Well Look Who's Back

It's been a long while since my last post. It's been a while since I've had anything athletic to post about. Not that there hasn't been important  momentous events.

I'll post more later. Now I'm just testing the new blogger android  app and trying to get Admin control back over this blog.

Long Time No See

Okay people don't you know that you have to remind me to post. Its not that I don't love all of you. I actually read most of your stuff using Google Reader (I love that thing!). Talk about being off the radar. Jeez I leave this thing alone for a while and all these crap post/ads are all over the place.
Well a lot has happened during my absence. Not much relating to Triathlon unfortunately but that will change.
Mrs. TV and I have moved to Pasadena, CA! Damn tasty restaurants!
Had a workup done at the doctors and guess what? All this extra weight I'm carrying around is bad for me. Who'da thunk?
I have fat IN my liver, I got an ear infection from jumping into the pool for the first time in a long time, and according to the doc I don't have any "healthy" fat.
So that's the gist.
To those in Nevada, I'll be celebrating my 5 Year Wedding Anniversary in Vegas Baby! A little fun for the wify and I. She took some time off and we'll be there for a week. Penn & Teller here we come.

Is it 2009 already?

Here are the official graphs for 2008. Thanks 623!


PS. Why is it that I can run for a few miles, bike for miles, and swim forever...but when it comes to the elliptical machine I'm dead in 25 minutes?

Another Milestone!...For Me Anyway

To night I just completed my first 5 mile run. 5.43 miles to be exact and I did it in 1:41:21. I have to mention that .43 because that last little stretch suuuucked. Legs cramping, no more water having, body wants to go but legs don't work, suckage. But I did it! I gotta figure out how to keep my calves from cramping. Well, another first thanks to the wonderful world of triathlon. My pace average was 18:39/mi. My "normal" pace is around 15 min/mi so considering the distance I'm stoked. After my "long" run I considered something that Sarah just talked about. I need to retire my shoes. I've been running on them for 2 years. Hmmmm I think its time for their soles to ascend to the tri-gods. Maybe I can burn them to aid their journey into that big finish line in the sky.

Cooling in the Cooler

I love when the weather gets cooler. That means less people in the outdoor pool at the gym. No matter that the water is heated people just don't go as often. Yay!!! more room for me.

(in case you're wondering, no its not me)

Great swim workout last night. 1750 yards (about a mile) in 40:20. That breaks down to a 2:18 per 100 yard pace. Not bad. I wasn't really pushing it. There is a 2.7 open water swim happening this Sunday that I want to be apart of. Depends on when it starts, if I can get a carpool, and what time they will be back. We'll see.

Day at the Beach Redux

Another one bits the dust. Now we all have goals. And it is usually to do better than what we did before. This was no exception. So begins another Day at the Beach Triathlon in Hermosa Beach. I did, however, have one more goal in mind for this event. Every triathlon I've done so far my right calve has cramped. This is definitely something I would not like to repeat.

This year it was a trio of participants. My dad, my uncle, and myself. A little history, my uncle got my to do my first event 2 years ago (this event actually) but didn't sign up in time and I got stuck doing it by myself. So now was the time to bond through fire.

The swim was not the warm 67 degrees it was the week before. Based on the previous week I thought to myself, this is nice and warm "I don't need a wetsuit." Famous last words. The water was cold but thank goodness that the sand was freezing and my feet froze before I hit the water. Coming in at 16:08.2 it was a few minutes slower than the last time but this time I didn't feel like passing out as soon as I dragged my body onto the sand. And I did run most of the way to transition.

(I know its not pretty)

I am losing weight. I just keep in might what my final before and after pictures will look like. If I'm lucky, they might look as kick ass as Wes's. T1 was a little faster this time at 4:32.4.

As far as the bike, well lets just say that a picture is worth a thousand words...

(Dad, Uncle, TriVortex)

Is that a smile on my face??? yes, yes it is and yes I referred to myself in the third person. ooo dad? Are you okay? lol! Bike time reporting in at 43:16.5. I switched pedals for this event and decided not to go with the clips. It felt great not having to worry about changing shoes but as far as pictures go. It just doesn't look triathlon-ish. And T2 was done in 2:09.3.

I have a love/hate relationship with running. I hate it and I love when its over. I did feel the cramp coming the whole run but I just walked when it got bad to keep it at bay. No cramps = nice finish and an overall great time.


Run - 45:22 (one minute faster than last time!)

Grand total time was 1:51:28.3. Not exactly blazingly fast but crossing with a smile will definitely due for now ;-)

What's in Your Bookmarks?

I was hoping if you all would help me a bit. I was wondering what the most popular search tools everyone is using to find triathlons in their areas. Personally, for me it a toss between Active.com and TriFind/California.

If you would be so kind as to tell everyone you know to stop by for a second to check off their favorite site in the Poll to the RIGHT.

For the "Other" option, just reply to this posting and let me know where you go and what you use. Thanks!

One, Two, Skip to my Lou

3, 4...we'll stop at four because that how many pounds I lost for the Fitness Challenge! Yay for me, I didn't make the top 8 but who wants to be the biggest loser anyway...humph! Congrats to all the bigger losers than me out there. May you all have lost soooo much weight that you have to spend an obscene amount of money to replace your clothes.

Okay, 1 Step Back...Just wait till the leap Forward

The Good:
Mrs. TV went swimming with me last night at Bally's. I love seeing all the haters, guys staring, girls glaring. She's beautiful, sexy, smart, and.....mine, for now. At least until she gets her senses together. But I'm going to enjoy it for as long as it lasts (which according to the vows, till death, hers or mine, which ever comes first).

The Bad:
So yesterday was a 1 mile run during my lunch break and a 500 yrd swim after work (which is late). I need to start waking up earlier to work out. Maybe I'll take up my new friend Whitney (from meetup.com - Go Inland Tri Group) and run in the mornings with her. Need to look at T3 (calender) again and work things in.

The Ugly:
So my official weigh in for the Quadrathon Weightloss Challenge is +2 lbs. Yeah, you heard, I gained 2 pounds. Its okay. It give other an opportunity to bask in achievement before I obliterate the standings. [hey, who knew that trash talking to be so much fun]. Look who's talking, back on the high school basketball court, I would have talked down to Kobie. So enjoy your brief glory people and prepare for your demise.

Side Note: We finally got our TV hooked up to cable after a 1.5 year hiatus. Olympics here.we.come.

Happy 08-08-08!!!!

Not much to report since internet has been down for a while now. But once I get things situated just wait till you see the number and graphs I have. Oh, I'm participating in this little challenge over at Quadrathon. I say little, because there won't be much of a challenge to beat everyone. I mean, this is me we are talking about. So the official weigh in is 220 lbs. I'm 5 Foot 5 Inches, so that definitely categorizes me as a Clydesdale. Let's see if I can't "fit" into the Age Group category once all is said and done. Well, more like done, since I won't have to say much...just smile really big at those who gave that Ol IM try. But they forget...I am TRI-Vortex.

"Those who mess with the best, die with the rest." - 80's I know, but I"m 28, it's okay for me.

Shaken But Not Stirred

Just another sunny and shaky day here in California. That little 5.4 Earthquake in Chino, CA. Well guess who works 15 miles from there. Yup, that's me! Enough of local news on to more important things....

The Gauntlet has been thrown. TriDad (= my dad) has slapped me in the face with this:

Dad: So when is the the next event that you'll be in

Me: I haven't registered for anything this year, just training and trying to lose weight.

Dad: What about that event you did that was later in the year.

Me: oh, the Hermosa "Day at the Beach" Tri. Ya, that's in October.

Dad: What about trying to reclaim your manhood from that last time I spanked you, at my first attempt at triathlon, mind you.

Me: It's ON!!! [click, hang up]

People, I've already started last night with a 40 min. trainer ride to get my butt all nice and numb. I'm already trying to plan out some 2-A-Days for the coming weeks.

Meetup.com

My First Group RIDE!!!! And by group I mean more than 1 person that I don't know. Which means there were 3 total (including me). We did the Victoria Ave ride in Riverside, CA. Its a ride I've done a few times before so I felt comfortable. That's until we got going and I got dusted. But I know that I only average 12 Mph on that ride so I was expecting to be passed by a little girl on a tricycle. Here my and Billy before the ride...

See me smiling next Mr. I just got finish with THE tour and I'm looking for a warm down. hahaha. And here's Gary and I afterwards...

It kinda reminds me of an old 80's song..."Age groupers just wanna have fun!" Sorry about the prison-lean-pose. It was a nice ride as usual but something out of the norm was when I looked at my Garmin. I average 14 MPH!!! Yes lady's and jelly-spoons, I PR'd the ride. I guess when you look at people far upfront that you're supposed to be riding "with" you tend to push just a little harder. And for me, that little harder equated to 2 Mph increase. Nice. Taw taw for now.

Looky What I Found

There are people near my neck of the woods who ALSO like triathlon. And here I thought I was the only masochist. And I'm going on my first group ride this Saturday in Riverside, CA.


I found them through a cool site called Meetup.com. I also found a group that gets together to practice ASL (American Sign Language) and some other interests I have. Let me know if the site is helpful for your area!

Just a Spot of Bad Luck

Boy when it rains it pours. Lets take it from the top. It all started right before a trip to Catalina on my dad's boat. Purely pleasure for me and semi-vacation for Mrs. TV. She had to work on a school project during our trip but that wasn't the problem. She need access to the internet while on the island. My laptop's internal wireless just stopped working all of a sudden. After getting reassurance that his laptop works my car burns up. What I get from the mechanic is that a couple of things broke at the same time so there was no warning that my car severely overheated. So the engine fried. I had to pay for a new engine for a 2005 Mitsubishi Galant.

Pause on the bad stuff: It was a great trip to Catalina, the seas were ok on the way over. We hiked, swam, and drank at the Isthmus (Two Harbors).

Play: We got back from Catalina and my car is finished. I start in for work and guess what...the radiator splits. So now I have to shovel out for a new radiator (same car). Next my desktop starts acting up, and by acting up, I mean the "Blue Screen of Death."

Finally my lawn mower breaks down. Not that I even like doing the lawns but now my equipment won't work.

I need to meditate...uuummmmm ummmmm ummmmm. It's not working.

A Year in Review

I know its very late for this but a lot of thought needed to be put into it.

My first season as a newbie Triathlete...TriGeek. First, thanks to all the
support from my fellow bloggers/
triathletes and the podcasts: GYGO! (Get Your Geek On) and SimplyStu. You guys make workouts fun and entertaining.

Coming from a competative background (nothing professional) I have resparked the flame that working out used to bring me. I used to be on the highschool water polo and swim team. Then after those practices I went to martial arts training. Many moons later I'm married, still working on my continuing education (got my BA, but working towards a Masters), and 70 lbs over weight. Being, what I first thought was a derogitory class, a "Clydsdale" has had me dredding any tight clothing. But after years of wearing a speedo, board short just didn't cut it. But I didn't want people throwing up in the pool so the long jammers had to do. Then I had to wear more tights with my bike gear.


Note: I don't know if I ever posted but my ride has a name..."Petra" (A character out of a favorite book of mine Ender's Game).


Everyone out there has been great. I know that I can be a bit...sarcastic. Kahuna, sorry for rip'n on your stroke on the New Years Tri but Robo made me do it. By the way, I never got to see the video from that day.


For my first season (which I enclude my first tri, which makes it over a year) I did:

Hermosa Beach Sprint (Tri)

GYGO New Years Day Tri (Tri)

Bonellie Tri Express Series #1 (Tri)

Played on the 210 Freeway (Bike Ride)

Almost everyone I met on the coarses were excited, enthusiastic, encouraging, and inexplicably nice. Something I'm not accustomed to. Hey, who hasn't been burned. But the triathletes have given me a renewed hope that not everyone is an ass.

The sport of triathlon has given me something new to obsess about. There are so many aspects to working out, nutrition, racing, preparation, equipment, that this should keep me interested for a while.

I've gone over and over this post...re-editing it. But I finally took out all the crap and whittled it down to this: Thanks to everyone out there keeping me honest to my word, thanks to the asses on race day that keep me chasing even when I have nothing left, thanks to Mrs. TV for not going insane with the constant chlorine and sweat smells that radiate from my gym bag, thanks to my uncle for getting me to sign up for my first triathlon (even though he didn't, good story, you should look to my races and read up on my first), thanks to GYGO and Simply Stu podcast for getting me through workouts (the problem is that now I want to listen when I swim so I have to find a waterproof MP3 case), and thank you to myself (without me the word would be a little sadder) ahahaha, I mean I'm glad I've stuck with it so long and have been able to make sooooo many friends.

Christmas Boost

As most of us already know, we're all geeks...TriGeeks. And part of being a nerd is gear, check out the newest addition to the arsenal:

That's right, you are looking at the proud papa of a Garmin 301, compliments of Mrs. TV. So far the weather has been a freezing 40-50 degrees in the morning and evenings. And this toasty bottom hasn't ventured out into the cold. So I've just been testing this thing out on the cycle trainer. I just set it to one of the preset works outs based on heart rate/zone and time and I'm off. I feel more and more like a hamster but hey, what's a guy to do...get cold. I don't think so.

I love this thing, much better than my Mio. But it did the job as long as I wasn't working too hard. Trying to keep your arms steady while getting the sensors to read on the "strapless" heart rate. More to come as I do more tests. I have noticed that it takes a couple of minutes for the satellite to acquire.

Guess Who's a New Grad!!!!

I was so excited. It's been a long time coming. But it is official...I have a B.A. in Psychology from California State University San Bernardino. Lets start with the morning of. Mrs. TV planned a big party for me at the house, mostly family and a few friends. The rental chairs and table didn't arrive the day before like they were supposed to. So in the early morning I was receiving the delivery. The ceremony was set for 9:30AM and asked for Grads to be there an hour early. I was up till 2AM that morning and had to get up at 4:30AM to start with last minute touch-ups to the house. Didn't get much sleep but I was too excited to sleep anyway.

The ceremony was long and boring as usual. It was a good thing that I didn't eat breakfast since when I went up to shake hands I felt like I was going to hurl. It was nice to see my family all standing and yelling for me in the stands.

So enough with the pleasantries...

Recovery...NOT!

One of the many reasons I haven't been posting can be seen in this picture:

Yes those are bruises.

Once upon a time I this was me...

And that is a black belt around my waist. As you can tell, it's been a while. TriChef has a friend that is opening a martial arts studio. Guess who stopped by to take a look. It was the first time I've stepped into a studio in years. After some stretching and observing I was invited for a little friendly "light" sparring. First lets take a look at the sensei's credentials. The studio is called PacTKD. Go to the staff tab and look on the right side...yeah. Thats who I got my butt kicked by. But at the end of the day I was happy with my performance. The only problem is that my body does react as quickly as it used to. Hence the bruises.

Why do I like pain? I guess its for the same reason I got into triathlon...testing one's self.

"I'm baaaack"

[bradey bunch theme] There's a story of T.V and his little lady. Who were bringing up 3 ladies of their own (2 Lab Retrievers, 1 Cat). They're all spoiled...like their mother, the youngest one now hurls (hairballs mostly).

Till one day T.V left with his lady. They traveled up to camp out in a bush.

Okay I'm ending it there because 1) I'm not that clever 2) I forgot how the rest of the song went. ha.

It was a nice 6 hour drive up Hwy 1 to Limekiln State Park. Home of the lime kilns and Limekiln Falls. The drive up was nice and relaxing...for me. Mrs. T.V. however isn't that fond of traveling on the edge of cliffs. The first real hiccup didn't happen until we started setting up the tent. Hmmmm, I wonder which husband forgot the wind shield that goes over the tent (which only has sheer side panels)? As you can see our first night our spot was in the Redwoods. We positioned the tent right behind some bushes and parked the car up close to block as much wind as possible. Yah, things were a little cold since there was nothing keeping the heat in.

Equipment malfunction, for the one that remembered to bring. The camera batter said fully charged when we left the house. Then we get to the site and I snap ONE shot and now the little green battery turned to a little RED battery. I'm not an electronics expert but the flash wasn't even on. So it was like that the whole trip. I never knew how many pictures I had left. Green, then Red, then Yellow, then back to Green. Geez I didn't even eat any of the mushrooms!

We made the trechurous journey to the Limekiln Falls. As you can see all those roots can be tricky and you might trip.

The second night we talked the ranger into letting us switch spots. He said that the spot wasn't for cars. But hey I have a Mitsubishi OZ RALLEY, its supposed to go offroad (not stock, but I didn't need to mention that part). And we landed my dreams spot. One of only two spots that are cut into the cliff overlooking the ocean. We made a make-shift wind guard and sleep in warm peace listening to the crashing looking up at the stars.

In the morning we got up packed up the car and headed back to the trail to check out the actual kilns that the place was named for.

Then it was back on the road to travel the 300+ miles home. We took our time and made a few stops.

Sea Lions

One of the many lookouts on Hwy 1

[Sorry but there should be more pix, but Blogger won't let me load them now and it's already been too long since I've posted]

Now for the Real Weekend

This is where I'm going to be from Saturday till Monday. Limekiln Falls in Big Sur, CA. Mrs. T.V. and I are going camping for the first time since I proposed (now thats a kewl story, if you're intersted I'll post it sometime). Campsite is 100 yards from the ocean and only 1/2 mile to the falls. aaaahhhhhhh relaxation. Till next week....