More photoshop

This is another photoshop project. I am trying to learn how to really use this program. It can do a ton of things. This was meant to be a poster or magazine cover. I wasn't really sure about what text to add but wanted to have some room on the right side for the text. The picture on the bottom was the original. I removed myself from the original and even managed to lose a few pounds thanks to the liquify tool. The rest was just adding text and drop shadows and such. I am trying to do these small projects to learn the tools but also get quicker using photoshop.

Let me know what you think of the final picture. And if you want to come out and go for a run, swim or bike ride let me know.

stickers

I finally broke down and got a sticker for my car. I did the Ironman 70.3 Miami race back in October. They had stickers at the expo but I didn't want to jinx myself and buy it before the race. So I returned home and checked at the running stores with no luck. I was doing some shopping on Amazon the other day and found the stickers. When I put the sticker on my car I noticed my reflection. I decided this would make a good picture. I have already signed up for Ironman Florida 70.3 The race is May 15th down at Disney. So I know what I am doing for winter training. I know Marilyn and Hillary have signed up already. Let me know if anyone else has signed up. We will have to plan some group training.

Riding the bus

Lost Friends,

Not really lost just kind of misplaced. I have had lots of friends come and go in my lifetime. When I was young my Dad was in the Navy so we moved around a bit. This was hard on a young kid having to move away from a best friend. The upside of this learning to make new friends. This is a good life skill to have. It seems these days I have a lot of friends that I don't get to see very often. So when I run into old friends I am happy to see them. We have a few minutes to catch up on how we are each doing, ask about some other people and then we each go our separate ways.

Usually I make friends based on the activity I am doing. These shared experiences bring people together. That and the time spent in that activity. If there is some risk involved the experience is even stronger. I raced sailboats for many years. I met many people and counted many of them as friends. I have tons of stories about people, weather conditions and locations we visited. Even when sailing my boat singlehanded I would talk to other people out on the water, in the bar afterwards or while helping each other with our boats. All my favorite memories on the water involve people. I met my wife in one of my sailing classes. I have done Jiu-Jitsu, woodturning, running and now triathlon.

This morning I was thinking about someone I haven't seen in a while. We are both busy with our families and our training. I finished swimming and ran into another old friend from my sailing days, we talked for a few minutes and then went on our separate ways. I have always said life is a like a bus ride. Sometimes people get on and ride for a while and become friends, sometimes your friends get off only to get back on later. So if any of my friends are reading this the bus is only a short ways from the next stop.

Long Shadows

This morning Marilyn and I went and rode with the Velobrew crew. We ended up getting in 50 miles. We rode at a good pace, about 35 miles into the ride they sprinted away and we couldn't hang with them. We started the ride pretty early as the sun was rising. When it first came up over the trees we were riding directly into the sun. We were about 50 of us in the group riding into the blinding sun was tough, but the group slowed slightly and we spread out a bit. The picture above was taken on the way back. We were still casting pretty long shadows. It started out pretty cool this morning and warmed up as we went. I had a few layers on and was able to take off a few and stay comfortable. The best part was I finished up around 10 am.

New tattoo 303

No, I didn't really get a tattoo. I did the Jax Tri series#2 sprint triathlon this morning up in Fernandina. They write your race numbers on your arms and legs. They also write your age on the back of your right calf muscle. After the race I was sitting in the car talking to Darcy and she looked over and said,"It looks like they wrote Mom on your arm". I looked at it and said," Well they wrote WOW on the other arm".

After coming home and washing my bike and both pairs of shoes and my helmet. I got cleaned up and Tami and I went to lunch at Zaxby's. Our order number ended up being 303 which was also my race number today.

The Race went well today. The ocean was choppy. The surf wasn't big but the chop made the swim difficult. I thought I did well on the bike leg of the race and I did my normal slow run. I want to get better running. I saw quite a few people I knew today so that is always fun. Looking forward to the next in the series on August 7th.

Swimming with company

My shoulder is slowly getting better and last Thursday my PT cleared me to start swimming again. I was very happy. So this morning was the Bfast #2 triathlon down at Mickler's Landing. I went down to cheer on some friends and just check things out. I took my goggles so I could go for a short swim after the tri finished. I was swimming back down along the shoreline, and when I would breathe to the left side I could see people on the beach pointing out towards where we were swimming. I thought that can't be a good sign. So we finished swimming and went ashore and some people came up and asked if we saw the shark. No I didn't see any sharks out in the water. I would have come in a lot faster otherwise. They pointed out some bait fish and there was a shark feeding on the fish. I was much happier to be standing on the beach at that point. It was great to be back swimming. I am going to get in the pool this week and swim some laps and I am going to do the Jax tri series #1 next weekend up in Fernandina. I can't wait to be out there again.

Ironman Miami 70.3

Registration has closed for the half ironman event in Miami. The race is October 30th and it is already full. A Half Ironman is a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and a 13.1 mile run Do one after the other. I am hoping to finish my race in around 6 hours. Between now and then I will be doing a lot of training. I am going to continue doing the masters swim at the YMCA twice a week and continue working on my running. I am doing the 26.2 with Donna marathon in February and I am still training for that. We have 2 more long runs scheduled. a 23 and a 26 mile run. I will do these training runs in January and then start tapering for the marathon. I am doing the Tour de Cure bike ride in May as part of my bike training. It is amazing how much time and training goes into one of these races. For my marathon I have done about 400 miles worth of running. I will get in at least another 100 miles before the race. I need to work out a schedule for my training that covers 3 swim sessions, 3 bike sessions and, 3 running sessions. Some of these will be brick workouts. A brick is where you do a swim followed by a run or a bike followed by a run. Your legs feel like bricks the first 1/4 mile or so. You need to do a fairly quick transition to get the full benefit of this type of workout. I have a long way to go in my training. I may not be very fast but I know if I train properly I will be able to complete the race

Hammer Head Christmas Party

Last night was the end of the year party for the Hammerheads Triathlon Club. The big thing at the meeting was how much money the club raised for charity, almost $30,000 The club announced the charities they will support for next year. There was a lot of people at the meeting. The club catered in Moe's for dinner. They also had the contest for the members of the years. They called each group up and announce the names and the crowd cheered to pick the winners. I was nominated for newbie of the year and didn't win but I still had fun. I got to talk to several people and just had a nice evening. This is a really good group of people.

2010 Race schedule

I have been working on a race schedule for next year. This is what I have so far. There are a few conflicts with dates and a few missing dates but it is a start. I wanted to get this written down so I can start planning my training. I am currently training with the Galloway group for the 26.2 with Donna. This will be my first marathon. I wanted to do the marathon for 2 reasons first so I can say I did a marathon and second so I can build my running fitness. I enjoy doing Triathlons and the running portion is my worst of the three segments. By running as much as is required for the training it has helped my running.

2010 Race Schedule

February 21 26.2 with Donna (Marathon 26.2 miles)

March 13 Gate River Run 15k (9.3 miles)

March 20 Mud Run

April 10 Mandarin Biathlon (Kayak 5.78 miles, Run 3.9 miles)

May 15 BFAST #1 (Sprint Triathlon 400 yard swim, 10 mile bike, 3.1 mile run)

May 22,23 Tour De Cure

June 12 BFAST #2 (Sprint Triathlon)

June 12 Run For the Pies 5k

June 19 Jax Sprint Series #1 (Sprint Triathlon)

July 10 BFAST #3 (Sprint Triathlon)

July 19 Jax Sprint Series #2 (Sprint Triathlon)

August 7 Jax Sprint Series #3 (Sprint Triathlon)

August 13,14 Tour De Pain (3 races in 24 hours; 5 mile, 5 k, 1 mile)

August 28 Summer Beaches Run (5 mile beach run)

August 29 Hot Triathlon (Olympic distance 1500 meter swim, 40 k bike, 10k Run)

October Race For the Cure 5k

October Pumpkin Run 5K

October 30 Ironman Miami 70.3 (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run)

November 25 Outback Classic Distance (13.1 miles)

December 31 Vystar Gator bowl 5k

I am sure there will be some changes to this list as the year progresses

1 year running

Last year around this time I decided to start running. A year later I am still pretty slow but I enjoy it. I did the couch to half marathon program with the Galloway group. You run a minute and walk a minute. Having a the Half marathon with Donna gave the training a goal. Sharing a ride to the weekly training with Laura and Elaine made me have to go. There were several mornings when I just didn't want to get up but knowing someone was counting on you is a good motivator. I really have to thank Laura for getting me going. A year later I have done a half marathon(13.1 miles) The Gate River Run (9.3 miles) several 5k races and I have done 3 sprint triathlons and even an olympic distance triathlon. And now Tami and I are training for a full marathon in February. At the beginning of the year I decided to set some training goals Basically they were:

run 500 miles

ride 1500 miles (I had to up the bike miles)

I am doing really good on my goals I have done 440 mile running so far and 1400 miles on the bike. I count a spinning class as riding my bike 15 miles. This has been a really good year for my training. I have done more this year then ever before. I am already starting to plan some goals for next year but I am going to keep them to myself for a little while. I will post them after the beginning of the year but I will give a few hints. 26.2 with Donna in February and I want to do some more triathlons.

Jax Tri series #2

Today was the second of the series of sprint triathlons. It was my 3rd triathlon and I wanted to break 1:30 for the race. I managed to set a new personal best time of 1:21:51 I had a good swim and I averaged 19.2 on the bike ride and then I ran a 36:55 for the 5k portion. My best time for a 5k is only 33:58 in the Run for the pies So I am really happy with my run time for this triathlon. The race had a new course which was nicer then the first one. Traffic played a part on the bike ride. There were many cars on the course. I passed several of them and had an interesting time going through one of the round-about's when a pickup truck stopped in front of me. I was already on the breaks trying to figure out what he was doing. It was never close but I was prepared to either stop or go around this truck. The run was on a sidewalk that was shaded and it made for an interesting time people had to be careful passing as there wasn't a lot of room and runners were going in both directions. I even ran past some people out for a walk that had no idea about the race going on. They sure looked surprised. I am getting better running and can do it for longer periods of time now. I am still not very fast but I am improving my endurance. The race consisted of a 1/4 mile ocean swim, 10 mile bike ride, 3.1 mile run.

248  1:21:51.6   304  Emory McLaughlin                     Jacksonville, FL                                           Clyde   16     M 173   10:20.9  217   1:51     31:15.7 19.2  158   1:30     36:55.6 12:18  290                            

Sports clothing

Today I had the idea to take a picture of all my sports related clothing. Represented in the picture is Jiu-Jitsu, Cycling, Running, Swimming and Triathlons. I have been doing Jiu-Jitsu the longest of all. I have over 20 years invested in that. The Gi is the white jacket and pants on the bottom of the pile. I am a 3rd degree black belt in Kodenkan Jiu-Jitsu.

I also like to ride my bike(not pictured) but my helmet , cycle shorts and shoes that clip onto the pedals. I also wear gloves on my longer rides. Next on the pile is swim shorts(pictured on the far right) They look like the other shorts but they are just lycra shorts. They fit pretty tight and I could tell a difference the first time I wore them in the water. The yellow swim cap and goggles round out that ensemble.

Next comes running, I have a nice pair of running shoes and socks, the blue shorts and orange shirt are typical of what I would wear for a run. I also carry water with me when it is hot or I am going for a long run. In the upper right corner is a fuel belt. I can carry a water bottle and some nutrition in the small pocket. If it is hot and sunny I will wear a visor to help keep the sun off my face.

For Triathlons I like to wear my Tri suit. (Red and black on left) Triathlons involve swimming, biking and running in that order. It is nice to be able to wear the same outfit for all three events. It has a small pad in the but area to help make the seat a little softer. It is made of a fast drying material that is very stretchy. And it fits very tight so it helps reduce drag on the bike. There are 2 transitions in triathlons; swim to bike and bike to run. After exiting the water you pull of your swim cap and goggles while you are running up the beach. You run to the bike rack put on helmet and sunglasses and shoes grab your bike and off you go. After the ride I slip my feet out of my shoes on the bike and leave them clipped to the pedals. Run into the transition area put my bike on the rack, remove my helmet and put on my running shoes and visor and off I go.

Some other gear I wear or use while training

Heart rate monitor (watch and chest strap)

Ipod and earbuds (for tunes to listen to)

Race belt. (Race number clips to it)

Iphone with arm strap (for music while running)

Body glide to help prevent chafing

Now it is off to do some more laundry and hopefully the rain will pass through soon so I can go running this evening.

On a mission

Today I did 20 miles on the bike. The first 3 I did with the kids, We rode at an easy pace to the butterfly garden. We parked the bikes and walked around a bit. Then we rode back to the house. I dropped the kids off and went and did 17 more miles. I was on a mission to peddle as hard and fast as possible. I finished in 42 and change. I can feel it in my legs now, but it was a nice day. I am trying to get faster on my bike and going out and peddling fast and hard seems to work. My next bike ride will be at the rail trail on Saturday. I am planning on riding at a slightly slower pace but for a longer period. Of course that will be followed by a run.

Hammer Jammer #3

Today was the third in the series of Hammer Jammers. These are triathlon training sessions put on by the Hammerhead Triathlon Club The training today consisted of a 30 minute ocean swim, 70 minute bike ride followed up with a 50 minute run(I decided to do 40 minutes). There had to be about 40 people out today for the training.

The ocean was nice this morning the surf was only about 2 feet and very easy to get out through. The swim was nice. We swam south for 15 minutes and then turned around and came back to the starting point. Then we ran up the beach to the transition area. Put on bike shoes and helmets and off on the bike. Rode 35 minutes south on A1A and turned around and headed back. It was already getting hot and there was a little breeze out of the west. There were lots of people out riding this morning. The cars for the most part give you room, which is very nice. After the ride was finished it was back to the transition area to change shoes drop off my bike and helmet, put on my hat and grab my water bottle and go for a run. The run was very hot and this is my worst of the 3 sports. I ran with Staci and Lesley from my training group so that was nice. We pushed each other to run, longer and faster then we would have done on our own. Before I knew it we were back at the finish.

Afterwards we went out for brunch at a place called Elizabeth's in Ponte Vedra. The food was very good and reasonably priced. We had a nice chat while we were eating. I hear they are planning some more Hammer Jammers so I will be checking the website for scheduling.

I felt pretty good after the training today. I rode a bit easier this week and it made the run easier.

Keep training

Jax Tri series #1

Today was the Jax tri series it was very hot today. 1/4 mile swim, 10 mile bike ride, 3.1 mile run. It was supposed to hit 100 degrees. The race went good. The ocean had a small swell to it nothing bad and very easy to get through. I passed some guy at one point who was doing the back stroke and he cut in front of me and proceeded to make a circle. When I looked back he was heading the wrong direction. The first transition went well I was on my bike pretty quick. The ride was nice I passed a lot of people on the ride and only had 3 people pass me, and I passed one of those back. The run is my worst of the 3 sports and today was no exception. I rode hard and paid for it at the beginning of the run. I had to take many walk breaks. There was very little breeze and the sun was out in full force. Many of the people I passed on the ride passed me back on the run. I expected this to happen but you still hate to see it. I am going to practice my running more. For me these races are more about the training and getting in shape then they are about race results. The race was 3 miles shorter on the bike then my first and I beat my time by almost 30 minutes. The ocean was also a lot calmer so my swim was faster as well. It is hard to compare the 2 races different courses and different conditions but I was happy with my results and will keep training and pushing myself a little harder each time. I will keep trying a I am in way better shape then this point last year.

Big training day

Yesterday I went to the training with the Striders group. We rode for 1:20 and covered 20 miles, then we ran for 30 minutes I covered almost 3 miles. After that I did the ALS ride with the Hammerheads. It was a 23 mile ride for charity. The first ride went well except for the head wind. On the way back on of the girls had a flat tire so we stopped to help her change it. The mosquitos were so bad we couldn't get the thing changed quick enough. We got back under way and finished the ride. On the run it was starting to get hot. I had to take some walk breaks. After running I put my bike stuff back on, Helmet, and shoes and went to join the Hammerheads. Just as we were getting started one of the girls had a flat tire. I was helping her fix it and we turned around and the group had left us. We got it changed and 3 of us rode together. The wind had picked up a little more plus I was tired from the earlier activity. I considered turning back but stuck with it. It was a nice ride and the course was different then I had been on before so it was interesting. At the finish they had lunch waiting for us. I had a very good pulled pork sandwich and some pasta salad. Then I got to talk to some people in the club. It made for a very nice morning. And I was home before noon. So I rode my bike 43 miles and ran for 3 miles. It was a very good training day

Hammer Jammer #2

Today the Hammerheads put on the Hammer Jammer triathlon training. I did this with my training group from the Florida Striders.  We got there early and set up all our gear like we would on race day. Then we walked over to the ocean. We swam South for 10 minutes and turned around and swam back. The current was with us and I made it back in a little over 7 minutes. The ocean was much nicer today. I was about waist deep when I was through the surf. Still need to practice swimming in the ocean but today was much nicer then during the BFast Triathlon a few weeks ago. I ran up the beach to the transition area put on my shoes, helmet and glasses and rode for 30 minutes South on A1A. I turned around and rode back to the transition area. The ride was nice the temperature was not bad and there were a few clouds so the ride was comfortable.  The Tour de Cure was going on today so we did the return trip with some of those guys and girls. It was nice seeing so many people out riding. I covered 18 miles on the bike today. After dropping my bike off at the transition and changing shoes it was off to run. We ran North on A1A which is shaded. I ran all the way to the turn around point 20 minutes and then took a 1 minute walk break and started running again. I took a few walk breaks on the return trip. I covered 4.4 miles on the run today so I was happy with that. I felt good after the run. I was happy with how well I did, I am getting stronger.  It still impresses my how fast most of these people are. 

I checked the addresses of my turn around points on the bike and the run to determine my distances. Then I came home and put the addresses into google maps and looked up the driving directions to get the distances.  I am still getting used to my aero bars I put on my bike and need to make some adjustments but I like these and they are pretty comfy. My next triathlon is in 3 weeks so lots of training to do. 

Weather Day

Today the weather finally seems to be co-operating. After last week of 7 days of rain, and getting like a foot of it. We are ready for some better weather. This morning the kids and I took the dog for a morning walk around the neighborhood. We walked our mile and the kids even ran the last bit home. After getting the kids going on their school work I went out and cut the grass. It wasn't as bad as it could have been but it sure looks better when it is cut. I think we are in the pattern of afternoon or early evening thunder showers. Hopefully I will be able to get my swim in later today. 

Memorial Day 5k

This morning I drove down to Green Cove Springs for a 5k race. I have been taking a running class with the Florida Striders. Today was the final exam. The weather was beautiful. The sun came out and there was a slight breeze. The temperature was upper 70's so it was comfortable. My goal for the race was to run the whole 3.1 miles. I have been doing the run 1 minute / walk 1 minute. So this morning I was determined to run the whole distance. I was able to complete the race without walking. I even picked up the pace for the last 1/10 of a mile. I finished officially in 35:44. Unofficially it took me 33 seconds to cross the starting line from the time the gun went off. So my time was a bit better. This was a new PR for me and I was happy. The race course was nice and it had a loop in it so we got to see the leaders pass by. I am always amazed at how fast some people can run. I saw several people from my triathlon training group. They all did well in the race and finished ahead of me. But I am happy to finish how I did since I have only been running since last September. I am getting stronger and I am getting faster. 

30 miles on the bike

Today I woke up before dawn and actually heard birds chirping outside. For the past week it has rained every day. All my training was inside. Today I was supposed to go for a bike ride with some of the people I train with. When I went to bed Friday night it was raining so it wasn't looking good. Saturday morning was different. I got up and drove to the rail trail and we went for a ride. We covered 30 miles in about 2 hours. Very nice ride the weather was nice. It was getting darker on the way back but it looked like we might make it. We got loaded up and went to get some breakfast and the rains returned. On the drive home it rained harder then I had seen it rain in quite a while. It finally stopped this afternoon and it looks like the rains may have passed.