playing in the pool, talking about old times and eating, oy the eating.  thai at supatra, hamburgers and onion rings at islands, and some down home cookin on the bbq, finished off by biscuts, eggs and sausage this morning, mmm mmmmm i have eaten some serious carbs this week and loved every bit of it.

as we packed up nicoles truck and said our good buys i couldnt help but admire what an amazing young woman nicole has become. both of our daughters nicole and melissa are soo amazing, not because we did a great job raising them but inspite of all our errors along the way they were able to define who they wanted to be and its something we are proud of.  i will miss nicole and zoey a whole bunch as our lil chickens head back home :(

hammer down

this morning reverse brick up at 6am, 6:45 pch newport to seal beach and back 19 mi ride early before the sun burned off the marine layer.  then toss the bike in the truck and run streight out  into the ocean.  surfers are like what, who is the dude with the cap and no board? swim out, round huntington pier and back. run back to the truck, towl off and im gone. elapsed time 1hr 22min. too slow, throw in a 5k and it would have been a sprint tri all before most people got up, sweet.

so there it is i can totally do this before work.  iv'e finally decided my training is more important then the first meeting of the day. take that workout, the sweat and effort, exhaustion becomes sanity; oxygen fueled an athlete arrives at work hitting on all cylinders when others are waking up you've burned more calories then most will the entire day.

im truly blessed that i can get down to the beach and then be at work by 9. unfortunately the rest of the day will pale in comparison to the first two hours.

rock on!

whats in the bag - part 2 wetsuit review

for the swim leg of triathlon the majority of triathletes, including me, are all jacked into our tri wetsuit.  this necessary evil is part thermal protection, part flotation, and part hydrodynamics (reduced drag in the water).  the goal is a slippery sleek torpedo like form that glides through the water with ease as you pop out and run into the T1 area to transition to the bike leg ahead of the less sleek competition, right.

enter my issues with being claustrophobic.  I don't like jammies, i don't like sleeping bags, i don't like being tied up (sorry) and i can barely tolerate elevators so zipping me up from head to toe is not going to work.  still everyone encouraged me to try before i buy, go down to the triathlon store and try some stuff on so you get a feel for it.  never ever buy over the internet unless you are a repeat buyer, or tried it on elsewhere first.  i agree with this advice.

in my case i bought a sleeveless zoot for increased arm movement, a very fine product but i am really in between large and med, hmmm decisions, i bought a smaller size because it is sleeker.  the larger size would have been more comfortable and allow me to breath better.  when heading out into 6-8 foot surf you don't want to be working against the wetsuit itself will just wear you out.  my bad, it's on me and i learned.  im now thinking a speed suit will be more flexible and warm enough for events in california.

stay tuned for whats in the bag - part 3

night moves

inspired by another blogger, thanks kat, who recently did a night ride i decided to add a late night swim to my training. am of course starts with p90x or as one xer calls it p90hell, today however, it reached 100 for the third day in a row. what better way to cool off then a night swim.

so there i was at 10pm hooked up to the bands swimming away in the dark, very cool, kinda eerie but i had my best friends max and gracie to keep me company.  we've had a lot of coyotes lately snatching up lil dogs so i kept an eye out for them although i didn't know what i would do running around my yard with elastic bands on. also for some reason, probably cause the only light was moon light, i had visions of a slasher and zombies in my back yard.  creepy huh? these things don't scare me but i run scenarios through my mind partly to think things through in case something did ever happen i have a game plan, and partly just to pass the time while belting out another hour of training.

times up im outa the pool.  max and gracie lou come over to meet me while drying off. no coyotes or slashers show up so i head in and lock up for the night. what about piranha, hmmm will save that scenario for next time.