#18 Branson Missouri 70.3

Sunday September 19, 2010

I scored a hotel right beside T2 and the shuttle bus pick up.  I woke up at 5am, put down some Rokitfuel and packed my things in the car as I would not be staying another night.  After the race I had another long drive to do back to Utah.  All the athletes boarded buses and headed up to the host chateau for the race start.  The water temp was warm and it came within .2 degrees of being too hot to allow wetsuits.  I would have been ok with either but I am glad they allowed wetsuits for the majority of the other athletes sake.  A lot of athletes are just trying to make it through their first half ironman day and experience and the swim can be very daunting.  The half ironman day is long enough without starting it out with a negative experience in the water.

The swim was calm and very straight forward.  With the waves only 3 minutes apart the water became very congested as the many waves became one.  It is always fun for me to listen to people conversations on the beach before their day begins.  So many people are excited and are on the brink of writing their own Ironman experience.  We all have different reason for doing what we do and all the stories interest me.  Why do we do what we do?  What drives us to toe the line?  What makes us come back for more?  I just love this stuff.   I had a modest comfortable swim with a time of 34:30

I came out of the water not having driven the bike course (I just wanted out of my car) but had heard it would be one of the biggest challenges of the year.  I headed out with excitement to see just how tough it really was!  Either I'm getting tired or these bike courses just keep getting harder.  I would like to think that it's the latter.  This course was both fun and challenging and my Ellsworth bike handled the conditions perfectly.  The course had us either on long climbs where my bike felt light and comfy or descending where I felt stable, aerodynamic and fast.  The set up of this course had me biking either 10 or 38 mph, nothing in between.  I was still taking it easy as my leg is still giving me a few small issues.  If I can make it through this race and next weekends race in Augusta then I will have 3 solid weeks to heal before racing my last 3 events - Austin, Miami and Clearwater (70.3 Worlds)  I enjoyed this hot hilly ride with a time of 2:52  It is still impressive to me when I see the pro's on the course, fast!

I sure hope this is climbing cause I'm outta the saddle in all the race pictures.

The day really started to heat up and nutrition was going to be key heading into the run.  I was hoping to pull from my 17 previous races in hopes that I had learned a few things about racing in the heat.  I made sure to grab my bag of pills as I made a quick transition.  I got a few strange looks at the first aid station as I open a bag of pills and choke them down.  I take in some very key nutrition at this juncture in the day.  Extra electrolytes and potassium are key here to get through the humid weather and finish the race. 

This is the section down the middle of the mall - awesome idea!

The run was a flat fast 3 loop course.  It was super spectator friendly and we ran the length of an outdoor mall.  This is a great course design as a spectator could browse the shops as they wait for their athlete to come back around.  Triathlon isn't the most friendly for spectators and can potentially be a long day for supporting family member and friends.  I started out with an easy manageable pace and handled the heat well.  Each one of my laps were a little slower than the one before but I felt comfortable and put in a conservative run while trying to keep my nutrition and legs under control.  I knew I had to jump into my car and drive right after the race and didn't want that part of this trip to be worse than it needed to be.  I can't just look at each event individually, I need to look at the project as a whole.  I finished with a run time of 1:57 and a total race time of 5:30.  I want to be going much faster but again feel that I am making some smart big picture decisions. 

Welcome to the gun show... not very impressive but welcome!

After I crossed the finish line I jumped into the big fountain which was filled with very cold water.  The water was refreshing and very welcoming.  I also managed to get in a quick post race massage and felt this was time well spent as my body wasn't about to thank me for immediately jumping in and trying to drive to Denver (801 miles).  I was STARVING after the event and couldn't find any post race food.  I'm not saying there wasn't any there, it is possible that I just couldn't find it.  I loaded up the car, grabbed two subs and two Monster drinks.  I struggled with comfort but make quick work on the drive and made it to my friends house in Denver by 12:30am.  I was very happy to be in a bed and not in my car.

The Drive to #18 Branson

Inside the host hotel.... The Chateau....ooohhhh.

Friday September 17, 2010

I was suppose to get out the door and on the road by 5 am... but that didn't happen.  I stayed in bed and slept just a little bit longer... felt so good.  My good friend Tyrell loaned me his BMW 745 to make the 1300 mile drive to Branson.  It leaks a little oil and he asked if I would top it up for him - no big deal right.  Well my dad will be proud as I put the oil where the steering fluid goes.  In my defense I asked two people and they both said that is where it goes... it also said OIL on it.  When all was said and done we took the car to the shop and had them flush the power steering and put the right oils in the right places.  Ahhhhhh, not the way I wanted to start this long drive.  Two hours later I found myself starting my journey to Branson.

I now call this drive the beauty and the beast.  Driving through the I-70 canyon through Vail towards Denver is breath taking and then it gets really ugly after Colorado.  I have supplied a few pictures as I progressed through the drive.  

I ended up pulling over at midnight and found a motel 6 to crash at.  I slept for about 6 hours and then headed out again.

Saturday September18, 2010

Woke up and jumped back in the BMW and headed east.  I only had about 400 miles to go till I reached Branson.  I arrived with two hours to spare to check in.  I was shocked at how pretty Branson is and how much there is to see here.  It is like a mini Vegas with shows and tours everywhere.  It is really hot here and the temperature could be an issue for some people tomorrow that do not get their nutrition right.  I check in at the lake and they have said that it will be a race day decision whether or not we will be able to wear wetsuits.  That should tell you how hot the air temp is. 

Sunny loves wax museums... guess we need to come back to Branson!

I scored the BEST transition spot.  Right at the end and right beside the exit.  Maybe the rumor is out that I've done a few of these.....;)

Stadium Stairs

Thought I would test out the hammy with some serious stairs.... it is about 85%.....

Spandex Alert - Race picture Muskoka 70.3

We all know these times are wrong....5:51!!! LOL  oh boy....

YES - this is why we do these events.  A tech T-shirt and the medal... oh and maybe a world record and water in Africa...

Water Video- LOVED THIS

This video was sent to me by a super old friend of mine from Canada.  I love the message and it is a very real issue.  Please do not take the water we have for granted and please consider donating to my project.  100% of the funds go towards the building and education of the water retention systems in Africa.

Race Day Muskoka 70.3 #17

September 12, 2010

I woke up today with zero expectations and one simple goal: finish the events faster than the Utah half (chuckle) and don't injure my leg further.  This course has been talked about as one of the hardest on the entire 70.3 circuit.  After completing many of the events in the US and Canada I have to agree and rank this the hardest overall course moving Lubbock Texas and St Croix down to two and three respectably.

The tape job on my hammy!

Muskoka Swim- 34:30
The weather was overcast and not raining yet.  The water temp was perfect and it looked like the weather was going to be ok!  Daryl from TSN found me right away and got some simple footage of me in T1.  Basic race prep today except for one change.  At the pro Q and A yesterday one of the questions was;

"What is the optimal air pressure to run in your tires on race day?"

At first I thought this was a silly question and the answer was going to be an easy one - 120 psi.  Craig Alexander's answer surprised me and was as follows;

"I used to run 120-140 until I saw Chris Lieto (uber biker) put in 105-110 in his tires at a race.  I asked Chris if that's what he always put in and he said yes always and I've done my research.  So I now put 105 pressure in my tires, especially on a wet and rainy day"

If the world champion puts 105 and arguably the best biker on the circuit (Chris) puts 105 then that's sounds like a good pressure for me too.  When in Rome do as the Romans do!

I jumped in the water and just went out at a modest pace.  No need to get too tired here as I knew it was going to be a long day on the course.  The water temperature was just right and I tried to concentrate more on my form than a all out race pace effort.  I finished with a time just 1 minute slower than my standard 33 minutes.

It was a long run up the golf course cart paths to the main Deerhurst parking lot and transition area.  I took my time in transition and put on my arm warners and an extra jersey. Good thing TSN didn't catch this T1 as I'm sure it looked very amateurish.

My brilliant game plan that turned disastrous.  Bike - 3:12:35 (oops)

I knew I needed to take it easy on this ultra hilly bike ride in order to have any hope of not killing my hamstring for the run.  Beside from being a course made up of hills the crew at Muskoka decided it would be a good idea to make it 2 miles long.  My though process was this;  If I could push down on the pedals only and not engage my hamstring that should do the trick.  The day became a game of survival.  I was so deeply concentrating on my form and the act of pounding the pedals that I didn't realize how slow I was actually going. This ride quickly went from fun to pathetic.  Not only was I only using my quads I was also out on the bike much longer than I had anticipated.  By mile 35 my quads were trashed and I was in trouble.  Had TSN pulled up beside me I would have got off my bike, threw it in the bushes and hopped on the motorbike and yelled "Take me in boys!"  So maybe it's a good thing they couldn't find me out there.  I was suffering and I had a long ways to go still.  Now I have a dilemma, continue to push with my quads or bring my hammy into play and risk that already sensitive muscle group.  I deceived it was best to continue pushing down on the peddles.  On some hill climbs I would look down and see a disheartening speed of 3 mph.  The one good thing about the ride is alongside it's number one rating for toughness it's number one rating for beauty also.  This was an absolutely stunning ride with beautiful tree lined roads and picturesk lakes.  I limped in off this bike ride just under 3 hours and 20 minutes, by far my longest ride of the year.

This is a sample of the run course...

Muskoka Run - 1:57:11 (I really am disciplined)

Feeling the way I did I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to run the run or if I was going to have to walk again like in Utah but this time solo as Jess wasn't anywhere close.  I told myself just to start running and to see what happens.  This run course was just a difficult as the bike course with no flat terrain.  While running a fellow competitor said to me;

"I think they would have put hills in the swim if they could have."

This made me smile.  I agreed and kept on running up the hills.  I went out at a very conservative pace thinking it's better to do a slow run throughout then to go out too fast and finish up walking and with my luck this is the point that TSN would show up.  I hit the half way mark holding to my game plan of 9:30 minute miles and surprisingly I felt just fine.  Daryl found me just after the turn around which happened to be a slight downhill section.  I picked up the pace in an attempt to look like an athlete for the TV crew.  He said I looked strong and he was happy that I wasn't walking given my bike time.
I posted 3 straight miles at a 7:30 pace and then shut it down for the last 3 miles.  I thought no sense pushing hard now, who cares if you post a 5:45 or a 5:51 - they are both slow in compared to the 5:05 average I've managed to maintain this year (although I would imagine that average is now shot with my last two stellar races!)

I finished with my head up high  and a smile on my face.  Greg was waiting at the finish line to capture it all.  #17 is in the books and what a race it was. 

The post race food was awesome and the race was one of the best put on races of the year.  Despite a day full of struggles and difficulties I would rank this the prettiest and toughest course of the year.

Don't come to Muskoka looking for a PR, but rather a good time and a great venue.  I would recommend his race to anyone.  If you think 70.3's are easy plan your next race here!!

TSN and Check in

Saturday September11, 2010

Greg and Daryl setting up the shot

Woke up this morning and could barely see out of my left eye.  My allergies had flared up pretty bad and I looked like I had been in a bar fight the night before.  Perfect timing as I was meeting Greg and Daryl from TSN for my interview.  I wasn't much to look at before so my puffy eye wasn't going to ruin the piece.  We headed out to the waters edge and got some cool shots.  We then headed to their set up sound room and did the remainder of the interview.  Greg and Daryl both really like my story and turns out Daryl is working on a few things that we may be able to team up on with Iron Diaries - fun.

Time for check in!

After the interview I went and attended the Q and A session with the pro's.  I was excited to sit and listen to some of the best in the world.  Craig Alexander (current 2X Ironman World Champion) and Mirinda Carfrae (former 70.3 World Champion and multiple 2010 70.3 champion) were in attendance.  These guys know their stuff and I really enjoyed listening to them give insight on all things racing and life.

Some of the fastest in the world of triathlon!

I took a much needed nap and then went for an evening walk.  For those of you that do not know I was and still am a golfer.  My first love was wrestling, then golf and now Triathlon.  At the resort here they have packages with unlimited golf.  I think I will have to come back here next year to do the race again (with Sunny this time) and we will also bring our clubs!  I thought this was a pretty cool picture that includes 2 of my favorite things - Golf and Triathlon.

Check it out - swim exit that goes right onto the golf course - banging!

This day finished with me getting all my gear ready for the race.  The weather is suppose to be bad.  One god thing is that I am staying right beside the swim start and the race doesn't start till 8am!  I think all 70.3 events should start at this time.  Subaru is one of the main sponsors and they had this car at the swim start.... maybe I will consider it for my next car...

I wonder if I get a free car for doing my 17th half in 2010....

Muskoka 70.3 DELTA FAIL

Friday September 10, 2012

This is the race site.  What a treat to get to stay here.  I will be bringing Sunny back for sure.

Headed out early to the airport this morning for some routine travel.  Thanks to Brad Hess at MyMark my flight and hotel were all taken care of.  Thanks guys!! Went to check in with my favorite airlines and had a bad feeling about the "customer service" agent I had the pleasure of dealing with, he had a chip on his shoulder right from the word go.  He asked if my box was a bike and I said yes.  He punched some buttons and comes back with "That will be $290 dollars."  I kindly informed him that he pushed one too many buttons and that that the charge was only $200 dollars.  He proceeded to tell me that I needed to talk to someone with a "keyboard" (my first sign he was incompetent, Delta doesn't trust him with a keyboard) if I disagreed with the charge.  I went to another kiosk where it went like clockwork like it should have the first time.  The kind lady said $200 dollars please (which still upsets me and is double the next closest competitor).  I paid the money and headed to my gate.

On my way to the gate I had to cross paths with the first guy that "tried" to help me.  He yells across his counter at me and asks how much I was charged with this cocky attitude like he knew I was gonna say $290 dollars.  I stopped and told him with as much swagger as I could muster up "$200 dollars just like I told you.  And here's is a tip for when this happens in the future."  Start any conversation like this and you can imagine the response I got.  To keep a long story short this "trained customer service" agent had troubles composing himself.  He was so agitated by the advise that was coming out of my mouth that he took his tie off, undid his top button and came around the counter.  I had gotten under this guys skin so bad that he needed a break and wanted to do a "stare down" with me.  I laughed at him and complimented him on his excellent customer service skills.  The people around us were now laughing as this guys lack of control.  I chuckled and make my way to my gate. 

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.  I arrived in Toronto Canada at about 6:30, snagged my car and headed to Muskoka which was about a 2 hour drive.  I found the resort, check in and crashed in my room almost immediately.  Tomorrow I meet the guys from TSN to be interviewed.  Should be a great day!

The Utah Half - Why not do just one more.... #16 in the books

 

August 28th, 2010

A humbling day for sure.....


My wife Sunny is super excited for her first half Ironman and asked if I would do it with her.  I though that that would be a good idea and how hard could it really be to do a half at my wife's speed.

Save some of that energy.....

(continue to read to find out how my wife beat me by over an hour... it's not pretty but it is true.)

It was nice to be able to sleep in my own bed, not have to worry about my bike on the airlines and having to build it and take it apart.  This half Ironman was put on by racetri and was less than 10 minutes from my house.  Race director Travis Snyder does an amazing job and I would recommend his races to anyone.

I was doing both the swim leg for team Aquaphor and the entire event for an individual time (and remember WITH my wife).  A storm front had rolled in and the weather was suppose to be really bad, wind and rain!  We rolled up to the race site and the weather was perfect with calm water. 

Team Aquaphor Relay.  I'm still walking at this point and they wanted to go home, so I paused and posed for a picture.

I said hi to all  my friends and made sure that Sunny was all ready to go.  Another first timer to the event was BYU football star Joe Semanoff.  This guy ain't built for triathlons but is an athlete! 

No way this guy does well... carry those arms for 70.3...no thanks!

Utah Half Swim;

I kissed Sunny and wished her luck and told her I would see her in transition.  I planned on swimming the swim portion of the race hard for team Aquaphor then wait in T1 and do the bike portion with Sunny.  I swam hard and just had a horrible swim.  I knew the day wasn't going well when a female athlete from the wave behind me doing a very competitive breast stroke.  I got out of the water sprinted to transition and handed off the relay chip to Travis who was doing the bike portion for the team.  I arrived at my bike and noticed that Joe's bike was gone.  Stolen!!  Joe's bike was stolen.  Nope wrong again... that giant mass of muscle that should do nothing but sink beat me out of the water.... It is time to evaluate what I am doing in the water.. maybe duathlon should be my new gig....  I would use Sunny as an excuse but we waited another 12 or so minutes for her to arrive in transition.  Her goal was to beat 80 year old Sister Madonna Buder's swim time of 47 minutes from Lake Steven's - she missed it by just a few minutes. 

This was my fastest part of the race.  Waters edge to T1.  I look good here :)

Utah Half Bike;

Natalie Rasmussen and I waited for Sunny and all headed out on the ride together.  We can't ride "together" but can ride close enough to feed off each others energy and have quick "how you doing?" conversations.  At mile 8 I flatted.  Sunny says "Change it and catch up!"  I thought that was a great idea and quickly changed my tire as the girls rode ahead a bit.  What I didn't take into consideration is how strong of a biker Sunny is.  I turned my self inside out averaging over 25 miles an hour over the next 20 miles to catch her.  I kept thinking that they would be right around the next corner but they weren't.  When I finally caught Sunny I was dead tired and she was just fine and KILLING the bike course.  It is amazing how hard it is to close a 5 minute gap on a good cyclist.  I felt my hamstring tweak and with about 5 miles to go I had made the decision to not continue when we got to the run portion of the race.  I wasn't going to risk the rest of the year.  We finished up the bike and Sunny did awesome posting the 4th fastest bike in the whole woman's field.  A solid time of 2:40, 20.9 miles an hour.  Good friend John Rose also posted a personal best 2:23 on the bike.  Congrats big man!

John PR'ing with a 2:23 - that's fast!

She had a great time the whole time!

Utah Half Run;

I coached Sunny through transition and watch her run onto the run course.  I sat down and was confident I had made the right decision with the big picture in mind.  I made a call to my friend Jess to inform him of my decision and he instantly told me it was a bad idea.  It was my home town (no travel involved) and that I had already completed the swim and bike.  He proceeded to tell me that this was for a world record that I was at worst a 3 1/2 hour walk away from adding a 70.3 to the record total.  He told me he was on his way and that he would walk the entire 13.1 miles with me.  I eventually agreed and headed out onto the run course.... walking.  I was amazed with the support I got from all the other athletes in the field who encouraged and cheered me on.  This is why I love this sport... the people in it are simply the best. 

YES I am done!

We walked the entire two lap course and actually had a good time dong it.  We chatted with the athletes and had a front row seat for all the action.  I am glad I made that phone call and that my friend was willing to come down and support me with what I was facing.  Had it not been for Jess I would have a DNF (did not finish) on my record this year and the world record would end up being 21 instead of 22....  Thanks stud!

Strong Finish... well maybe just a FINISH!

Sunny told me later that she was pissed that I was not cheering her on at the start of the second lap.  She figured I was in some massage tent or chatting with friends.  She then heard I was out there walking.   She finished her race as I was making the turn for my second loop.  She joined us and made it a trio of walkers.  Big John posted a run time of 1:59 and finished with a solid time of 5:04 dominating the Clydesdale division.  Big Joe also rocked the course and finished second to John in his half Ironman debut.

The three of us walked down the finish shoot and chalked up #16.  Winner of the race and local bad boy Heath Thurston was there to announce our finish!  Thanks for all the support on the day and congrats to all the finishers!  So there you have it,  Sunny killed it and I am headed to the doctors.  I have less than 2 weeks to make sure that my hamstring is good enough to toe the line in Muskoka Canada.  I am confident that Hayden at Muscle Works will take good care of me.  We had a burger party at Tyrell's place after the race.  I have a few of these to edit.... hmmmm.

Race #15 New Hampshire TIMBERMAN

I was asked by a reporter why I chose the Timberman and the best I could come up with is;

"Who doesn't want to be a Timberman!"


Friday August 20, 2010

Headed out early and had a long uneventful day of Travel.  I am on the PowerTri team and a fellow team member and athlete Kim was kind enough to pick me up from the airport and let me crash in the house that their Tri team (THE BAY STATE) rented for the weekend.  I was giddy like a school girl with the thought of not having to stay by myself and race solo.  Even though triathlon is an individual sport it is still way nice to have "teammates" there to cheer on and see before during and after the race.  It was a further drive than I thought from the airport and became even more grateful for the lift.  It was late when we got to the house and all the athletes had gone to sleep.  Kim was a SUPER host and had a plate of food already made for me.  Motel 6 just doesn't have this kind of service... I can assure you!

Bay State Tri Team

Saturday August 21, 2010

This crew wakes up early and I am still on Utah time!  Everyone was up at the crack of dawn really excited for check in I guess.  I wondered what everyone's hurry was as check in didn't even open till 10 and most of them had check in the day before.  Come to find out there was a sprint race today and they had some friends racing.  So half the crew took off early and went to watch the race.  We hung back for just a bit and ate a good breakfast (thanks again Kim)  We too headed out to see the sprint race and get the competitive juices flowing.  The race was good and gave us a good preview of the race site.  We ended up swimming the sprint course twice (back and forth).  The water was clear and very shallow at points.  It was a perfect chance to pretend I was a good swimmer and practice my dolphins dive - I see the pro's do it all the time coming out of the water.  After the swim we ran the sprint run course.  I thought to myself I should be doing a lot of sprints and not half Ironman races - that would be way easier!

After lunch we headed to check in.  Routine stuff here BUT I had the honor and pleasure of meeting Rick and Dick Hoyt!  What a lucky 2 weeks.  Madonna Buder and the Hoyts!!!!

Ma and the Hoyts - LEGENDS

After check in we got all of our bikes ready and took them to transition.  Before checking them in we rode the run course and did any last minute adjustments to the bikes.  I really enjoy biking the run course prior to the event.  It gives me a great mental view of what is about to come.  The slope of the hills are much better to judge on a bike that in a car.  This course seemed like it would be pretty good with only a few hills to deal with.  The day ended with a group dinner and us guessing what our time would be for the race.  We all threw in 5 bucks and the closest guess of their own time wins the pot.  Easy money I thought and guessed 4:50:12 (this may have been an unfair game to play :)

Sunday August 22, 2010

RACE DAY - man I just love race day.  The house was buzzing with energy as we headed to the race site.  Kim and I were in the last two waves of the day leaving over 1:30 after the pro's.  I am getting used to this and enjoyed watching the pro's race.  Crissy Wellington is an absolute stud!  I was at the swim exit and she had caught some of the pro men in the swim and exited the water before them - incredible!!  Andy Potts torched the men's field and was out of transition and on his bike before his closest competition was out of the water.  The name of the game in triathlon is "outta site, outta mind'

Team PowerTri before Timberman 70.3

Andy Potts with no one else in sight

New Hampshire 1.2 mile swim- 33:26;  The weather was overcast but no rain yet.   We lined up in the shallow waters and all started to dolphin dive till we reached the deeper waters.  I swam hard and felt pretty good.  My goal here was to not have Kim pass me from the wave behind.  Only one girl passed me and it wasn't Kim - whew!  She did however come out third in her wave- AWESOME.  This is Kim's first attempt at the half distance.  She dominates her region in the Sprint and Olympic distances.

Why do I always look dead after the swim??

New Hampshire 56 mile bike ride- 2:31:24; I wouldn't call this course rolling rolls.  I would call it hill segments.  The first 11 miles was mostly up and the next 11 were mostly down.  This was the same on the way back in with suctions of up and down.  The long downhill sections were fun as you could maintain a fairly high speed.  At about mile 40 for me it started to rain.  The rain doesn't bother me for the most part except for on the steep downhill sections.  On these sections the rain hurt my face.  The sun was hiding but I was glad I had my sunglasses in my jersey.  I put those bad boys on and although I could not see as well the pain from the welting rain stopped.  I felt this was a good time on a challenging course.

Take notes on that position! Whew!

New Hampshire 13.1 mile run- 1:41:16;  The rain had stopped and the weather looked like it was going to be perfect for this run.  I felt good coming off the bike and hoped to continue to feel that way for the duration.  I have been struggling on the run and needed a good experience for no other reason than mental confidence.  This was a "mostly" flat run course with 2 hills run both ways on each of the two laps.  I went out at a conservative pave wanting to have a strong finish.  With the first lap down I still felt solid and picked up the pace just a little making sure to stay in complete control.  I saw the Bay State crew spread out along the course and I was trying to run them all down but some of them just had too big of a lead on me!  Erik posted the second fastest time to me finishing only 2 minutes behind me.  He had too big of a lead with the wave starts and his sheer speed made it hard for me to catch him.  I looked down at my watch and with 2 miles to go I knew I was close to my guessed time if I picked up my pace just a bit more.  I never know what my swim time is during the race as I don't wear a watch during this leg.... maybe I should.  I picked it up and ran the last mile just under a 7 minute mile.  I crossed the line, looked up at the clock and knew I was real close to my guessed time.  Everyone in our group finished strong with no issues and everyone had the race they expected.  Turns out I know my abilities and posted a final time of 4:50:17 which is FIVE SECONDS over my guess of 4:50:12.  Looks like you guys picked the wrong guy to play that game with.  I was lucky to get that close as one of the other girls was only 18 seconds off of her guess.

I'll I'm missing is a gold chain and some hair on my chest!  I call this shot Big Pimpin

This was a great event and I really enjoyed the nice people and the area.  I would do this race again and would have to land this race in my top 5.  I think I will rank the races best to worst when I am all done.....

Give a Dam project nominated for an emmy? What?

The Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter Announces the 2010 Emmy Nominees

August 31st ,2010

Last night Profiles in Caring was honored with two Regional Emmy (R) Nominations in the categories of:

Public/Current/Community Affairs - Feature/Segment - Quiet Way- Give a Dam
This story featured the great work of the organization "In our Own Quiet Way" who are proving that they actually do Give A Dam. They are helping a desperate group of Kenyans, hundreds of thousands of them, who struggle daily just to survive. And it’s not because of unemployment, not because of disease, or societal ills. It’s a daily effort just to find water.

watch the video HERE

(If you have troubles with the above link you can view the video by clicking on the second video on the right side of this blog page...)


Emmy awards will be announced on October 9th.