Friday, April 13, 2007
Imus
Since everyone is weighing in the Imus situation, I want to as well. I’ve read a few articles over the past week regarding this topic. All make good points. All agree that his comments were very inappropriate and should not have been made. People disagree over the action that should have been taken. Jemele Hill writes that Imus’ comments hurt all women, especially black women and that he should have been fired on the spot. (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/070410). Jason Whitlock basically says, “Who’s Imus?” and wonders why there isn’t similar outrage over the exact same type of language that is very common among hip-hop vernacular (http://www.kansascity.com/182/story/66339.html). I wonder how many people would have even heard about this incident if the national media hadn’t spread it around to everyone. It would be interesting to find out how many people were actually listening to the Imus show at the time the comment was made and compare that to how many people have heard about it now thanks to the media making a circus of this issue. Michael Wilbon says that Imus has a pattern of spouting offensive things, especially to black people (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001891.html). LZ Granderson did a fantastic job. His analysis was right on. His article is entitled, “Hate is hate, no matter the target”. Like the others, he agrees that this language is deplorable and shouldn’t be tolerated, but goes on to wonder about certain groups that would typically be up in arms over a statement that is considered offensive to them. You see, people look out for their own, but don’t care much about others, no matter how offensive the language may be. For example, is you use the word faggot, the gay lobby is upset, but you don’t hear much from the NAACP. He also cites an example of when he gave Michael Irvin a free pass after saying, in regards in Tono Romo’s athleticism; “He’s athletic because his grandmother had sex with a slave.” He then goes on to speculate, “Had Mike Ditka said the reason that Donovan McNabb is intelligent is because his grandmother had sex with a slave owner, I’d have been looking for blood.” (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=granderson/070409&sportCat=ncw) Forget Mike Ditka, imagine Rush Limbaugh making that comment on his radio program. Why the double standard? If language is inappropriate, it should be color-blind. I know that with our attitude of politically correctness, some things have been labeled “extra offensive.” To me, political correctness is a form of censorship – trying to silence voices that you would rather not hear. This is the land of freedom of speech. If Imus offends you with his racially charged language, then don’t listen. Isn’t that the same argument we hear for Howard Stern and his sexually charged show – you don’t like it, don’t listen to it. The same people who would defend Stern and his right to spew what many consider to be filth, are the same who are calling for Imus’ head over a different form of filth. In my book, filth is filth. If you don’t like it, don’t listen to it. I’m a firm believer of speaking with you wallet. If no one is listening, there is not going to be a radio show around for too long (look at Air America). I think that this situation can be used to open some needed dialogue. Is an apology appropriate? Only is he means it. Should he have been fired? Absolutely not. You don’t like him or what he says? Neither do I. That’s why I don’t listen.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
1/2 Ironman
Went to San Diego the last week of March to participate in a 1/2 ironman distance triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run). It is called Ironman California and is hosted in Oceanside, about 30 miles north of San Diego. I arrived on Wednesday evening and was grateful to stay with my dear friend, Adam O'Farrell and his family. I had checked two pieces of luggage; one was my bike and the other everything else. Of course my bag with everything didn't arrive. Luckily, it was found quickly in LA and I was able to pick it up the next morning. We had a nice pasta dinner that evening, then caught "Lost" and went to bed.
The next morning, I drove over to La Jolla cove, put on my rented triathlon wetsuit, and went for a swim. I can't believe I used to get in that water without a wetsuit. It was frigid. I got a headache just from having my face in the water. That said it was nice to get in the water at that time so it wasn't so much of a shock the morning of the race. I spent some time putting my bike together and testing it out. It was really quite simple to transport it, just had to take off the pedals, seat, and handlebars. It fit snugly in the bike travel case I rented and arrived safe and sound. I had thought about borrowing Adam's bike, but he rides a 54 and mine is a 61 - that's a huge difference in bike sizes. That evening, we had some delicious salmon that Adam's wife made.
My nerves were really getting to me by this time. I have never done a race of this distance before. I knew the bike leg was quite hilly, which is the polar opposite of Miami. There was a portion of the run on the sand. I didn't know how my body would respond after being sick, having company, and traveling. I had been lowering my expectations for several weeks from wanting to finish in 5 hr 20 min (30 min swim, 3 hr bike, 1 hr 45 min run, 5 min transitions) and was now at a point where I just wanted to finish the race without passing out. Adding to my anxiety, I noticed that I hadn't run more than 10 miles at a time since before January 1, and now I was going to run 13.1 after 56 miles on the bike? What had I gotten myself into?
Friday morning I got up, dropped Adam off at work, and headed up to Oceanside to visit the expo. It only took me about 20 minutes to get there from Adam's office, which was nice. I parked at the pier, got some breakfast at this great little coffee shop, and headed to the expo. The weather was fabulous - 65 degrees and bright sun, which luckily held during the race. I made it a point to visit every booth. I tried on a pair of Newton running shoes, which felt awfully strange and are going to retail for $185. No thanks. That's more that two pairs of my beloved Brooks cost. I got into the Endless Pool they had on display and cruised for about 10 minutes. That machine was incredible. I will have one in my own pool someday. I bought some fuel (powerbars and powergels), spare tubes, CO2 canisters, and some souvenirs. I really liked some of the gear that 2XU had on display, with light neoprene built into the triathlon suit, but didn't like it $285 much. I can't believe how much money people spend on this sport. I felt bad enough dropping a grand for a low-end tri-bike, imagine spending $8,000? Hell, the wheels alone on most of these bikes are worth more than my entire ride. I left the expo happy, with many free samples and excited about the race. I went and picked up my registration materials, got weighed (192 - about 10 lbs more than I wanted) and headed back out. It was now official - I was racing. I had my bike numbers, my bib number, my color-coded swim cap, my bracelet identifying me as an athlete, and my timing chip. I also was a nervous wreck. I think I went to the bathroom 10 times that day. My stomach was in knots and to make matters worse, my asthma was acting up.
I met Adam at his office for lunch. One of my mission friends, Ben Sowards, happens to work on the same floor as Adam at the same firm. He joined us for lunch at this great Sandwich place. It was fun to share old stories and talk about some of the people I hadn't thought of in years. Sowards looked great, even sporting the Bucs jersey in my honor. I hung out a bit with Adam at his office while he finished some things up, then we headed back to his home. I went for a brief brick workout (bike ride then run), just 10 minutes each, and was almost had to stop because my asthma flared up big time. This did not help my nerves about the race. I should have taken a couple puffs before I began working out and I assured myself that as long as I did this before the race, I would be fine. We had a nice dinner at Olive Garden and I got to bed early.
It was a restless night and the 4:30 AM wakeup call couldn't come soon enough. I had some oatmeal and fruit for breakfast before we left. I got checked into transition and started to get things set up. It was a chilly 48 degrees. I made my way to the port a potty for a final pre-race poop. My nerves were being replaced with the adrenaline that only comes before a race. I changed into my wetsuit, checked my tire pressure, grabbed my swim cap and goggles, and headed to the starting line. I was starting to bounce up and down. I was anxious to get moving. It was fun watching the professional men and women begin their race. We had a few age groups go ahead of us, and then at our prescribed 7:03 AM start time, we entered the harbor. The water was chilly. We lined up for a deep-water start, and with the sound of a boat horn, we were off.
The beginning of the swim went very smoothly. I glided through the water with little effort in the fancy wetsuit (an Exterra Vengeance worth $400 that I rented for $30). I didn't have anyone in front of me and seemed to leave most of my group behind. I was stroking efficiently, sighting well, just cruising. At the turnaround point, things left the realm of smooth and got a bit choppy, but not too bad. I had caught up with some of the slower swimmers from previous waves, and passing them broke the fluidity I had enjoyed up until that point. Sighting became a bit more difficult as we were heading directly into the sun. This made spotting the buoys with a quick head lift impossible. I still managed to swim fairly straight and was soon nearing the exit. The swim portion of the triathlon is my favorite. It's my background and I need to get a big enough lead in the swim so I'm not totally killed during the run. I exited the water at 33 min, which was right around where I wanted to be.
I quickly proceeded to my bike, where I peeled off the wetsuit, threw down my cap and goggles, and slipped my socks on. My shoes were already attached to my pedals, so I took a quick drink, put my helmet on, puffed my inhaler, loaded up my fuel, and was off. When I exited transition, I mounted my bike, quickly slipped my feet into my shoes, and was underway. Time in T1 - 5 min. A bit too long, but still not bad.
The first part of the bike route was fabulous. We paralleled the beautiful Pacific coast for over 20 miles, with its rolling hills, bright sunny skies, and gorgeous ocean. I passed the 20-mile marker at less than an hour, which meant my pace was great. I felt so good and my asthma was under control. We headed inland for the next portion of the ride. We were riding through Camp Pendelton, a marine base just north of Oceanside. We got into some hilly sections and some nasty hills. There were four separate hills that made me want to get off my bike and walk. My minor victory was not doing just that, and there were people who had gotten off their bikes to walk. At one point, I checked my speedometer and was going 4 mph up the hill. That's half the speed I run at. It was grueling. After what seemed like forever, we crested the last hill and headed back to the coast. This part of the ride was great. I could coast and was going over 30 mph, hitting 37 when I pushed it. You don't want to fall when you're going that fast and wearing only a lycra triathlon suit. Ouch. I felt tired, but good. My legs had done well and the slow decline back to transition gave my legs a bit of a break before the run. My ass was another story. It was killing me. The chamois pad in my tri shorts is about a tenth the size of the one in my bike shorts and I could definitely feel it. I entered T2 at 3 hr exactly. I was shocked that I had achieved my goal time, especially with the hills. I had a rush come over me that I may be able to get to my initial goal time.
In T2, I racked my bike, took off my helmet, changed socks, put my running shoes on, took a drink, used my inhaler again, and headed out on the run. Total time in T2 - 7 min. That was too long, but didn't seem like I was dilly-dallying. Maybe I didn't realize how exhausted I was.
I wanted to be around 8:00/mi on the run portion and set out at that pace. My legs had that goofy "just got off the bike" feel that they always do when I'm starting to run and proceeded to do what I usually do, just run through it. I felt good for the first 1/4 mile and then it happened. Something I had been dreading. No, not my asthma. Luckily, that wasn't a factor at all. My legs cramped. It had happened during the marathon. In the back of my mind, I had feared it may happen here. I had flashbacks of those last 5 miles of the marathon where my legs were ready to buckle at any moment due to the cramps. Where I couldn't run more than a minute without having to walk my legs out for 3 minutes. After the marathon, I found out I was severely dehydrated, so I headed to a port-a-potty on the race and peed. Yep, it was dark orange, almost brown. I slowed down my pace, to about 10:30/mi and drank a lot at each aid station. I was able to keep running most of the time at this slower pace. Anytime I tried to speed up, my legs cramped. This was extremely frustrating as I felt great cardiovascularly and my breathing wasn't labored at all. Just my cramped legs. I tried a couple of times to pick up the pace, but to no avail. My legs were done. I managed to drink enough that I had to pee every other mile during the last 5 miles, so I was combating my dehydration, just seemed that I wasn't getting enough fluid and nutrients to my muscles. I managed to keep the 10:30/mi pace throughout, and with my added walks for fluids at the aid station and my pee breaks, I came in right at 11:00/mi for the race, finishing the run a full 40 minutes slower than I had wanted at 2 hr 24 min. Total time, 6 hr 11 min.
With those thoughts of disappointment, I saw the finish line and was suddenly overcome. I didn't feel a hint of disappointment once I saw the finish. I got very emotional and was overwhelmed with a sense of accomplishment. I crossed the line, was given my finishers medal, t-shirt, and hat. I was almost crying I was so happy. And in such pain. I hobbled over to the area where they were collecting the timing chips. I had to lift my leg with my hands to get it on the 18-inch platform so the volunteer could remove the chip from my ankle. I wrapped myself in the space blanket I received and went in to the athletes tent for some well deserved pizza and Coke. After sitting for only about 10 minutes, it took all the energy I could muster to stand back up again. I slowly made my way to my bike and began to pack up my things. I found Adam and we walked the mile back to the car, which was good because I was able to stretch my legs a bit during the walk.
I rewarded myself on the way home with and Ultimate Cheeseburger from Jack in the Box. I rewarded myself later that evening with a Bloomin' Onion, Ribeye steak, and Garlic Mashed potatoes from Outback. I slept well that night and got up the next morning and caught a plane home.
Looking back, I see areas of my training I could have done better. I need to figure out this cramping problem. I need to prepare myself better for hills. But I did it. I finished a 1/2 ironman distance race. I finished in the top 1/3 of all the people competing. I did it. It took me a week to be able to walk properly again. To this day, legs are still tired from the race. I can only say this about triathlon. I'm hooked.
The next morning, I drove over to La Jolla cove, put on my rented triathlon wetsuit, and went for a swim. I can't believe I used to get in that water without a wetsuit. It was frigid. I got a headache just from having my face in the water. That said it was nice to get in the water at that time so it wasn't so much of a shock the morning of the race. I spent some time putting my bike together and testing it out. It was really quite simple to transport it, just had to take off the pedals, seat, and handlebars. It fit snugly in the bike travel case I rented and arrived safe and sound. I had thought about borrowing Adam's bike, but he rides a 54 and mine is a 61 - that's a huge difference in bike sizes. That evening, we had some delicious salmon that Adam's wife made.
My nerves were really getting to me by this time. I have never done a race of this distance before. I knew the bike leg was quite hilly, which is the polar opposite of Miami. There was a portion of the run on the sand. I didn't know how my body would respond after being sick, having company, and traveling. I had been lowering my expectations for several weeks from wanting to finish in 5 hr 20 min (30 min swim, 3 hr bike, 1 hr 45 min run, 5 min transitions) and was now at a point where I just wanted to finish the race without passing out. Adding to my anxiety, I noticed that I hadn't run more than 10 miles at a time since before January 1, and now I was going to run 13.1 after 56 miles on the bike? What had I gotten myself into?
Friday morning I got up, dropped Adam off at work, and headed up to Oceanside to visit the expo. It only took me about 20 minutes to get there from Adam's office, which was nice. I parked at the pier, got some breakfast at this great little coffee shop, and headed to the expo. The weather was fabulous - 65 degrees and bright sun, which luckily held during the race. I made it a point to visit every booth. I tried on a pair of Newton running shoes, which felt awfully strange and are going to retail for $185. No thanks. That's more that two pairs of my beloved Brooks cost. I got into the Endless Pool they had on display and cruised for about 10 minutes. That machine was incredible. I will have one in my own pool someday. I bought some fuel (powerbars and powergels), spare tubes, CO2 canisters, and some souvenirs. I really liked some of the gear that 2XU had on display, with light neoprene built into the triathlon suit, but didn't like it $285 much. I can't believe how much money people spend on this sport. I felt bad enough dropping a grand for a low-end tri-bike, imagine spending $8,000? Hell, the wheels alone on most of these bikes are worth more than my entire ride. I left the expo happy, with many free samples and excited about the race. I went and picked up my registration materials, got weighed (192 - about 10 lbs more than I wanted) and headed back out. It was now official - I was racing. I had my bike numbers, my bib number, my color-coded swim cap, my bracelet identifying me as an athlete, and my timing chip. I also was a nervous wreck. I think I went to the bathroom 10 times that day. My stomach was in knots and to make matters worse, my asthma was acting up.
I met Adam at his office for lunch. One of my mission friends, Ben Sowards, happens to work on the same floor as Adam at the same firm. He joined us for lunch at this great Sandwich place. It was fun to share old stories and talk about some of the people I hadn't thought of in years. Sowards looked great, even sporting the Bucs jersey in my honor. I hung out a bit with Adam at his office while he finished some things up, then we headed back to his home. I went for a brief brick workout (bike ride then run), just 10 minutes each, and was almost had to stop because my asthma flared up big time. This did not help my nerves about the race. I should have taken a couple puffs before I began working out and I assured myself that as long as I did this before the race, I would be fine. We had a nice dinner at Olive Garden and I got to bed early.
It was a restless night and the 4:30 AM wakeup call couldn't come soon enough. I had some oatmeal and fruit for breakfast before we left. I got checked into transition and started to get things set up. It was a chilly 48 degrees. I made my way to the port a potty for a final pre-race poop. My nerves were being replaced with the adrenaline that only comes before a race. I changed into my wetsuit, checked my tire pressure, grabbed my swim cap and goggles, and headed to the starting line. I was starting to bounce up and down. I was anxious to get moving. It was fun watching the professional men and women begin their race. We had a few age groups go ahead of us, and then at our prescribed 7:03 AM start time, we entered the harbor. The water was chilly. We lined up for a deep-water start, and with the sound of a boat horn, we were off.
The beginning of the swim went very smoothly. I glided through the water with little effort in the fancy wetsuit (an Exterra Vengeance worth $400 that I rented for $30). I didn't have anyone in front of me and seemed to leave most of my group behind. I was stroking efficiently, sighting well, just cruising. At the turnaround point, things left the realm of smooth and got a bit choppy, but not too bad. I had caught up with some of the slower swimmers from previous waves, and passing them broke the fluidity I had enjoyed up until that point. Sighting became a bit more difficult as we were heading directly into the sun. This made spotting the buoys with a quick head lift impossible. I still managed to swim fairly straight and was soon nearing the exit. The swim portion of the triathlon is my favorite. It's my background and I need to get a big enough lead in the swim so I'm not totally killed during the run. I exited the water at 33 min, which was right around where I wanted to be.
I quickly proceeded to my bike, where I peeled off the wetsuit, threw down my cap and goggles, and slipped my socks on. My shoes were already attached to my pedals, so I took a quick drink, put my helmet on, puffed my inhaler, loaded up my fuel, and was off. When I exited transition, I mounted my bike, quickly slipped my feet into my shoes, and was underway. Time in T1 - 5 min. A bit too long, but still not bad.
The first part of the bike route was fabulous. We paralleled the beautiful Pacific coast for over 20 miles, with its rolling hills, bright sunny skies, and gorgeous ocean. I passed the 20-mile marker at less than an hour, which meant my pace was great. I felt so good and my asthma was under control. We headed inland for the next portion of the ride. We were riding through Camp Pendelton, a marine base just north of Oceanside. We got into some hilly sections and some nasty hills. There were four separate hills that made me want to get off my bike and walk. My minor victory was not doing just that, and there were people who had gotten off their bikes to walk. At one point, I checked my speedometer and was going 4 mph up the hill. That's half the speed I run at. It was grueling. After what seemed like forever, we crested the last hill and headed back to the coast. This part of the ride was great. I could coast and was going over 30 mph, hitting 37 when I pushed it. You don't want to fall when you're going that fast and wearing only a lycra triathlon suit. Ouch. I felt tired, but good. My legs had done well and the slow decline back to transition gave my legs a bit of a break before the run. My ass was another story. It was killing me. The chamois pad in my tri shorts is about a tenth the size of the one in my bike shorts and I could definitely feel it. I entered T2 at 3 hr exactly. I was shocked that I had achieved my goal time, especially with the hills. I had a rush come over me that I may be able to get to my initial goal time.
In T2, I racked my bike, took off my helmet, changed socks, put my running shoes on, took a drink, used my inhaler again, and headed out on the run. Total time in T2 - 7 min. That was too long, but didn't seem like I was dilly-dallying. Maybe I didn't realize how exhausted I was.
I wanted to be around 8:00/mi on the run portion and set out at that pace. My legs had that goofy "just got off the bike" feel that they always do when I'm starting to run and proceeded to do what I usually do, just run through it. I felt good for the first 1/4 mile and then it happened. Something I had been dreading. No, not my asthma. Luckily, that wasn't a factor at all. My legs cramped. It had happened during the marathon. In the back of my mind, I had feared it may happen here. I had flashbacks of those last 5 miles of the marathon where my legs were ready to buckle at any moment due to the cramps. Where I couldn't run more than a minute without having to walk my legs out for 3 minutes. After the marathon, I found out I was severely dehydrated, so I headed to a port-a-potty on the race and peed. Yep, it was dark orange, almost brown. I slowed down my pace, to about 10:30/mi and drank a lot at each aid station. I was able to keep running most of the time at this slower pace. Anytime I tried to speed up, my legs cramped. This was extremely frustrating as I felt great cardiovascularly and my breathing wasn't labored at all. Just my cramped legs. I tried a couple of times to pick up the pace, but to no avail. My legs were done. I managed to drink enough that I had to pee every other mile during the last 5 miles, so I was combating my dehydration, just seemed that I wasn't getting enough fluid and nutrients to my muscles. I managed to keep the 10:30/mi pace throughout, and with my added walks for fluids at the aid station and my pee breaks, I came in right at 11:00/mi for the race, finishing the run a full 40 minutes slower than I had wanted at 2 hr 24 min. Total time, 6 hr 11 min.
With those thoughts of disappointment, I saw the finish line and was suddenly overcome. I didn't feel a hint of disappointment once I saw the finish. I got very emotional and was overwhelmed with a sense of accomplishment. I crossed the line, was given my finishers medal, t-shirt, and hat. I was almost crying I was so happy. And in such pain. I hobbled over to the area where they were collecting the timing chips. I had to lift my leg with my hands to get it on the 18-inch platform so the volunteer could remove the chip from my ankle. I wrapped myself in the space blanket I received and went in to the athletes tent for some well deserved pizza and Coke. After sitting for only about 10 minutes, it took all the energy I could muster to stand back up again. I slowly made my way to my bike and began to pack up my things. I found Adam and we walked the mile back to the car, which was good because I was able to stretch my legs a bit during the walk.
I rewarded myself on the way home with and Ultimate Cheeseburger from Jack in the Box. I rewarded myself later that evening with a Bloomin' Onion, Ribeye steak, and Garlic Mashed potatoes from Outback. I slept well that night and got up the next morning and caught a plane home.
Looking back, I see areas of my training I could have done better. I need to figure out this cramping problem. I need to prepare myself better for hills. But I did it. I finished a 1/2 ironman distance race. I finished in the top 1/3 of all the people competing. I did it. It took me a week to be able to walk properly again. To this day, legs are still tired from the race. I can only say this about triathlon. I'm hooked.
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