My 15 minutes begins...

A proud moment…my first ever radio interview on www.enduranceradio.com!. It is not the most exciting but you can hear the potential. I clearly need to build a more interesting public person but if I can then other opportunities await such as…

The Wall Street Journal Face Sketch. Who hasn’t dreamt of having their head drawn by a Wall Street Journal cartoonist/etcher? Plus if it does happen, I must have done something involving lots of dough.

Tabloid Magazine. There are lots of options here, from being linked to Brittany, Mariah or Keanu, to scientists discovering a potato that looks like my head.

The Simpsons. Serena Williams, Simon Cowell, Daryl Strawberry (the best Simpson scene ever – Bart chanting "Daryl, Daryl" from the rightfield bleachers) and Troy Aikman have all done voice overs; why not moi.

Oprah and Dr. Phil. In a few months, the fame from this interview and others will go to my ahead. The late nights, the crack addiction, the decent into the abyss will follow after which I will need the love of Oprah and the healing powers of Philby.

Surreal World. After the rise and fall, I will need to mount a comeback and will not be too proud to walk in Trishelle, Vanilla Ice and Charo’s footsteps.

I am ready for the voyage.

The New Goal

Endurance Radio is a podcast that features 15-minute interviews with athletes ranging from world class ultramarathoners to weekend triathletes. After listening to the same type interview over and over again, in which the athletes, no matter what their skill level, described singularly focused, dull lives, I thought i should try and get on as a man of the people triathlete with an actual life outside of training.

Below is the email I just sent to the host of the show; much like James Frey of "A Million Little Pieces " fame, I am willing to eaggerate for affect and fame.


Tim

I think you have a great show and I would love to be a guest on it as "the average, aspiring Ironman."

I am training for Lake Placid 2006, with Wildflower as an early test. I think I could provide real insights into the challenges of training for triathlons while trying to maintain a relatively normal life. In addition to covering the regular topics such as my exercise history, training regimen and diet, interesting anecdotes I could provide include:

1. Being normal. How to maintain relationships with some of my friends who don't "get" the Ironman. WhileI love training, I do not like to spend hours discussing it, and like friends with different interests. Much as some of them would disagree, I also like to have some sort of night life, which makes the 5:00 am run sometimes challenging.

2. Training and traveling. I live in San Francisco, travel a lot for work, and my two sons, potential 2012 Olympians in snowboarding, live in New York. I see them every other weekend, so have frequently been forced to exercise in airports or very early in themorning/late at night, resulting in some interesting stories.

3 Vanity. Triathlon training sucks the weight off of me and I don't want to be the 98 pound weakling, who is threatened by women, let alone can't get a date with one them. How do I fit lifting into a week of run, bike, swim, and does it hurt or help my performance?

4. Creative sponsorships. I work in a high tech PR firm and have managed to get clients to semi-sponsor me, a difficult challenge when the relationship tends to be all about them.

I really appreciate your consideration.

Recent Observations

What happened to lunch?
An alarming pattern has emerged in which my clients are not providing lunch, even for meetings that occur between 11:30 and 2:00 pm. Do they think I don’t know what is going on? By any definition, it is lunch time. I need to eat. I don’t believe in the skipped meal. This is wrong. Four-hour old coffee and a bowl of suckers does not a meal make.

Why do they ask for my name at Jamba Juice?
Whenever Emily and I go to Jamba Juice to get the life-affirming shots of wheat grass, the cashier always asks our name and enters it in the computer. Supposedly this is to help them remember our names so they can be friendly. However, they never do remember our. This is CRM gone bad.

The paid watering service
At work we have a “plant watering service.” This consists of a woman coming around once a week to water the five plants in our office. Are we that lazy that we need to pay for the service? How hard is it to remember to pour water once a week? This reminds me of Ellen Degeneres’ comment on breath strips; have we lost our will to suck?

30 Minute limits on all machines
A lot of gyms have limits on how long you can use the treadmills, lifecycles and Stairmasters. I understand this restriction during peak hours but all the time? Don’t we have an obesity problem in this country? Do people really need another excuse not to work out? Are restrictions on raising your heart rates above a certain next? No benching more than 50 pounds?

Ross and Rachel are not compatible.
Every time I watch Friends, which is admittedly too much, I become more convinced that Ross and Rachel are incompatible. I rooted for them to be together but it just doesn’t work anymore.

No more SF weather talk.
There is less and less conversation about San Francisco weather. After 157 years think everyone gets the 60 and foggy every day concept. Unprecedented.

Bode
Three months, after reading Bode’s biography, I was a big-time fan. Bode was it, he was the man. Imagine a US skier attaining mainstream status. I was even basing some new parental techniques on his carefree upbringing. One 60 Minutes disaster, one attack on God (“Lance takes drugs”), and an embarrassing, wasted Olympic performance, and he is now a poster child for wasted opportunity. I am now researching military schools for Ben and Sam.

No more questions
When did people stop asking questions? I understand that I am an inquisitive person but I cannot remember the last game of question chicken I won. You know, see who can sit through the silence without asking the first question. The father of one of Ben and Sam’s friends is fearless at this game. I have met him three times; his sole question has been “how long did you live in Boulder?” And don't get me started on follow-up questions. That disappeared with the pick-and-roll.

Change
I have a pretty healthy accumulation of quarters, nickels and dimes; I have publicly split with the penny. I use this change for my semi-regular Grande Starbucks Coffee, yet I feel a certain disdain from the cashiers when I pay. Are dollar bills next?

I defy you not to get chills
The story of the year is the autistic ball boy scoring 20 points in a high school basketball game. I defy anyone to watch the video and not be moved. Watch it and you will feel better about the world. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2352763

Thoughts on the Bike

I am totally dialing in the training for the Wildflower http://www.tricalifornia.com/wildflower/2006/, which is only 70 days away. My Achilles heel in each triathlons has been a definite lack of bike training. I like biking but the time commitment required, three to four times longer than a typical run, does not jell with my lack of focus.

It seems like things have changed. I have already done three rides this year of 40 miles or more, and yesterday Will and I nailed a 65 miler. The conditions were not particularly glowing; it was a little chilly, in the upper 50's, but I still felt great.

Top 10 reasons to enjoy biking

1) It's all about the gear. If you love buying and owning lots of things, biking is for you. The list is endless - bike shirt, bike, water bottle, helmet, pump, etc.)

2) It's all about the view. Unless you are Dean Karnazes (www.ultramarathonman.com), it is hard to see much more than your neighborhood on a run. How many times can I run through the park and think, "Oh cool, look at the Buffalos). On a mid-to-long bike, you can explore areas you have never seen. Has anyone actually ever driven through San Anselmo?

3) It's all about the farmer's tan. Unless you live in Iowa, there is no better way to get a farmer's tan.

4) It's all about the cool words. While I love running, it produces decidedly boring conversations, laced with words like Nike, marathon and cramp. Biking is filled with foreign languages (Tour de France, Vuelta Espana), cool sounding brands (Bianchi, Cinzano, Shimano) and conversations that are not laced with running-like hyperventilations/

5) It's all about the food. Any sport in which you can eat while performing is money. Even if it is just cardboard-tasting power bars.

6) It's all about the community. Go for a ride on a nice day in Marin and you will see hundreds of packs of 5 or more bikers. If you see more than two people running together and they are not in team in training shirts, it is an anomaly.

7) It's about leveling the playing field. While I consider myself an OK biker, I usually get passed every ride by an overweight, middle aged woman. There is no profile of a good rider; they can look like Lance or be 70 pounds heavier. EVERY good runner looks exactly the same.

8) It's not about the bike. Despite the fact that some people pay $4,000 for a customized, fitted bike, you can ride almost as well with a bottom-of-the-line bike. I love my bike, the Bianchi Imola, and can see owning if for a long time even if I become more bike obsessed.

9) It's about looking professional. Go for a weekend ride and you would assume that the entire North Bay is receiving sponsorship. Everyone has on their bike shirt with the corporate logo. I myself wear an AMD shirt, a gift from a client at Rackable Systems (www.rackable.com). No one wearing a Nike running top turns a head but each Subaru Montgomery or Discovery Team jersey makes me think "How did they get that shirt."

10). It's all about Lance. Steve Prefontaine died 33 years ago. Since then there has not been one remotely interesting runner.

My Blog Achieves a Purpose!

I believe that my blog has finally achieved a purpose, a reason for existence. Inspired by Will's recent fame and relative fortune from his blog (http://whatupwilly.blogspot.com/), the capitalist spirit has taken over me.

The mission of this blog is now to secure snowboard sponorship for Ben and Sam, the future Olympic champions in Boarder X and the Half Pipe. A secondary mission is to attain sponsorship for myself as an everyperson's triathlete.

Fear not. I am painfully aware that my previous posts will not get Smith (http://www.smithsport.com) or Burton's (http://www.burton.com) attention. My readership needs to grow way beyond Elena, Will and Emily.

However, the method to achieve the goal is the second step. Let me rejoice in achieving a purpose!

Future Olympians

Sam and Ben (left to right) are my two boys and the greatest people in the world. They are well on their way to the 2012 X Games in Snowboarding.

Going Visual

Clearly my blog is lacking in the visual experience. So here is some recent history. The story behind the photo the left. I was bombing down Hell Gate at Hunter Mountain (www.huntermtn.com) in my usual all speed, no form style when I almost hit a tiny, nine-year old girl. Luckily I missed her by a wide margin but I lost my concentration, and ended up nailing myself in the head with my ski pole. My first really good black eye.

2006 Goals

So here we are, one month into the new year, presumably a good time to start assessing how I am meeting my New Year's goals . However, my issue is less with am I meeting them but rather do the goals have much meaning.

Without going into the specifics of the goals, let's just say that they are the typical achievement-based ones sprinkled in with a few touchy-feely relationship goals. The ones based on achievement are relatively easy to attain or measure. If it is to save money, finish a race or travel somewhere, it is basically a black or white, on or off result. You either save or don't save the money, train for and finish the Ironman or don't, and buy or don't buy the tickets to Vietnam. These can be good goals; challenging yourself, planning for the future or going to new and exciting places makes your life more interesting and fulfilling.

However, it is the relationship (I mean all, not just with a significant other) goals, that are the more important, and tougher resolutions. I have been typecast as somewhat (understandably a vague modifier) aloof and distant, which, admittedly is true. No need to digress into a lot of psychobabble but this is not a state in which I wish to continue, but the steps or goals to exit this territory are not as easy as running 5 miles a day, or eating out once a week. Changing emotional patterns is not that simple or straight forward and cannot be measured like body fat or savings plans.

No I am not stupid. I understand how you go about evolving or getting a better hand on your emotions. It is just that for someone who tends to measure things on spreadsheets, it will be an interesting process. Not a journey or chapter, because I cannot stand those cliches.

What do I think about

One of the challenges of the long run or bike is trying to occupy your mind with thoughts to eliminate the mind-numbing boredom of repetitive motion. Sure, there are the occasional mystical moments (though I have had maybe five in my life) when you forget about time and space during an entire workout. Most of the time, however, it is a grind, especially if done alone, which represents 99% of my workouts. And don't even try to pretend that 72 laps in a pool is enlightening. Counting, even done slowly, is not a transcendental experience.

That is why it is extremely frustrating that almost every endurance athlete never gives a very good answer to the "what do you think about while working out" question. Usually they say something stupid like "I think about my workout." That can't be.

Here is my top 10 list of things I think about during the "fun" 14 mile runs

1. Play mathematical games to make the distance seem reasonable (e.g., when I get to the stop sign I am 12% done).

2. Think of three important things I have to do when I finish running. They are always simple (buy stamps, brush teeth, etc.) After the run I want to keep this accomplishment thing going

3. List of cute woman who think gaunt men are hot. Very quick game; takes about .1 miles).

4. Analyze subplots from that week's Laguna Beach and Real World episodes. This cannot be done on a run of less than 6 miles.

5. Compare Yankee 1998, 2005 and 1977 teams. Hard to pick against a team with Jeter AND Paul O'Neil.

6. Determine the best place to buy a house. This is admittedly an overplayed bit. It will be resolved by the end of the NYC Marathon. Swear to god.

7. Measure how faded the mile marker signs painted on JFK Blvd. for the Bay to Breakers are getting. I run the same route way too much.

8. Contemplate why the hot female runner says hi to me when she is with her male friend, but ignores me when she is alone? She is teasing me but why? Is she secretly in love with me? Is she trying to make him jealous? Is she aware that I am at least 60 seconds faster per mile? Show some goddamn respect.

9. Annoy myself by rehashing petty things that happened at work. This is a good way to stimulate the production of adrenaline.

10. Listen to Bolero in my head. Why is this motivating? Who doesn't remember the gold medal performance of Torville and Dean at the 84 Olympics. One of the top 5 inspirational moments in sports history. Sports perfection.

I'm Back!

Three-and-a-half months after my cathartic failure at Wildflower, I put the pungent odor of weakness. lack of convinction and fear behind me by completing the Escape from the Rock Triathlon. The race legs (1.5 mile swim, 2.5 mile run, 13 mile bike, 7.5 mile run) don't seem too daunting but it was the swim where I proved myself to myself.

The concept of swimming from Alcatraz to the San Francisco shore is crazy to me for several reasons. First. I am not the stongest swimmer in the world. Second, I have always had a fear of the Ocean as a large, scary unknown. Third, my body gets cold really quickly. Fourth, there could have been reruns of Laguna Beach Season Two I was missing during the swim.

My friend Will talked me/peer pressured me into signing up for this race about four months ago and if he had not been doing the race, I am not sure if I would have shown up despite my $190 investment. Our conversation on the walk to and boat ride out to Alcatraz helped me a lot, making the swim seem like just another day.

Once I jumped off the ferry into the water to start the swim, I felt like 75% of the battle had been fought. I did have a few scary moments in the water (e.g. fogged up goggles, perception that I was making no progress, swallowing lots of sea water after getting kneed in the head by another swimmer) but once I exited the water, I felt unbelievable.

I had my usual quad cramps during the second run but, all in all, it was an awesome experience.



Now for the stupid part. I got way to hyped up watching Lance win the tour (subject for my next blog entry) and I signed up for the 2006 Lake Placid Ironman on July 25. That is just nuts.

What is my hobby?

I have been caught in a mental struggle to determine if I need a new hobby in order to feel like I am leading a full life. While I would describe exercise as a passion, would I be limiting myself if I also labeled it as my principal hobby? To be a renaissance man don’t I need to learn a language, write a short story or weld large pieces of metal into interesting shapes?

While I do get a lot of fulfillment from running, biking, skiing, swimming, etc., I fear becoming or being one of those singularly focused people who can only talk about their VO2 max, favorite break or ideal powder day. These people bore me in the same way ultra-religious people do; it’s OK to know your source, just keep it to yourself.

My potential hobbies; I do love to read, watch movies, critique characters on reality TV shows, travel, etc. However, I don’t think these count as hobbies.

So try this on for size. My favorite activities are those in which I am lost in the moment and don’t have time to contemplate my navel and the meaning of life. A great book or article, Landon’s latest bout with CT on Inferno2, my pending Escape from the Rock triathlon, hanging out with Ben and Sam, shagging flyballs on a baseball field. These are all activities that prohibit meaning of life thoughts yet define the meaning of life.

So, at the risk of sounding asinine, my hobby is not thinking.

Destination or Journey?

Yesterday was the Bay to Breakers 7.5 mile race, 100,000 people racing, running or parading in various stages of inebriation from the Bay Bridge to Ocean Beach. I did it my first year in San Francisco, arriving at the starting line 90 minutes before the horn to make sure I could get a place near the start so I could actually run. I am glad I did the race once but would not do it again; it was too crowded and crazy for my taste and I wasn’t down with the whole pre-race tortilla throwing bit. Instead, I ran 11 miles alone yesterday morning before the madness.

This attitude of avoiding racing, coupled with my DNF at Wildflower makes me wonder (yes, this does read like the beginning of a Sex in the City episode) whether it is ultimately more satisfying to be competitive or judge yourself versus other people or your own expectations. Is it more heroic to push yourself up Lincoln Rd. at 7:00 am with no one watching or to fight through the pain against other fit people with hundreds of people watching you?

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This does not just apply to individual timed sports, in which you are competing as much against a clock (and prior performances) as your expectations and other competitors. At work, I tend to judge myself against my own expectations or desires, which are not always consistent. Working a 12-hour day can give me satisfaction and make me accomplish a lot professionally, but then I feel like I am losing the battle in other categories such as friendship, fitness, parent, MTV reality show viewer, etc.

Some have written that it is not what you do or accomplish in life but who you do it with that matters. I think this is a great philosophy but how does that apply to time spent alone. What ultimately matters when you are alone?

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Greatest Inning in Baseball History

To combat the impending affects of aging on performance, I have officially begun to experience athletics through the lives of Ben and Sam, my awesome 11 and 9 year sons. Last weekend was opening day for their little league team, the Woodstock Mets.

Ben starts at shortstop, Sam at third base, which is incredible to begin with. We all worship Derek Jeter. Ben naturally sees himself as Jeter's replacement in eight years; Sam loves Arod, and expects that Arod will tutor him when he is called up from Columbus in 2016. Of course I argue he has to first graduate from Cal with a degree in economics. However I digress. My life plan for them is a topic for another day.

Back to the game and the top of the fourth, what will now forever be referred to as the greatest inning in baseball history. Pitching for the Woodstok Yankees was Chris Pollo, allegedly a 12 year old, but the Justice Department is investgating him for both age fraud and as part of the Balco investigation. Think Roger Clemens at 15. With one out, Ben hits a line drive into center field for a single. One out later, with Ben on second, Sam smacks a double down the left field line, scoring Ben. Talk about a wild range of emotions. Shock, ecstasy, pride, hope, etc. I barely contained myself from crying in front of 20 baseball moms - I do have to maintain my street cred as the mysterious San Francisco guy.

It did not even matter to them that the Mets lost 3-2. They also knew that we had experienced our own Field of Dreams moment.

The Wildflower Incident

As I sit awaiting my America Worst flight to Austin, I continue to ponder the meaning of my Wildflower Half Ironman fiasco from last weekend.

The summary- good swim, OK bike on killer course was punctuated/punctured by a flat at 52 miles. 20 anger-filled minutes later, I fixed the flat and chugged to T2. Half a mile into the run I started cramping and quit. Stopped. Ejected.

Why did I do this? Aren't I the man who gets up at 4:00 am and runs 8 miles, no matter how I feel? Haven't I tied a lot of my identity to my fitness persona? I mean, getting Dean Karnazes to sign my copy of Ultramarathon Man was almost like a visit to Mecca.

My attempts at explanation have included:

I already did a half ironman - this was nothing new.
I didn't train enough, particularly on the bike.
I haven't faced adversity in a race in years, so did not know how to react.
I am weak mentally and faded at the first sign of stress.

Bottom line is I think I need to stop investing so much in these race quests. My love of exercise is for the solo workout, the daily addiction to endorphins, not the gathering of 2,000 like minded people. I do think there is a marathon and ironman in my life soon but I need to also focus on the other important things in life. Like MTV's Inferno.

All I know is I just did situps and pushups in the airport and don't care what anyone thought.

America Worst flight is late - what a shocker.

What constitutes a root

I have moved every three-to-four years since I finished college, so I have never felt settled or committed to a specific area (Chicago, Boston, New York, Boulder, Vail, etc) , no matter how much I loved it and/or my situation within it. In San Francisco, this situation has been exacerbated by the fact that I a) fly home every two weeks to be with the dudes (Ben and Sam) and b) rent so dont feel a permanence from a real estate perspective.

Why bring up this semi-interesting point now? I just found out that I have the opportunity to get in on a new loft in Oakland. I have to decide by the end of the weekend. I am going to check it out tomorrow or Saturday and them must decide. Time to act like a grownup.

Should be a fantastic weekend - picnic/barbecue with friends in the park, 10 mile run, 5o mile bike, all in 70 degrees. and sun.

It is going to be one of those days in which I fully appreciate living in California. 70 degrees and sunny, and I am going for a 50 mile bike ride in Marin. While I love New York and the East Coast, even when you have a perfect day, it is impossible to get out of the city in 20 minutes for some outdoor fun. And 8 laps around Central Park, while great, doesn't cut it all the time. I still think ultimately I will end up in San Diego or Boulder. Time to start working on the plan to make that happen.

For some reason, even though I worship Lance, it has never been about the bike for me. Given my oft-discussed problems with the long term focus, I get bored when exercise exceeds one hour in duration. I am not sure how to remedy this issue - riding with other people helps a lot but I have to learn to love the solo efforts.

Which leads me to my third point. Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes is a must read.

The first top ten list

Top ten movies of all the time.

1. Top Gun - so good that Kelly McGillis could not ruin it. Should be number one on everyone's list.
2. Point Break - Totally. Reeves and Swayze at their best. Like Rich Aurillia's 2001 season.
3. Field of Dreams - I defy any man not to cry after "Dad, do you wanna have a catch?"
4. Swingers - The most quotable movie ever.
5. Brothers McMullen - More raw and pure than She's The One.
6. She's The One - 2nd most quotable movie ever.
7. A Few Good Men - By law, Kevin Bacon must be in a movie in the top 10.
8. Dirty Dancing - I have more than enough macho movies to justify a) a chic flic; and b) two Patrick Swayze vehicles in the top 10. Most inspirational concluding dance to any movie ever.
9. Good Will Hunting - Very eerie how I am as smart and tough as Will. As if it is based on my life.
10. Contact - Best cinematic discussion of science versus religion ever.

Staring into the void 

Merrill and the Boys  

Just got back from two awesome days of skiing with the boys at Hunter Mountain in upstate New York. Color me East Coast biased but I think East Coast skiing is as good as Tahoe. Of course I have only been to Tahoe once but Hunter has great steep trails all the way from top to bottom. I have now skiied five times this season, my high water mark since 1999-2000. Until you get in the groove, you forget how incredible it is skiing and I finally got the knack of the shape ski. Going next weekend and I can't wait!

Now of course I have to decide on the direction of my personal life. But I digress into obscure details.