It’s that time again…

...another year ends and a new one begins.


This is also the time of the year for lists…

Christmas lists…New Years Resolutions…The “10 Worst dressed Celeb’s of ‘08”…“Top 10 reasons not to trust your teenagers”…“Why you should let me keep my change and stop stink eyeing’ me Starbuck’s dude…” Ok…maybe that is just on my list :)

I started to do a list of all of the Best and the Worst VMS Moments and it really was hard. Every time I started, all I could come up with was Tony’s green Speedo :) I tried over and over to clear my mind but the Speedo just kept flashing back to me…No Freddy that does not make me gay…not that there is anything wrong with that…the gay part that is…the Speedo – that thing is JUST WRONG :)


So – this year’s Worst of list has only one entry

For the Retro Tri suit gone bad...the Big Greek God and Triathlete Extraordinaire in the Meanie Green Speedo...Tony “another spring salad please” Maniatis.




The Best of list – wow - there are so many.


How about some background first…

Training – in terms of sheer volume…we traveled a LONG WAY using only human power.

The shaved leg tough guys account for the majority of the cycling miles, logging between 8000 miles-10,000 miles….EACH!!!! REALLY – for the full year these 4 guys and only 4 of them totaled close to 35,000 miles in 2000 hours of riding. For the Ironbutz – we are all over the place in bike miles from 1,000 miles up to 7,500 and up to 750 training hours for the year – OUCH!!! That’s a LOT – no wonder my butt is sore – leave that alone Freddy :)

For running miles – again – all over the place but most of the long distance people were between 500 and 650 miles for the year per person.

In the pool – around 300,000 yards total per person...that's some black line time.


With all of this training – we had to accomplish something…

Let’s start with the shaved leg tough guys.

Curtis Long, Jeff Kopp, Karel Sumbal, Jim Wadsworth, James Sweeny (part time) and new additions – Clint Bridier, Will Larson.

They raced over 50 races and amassed some fantastic results. From Crits to Road Races to Time Trials – the guys were ON this season. There were so many high points to the season but just to name a few:

The double wins for Curtis in his home town race in one day…



Jeff TT’s domination in SC…



Karel with solid finishes in top notch races including US 100K Classic



Jim qualifying to Nationals for next year…you guys make it fun to crunch the numbers!!! Judging by the way the blue lines are streaking upward the last month - next year will be even better – I can hardly wait!!!

How about the Patchouli Party?

Sean Crichton hit every one of his goals in 08 and even managed to get married too :)



He had an awesome season and made it to Nationals in XTerra in October and will be focused on Worlds in 2009.

A new mountain biker has found his way onto the VMS roster and he is the 2nd truly sponsored athlete we have.



If this season (2 races) is any indication of where he will be in 2009 – I am geeked up to see what Josh will be able to do. He crushed his old man by 5 minutes on a two lap course where the total time is 1:10 – simply put – that is a significant a$$ kicking which I will not be able to match ever…He has focus and drive – look out for a breakthrough in 2009.


Speaking of parties – what about the Pool?

In the Under 6 rankings of the Snorkel club – C-bone scared Saswata away and he was a no show at the International Atlantic Beach Pan Pacific Invitation swim meet – by default – the Bone wins and did a Phelps like celebration.




His older brother and master tormentor made it to a few more practices this year and what do you know – he got better :)



In all seriousness - he actually got good – 5:24 in the 500 free for his 1st year at distance is good – I think he will be under 5:00 next year – imagine what he could do if he tried :)


I think that’s it…Oh yeah – I almost forgot...

The Tri Geeks and the Iron Buttz…

Out of all the groups, this one had more than their share of PR’s and Podiums than anyone. We collectively raced Sprints, Olympics, Half’s, Full’s and some are even toying with the idea of an Ultra for 09 and 10.

The season began in Miami…



and ending in Clearwater – we had a GREAT YEAR!!!

There are too many highlights too list them all but here are my favorites for no particular reason:

Tony finishes in AZ – his first!!!



Midget makes the Podium!!!



Saswata races to his ability!!!



PC leaves it all on the course at Clearwater!!!



JC makes the Podium!!!



I could go on and on – Vann in Wisconsin, Brian’s broken nose Ironman swim and went on to finish, Joy running blind, Mayo et al’s progression to fantastic athletes, David Mariotti’s non-stop smile, Coach Paul dusts off the shoes and is back in the race (it was awesome to work with my high school mentor and hopefully give back some of guidance he gave us – mind grinders and vision – I will never unlearn those lessons), Lyndon’s rambling stumbling post finish conversation in Louisville after emptying the tank, Kevin Ellis finishes his 1st IM at IM Florida, Juan in Amelia Island, Aaron Novak 1st IM finish at IM Florida, Sween’s toughness for just finishing IMAZ when he literally could not walk at mile 3 - yes - there was 23 more to go – he is NAILS!!!

Speaking of nails – Francis finishing a 100+ mile training ride with a locked up back at mile 50. The dude just went to his happy place and made it home. I train more with Hercules than anyone else and he never shows real pain…this day he was inside out and I tried to call him a ride a bunch of times…he just kept saying no…he was right – I was wrong – he made it home and I am infinitely impressed – you are driven!!!



Collective – the VMS team – all of you guys (and cheeka’s :)) are AWESOME!!!

Susan, Aaron, Rich and I are very happy to have the privilege to work with you!!!



What will next year bring for you?

Will you make a new start? A comeback ala Lance? Achieve better balance in your life?

I know what I want to do different and my board in constructed with visions for 09 and my goals are locked in the vault.

While I have been writing this entry in my head for a few weeks and I have been really looking forward to posting it – I have had family events, Germany trips, Christmas Parties, Work Parties, Dinner’s and training that have all conspired to prevent me from “starting” and subsequently finishing what I really wanted to do…the pause that this created was purposeful as is everything that we encounter.

At the time I didn’t understand why I couldn’t get to this but now I do…This pause allowed me to really “think” and to reflect on all that we have done…

WOW – we really did something!!!

We set goals, we believed they were possible, we trained to achieve them and we did it…we created our future.

Tonight, I finally have the time and I am "in a place" where I can write this…

The heavy scents of pine tree are balanced by an olive oil and oregano chicken that I cooked for dinner. The lights are easy on my eyes and the musical soundtrack to my thoughts is a new pick from my iTunes concierge – P. Loftis – the Avett Brothers and they are FANTASTIC!!!

I am relaxed...

I am rested...

I am conscious of this state...

I am content...



I am at peace with myself and all that is around me...

I am happy with what we have accomplished and...

I am happy with the future I am creating…

I hope the New Year brings you this Joy :)

Thank ya...Thank ya very MUCH!!!

Being that it is the off season and time to “play” around…I wondered…

What does it feel like to train like a Cyclist?

Just ride and lift…that’s what I wanted to do and it was really fun.

The experiment came to an end yesterday and I promise to NEVER do this again.

Hercules wanted to “run” the Jacksonville ½ Marathon and asked me if I wanted to “run” it with him.



It’s only 13.1 miles and he said we would try and go around 1:45 and I thought, sure, it's Christmas time and I would enjoy a nice easy run with my friend.

Then the smack talk started...I ran my mouth a little and then next thing you know…




Elvis is in the house.
(Actually people were calling us Elvi...we think that is plural for Elvis’s.)

We ran REALLY slowly – apparently we did not calculate just how hot the suits were or how hard it was to run in them (DNF as Elvis - no way)...

We finished in just under 2 hours.

In the process – we shook a lot of hands – posed for a BUNCH of pictures (even while we ran)




and made every little kid smile – it was awesome!!!

OH yeah and I will never do this again!!!

Elvis? No that part was great…can't wait for next time :)

Trying to run 13.1 miles after not doing as much as a ¼ mile in the last 5 weeks was REALLY stupid.

My lesson is learned, my next off season has to include a few little runs to stay in form or I better stay on the coach cuz I am SORE today!!!

Congrats to Peter, Saswata, Tony, Michael, JC, Joey, Sween, Tyler, Joy, Vann, Wilson and the rest of the crew who ran – Great Job!!!

That’s all for now…Elvis is back on the coach :)

Guten Morgen - Greetings from Deutschland.

This is my annual trip to the “inverted spa”…

I eat horribly…(this is really the menu)



don’t sleep enough…



and work for way too many hours…





and engage in absolutely 0% fitness – really nothing.

On past trips, I have been able to fit in 1 swim or a quick run but this trip – nothing.

It’s dark when we go to work and dark when we leave, but it’s only once a year and our hosts are fantastic so it’s (as they say) “Not Zuper Bad” :)

It’s been a while so I need to catch up on a few results:



Congrats to all those who did the Outback ½ Marathon on Thanksgiving. I would name everyone but the list is really too long. A special congrats to the Sinker (aka Dr. Saswata) for putting together a fantastic race from beginning to end…1:25 and change is a recent PR for him and he finished 5th in his AG – way to go. JC crushed it as usual with another top finish – way to go!!!

JC and Joy also raced in Savannah last weekend and had fantastic times and finishes – way to ladies!!!

The shaved legged tough guys are racing in the woods this time of year and Curtis (2nd), Clint, Karel (2nd) and Josh (4th) all had great results recently.







Look for more patchouli and podiums this weekend in Ocala.

What’s new?

This last year I have really begun to embrace the Chris Lieto philosophy of “putting it out there.” Maybe it’s the way he said it, but the idea of being accountable really appeals to me.



I have read and heard a lot lately about the mind being the single biggest limiter of performance and to me it really makes sense (Matt Fitzgerald – Brain Training for Runners).

When you combine these two concepts, I think you really have something. You put it out there, you believe it’s possible and you achieve those results.

Thirty years ago I was exposed to visualization techniques for the 1st time. Our swim team would lay on the pool deck prior to practice and our Coach (Paul Rudzitis) would have us picture our races. Our start, our stroke and our finish – all of these we imagined to be perfect. He would even visualize our times. We believed in it and it worked – back then and it still does now.

I used this recently and practiced this during all of my longer runs for Florida and I actually could see my finish time and I began to believe it was possible. I would actually imagine my watch reading the splits with different distances to finish. I believed so much that I could literally see the clock. I repeated this image over and over and the result and in the end – I was 2 minutes off…REALLY – 2 minutes.

You probably don’t need to put it out there (ala Lieto) in order to accomplish this but I really do think it helps. You say you can do it – you believe you can do it – you tell someone (or everyone) and then you are accountable.

Where is all this going?

Introducing the VMS Vault - here is your forum.



Starting today and for the rest of this year and next, we will have a Vault available for you. Send us your goal and we can lock it in the Vault so it’s out there and you will be locked in. If you prefer - we can put it in the safe deposit box and that box is only opened when you say.

Say you want a goal of Top 5 in your Age group at BFAST #1. Email us that and we will post it in the Vault for everyone to see – if you want it to be posted on a certain day (example 2 days before race) we will only post when you ask.

This is not a contest - you don’t pay taxes on it and there is no interest.

There are no withdrawals - this bank only takes deposits.

These goals are yours but by putting it out there – they can also be ours.

VMS Vault 1st Deposit: I want to end up in the Top 5 in Age Group in an Ironman Branded event in 2009 – SMB – 12_10_08

It’s out there...time for one more schnitzel and pommes – then it’s time to train.

Kia kaha

auf wiedersehen

The Foster Grant Ford Ironman 70.3 World Championship

That’s the “official” name and that is EXACTLY what it is.

THE World Championship and the best of the best are there.

3 years ago when this event 1st started a lot of people including me wondered what this race would become. Would it be just another 70.3 or would it be something special?



The opening ceremony on the 1st year set the stage, Mike Reilly and the crew said it…

Many of you were wondering what this would be like, we’re here to tell you…this is the real deal and it’s going to get harder get here next year – so go tell your friends.

It has become a real World Championship and the talent pool just keeps getting better.

Paul Cantin, VMS Client #1, has been there twice and both times he has had a PR. In 2006, Paul went 5:03 which was a breakthrough race. This year is same story. Paul went 4:47 for a 16 minute PR. He had a PR swim, a PR run and an overall PR.



Paul does all of the work, he doesn’t blow off anything and it has been fantastic to watch him progress in this his 3rd year in the sport. He gets up early, he logs the miles and he doesn’t short anything. Hard work has gotten Paul to where he is now and he will continue to improve. Next year is Ironman Canada and I predict he is going to have another breakthrough day…Congrats on the great season and enjoy the downtime – you earned it!!!

JC and I have been running together (ok, she only runs with us on her slow days) on Sundays over the last 2 years and I always asked her who was coaching her. She said she had a run coach and the rest she kind of made up as she went. I kept asking her if I could help and in March we started working together – kind of :) JC and her coach would write her run plan and I would fit in swimming and biking around that as we all know that running is MUCH more important than the rest of that silly tri stuff :)

In July, JC did the 70.3 in Lake Stevens and she did fantastic – 3rd in her AG and 102nd Overall on a course that should NOT be a good race for us flatlanders. She scored her spot for Clearwater and started to really focus on all 3 sports and not just running.



Her biking and her swimming started to REALLY improve. She stayed focused and did ALL of the work. REALLY – ALL OF IT!!! I think she is probably one of the most detail oriented people I know and she dialed in all of the things she could so that race day would give her the best chance of doing something special. From her bike, her wheels, her nutrition – the whole picture – she approached it analytically and found solutions. She practiced it all to make sure it all worked.

We talked about goals and her strategy and I could tell she was REALLY focused on achieving what she wanted – top 5. That is TOP 5 in the WORLD. That is a big deal!!!



When the gun went off…she did it.



She smoked the swim, smoked the bike and hammered the run for a BLAZING FAST 4:32:56!!!

She didn’t hold back at all.



She went for it from the gun to the finish and she knew she could blow up but hoped for the best and she got it.



It is AWESOME to watch someone set a goal and make it – especially when that goal is really a stretch.









Congrats JC, all of us are INCREDIBLY proud of you – TOP 5 in the WORLD – cheeka – that sounds cool. Enjoy the time off – enjoy the Jaeger and Red Bull – you earned it :)


I had a chance to be on the course for a few hours right at the start. Shane was swimming in the Regional swim meet in Orlando and his heat was not scheduled until 11:30. Up at 4am – in the car at 4:15 and on the course at 5:45.



For me, watching from the sidelines is always a little uncomfortable. I like to be involved. I almost always wish I was racing with them but last Saturday was really one of those days when I just was really happy to watch. The excitement of seeing good friends achieve what the want was really more fun than racing. It was the perfect start to the “off season” and I am really glad I had a chance to be at the start.

After the swim I jumped back in the car and logged on to Ironman Live and listened to the race as I flew back to Orlando. I made it in plenty of time to see Shane before his race and wish him luck. He swam a VERY impressive 5:30 500 free for 17th spot. This is 1st year swimming this distance…last year he was a 50 free stylist and I think Saturday was his 6th time EVERY racing that distance. Congrats Shane, great season and you too get to enjoy the off season :)


Speaking of “off season” it is!!!



This week I started back exercising as Marni says. I like this expression as I am not training – I am exercising. It’s what I want to do so I do it.

The off season also allows me to get back to all of those things I wish I had time for when the season is in full swing.

Strength Training…Yoga…Active Release Therapy…Chiropractic treatment…all of these in one week and I am feeling better already.

2 days back in the gym and soccer mom is not laughing as hard this year. I actually squatted 135 and hopefully I will be able to catch up to Hercules and Saswata at some point :)



Sleeping in has never been one of my things so my house is clean, my tri stuff organized, my laundry done and my blog written. Yes – it’s 6am on Saturday and I am wide awake – I love coffee :)

With all of this extra time – I have really decided to embrace this off season to try and correct all of the things that were bothering me during the year…hopefully by the time “training season” rolls back around – I will be rested, relaxed, refreshed and realigned…

Good luck to Kevin Neal, Alan and Matt who are racing in AZ next weekend – the weather looks great.

Kia Kaha

From Tri suit to Tiny Orange Shorts to a Business suit…

The off season has officially begun :)

Most times I have to fly in a suit I am grumpy.

I really prefer doing the superman and changing in the restroom just so that I can fly in jeans and a t-shirt. Today is a pleasant exception. It’s Iron Monday and with the race 2 days behind us and my legs starting to hurt a little less I am pretty content with just about EVERYTHING – even this.

My cab picked me up at 4:30am to take me to the airport for a flight to Chicago for a couple of days and then on to Vancouver and returning to Orlando to see Shane swim in the Regional Swim meet in the 500 free this weekend.

Usually this type of back to back trips are hard as the family, work, training and travel time collide but this one is pretty balanced so it’s all good.

Why the mellow?

My season is over, my to do list is done and I am ready to take a break.


Let’s start with some results:



The Iron Buttz raced Ironman Florida this weekend and we had some incredible PR’s and places.

The list of Hammerheads is below:


Tamara Kozulina 2nd Overall Female 9:14
*Carrie Boyles 13:45
Terri Derkum 13:37
Ty Dickinson 12:43
Matthew DiPaolo 12:13
Kerri Elfin 16:30
*Kevin Ellis 14:32
Shawn Francis 11:56
*Hal Gilreath 12:16
Stacie Hernandez 5th 11:39
Jay Herring 13:40
*Sonya Hoener 16:37
*Kathy Hunken 12:02
Kim Kaye 13:01
Peter King 12:33
*Martin Kotowski 11:28
Joy Murphy 11:40
Janet Neal 13:02
*Julie Peerson 11:37
*Blain Peerson 10:29
*Richard Reid 12:29
Saswata Roy 10:28
Rick Shields 13:06
Gwen Shields 15:54
Maurya Sova 11:55
*Courtney Spratt 13:07
Greg Umberger 11:57
Susan Wallis 5th 13:03
*Carl Zeilman 13:05


1st to Kevin Ellis - CONGRATS!!! Kevin was sick with a fever and chest cold and still raced to a 14:32 – way to go!!! Even when everything is perfect it’s a hard day…add in some outside / inside problem – you did great…enjoy the down time.

2nd to Joy Murphy



who SERIOUSLY was riding and running blind and fell 4 times while running into tables, fences, cones and trees. While none of us think this is a good idea, Joy toughed it out even when she couldn’t see and went on to a 2 hour 19 minute PR to finish in 11:40. I ran up next to her and she said, “Shawn, is that you? I was like “yeah Joy, it’s me”. She said can you tell me where the speed bumps are? I was at mile 22 and I am thinking – I thought I was in bad shape – check out this…I said sure. ¼ mile later I am yelling on the top of my lungs, “ JOY – SPEED BUMP!!!” and people are looking at me like I am nuts. Who knows how fast she could go if she could see where she was going? Congrats Joy – way to focus (mentally :)) on your goal and achieve them!!!

3rd to Hercules (Shawn Francis – my good friend and training partner)




who while competing in the world strongest man contest (not really…but it seriously was a power lifting meet) a few years ago messed up his back BAD trying to squat over 500 pounds. Coen, Josh and I were actually there and it was impressive to see this sport…power lift and triathlon simply don’t go together well and Hercules has sworn off the girly man gym days and now is a silky smooth triathlete. The dude is hard a nails!!! He has a herniated L5 disk and has been dealing with that for 2 years +. Riding aero and running after are hard enough if you are healthy but with this in play, it makes it even harder. Add to that a very serious lung condition brought on by working under a house and the guy should NOT have made it to the start line. Shawn has an unbreakable spirit and drive and he was all smiles as he toed the line. He had a great swim, a great bike and as is known to happen on Ironman courses, he did the porto potties parade for 45 minutes on the 2nd lap of the run. If it had not been for internal factors NEEDING to become external factors, dude would have been 10 something for sure.



Even with all of this going against him, he drove on to a 11:57 finish and much needed off season. Congrats Hercules, you are impressive and you did great!!!

4th to the Dr. 32233, Hercules and my friend and training partner - THE MAN formerly known as the Sinker….Doctor…..Saswata…..Roy roy roy roy roy (it’s an echo :)).

Let’s just get to the news…The dude swam a 1:10!!! I am still trying to figure out how he hid his fins in his wetsuit or maybe it was his new pre-swim routine :)



A 1:10 for Saswata is about the equivalent of Phelps Butterfly touch…it was a miraculous event. It’s not that he doesn’t do the work, he does. It’s not that he has not tried to get help, hell; he hired Coen’s swim coach to train him – SERIOUSLY. The guy is just got REALLY huge quads and even when he concentrates on form his natural body position is for his feet to drag on the bottom. Hercules went for a swim with him in Arizona at the pool and he came back to the hotel and said, “The dude needs work, he don’t float.” Well that is all behind us now and a 1:10 swim at a “reasonable effort” set Saswata up for a close to 2 HOUR PR!!!

We train together a lot and we talked about the race and how to approach it and I could not be more proud of the way he went for it. I have written and said this a lot of times before…you don’t get a 2 hour PR by working the last few miles, or just running the run harder, you do it from going for it from the beginning to the end and the risk of blowing up is MUCH bigger.



He went 1:10, 5:19 and finished it up with a strong marathon to close it out in 10:28!!! Dude – YOU RACED IT and that is AWESOME!!!

Other notes:

Aaron Novak powered his way through to a STRONG 1st time finish of 11:38. Aaron actually coaches with Susan, Rich and me and Rich works with him. Rich told me he was going to do great and he did. Congrats Aaron!!!

Susan Wallis also continued her Ironman Year with at 13:03 to a 5th place finish in her Age Group. I think this is her 3rd Ironman for the year (Austria, Kona and Florida) and she just keeps motoring along. Congrats Susan – great result – great year – enjoy your off season (to her – that’s Monday :))

Carl Zeilman - congrats man - 2nd Iron distance and a STRONG result!!!

It has been a fantastic year for all of the VMS crew. Collectively, I am sure we have logged over 100,000 miles on the bike, swam to Cuba and back a few times and ran more miles than Forest Gump and earned more Carbon credit than we spent :)

From the Cyclists to the sprinters to the Iron Buttz, we had a great year!!!

The shaved legged tough guys started it in February and dominated the dojo for spring, summer and just finished a few weeks ago.

Jim W’s season picks up where they leave off. Other than JC and Paul Cantin who are racing 70.3 World Championship next weekend, the rest of us in the off season.

JC and Paul should have some REALLY strong results next Saturday with JC in contention for a podium spot…check that sentence out…

Possible top 5 in the WORLD!!!

Hey that is something to push for. Paul (VMS Client #1) WILL go under the magical 5 hour mark and have a PR day – I have no doubt…he will leave it on the course.

From the 1st road race in February through Ironman Arizona, Ironman Brazil, Ironman Austria, Ironman Louisville, Ironman Canada, Ironman Wisconsin, Ironman Hawaii, Ironman Florida and countless 70.3’s – the VMS crew has been OUTSTANDING!!!

1st time finishes, Medals, PR’s, Podiums, life time goals accomplished and all those smiles – It has been a GREAT season and Rich, Susan, Aaron and I could not be happier with all of your accomplishments.

We all can’t wait to see you smile in ’09 when you hit your goals!!!

Kia Kaha.


That’s it…that’s a wrap…the ‘08 season is officially over for me and I am ready to get lazy and fat for a few weeks – I need it.


As usual, stop here if you have anything better to do…this recap may read longer than the race :)


On a personal note, I want to thanks to Alan Couzens (my coach) and Endurance Corner in Boulder, CO for getting me to where I wanted to be.

When I raced this weekend, like I said in my previous post, I wanted it to be an all out effort and to find out what I really had and hopefully accomplish something special.

Having done the work and looked at the numbers with Alan, I knew I was as ready as I had ever been and that means a lot going into a long day.

Being prepared is one thing but to put together a PR day, everything has to go right.

For me, that was REALLY not the case.



I spent the day before the race curled up in the fetal position trying to break a fever, stomach flu, chest infection which literally knocked me on my a$$ and made racing SERIOUSLY in doubt. I figured I would do all of my “pre-race” routine and make the decision on race morning.



Going through the motions without knowing “if” you “can” race is very unsettling.

On race morning I woke up and my fever had broken and I was covered in sweat. I felt better (not great) but I texted Paul and wrote, “This sux, not sick enough to bag it and not feeling well enough to go fast, another day of going though the motions- yuk.”

That was at 6:40am…at 7:00 the cannon went off I went out hard in the swim and was able to stay with most of the lead pack. After the 1st lap, the run on the beach allowed me to see and hear Mike Reilly saying “the lead pack is coming through the 1st loop” and thought – hey – I am right where I want to be…keep pressing and let’s see what happens.



Out of the water in 56:05 I heard Mike Reilly say, “The top age groupers are just exiting the water” and I started to get psyched and feel better and I was really wondering if what Tomas emailed me was right, “Dude, you always race better when your sick!!!”

I headed out on the bike and started hammering from the start.



My plan was to ride ready normalized power of 213 watts until the lead pace group caught me then to ride legal (3 bike lengths) off the back of them and just try to hang on as long as possible. Apparently, my swim was not as strong as I thought and the lead pace group started to form at mile 4 and we got up to a serious race pace fast.

The lollipop shaped course would give us head winds for almost 56 miles and then tail winds for most of the return. I figured if I could stay in contact with the lead group then I could limit the damage and tailwind would help coming home.

I took up a spot behind Sven (that not really his name and I should know his name but I forget) Ubercylist and he was the biggest guy in the group. He was like 220 pounds and just a hammer on the bike. I fought hard to stay with the pace group as I knew if I let them go it would too easy to sit back and cruise. Lots of surges from 22 to 28 MPH and it finally shook out to about 20 guys riding really hard. The draft marshals where all over us as we where the first age groupers behind the pro’s and they only gave one penalty.

There were 3 REALLY hard surges that shook the tail of the group. Sven popped and I rode up next to him and said “Come on man, let’s go.” It was self serving but I paced him back up to the group. I’m sure he didn’t know what I was thinking – 7 meters off this back of this 220 pound guy is saving me wattage and I NEED THAT  When we made the downwind leg at 27-29 MPH and on the out and back to the turn around I was think – wow – the pros are not too far ahead. Then I see the sign for the 180 and I was – Holy cow – we must be flying!!! I was on the rivet from miles 80 to 106 and then finally popped coming back into Thomas drive for the last 6 miles…I simply could NOT hang any longer.

My goal wattage was 213 and I went 229 so I knew I was in deep sh!t for the run.

Off the bike and through T2 I just kept telling myself to not make any decisions on anything until 2 miles or 15 minutes when you get your “running legs” and it worked out “ok” for the 1st lap. I started to struggle more and more on the 2 lap and the Midget told me I was in 5th off the bike.



She had been all over the course and with JC at home keeping tabs – they were on the support game and it was great to know I was “in the mix.”

Kevin Neal – thanks VERY MUCH – I heard you at the turn around – I “got” focused and it was EXACTLY what I needed to hear and exactly what I needed to do – (good luck in AZ!!!)



At the 13 mile turn around I grabbed my Red Bull and it must have popped in the bag but there was only 1 sip in it and I thought – oh no – I’m screwed. I decided to try to hold off for Cokes until I was REALLY in a bad way and made it through to mile 16 and then started shooting Cokes at EVERY aid station and massive water and ice on my head even though it was not hot. It seemed to help me focus and my mental game was crumbling pretty hard at 20-21.

The last few miles I got my head back in the game and started to pick up the pace to close to 8:00 again and was lucky enough to stick with C-Bone who pushed the pace up the finish line to the cheers of the crowd. He is 5 and that’s his 2nd Ironman Finish – he is working the long term plan :)

Post race was fantastic as I was able to have most of my family, my mom, my dad, andi, coen, shane, josh and even Gabe and Haily and all my friends there to hang and even go to Hooters for the fried Chicken Sandwich with Fries and extra mayo :)

I will close with this…

I believe in numbers…

Alan does too…we did the numbers and I KNEW I was in good shape and on good form going into Saturday - the numbers where there.



I also believe in setting goals and putting it out there (ala Chris Lieto) and I said I wanted to run a 3:22:59. I missed that goal and I didn’t back it up so I owe JC and Joey a bottle of Jager - which I think she will try to finish on Saturday :)

In the process of setting a goal and really thinking about it…Alan and I do the math and we do the numbers.

I received this email from Paul and actually wrote the reply a few days before the race.


________________________________________
From: Paul Cantin
Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2008 10:42 PM
To: Shawn Burke
Subject: Your ticket to Kona 2009
Swim: 55 minutes
Transitions: 5 minutes
Bike: 4:58
Run: 3:22
Finish: 9:20

Make it happen, brother! You can do it!!!

________________________________________
From: Shawn Burke
Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2008 10:45 PM
To: Paul Cantin
Subject: RE: Your ticket to Kona 2009

very close to what I am shooting for

56
6
4:59:59 :)
3:22:59
9:24:58 :)

OR YOU COULD HEAR THE SONIC BOOM AS I POP AT MILE 18-20 :)

Thanks,

Shawn


In the overall - I was off by 1 minute and 1 second from my plan…not too bad a forecast :)



9:23:59 for 8th place in age group, 61st overall and 9 Kona slots for the 40-44 old guys…

I paid my $550 and I going to go back again…





For next year - I will put it out there again…

In Hawaii 2009 I want to race it hard but not all out…

56 swim, 5:30 bike (weather and winds permitting) and 3:30 run…for a low 10 hour finish and learn some more.

Smack Arizona for 2010 Hawaii spot and in 2010 – Medals or Medical as I will be 45 - it’s all out :)

It’s out there – that’s the plan :)

Thanks again to Alan for all your help - you are the man!!!

Thanks to all of you who texted, emailed and yelled encouragement on Saturday.

It was hard as hell – I finished with the Bone, only enough energy for a smile and that was all...

Oh yeah - and I got my big fat Chicken Sandwich :)

Until next year…

Kia Kaha