Sat 4/25 Bike Run with our cool friend Matt

Saturday April 25th we were on our own to do a bike and run workout.

Our cool friend Matt, kneeling in the picture, hosted us for an awesome bike run course from his house in Oakland. The map for the course was better than an talking Garmin map. Hope he can lead all our workouts.

30 mile hilly bike, followed by a 6 mile hilly run, awesome.....

Then of course followed by a great lunch eating fest.

Oh yeah, in case you haven't read on my blog before, Matt is a almost 7 year cancer free survivor. Don't mean to sound sappy, but can't imaging doing what we do without him. It's an honor to race with him and raise funds for a cause that is very close to him and his super speedy runner wife Claire. We've got our TS "Team Shadow" jerseys on that Matt designed!

I thought a century was only 100 ?!...

Sunday, April 26th, 75 degrees at 6:45 am when we parked to get our maps and check in for our century ride. 100 miles, lots of water stops, a lunch stop at a winery, should be an awesome day. Maybe a little hot.

Well......

It was just a little hilly, 6900 feet of climbing, the temp reached 95 degrees, and it actually was 102.8 miles.

Thank goodness a bunch of us from Iron Team rode together, otherwise it would have been super hard. It's great to have someone to talk to throughout the day.

6 hrs 38 minutes, 6558 calories burned, and a short 10 minute run afterwards.

One century down, many more to go.

Sorry no team picture.

OK So you think I'm nuts???? Check this out....

So maybe I'm nuts to attempt an Ironman.

My crazy ultra marathon friend Suzie would say, awesome, start with an Ironman, then it's an ultra!

We'll so would Tim Borland.

Last Saturday, April 11th, Tim Borland came to our workout to inspire us.

He completed 63 marathons in 63 days across the country for the AT Childrens Project.

Check it out @ http://www.atcuretour.com/atcuretourontheroad/

If that's not inspiring, I don't know what is.

All I have to do is 140.6 miles in one day (hopefully under 17 hours!)

I can certainly do that.

Here's my picture with him and my big competition, oh I mean race buddy, Lulu.

And for Suzie who is just as inspiring as Tim, maybe more next year in 2010! We'll see how Ironman goes.

2nd Place......

Last Sunday, April 5th, was the 2nd annual Rhodes Race.

Matt Rhodes, and his awesome wife Claire, host a 5K race to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It is a 5K run around Lake Merrit in Oakland. They raised over $5400 this year.

I have been on triathlon teams for many years with both Matt and Claire so it is fun to be a part of their great event.

And, oh yah, I forgot to mention I took 2nd place in the men 40+ (old people) division.

Got a medal to boot! What more can I ask for in a great Sunday morning.

Of course we had to do a bike and a longer run afterwards for our Ironman training.

What happened to a leisurely Sunday brunch?! I guess that has to wait until September.

Counting down, 4 more months....

1/2 way there...... Raised $8907.00 thus far!!

Spring is here.

March was pretty eventful.

Swam about 34000 yeards, biked 204.7 miles, about 6 hours on the bike trainer, and ran 66.2 miles. Mixed in with a little eating, sleeping, and oh yah, trying to make some money! Who invented this work thing?! It gets in the way of my Ironman training. Can't I just have auto deposit during my training period?

For March, I completed a 1/2 Ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run) on the Wildflower course at Lake San Antonio. We practiced on the real race course that we'll be going back to official race on May 2nd. It's a hilly but fun course I've done many times but it doesn't seem to get any easier. I still enjoy it though.

I have also gone over my fundraising goal $8907.00 thus far. Thank you so much for everyones donations, I truly appreciate it.

Here's a team picture from our 1/2 way to Ironman training weekend where we did our 1/2 Ironman.

For April we'll certainly be training more as now we are past a 1/2 Ironman. Getting a little scared, so if you don't hear from me, sorry in advance for the lack of communication.

I'll be either training, eating, sleeping, or trying to work and earn some money.