Multisport Athlete

For Blue

2009-01-20T17:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, this post is for Blue. As far as I know Blue is the only person that still checks this blog.
So I say hello to Blue and after 15 months I have finally updated.

Ed

Baby Ava and Family

2007-10-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

2007-09-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

Well..................It's been awhile. Biggest item to note would be the birth of our second child on 9/25/2007. Ava Kay Slade 8lbs 21 inches long born at 12:57pm. Everyone is home and doing very well. I hope to have some pictures downloaded soon.

Ed

VACA!

2007-07-13T07:07:00.001-07:00

In Omaha, on vacation, it's allllll good. Going to the Zoo today, Lake tomorrow. I'm sooooo chill'in.

Ed

Week in Rewind

2007-07-08T08:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy but good week. Here it is in Rewind.

Friday - New shoes purchased from the Runner's Flat. Nike Zoom's, not trail specific but very aggressive tread for a street shoe. They fit like a glove and I can't tell you how beneficial it was to watch myself run on the treadmill. You really see the difference in your foot strike in a particular shoe.

Saturday - 2-1/2 hours on the mountain bike with supa fast running freak Scott Gall. Scott and Sarah have started to focus on tri's, sweet! We found some new single track towards Evansdale, who would have thunk it?

Sunday - 60 min trail run in the Katoski Greenbelt. Good except I ran through some nasty weeds, more on that later. An hour after the run I noticed a flare up of a nagging injury. My heel cup on my right foot was killing me! It was caused from wearing broken down shoes too long, not because of the new ones. I have since been wearing the new shoes 24/7, they are broke in an my heel feels feel 95%. I'll run tomorrow am for 30min to make sure it is ok.

Sunday and Monday - My aunt, uncle, and 3 cousins were in town from Indiana on their way to Canada. Lots of outdoor games and food. Good times.

Tuesday - About 1-1/2 weeks ago I hit some nasty stuff at GW on the bike. My leg had a gross wound on it and it would not heal. I went to urgent care, what a joke! Doctor was prescribing meds before I had told the story or had the bandage off it. I had to tell him to chill and let me speak. He prescribed some steroids and it seems to be clearing up.

Wednesday - 4th of July. Up at 4:30am to head to George Wyth to set up for the 5k. Event went fan-freaking-tastic. 96 runners, best turnout yet for a CVA sponsored event. The CF Jaycees were very happy and want to have the event again next year. After that I headed to Dysart to meet the KT and Ainsley for some food and fireworks.

Thursday-today - Just been working away at the shop and home. Also getting ready for the next CVA event on July 28th. Working on a little project for a friend also, more on that to come.
That's all for me. Congrats to JK for really working hard for a win yesterday in Wisconsin.
Good luck to all that are taking on Cornman today. One of my favorite tri's! Good luck to Carlos at the Clear Lake road race.

Ed out!

Crazy cool

2007-06-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

Beer Launching Fridge

Where does the time go?

2007-06-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

Really, it's been 20 days since I last updated!?! It's amazing how days turn to weeks that turn to months and on and on. Nothing all that great to report on. I have a new 1x7 commuter bike, it's fun. Shop is swamped, good for work, bad for play! Looking forward to a trip to Omaha on the 6th, 7th, and 8th of July. I need some time away. Katie's aunt and uncle have a cabin on nice no wake lake. It's a perfect place to relax, fall asleep on a floatie and wake up in the middle of the lake 2 hours later with a sunburn. Then on the "other side" there is a lake for the speed boats, her cousin has a speed boat. I offered up a hundred bucks in gas to go run that thing around for a few laps, good times.

Runner's Flat has the new Adiddas Trail Shoes in, SWEET! They are black, and light, and black and did I mention they are black? New kicks for Jeff!

Speaking of Black. I'm offering up a moisture management tech t as the participant gift for the Throw Down in the Dirt, Greenbelt 5k and 10k Challenge. What would you think of a black T with Happy running on the front in the HMM, CVA green color? Then print all the sponsors logos on the back in silver? Usually I hate Black T's in the summer but it is a Tech T and it is a trail run and CVA is a little on the rebellious side anyway. Whatever I do it will NOT be white!

I'll leave you with that, and a picture of the bike chain Blue needs.
Ed

Wednesday

2007-06-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

Trail shoes, stress, gravel, mp3, evanescence, anger, sweat, 40 minutes, feeling better.

Scouting

2007-05-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

I was able to take off for a couple of hours today to scout the Greenbelt for the route I would like to use during the 1/2 marathon I'm promoting. Met Kerkove, Carlos, Father of Carlos, and Super Saul on my way out of Hudson and they were rolling in. I had a nice tail wind on the way north to the Greenbelt. This area has been flooded for much of the spring and 2 more inches last week didn't help.

I arrived at the shelter on the north side of Ridgeway Ave. and headed out for some mileage readings. I came across my first wet spot within a mile, no big deal. Then I came to the next one, It was a dry run bed that was full of water about 8 feet across. Well, I needed a mileage count so I slammed into it, hub deep and I was stopped! Didn't fall but had to dismount and would have soggy shoes and fox socks the rest of the ride.

I came to several more more low spots, I did eat it on one causing a soggy ass and wet cell phone. I should just leave that thing at home! Finally I made it to the dike, and crossed back across the creek to take a lap around Greenbelt lake. Then back into the single track to cross all the same low spots again. By now I'm a wet muddy mess, no worries. Up a small hill and then the only true single track in the Greenbelt. Total mileage was 6.8, not bad.

I then headed to the south side it was not as wet but plenty sandy and parts of the trail had fallen into the creek, yikes! I completed the south side with less drama than the north and had a mileage of over 7 for the south. Sweet, a total of 13.1 shouldn't be a problem for the trail run. And the cool thing about running is plowing through a stream or creek isn't a big deal and people kind of expect it. I think this should be a good event.

Ok, I'm out. Short week and the shop is busy, should be interesting.

Ed

News From Nebraska

2007-05-27T06:50:00.000-07:00

Just got off the phone with Buchandale from the 12 hours of Branched Oak race in Nebraska. Carl took a top five finish and Kerkove got his first win of the season. Nice job guys! Check their blogs for details when they return to Iowa.

Ed

Catching my breath

2007-05-22T19:02:00.000-07:00

Just now getting some energy back from this weekend. The Up Side Down Du went pretty well.
Tough course and it was an eye opener to some.
Super big thanks goes out to everyone that volunteered. I really appreciate it.
Here is a full race write up.
Enjoy some pictures. Or not, blogger is f'ing up. Only two pics tonight.

Odd Run

2007-05-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went out just after 9:00pm for a 50 minute base run. It's pretty common for me to run later at night and I usually don't worry about the safety aspect. Well, tonight's run was a little creepy.
First off I was excited as I was trying out a product from fuel belt that had a water bottle, gel flask holder, and 4 other pockets for keys, mp3, or whatever. I was impressed as how well the belt balanced everything, it really had very little bounce to it. And when you consider what you get to carry and not have to plan water water stops on a long run, I can deal with a slight amount of bouncing. It also sat well around my waist and small of my back, I really didn't mind wearing it. My long slow base runs usually take place on the nature trail that runs with hwy 63. I run this trail for one reason and one reason only, it's flat! 10 minutes in I went to reach back to take a drink from my standard 20oz water bottle and the fun began, I had a heck of a time getting it out of the holder. I get it out and launch it 4 feet off into (dark) grass next to the trail. I now stop, get the bottle, take a drink and place it back in the belt, two hands were required for this.

3 minutes later I'm crossing the first bridge outside of town and I hear a noise and see an odd shape next to the trail. This scared my lock-laces right out my shoes so I yelled, "YEH!". And someone said "Hi" back to me. Some older guy on an old schwinn with no lights telling me he just tossed his chain and complaining about how hot it was. I offered services to help with the bike but he said he just fixed it. So kept running north towards Waterloo. Now my mind was playing with me, I looked over my shoulder every 2 minutes waiting for this guy to come up behind me with a chainsaw or something.

I made it to my turn-around point and headed back to Hudson. The ditch water was nasty and I think I heard a crock or two. To add some much needed (yea right) drama to the situation there was a lightning storm building to the West. So I reach the bridge were my new buddy was (my mind is still messing with me) and he is still there. I ask if he was ok and he said yes, he was waiting for a friend to meet him. OK, that confirms it...........Drug drop, I'm out-a-here!
As I was running through Hudson on the sidewalks I had a black cat cross my path. GREAT! Could this get any better? Actually it did, my cool down was spent under a light sprinkle. Hate the lightning, love running in the rain. It's a good, right Blue!

I tried removing my water bottle from the belt 3 more times during the run. Each time it required 2 hands and I had to stop to remove, and reload it. I'm going to see what I can do to make adjustments, and also try a smaller diameter bottle.

Ed (still alive)
OUT!

Aw Crap

2007-05-10T05:32:00.000-07:00

What a start to the morning. Katie has been working late this week so I have to pick Ainsley up from the sitter. That means no time to commute to the shop, bummer. Last night Katie said her mom was picking up Ainsley today so I could ride, yea!! Well this morning Katie couldn't remember if her mom was just coming over or picking up Ainsley and coming over. Hummmm, ok I will drive my truck to the shop. So Katie and Ainsley are gone and I get into my truck and battery dead! Someone (me) left the dome light on last night. Grrrrrr, this is Thursday not Monday right? So now I sit at home like a 19 year old that just got a DUI waiting for my father to come over and take me to work. Man I'm a loser.

I leave you with Ainsley performing a self massage. I wish I could reach back there, but I cannot. So I'll be getting a free massage at this event.

Ingawanis photo dump

2007-05-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was the Camp Ingawanis XC MTB Race. Over 70 hours of trail work and countless more hours of planning went into the event. Saturday the course was fast and everyone was pumped about Sunday. Mother nature was pumped to...........pumped to blast down 30mph winds and 3 hours of rain on everyone at the camp. The race did take place and event directors Casey Dean and Carl Buchanan did a fantastic job of changing plans with the weather. Nice job guys! It was a day everyone will not soon forget. Below are so photos from the day.

Jeff Kerkove doing geting his "yo,yo what up, you like these grips?" on.

Cam won the expert race and then said cheese!

Bidwell's bike after less than 4 miles on course

This guy should have just brought a single speed

Casey soiled, I mean, with some fresh Ingawanis soil on himself

Jeremy aka "Sexy Legs" Bidwell. (yes that is a skirt)

Where have you been?

2007-05-02T18:59:00.000-07:00

Wait sorry, where have I been? Well, I could go into what has shook out in the past 2-1/2 weeks but that would take toooooo long. So lets just fast forward to now. Currently the 'ploder is in the shop getting ______________ replaced. Just fill in the blank cause the mechanic can't! Not his fault, just can't figure it out. So KT has my truck and I have the solo-one, sweet!
Twin Six, Recover-ease, and KINeSYS have all joined CVA as partners. That is super cool.
Sweet ass MTB race on Sunday at Ingawanis. DO IT.

Ok, this post has as much flow and my bike handling skills. It's killing me to type it, sorry for what your feeling.

Out

On my mind

2007-04-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

Not Georgia, but the following.

18:23 - That's the time Scott Gall did the Ulrich Park 5k in. It's now a goal of mine.

With that said training is well, ummm, huh, yea........more like working out, maybe.

New toys and old ones fixed. I'm still digging my Serfas shades. I had to send in my HRM for battery replacement. That cost $15 plus freight both ways, WTF! I purchased a Cateye wireless cycle-computer 2 weeks ago, I love wireless!

Looks like I will be adding a snowshoe race to the '08 CVA schedule. An aquathon may also be in the mix. I know Blue, YOU DON'T SWIM!

Holy Iowa Triathlons Batman! Looks like there is a surge in events again. We saw this 5-7 years ago and several didn't make it. Hopefully that is not the case again.

Here are some events I am looking at doing next year. I'm putting a personal "not gonna do it" on USA Triathlon sanctioned events with $75 entry fees for shitty cotton t-shirt and 80 minutes of pain. That's almost a dollar per minute. Stupid!
Tri Rudd
Cy-Man Tri Gotta go lay down the Panther Purple, yo!
Dog Days Tri
Hartman Eco-Tri
Twin Lakes Tri in Manson, Ia
So that's an average of a $37 entry fee per race. Not that I'm trying to be a tight ass but come on. Does a race really need to cost $55-$75? And besides I've never done any of these races.

Looks like I may have a product or two headed to Vegas this fall for the interbike show. How cool would that be!

Registration is open for the Up Side Down DU. Team up or fly solo, just get out and do it!

Clean up next weekend at Camp Ingawanis. Contact the Jackal with questions.

So the snow is gone........again! It better be for good this time. Get out this weekend an be active yo!

Ulrich Park

2007-04-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

Wow, sorry for the lack of posting over the last 2 weeks. The Ulrich Park 5k Adventure Run took over everything else. It is now done and everything went off without a problem. Huge thanks goes out to my friends and family for helping with the event. You guys made everything super easy and worry free for me. Also huge thanks to all the sponsors for their support and awesome donations to the gifts and awards. Here are some random links related to the race.

Cedar Valley Adventure
Cedar Valley Adventure Blog
The Runner's Flat
Bike Tech
Johnson Chiropractic
Snap Fitness
Jeff Kerkove and Kerkove Media
Gateway Endurance Training
Fox River Socks
Ink in the Local Paper Mt. Bidwell and Deerslayer got their photo on.

Quickly

2007-03-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
Just a quick rundown here of what's been shaking. Lots of irons in the fire this time of year.

Has spring sprung?? Some people go off a groundhog, I killed a fly today so I say spring is here.

My good buddy Dirty Dirtram was in town last weekend. He was kind enough to give a few of us an expert bike fit. Carl is liking how is Cannondale six13 is feeling. Clay did some changing on the set up of my Slingshot 650c tri bike. Changes included moving my cleats back 7mm, Raising my seat post, changing my seat tube angle from 75.5 to 77.5, and a minor aero pad adjustment. Oh baby do things feel better. I can't wait to hit a familiar tri course and put the hammer down. Thanks Clay!!!

Saturday afternoon was a trip to Adventure Land hotel and water park in Des Moines. Yes the water park was indoors. Several families from the fire dept went down. The kids and adults all had a good time.

I finally wore out my Smith shades so I purchased a pair of Serfas Sike's from Bike Tech. First impressions are they fit awesome, they are light, and clear. I'll give a better report after some athletic activities have taken place with them.

Trail Running Clinic hosted by CVA at The Runner's Flat on Thursday March 29th. 6:30pm speakers will be Scott Gall and myself. Yes, you can show up just to watch me speak in front of a bunch of strangers. No, I don't do the picture you naked bit, I picture myself naked instead!

Trail Work day this Saturday at 8:00am at Ulrich Park. Bring rakes, shovels, saws, gloves, and anything else you think will help. At this time no chainsaws or other motorized tools.

Thanks,
Ed

Need some help

2007-03-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

Need a little help from those that know GPS pretty well. I'm looking at purchasing this watch as a training tool and also a handy GPS unit to measure trail mileage for some of the CVA events. Will this unit factor elevation changes for accurate distance readings? I've heard some GPS give you a "flat land" mileage and then you have to enter the data into an elevation program to get the actual distance. Am I wrong? It this little unit worth $70?

Face diameter: 1.5"

A workout companion you should never be without--featuring contemporary Ironman* Triathlon® styling.

GPS transceiver calculates speed and distance data and transmits to watch with synchronized Digital FM Signal for display.

GPS transceiver includes strap to wear unit on the upper arm and belt clip GPS system automatically synchronizes time of day with GMT ensuring accuracy.

50 lap memory recall.

Average speed or pace, maximum speed or best pace, and accumulated distance, continuous odometer, metric or English units.

Other features include dual time zones, daily and weekend alarm, INDIGLO night-light, NIGHT-MODE feature and water resistance to 50 meters.

Black resin case with a grey ring.

Black resin strap with a stainless steel buckle.

'sup

2007-03-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

So I had one of "those" runs tonight. It's a base run when you get in a groove, pain free, heart rate only moves up or down 2 beats over a 40 minute span and you feel like you could go forever. I love it.

Now, let's keep those temps rising cause I'm tired of wearing tights!!

I leave you with a picture of Chad Juel vs Chad Juel at last years Dirty Du.

70 what??

2007-03-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

From freak ice storms to 70 degrees, gotta love the Iowa weather.

So I was totally jones'n to get out of the shop today and go for a run. I have found it's much easier to tell a boss, "I'm taking the afternoon off" than it is to just up and leave when you are your own boss. But I ditched out around 4:15. I get home and step into the back yard and hear a lot of dripping. It was almost splashing, so I walked around to check it out and found a pond creeping it's way up toward my basement walkout, ahhhhhhhh! Not good, so I changed into some shorts and crappy shoes and put my sump pump in and fired it up just in time. I would have never expected that. All the snow on the upper deck and in the back yard had melted and made its way to the walkout. So, after that we grilled up some cheese burgers (yum) and ate supper. I wonder if Blue fired up the Weber and grilled some chubs?

After supper Katie noticed a couple packages at the front door. Santa Hammer Nutrition had brought me the goodies for the Ulrich Park Adventure Run. Huge thanks to Hammer and Carole. They have gone above and beyond to support the CVA events.

Monkeytron called later in the evening and we spoke for a bit. He says he's getter faster, it's all in his head. Speaking of monkey business Dirty is going to be back in town Fri, Sat, Sun. Looking forward to catching up with him and also getting fitted to my tri bike. Proper fitting is important and I will take all the help I can get.

So, after watching American Idol and putting Ainsley to bed I was able to go for a run. And a good run it was. 45 min nice steady base, feeling good. So I go my run, just not when planned and that's ok.

I want to ride my bicycle!

2007-03-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

Finally get to ride outside today. Yesterday was primo conditions but we had Ainsley's "all family" birthday party so I was unable to ride or run. Today I need to go to the shop for a little bit so I'll get the Solo-One out and roll down the trail. Sweet!

"Want to" vs "have to"
So having the itch to get outside and ride/run means that training for me will be much easier the rest of the year. Why? Because last week my mind and body finally said I "WANT TO" go run, lift, ride. Prior to that my brain was saying, "you HAVE TO go run, lift, ride if you're going to do well this year". Well, I hate to say it but when I have to, I don't! When I WANT TO, I do. Maybe that's why I'm just a descent age-grouper and not a top 5 overall guy. Maybe that's why I'm always 5-10lbs heavier than I think I should be. Who knows? What I do know is that when my body says "I WANT TO!" Everything is good. It's like a caterpillar busting out of it's cocoon and spreading it's wings as a butterfly.
I'm ready now, time to fly for the 2007 season.

Ed

#2

2007-03-07T15:37:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AINSLEY!!

Foxy

2007-03-04T09:34:00.000-08:00

What a busy week last week was. Trying to get back to normal after the ice age took over for a few days. I got a few workouts in and they were good, I'm starting to feel better and better. Snap Fitness opened up last week. They are located at 18th and Main in CF. Stop by and ask for Adam, super cool guy with tons of energy.

Friday I met with Joel Anderson of Fox River Mills. I was seeking some type of partnership with them for the Cedar Valley Adventure races. Joel was digging the grass roots, off road, athlete based feel and he was in for the Ulrich Run. So, the first 100 athletes at Ulrich will get a pair of Fox Socks and if you are pre-registered you will also get the Gel Ready Race Belt from Fuel Belt. So for $18 your gonna walk away with over $20 in gear. Not to mention all the other cool awards and prizes from Serfas, Hammer Gel, Runner's Flat, Bike Tech, Snap Fitness, Johnson Chiropractic, and on, and on. Can you tell I'm pumped about this??? It's going to be a blast.

Have a good week, 40's by Wednesday, waaaahoo!

Ed

Weekend at the 'Rents

2007-02-27T18:08:00.000-08:00

So, finally things are back to normal after the weekend ice and wind storm took power down all over Iowa. Friday started with a 2 hour wait next to a burning power pole that lightning had struck. Yea, lightning in February! Then a car roll-over later in the night. Saturday the pager started going off by 8:30am and never stopped. Countless calls for various reasons. Thank goodness no one was seriously injured. Then 2:00pm Saturday afternoon the lights went off. By 6:00 we headed in to my parents in Waterloo to stay the night. We were joined by my sister and husband who were also without power. It was a family slumber party! By Monday morning I had power and we were back to living in the Hud. Its was Tuesday am before my sister had juice. Lets hope this next storm is not as bad.

Training has been a little off to say the least but I had a good run and weights this am. Hopefully I can get things back on track.

What's up with Bidwell's blog being invite only?? It's like high school all over. Can I come to the party.......... please?

In major cycling news Jan retired. I wonder how many more years he would of had if he spun more and smashed less?? But, I guess you are who you are.

I received an email from my cousin Kelly today, he tore(yes completely tore) his plantar facia while running. OUCH! He'll have a long and slow recovery. Get well soon!!!

Ed out

Off my Game

2007-02-19T19:49:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, I needed a little break from the computer last week. A little internet overload, needed to step away and clear the mind. Training is going so, so. I'm excited about this weeks temps so hopefully a new fire will be lit. Snow might be gone by the weekend, crazy!

If you can be sure to hit this clinic on Thursday. It should be a good one!

A perfect run

2007-02-11T17:57:00.000-08:00

Feb 11, 2007
6:00pm
30.9 deg F
slight breeze
light snow

Air was crisp and clean, the light snow was putting layer of "freshness" on the earth. The head was cleared, the body rejuvenated, I'm ready for another week.

Ed

Awesome Clinic

2007-02-08T18:26:00.000-08:00

You Don't want to miss this. Runner, cyclist, swimmer, whatever. It will be worth your time!

Smarter, Not Harder With Metabolic Training
Presented by The Runner's Flat
Featured Professionals: Therapy & Wellness Connection at Buchanan County Health Center Kevin Greenley, BS Director 319-334-6071
Stacy McMahon, BA, ACE

You run, you lift, you diet, and still you don’t reach your goals. Whether it is losing weight, running farther or faster, training at the correct intensity is the key to your success.

Commonly used formulas for calculating heart rate zones have a margin of error of +/- 20 beats per minute. Why be close, when you can be training at the exact intensities to better achieve results?

Come and learn how metabolic testing will provide you with the correct heart rate zones based on your individualized level of fitness and metabolic profile.
Topics to be covered include:
Fat burning for weight loss & performance
Metabolism and nutrition for weight loss & performance
Heart rate zones, why and how
Aerobic Base
Anaerobic Threshold
VO2 max
Base/Tempo/Interval training
Live demonstration of a metabolic test will be performed
Thursday, February 22nd from 6:30 - 7:30pm
The Runner’s Flat 115 E. 4th St.
Downtown Cedar Falls Across from the Maid Rite
Call to 277-1154 to register!

Also, Bike Tech has a website for the store now. 'bout time Brent!

You're gonna laugh you ass off

2007-02-08T10:56:00.000-08:00

This has nothing to do with Triathlons but will make your day. Click here.

Snowshoe Review

2007-02-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

Saturday was my first taste of a little thing called snowshoe racing. Well, I didn't race because I already had a bit of frost lung but 12 athletes braved the cold temps (felt like -33) to take on the 5 mile trail at Hartman Reserve. The event was put on by Scott Gall of the Runner's Flat and everyone had a great time. So, my impressions about snoeshoes. They were pretty cool, and super easy to use, in fact several of the racers had never been in snowshoes prior to the race. I slapped on a pair of the demo Crescent Moon shoes and went for a little walk. It was suprisingly very natural to use the shoes and the binding system is way ease to use. Never having been in snowshoes I was walking around in 3 minutes. Next year this is something I will find myself getting into, super cool! If you want more info stop in at the Runner's Flat, they have snowshoes on display and can get you hooked up!

Sunday I headed to the gym before all the Super Bowl action got going. 2 rounds on the weights followed by 25 min run on the deadmill. Now, if you want a little twist to your running lift weights then run, instead of run then lift. You're legs will feel heavy like at the end of a race, get over that and the last 1 mile of an event could be your strong point.
Totals for last week.
Run 3x25 for 1:15
Weights 3x40 for 2:00
Bike none
Swim should have but none (it's cold out yo!)

This week
Run 3x25 and 1x45 (sweet)
Weights 3x2 rounds at adaptation phase
Bike none
Swim - 2 or 3 sessions 500-1500yards per

Get signed up Yo!

2007-02-03T13:34:00.000-08:00

On-line registration is open for the Ulrich Park Adventure Run on April 7th. Click here to register.

Yes!

2007-02-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

Permit has been obtained for the Ulrich Adventure Run. Registration will be open this weekend.

Grrrrr to Brrrrrrr

2007-02-01T16:28:00.000-08:00

Man it's cold out. And some of that cold has given me a bit of frost lung. Started out the day fine but now the voice is all but gone and somebody's got a tight grip on my chest. Drinking the green tea and honey in hope of a quick recovery.

Meeting with the CF Parks tomorrow for the official OK to have the Ulrich Trail Run. If all goes as planned registration will be open this weekend. The race is going to be sweet. Lots of good schwag, awards will be super useful, free massage's on site, demo's from all the title partners. Yea, don't come to this one and you will have missed out. Even if you are not a runner, come to cheer on the racers and enjoy the atmosphere.

Speaking of races the Iowa State Snow Show Championships are Saturday at Hartman Reserve. Demo's at 8 race at 9. Race is put on by Scott Gall of the Runner's Flat and sure to be a good time. Wear your thermal undies!!!!

Grrrrrrr..

2007-01-30T19:44:00.000-08:00

Every so often a guy just has to vent, it helps with the blood pressure.

Today I spent 5 hours to get 50 business cards and 10 brochures printed. WTF!!! I had everything ready to go, all that needed to be done was put it on a template and print it, 20 min job tops, and I spent 5 hours getting the job done and I'm still not happy with it. Today I wished I was still working at POS with Carl and Blue, could have slid this one through and had a top quality product. I will NEVER go to Staples again, and there is a good chance I will never go to Copyworks again. Grrrrrr

I went to the dentist today to confirm my diagnosis of a condition called TMJ. I'll let you google that, the results are endless. It is a mis-alignment of the jaw and it hurts like a mother! So, I'm jacked up on pain killers. The label reads "May cause drowsiness or Dizziness". I'm gonna be safe next to a lathe turning at 1,000 rpm! Grrrrrrr

UNI played like shyt tonight on ESPN2 and are watching their dreams of a fourth straight NCAA bid flush down the drain. I'm not giving up but you might want to start thinking Not In Tournment panther fans.

Sad news - The father of one of my good friends passed away Friday from cancer. Sunday morning my neighbor was killed in a car accident and her husband is in bad shape at the hospital. Life is short, tell your family you love them everyday.

Last weeks training was.....well...........weak. 40min running and 1 hour on the weights. Grrrrrrrr

Tonight I was able to take out some aggression on the treadmill and weights. That 10lb dumbell was my bitch! For those that are following along sorry for the late update. Remember week 3 has some changes from week 1 and 2.

Run - 4x25min Keep the pace down, low on the heart rate and RPE.
Weights - As desired, still 2 sets of 15 with low weights
Bike - Nope, not yet
Swim - 2 or 3 sessions between 300 and 1,000 yards.

If you are local and would like to swim but are scared, don't know where/where, or have never been shown the proper way post a comment and I'll be glad to help you out. I'm not that great and I'm usually in the top 3rd of my age group so I can at least start you in the right direction.

Venting done, tomorrow will be better than today.

HRM vs RPE

2007-01-28T10:07:00.000-08:00

What to most of you use, a heart rate monitor or rate of perceived exertion?

When I became serious about training I purchased a HRM. Did the tests, set the high and low and trained based off of HRM. 1st season was Ok, 2nd and 3rd were my worst seasons ever. Now I admit there are other factors involved but...On race day I found myself looking at my heart rate and freaking out at how high it was. I would make myself slow down assuming if I kept it up I would blow up at some point during the race. Now, even though my heart rate was up I didn't feel bad, so I basically spent 2 years second guessing myself on race day and during training, what to do? what to do?

2006 season - A blessing from the triathlon gods - My battery went dead in my HRM. So, send it in for replacement, or say screw it! I said screw it and just started listening to my body, or using the RPE. How do you feel?? I said easy or base miles was a pace I could keep for a couple of hours, breathing through my nose or talking to somebody. And well, going till you puke was the top end. '06 ended up being my best year yet. A little mind over matter, and knowing I wouldn't be second guessing myself on race day also helped. I just listened to what my body was saying. Some times it said "that's good right there" and other times it, "feeling good today, keep pushing!"

HRM??? Not in my near future.

I have also started a thread on Happy Mutant if you would like to comment there.

ZERO

2007-01-25T18:45:00.000-08:00

Yes it is Thursday and my total training this week is.....................(drumroll)............................................ZERO

I guess some things like looking up Evanescence tickets are more important.

Good thread on Happy Mutant on treadmill running thanks to Bidwell's fine question.

Ed

Tempting

2007-01-24T20:06:00.000-08:00

I didn't go in Vegas and could have. Now Evanescence in coming to Cedar Rapids in March. I sooooo want to go!

Stick and Ball Sports

2007-01-22T19:13:00.000-08:00

Good or Bad for cyclists, runners, and tri geeks??

That is my question, what is everyone's take on this.

My vise is Sunday afternoon basketball at the local high school.
Personally, I say screw it. It beats sitting on my butt all afternoon and I work muscles I don't work while training for Tri's. I know, cause I'm sore on Monday morning.

I say Viva La X-training!!

Wanna shoot some hoops?

Last weeks stat counter
Run: 1:20
Bike: 0:00
Swim: 0:00
Lift: 2:00
bball: 1:30

29er

2007-01-20T17:55:00.000-08:00

I may have to buy a 29er just so I can wear this kick ass shirt. You know there is only one place a shirt this cool can come from, right?

250!!!

2007-01-17T19:36:00.000-08:00

This is my 250th post so I thought I would celebrate for the heck of it.
Yeh, hee-haw, 250th post!

Just returned from the gym which = 2.25miles (20min) on the treadmill (BOOOOO!) and 1 round on the weights. Look out Arnold!!(you should say that in Arnold's voice, don't me embarrased, we've all done it)
Run tomorrow and Friday and week 1 will be in the books.

Spent the early part of the week with Katie getting this off the ground. Not completely finished but you get the idea. Katie's B-day is tomorrow. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE! She is now old like me till April, then I become old again.

That is all

Ed

Wanna be faster?

2007-01-14T07:43:00.000-08:00

Want to run a PR this year but don't know where to start? Check out this link. Take about 30 seconds to enter some data and you'll instantly get a program to help you reach that PR.

In addition I was thinking I would publish the training program I will be following. There is a program for the beginner and the not-quite a beginner.
Weeks 1 and 2 are the same for both.
4x20min run - Yep that's it. 4 twenty min runs over the next 7 days and repeat for week 2. Keep the pace casual, run walk run is ok. I monitor casual pace two ways. One - can I breath through my nose the entire time? Two - could I carry on a conversation without stoping to take that "really big breath" to keep talking. Some of you with HRM's may know where your heart rate should be on this pace, use that if you like.

Week 3 starts pool sessions.....So, if you live in the Cedar Valley and need swim times and locations or want to meet up for a session post here. If you live elsewhere you need to start scouting for a place to doggie paddle.

Weight lifting - I believe in it, the training program doesn't agree or dis-agree with it but does not include it. What I will be doing weeks 1 and 2 is lifting after the run. Here is the lifting program I will be using. Light weights, slow reps, use good form. If you don't, you'll just be sore and maybe injured. Do this program as a circut. Go right from one lift to the next throughout the series. Take a short rest, then hit them all again.
You will be out of the gym in less than an hour including the run, lifting, and stretching.

Join me or just read along, if you have questions be sure to post them. If I can't answer them I'll get someone from Happy Mutant to help out.

Peace,
Ed

At the Gym

2007-01-13T21:28:00.000-08:00

Hit the gym this afternoon. It went pretty well. I'm starting from ground zero. Very, Very basic with low weight and short times on the cardio. I'm following a very basic plan from slowtwitch and adding in my own weight specific routine. Being consistant is the goal this year. I watched this while lifting. Those guys are weak!

Check out the Cedar Valley Adventure Blog........ JK gave me the hook up yo!

Ed

Weekend at Bernie's

2007-01-10T17:33:00.000-08:00

Ok, I was at Ulrich park... not Bernie's. Who's Bernie, Does he know Michelle?
Anyway, I snapped some pics while walking the trails at Ulrich on Saturday. I was scoping out the route for the April 7th Trail Run. It's going to be lot's of fun. Last week 3 more sponsors were locked in for the series, details on that will be posted at a later date.

Creek Crossing (1 of Many!!)

Up Up Up, feel the burn!

Yikes, you want me to cross that??

Steep down hill, weather conditions could make a mud slide, SWEET!

It's Official

2006-12-27T18:25:00.000-08:00

I'm FAT! Holy cow kids. Ending your season in early July and then not getting in regular workouts plus the holiday treats has taken it's toll. I'm not gonna give out any numbers but were talking Freshman 15 situation here. So moved up my '07 training start date from Jan 2nd to Christmas day. After a fantastic Christmas including tons of cool stuff for Ainsley, a new video camera for taping Ainsley, and a visit from Craft Claus I headed out for a trail run Christmas afternoon. Awesome day to run in the woods, I hit the Spring TT loop which is about 4 miles. It was a good test for my New Balance Thermal Tights and my Craft Gloves. They kept me nice and toasty as did my Duofold fleece jacket. I love tech clothing cause as it breaths the moisture starts to frost on the outside. Trail was in pretty good shape, saw a group of deer, a few MTB tire tracks, and even some green grass. After the run I got in a good stretch and felt great.

Tuesday I headed over to The Runners Flat to chat with Scott and Sarah about the upcoming Cedar Valley Adventure series. I'm so pumped about this, It's going to ROCK! Honestly people, you have no idea. This will be the "to do" off road race series in eastern Iowa. Speaking of that, I have another blog to get set up. More on that soon!

Later,
ED!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2006-12-23T09:23:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Slade's! We hope everyone has a fantastic holiday, see you in 2007!

'07 is coming

2006-12-20T19:03:00.000-08:00

It's about time to put 2006 in the books and look forward to 2007. As most people I have goals I would like to reach in the next year. Some are business related, some are athletic related, and some family related.
They include:
Making CVA one rocking race series
Running a sub 18:00 min 5k
Running a sub 40:00 min 10k
Running a sub 20:00 min 5k at the end of a tri
Ave 22mph on the bike during a tri
Trying new race formats, adventure race(i've been saying this for 3 years) or a 6-12 hour mtb race. Probably solo but Bidwell may be looking for a running mate in '07

Business wise, we want to continue to grow our business. This will include the launch of a business website and some road time for me talking to new customers. As we expand into cycling products and cnc reto-fitting machines we will probably expand into another building also. Crazy, never would have pictured that 3 years ago.

I will also be at some events pimping with the guys at Happy Mutant Multisport.

It will be a busy but hopefully fun and rewarding year.
What does '07 have in store for you?

Random again

2006-12-19T19:33:00.000-08:00

Really, I have no focus right now so I'm just going to spew lots of things at once. Here it goes

Why are people so damn crabby right now?? It's Christmas, time for joy and cheer and credit card debt .
Last week my good friend Chad got run up the flag pole for posting his personal feelings about a race, yes people, Ironman is just a damn race. And today some ass clown is bagging on Jeff for doing and saying the same things he has done for years! Yes, I use hammer products and recover ease becuase they ROCK. No, I'm not sponsored by them. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Who is Beta and why has blogger dumped them??

I've been doing way to much of this and non of this........It's very sad.

I'm drinking this as I type, even more sad.

Time to start training real soon. I'm thinking about doing several of these, and some of these, and promoting this........but right now I look like these guys. Sadness factor is getting worse, maybe I need to see one of these.
Naw.... all I really need is a ride on one of these

Who hit all the hot links???

Ed
O
U
T
!

Ok I'll Play

2006-12-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

Well, Carlos has added me to this little game of "blogger tag". I'll be a good sport and play along.

- Best joy in my life is my daughter, Ainsley. Hands down, once you have kids you'll know what I mean.

- I played all the stick and ball sports in high school. Baseball, football, basketball, and golf. I was also a band geek like Kerkove. Marching band, concert band, jazz band........Man I'm a dork!

- If I could I would only ride bikes without gears. I love single speeds, I've converted more geared bikes to SS than I can remember. (my only geared bike is my tri bike)

- I hate draft legal triathlon's. Get some balls and do it on your own!

- I hate poorly designed low priced crap. Doesn't matter what it is, I hate looking at something and thinking for about 10% more money this product would really be useful.

- I'm super stoked about Cedar Valley Adventure. It's going to change the racing landscape in the area.

Ok that's all for me. I'm not going to win millions because I'm not going to tag anyone else. I think everyone has been hit.

Ed out!

Ainsley's Ready

2006-12-09T07:06:00.000-08:00

Ainsley woke up this morning, ate some breakfast, tossed on the Salsa hat and now she's ready for a run. I had her run around the house a little bit. I couldn't go, breakfast needed to settle.

Busy weekend on tap. Today will be spent at the firestation cooking meals for people around town that don't get out much. It's a good time and a good thing to do, I enjoy it. After that it's off to the Veridian Christmas party. I wonder if Jackalwill be there? After I stuff myself silly there it's back to the firestation for the rest of the fireman's Christmas party. Sunday Katie and I become members of the church. After all that, I think I'll take a nap!!

Word has it that Kerkove was in L.A. this week. I heard he is now dating Jessica Simpson, well done JK!

Have you checked out Cedar Valley Adventure??

Ed out!

Michelle

2006-12-06T16:33:00.000-08:00

I have found Michelle. I was at an end of season NASCAR party over the weekend and ran into her. She said she had a great 30th birthday and her mom did get a hold of her. Juels, she said she is currently free and looking for that special someone. You know, someone she can give her whore money to in return for some rock candy.

In bigger and better news............................. UNI 57 Iowa 55

Take that bitches!!!!!!! Steve I'm overpaid, over rated, and over dressed Alford.
That's, it's a damn good time to be a Panther grad.

Shop is nuts right now. Everybody wants something and they want it like right now!!! In fact, I'm on my way back there in about 30 minutes. Merry Christmas to you too! They are delaying the production of the bike racks. Oh well, gotta pay the bills some how.

OK, that's all folks.

Stuff

2006-12-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

That's just another way of saying, "Random". So here goes.
A huge WTF yesterday. So, there I was, running a lathe at the shop when the phone rings. Stop the lathe, answer the phone. "Good afternoon S&S"....."Is Michelle there?". "Sorry, no Michelle here, you must have the wrong number". "This is the number she gave me, do you know where Michelle is?" "Aaaaaa no!" "This is her mother calling from South Carolina, do you know how I could find her?" "Again, no!" "How old are you? about 24?" "I'm 27" "You might know Michelle, she turns 30 tomorrow." OK, by now I'm laughing my ass off. Why does this lady think I know her daugher and why is she wasting her dime talking to me? The called lasted another minute and I just hung up on her. WTF!!!

More WTF, Ainsley won't sleep at night or take a nap. And when she does sleep she is standing up with her head on the edge of the crib. Are you kidding me! I'm sure it's just a phase but it's weird.

Winter is here, highs in the 20's and 30's. I hope Santa brings me some of the Craft gear I asked for.

Blog that made me laugh out loud. Noo-noo's X skills are awesome! You must watch the video.

Cedar Valley Adventure site has a few updates on it. I hope to add a trail info section, and more races soon. I have also reserved a blogsite that should be rock'in shortly.

I leave you with scary shots of a man on rollers and the Cedar Valley's bravest cold weather rider.

Ed

Random

2006-11-28T15:39:00.000-08:00

Well, maybe random is the wrong title cause I really don't have a lot to say. For the past 2 weeks someone in the family has bee sick with the flu or head cold. I'm still a little drained from my battle with the illness. Cedar Valley Adventure seems to be getting a positive response which is very good. I hope to build the race formats and have them up soon, then follow up with some folks on sponsorship. My blog has taken a non-training, riding, running, or anytype of fitness turn. Am I just that busy I can't squeeze in the things I really, really enjoy? Or is it a change of seasons causing the body to slow down, get fat, keep warm, and prepare for what comes during the harsh winter months.( that sounded like some crap you would hear on the discovery channel.) Any way I leave you with Saturday breakfast at the Slade home and a picture of the bike rack in production mode.

Cedar Valley Adventure goes live!

2006-11-26T13:06:00.000-08:00

Cedar Valley Adventure site goes live!!!!

Yes I know there is a problem with 2 pics on the homepage.
Other than that let me know what you think.

Ed

Mini production run

2006-11-15T18:49:00.000-08:00

Here is a little teaser as I chip away at making some functioning proto-type bike racks. Not much else to say right now, pretty smoked from working 15 hours yesterday and 11 today. Time for sleepy!!!!!

Is this thing on??

2006-11-09T18:06:00.000-08:00

After 2 months I almost forgot my log in! So, where to start?? How about some general stuff.
Yep, I've been busy. Lots of little projects getting done around the house. Ainsley is getting sooo big. She is really active and picks up words so quickly, she's really a joy to be around.
Stopped at Europa cycle and ski to get some items on my Xmas list. What's on your Xmas list? Rob Walters and Ron Saul were also hanging out at the shop. Rob was digging on this while Ron and I improved our style points trying on these Oh so nice!

Shop is still busy and growing which is good. May have an opportunity for some new business via Mr. Saul, thank you sir! Rumor has it some photo's of a unique bike transportation rack are starting to float around, hummmmmmmmm. Maybe I have had a little time to play at the shop!

CVA webite is super duper close to being launched. Probably in two weeks or less. It would be this weekend but I have plans out of town.

Well, that should be good for now. Oh I do need to give props to Blue for building a dead sexy Surly 1x1.

Peace out yo!

ED

Cat's out of the bag

2006-09-06T05:33:00.000-07:00

Well, halfway I guess. For those of you that snoop around on Happy Mutant Multisport you may have seen that I will be working closely with Chad and Dirty in 2007 to run an adventure/multisport series in the cedar valley area. The focus will be on the event, atheletes, trails, outdoor awareness, and getting new people involved especially kids! We are going to have unique events with huge benefits for the athletes, trail systems, local charities, and much much more.

So today I toss out my first call for ideas on local sponsors for the series and/or just a specific event. The sponsors will certainly get there donations worth, but they need to be in it for the whole picture, not out for themselves. We are currently talking with the Runners Flat in CF and Hansen's dairy / Moo-Roo's ice cream in Hudson. Volunteers will also be needed for our cycling and running clinics if you know of anybody shoot me a name and I'll contact them.
Also info on local charities that could use some money and exposure would be good. I have been talking with Big Brothers / Big Sisters and I would also like to work with the Boy Scouts in Waverly.

Below is a VERY tenitive schedule for the spring and fall series. In the spring series your top 4 events count for the points chase (points chase, what is this NASCAR??) and in the fall all 3 events are counted for the points title.
Thanks in advance Eduardo... Cedar Valley Adventure

Spring
Trail run / clinic / youth race
MTB TT / clinic / youth race
BSA MTB race with a Trail run prior to the MTB (Bucannondale what do you think??)
Off road Duathlon team or Solo

Fall
1/2 marathon trail run with nutrition clinic
4 hour marathon MTB Race (BSA camp Carlos??)
Adventure Du / Adventure race 2-4 hour range

I'm I Crazy?

2006-09-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

So, as if I'm not busy already with the shop, being a firefighter, finishing up all my "good weather" projects, and taking care of all the little suprises in life I'm going to start up 2 more companies!!! I have asked myself several times WTF are you thinking Jeff?? Well, I'm thinking it's time to make some things better. Time to raise the bar on what should be expected out of Manufactures and Race Directors. Time to do something for athletes by athletes, and I'm going to give it my best shot to DU so. It's going to take a lot of time and stepping out of my comfort zone to TRI some new things, but I have a lot of support from my friends and family that will make this venture successful. The launch of Happy Mutant Multisport has helped me to make this leap and I thank Chad for all the emails and phone calls as I start to get this headed down the right TRAIL. Stay tuned and I will do my best to keep you updated, the next 4 to 6 weeks will be crazy.

"If you like what you're doing, keep doing it. If not, make a change.....don't wait for someone to make it for you"

Ed

Hey

2006-08-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the title, couldn't think of anything catchy. Busy, busy as always. We are getting to a more manageable state at the shop. This has given me time to work on some things I have been neglecting. One of them is the website. With some luck I may have something up and going in a week or two. The biggest challenge is to not make it look like a 12 year old did it while staying up late. After the website I need to get out some print material and then try to drum up some new business.

I have also started on a couple projects related to www.happymutantmultisport.com Some pictures of that product should be out in a month or so.

That's all for now.

Ed

Yes

2006-08-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

I'm still breathing. Well, my last update was the last time I touched my bike, put on my running shoes, or even looked at a large body of water. Things exploded at the shop and 60+ hours per week there have left no time or energy to train let alone race. Hey that's ok, it's just the way things go sometimes. I need a successful business more than I need to do a tri every weekend.
So I'm closing the door on this season, earlier than I wanted but that's ok. I hope to sneak in a couple of runs this fall but that will be about it. I'll get the pics that Carlos shot at the Iowa Games up soon (hopefully).

In the words of Blue,

Peace out yo!

Short Version

2006-07-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a super quick re-cap from todays race. Details on every leg coming later. Buchanandale should have some good pics for me. Anyway, the heat got to me today which was dissapointing cause I thought I had that figured out. I have no idea how I placed as times from this event are always posted slow. In 2003 I did the race in 1:10:29, today was around 1:13:30. 3 minutes slower and it was all lost on the run due to leg cramps. Based off my "normal" run splits I would have been low 1:09's. I can deal with that, I'm showing improvement if my bad days are not as bad as the once were. Full recaps with pics to come later.

Stay cool,

Ed out!

Re-Focus

2006-07-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

Buchanandale just called me to let me know the MTB race tomorrow is postponed. WTF?????? I understand they got nailed last night with rain and crazy wind. There are trees down and the course is littered with debris. Soooooo, you get your promoters together and you call friends, and you go clean it up. Just my thoughts, maybe they tried and it didn't work out, I don't know.

So, regroup for tomorrow. Redline the tri and leave it all on the road. I can do that. Buchanandale and Cheese Queen are going to be very gracious and roll with me at 5:00am tomorrow morning. Thanks guys!!!!
Race report tomorrow afternoon.

Ed out!

1...2...3...

2006-07-13T05:47:00.000-07:00

Random on, GO!!

Kerkove's tan lines scare me!

All you locals listen up!!! The Waterloo YMCA is starting a Tri training/club type of program. They sent an instructor to Chicago to learn the in's and out's to coach this club. So if you want to get your tri on contact the Y and get details.

Anyone that wants the Standard Twin Six jersey for a killer $35.00 let me know. I'll take cash, check, paypal, or your first born child.

I nicked my thumb in a drill press Monday at the shop, OUCH! My only hope is that I have picked up some areo-dynamic advantage for this weekend.

The tour is freaking crazy this year, I think it is more fun to watch now than when Lance was racing. Speaking of Lance, he will be in Iowa riding RAGBRAI on the 27th. I hope he brings a group of 20 people to ride around him so some crazy drunk doesn't take him out.

This weekend, hot as hell is expected for Saturday. Anti Monkey Butt powder will be in use. Buchanandale and I will have to load up on Elete for all the good racing. Still not sure if Juels and Monkeytron will be joining us???

I have a blister on my left heel from last weekend. The risk you run going sockless, but transtions are faster. Faster = better!

Speaking of last weekend props go out to local tri guys Rex Reed and Kasey Schmitt.
Rex scored 3rd in the 20-24 age group and Kasey was 2nd ahead of me in the 25-29.
Nice job fellas.

Splits are up from last weekend. Swim was 43rd overall (not bad) Bike was 75th (not good) and run was 35th (damn, that's suprising). I know the swim can improve, the bike HAS to improve, and the run has been getting better all year.

I have done nothing all week as far as training, shop is way too busy. Plan to spin and run tonight. I need to see how that blister feels and see what I need to do to protect it. Friday am swim and racing Saturday!

Random off

Ed out!

Cornman Tri yields 3rd place age group

2006-07-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

Fantastic morning to roll to Gladbrook, Ia and hit my first triathlon of the season; the Cornman Sprint Triathlon. 500 yard swim in a really nice lake, cycling 14 miles of rolling Iowa country side, and a 5k run that included the Hill of Death. I woke up around 5:45 and stuck to my usual routine. Bagel with PB and J, Eggs, banana, coffee, and about 24 oz of water mixed with elete. On the road headed south with the Slingshot aboard about 6:30. Hit the race site about 7:20, picked up my packet, found a spot in the transition area and got ready.

Warmup included 4 miles of cycling, 1/2 mile of running, and 200 yards of swimming. I was feeling good and ready to go. I was in the second swim wave so at 9:04 I hit the water. Just did my best to aim for the turn-around and stay steady. It was going well, not feeling tired and not taking on any water. I was out of the water at about 8:30 by my watch. I saw that number and let out a huge grin, I was hoping for 9-10minutes so 8:30 was a welcome suprise. I had a smooth trasition with no bobbles and was off on the 14 mile bike ride.

At 2 miles in there is a hard climb up the back of the Hill of Death, that went well and I flew down the other side at 40mph, coasting! That also brought a smile to my face. I was trying to look for other riders in my age group but could not find anyone, nor was anyone finding me so I was atleast holding serve from the swim. The rest of the ride went well, we had a 15mph cross wind out of the West the entire ride. I did my best to hold a 20mph average and I think I just came up short of that, I'll have to look at the splits when they are posted. The best part was my legs were pain free and I still had energy in the tank.

I hit T2 without any issues and gave Katie and Ainsley a wink to let them know I was feeling good as I headed out on the run. I settled in on the run really quickly and was pain free. At 3/4 of a mile the Hill of Death started. If you have never done this race I cannot explain the hill, it is long and steep and after 50 or 60 minutes plus on the course, it's a kick in the junk. I made it up ok and was just over 7 minutes for the first mile. I coasted down the backside and just stayed steady the rest of the way to a finishing time of 1:17:00 and a 3rd place finish in my age group.

I'm very happy with my performance and would be just as happy if I had not placed as I set a new PR on this course. Now it's time to rest and take it easy this week. Next Saturday is my favorite weekend, the Iowa Games Tri/MTB double.

500 Yards of Fun

Smile for the camera, Wetsuits made bad swimmers much better!

Out of T1 and starting the 14 mile bike ride

Out of T2 and ready for the Hill of Death

Just meters from the finish line

Hey, a little hardware for the mornings work!

All set

2006-07-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

and ready to race. Tomorrow marks my first Triathlon of the season, Cornman Tri at Union Grove State Park in Gladbrook, Ia. I'm packed up and feeling good, ready to roll out around 6:30. Race recap tomorrow afternoon.

Ed out!

Firecracker 5k

2006-07-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's your race report. Started off at 6:05am on the slingshot headed to Dysart, Iowa. Temps were perfect and I had just a slight hint of tailwind. Kept the bike pace fairly calm and I was feeling good. I took the Dysart rd route which is pretty hilly for these parts and the road surface is crap so it makes for a good workout. I arrived in Dysart about 1:20 min later, 25 miles and an average speed of 18.8mph. I did the registration thing and stretched out a bit. Got to the start line where the front was balled up with 15 and 16 year olds. Ready, set, go and we were off. I decided I would try to stay out front and see how things went. The first 1/2 mile I was about 10th or 11th and the pace was pretty quick. At mile one I was sitting all alone in 5th, I was thinking this is pretty cool. About 2 minutes later I was passed like I was standing still by someone in my age group, I had to let them go as I could not keep their pace for 2 miles. At mile 2 I was dead on 12:30 or 6:15 miles, then I felt some cramping in my quads so I eased up just a bit. I was passed by one more runner in the final mile and finished up in 7th overall and 3rd in my age group. Oh yea, and my age group was 20-34......WTF??? If you're going to do that just run the thing Open Men and Open Women and award 8 or 10 deep, whatever. I got what I was after which was a good bike and a good hard run. Final time was 20:09 which is the fastest so far this year. Rest of the week is low key to be ready for the Tri on Sunday.

Ed out!

4th of July Hurt Train

2006-07-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

Sounds like there will be ride on the 4th starting at Kingsley Elem in WaWaloo at 7:00am and heading to Dysart. I will be leaving Hudson at 6:00am heading to Dysart to catch the Firecracker 5k at 8:00. There are a couple of old fast dudes in Dysart so a top 5 at the run should be a challenge. This will be my only hard effort before Cornman Tri next sunday. Post race recovery will be eating 2 burnt chubs, drinking and a half a dozen bud lites, and baking in the sun all day. Race report will come late Tuesday.

Have a great 4th and be safe.

Ed

Ouch

2006-06-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

That's how I feel about my legs right now. After the 1/2 marathon Monday was pretty painful, Tuesday I was 60% and by Wednesday I did not have any pain just walking around and doing day to day stuff. I felt pretty good about that so tonight I went out for a short run of about 30min. Yikes, legs not feel so good. I'm suprised at this because I rode last night and had no pain, but running is a different story. Looks like I'll be taking it fairly easy up to Cornman. Lots of swimming, spinning on the bike, and short easy runs. No worries, I should be in good shape in another week.

Gotta catch a shower and some Z's, hitting the 5:45 swim tomorrow.

Ed out!

Opinions Needed

2006-06-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

As some of you may have noticed a few days ago I posted that Waterloo leisure services was willing to work with me on having an event in the Katoski Greenbelt. My original thought was to have a trail run, but after a comment Mr. Bidwell made on his blog I got to thinking. Maybe I should do something other than a trail run??? Here is where I need reader opinions. What type of event would you like to see and/or would be willing to participate in??

A – A standard trail run of 3-5 miles in length

B – An adventure style trail run with obstacles, checkpoints, ect..

C – A leapfrog partner style duathlon. One member is running while the other bikes, then you leave the bike and switch. Total mileage is 5 to 6 miles.

D – Readers suggestion that I have not mentioned.

Oh yea, date for the event will be the first week in October, and no swimming!

Thanks.
Ed out!

Sturgis Falls 1/2 Marathon Recap

2006-06-25T17:02:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful morning to run a 1/2 Marathon. Temps in the low 60's and cloudy!! I woke up at 5:20 this morning, put on a pot of coffee and made up my normal pre race meal of toast with PB&J and fig newtons. Got dressed and packed my bag for the bike ride in. I was going to get a fairly long ride in before the race until I realized it started at 7:00. So I just rode in via the local bike trails taking it easy and warming up the legs. I was at the race site about 10 minutes before the start, put on my running shoes, slammed some GU, and spoke to a couple of the local racers. At 7:00 the gun went off and I found myself weaving through traffic stuck in the back 3rd of 1,000 runners. Once the 5k and 1/2 marathon runners split I was able to settle in and was running about 7:20 splits at mile 3 and feeling good, whahooo! My splits continued to stay under 7:30 and I was running fairly smooth up to the 1/2 way point. I checked my watch and I was dead on 49:00 min. My best split prior to this was 50:00 min so I was happy and feeling good. Then mile 9 started and my body didn't want to go any more. This really wasn't a huge suprise to me as most my long runs are about 1 hour long and I was at the 1 hour mark. Mile 9 was a 8:00 split as was mile 10. Knowing things were going a little south durning mile 9 I mentally made a couple notes. One was make it to mile 10 and then it's just a 5k. The second was I saw the 12 mile marker, made a note of where it was thinking that's were I would step it up for the finish. Mile 11 went well and 12 was even better knowing where that marker was for the home stretch. I was able to finish strong with a time of 1:38:42 which gave me a mile split of 7:32.

I was happy with the outcome and how I ran. I'm pleased with how I managed the miles when my body was saying "NO!!" I met my goal of 7:30ish splits and beating my PR. I was near my goal even splits (first half / second half) and came up just short of getting some hardware as I finished 5th in my age group (medals for 1-4) and 54th overall. Huge props to CedarRiver Runners Club for having a fantastic race. It was well organized, plenty of food and beverages durning and after the race, and great shirts and socks for the runners. This race if certainly worth doing again!

Now it's time to get ready for the Cornman Tri in two weeks.

Ed out!!

Good start to the weekend

2006-06-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

So far the weekend has been very good to me. Friday night I went for a ride on the Slingshot. Headed east on Shrock, then north on Kimball through Orange. Then back West on Orange road, north on Ansborough, west on Eldora, and Ho-Chi-Min trail back home. The ride was great, no wind and good temps. I pushed it a little bit to see what the legs had, just under 20 miles with and average speed of 23. Pull that off at Cornman and the results should be good.

Today I rode to the shop to put in a few hours. Just rode nice in easy, spinning around 100rpm most of the time. I really like having that feature on my computer. After working at the shop I headed to CF to pick up my race packet for the 1/2 tomorrow. I had to register again as they had some problems with the Active.com on line registration, that's a bummer. Major props to the CedarRiver Runners Club for giving out kick ass technical shirts and Fox brand socks for the runners. Technical shirts and/or socks are way better that your standard cotton T-shirt.
Sarah from the Runners Flat was also there pimping their products, it's sooo nice to have a true running store in town. I spoke to her a bit about getting a trail running series going next year and they are all for it and willing to help support it. And speaking of trail running we may just be having a run this fall in the Greenbelt. I have been in contact with some folks with Waterloo leisure services and they said as long as we have race insurance it's a go. Yea!!!! I need to check out the insurance and submit a formal race schedule and we should be in business. Stay tuned for details.

On the ride home I ran into local tri-chicks Melissa and Wendy. They were returning from the Sturgis bike ride. We rode and chatted a bit, Melissa was enjoying here new Trek purchased at Europa Cycle and Ski. I will see Melissa at Cornman in 2 weeks and both of them at Big Creek in August.

Once I returned home I ate some food, took and nap and then trimmed trees and hauled some of the old railroad ties to the city brush dump.

As for tonight I had my normal pre-race meal of pasta and bread sticks and I'm drinking a Power-ade slushie, yummm. At first I was going to take the race tomorrow pretty easy but now I think I'm going to give it the old college try. My legs feel good so I might as well see what they've got. Race report tomorrow.

Ed out!

I wonder...........

2006-06-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

Do the muscles come with the shirt?????

Finally

2006-06-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

Back to a blog entry after taking some time off from the computer. Let's see what's been going on.
After Ponca my legs felt like a million bucks! I have to give credit to Recover-ease for the spunky feeling. If you are not using this product you are missing out. I have never felt this good after a race, not to mention it was my first MTB marathon and I spent over 4 hours in the car after the race. The stuff just works!!!
Father's Day weekend was spent cross training. (read as: Jeff working in the back yard shoveling dirt and removing old rail road tie retaining wall) I also played basketball for a couple hours on Sunday night, good times.

I'm now getting into a pretty regular routine with my workouts which feels really good. Mon,Wed,Fri is running and lifting before work. Tues, Thurs AM is for the bike, and at 9:00 PM I hit the pool. During my first workout my 100 splits were the same time as most my race splits. It's nice to hop back in after a year and damn near be a race speed. Saturday's and Sunday's are for long runs and rides, or a brick workout.

Cornman Tri is just less than 3 weeks away and will be my first Tri of the year. This race always nips me at some point, usually on the run. I feel pretty good about it this year and I have a specific goal I hope to meet.

The weekend following Cornman is my favorite weekend of the year, the Iowa Games double. Tri in the morning and then MTB in the afternoon. Yea, all for $40!!!!! And I see they have a Single Speed class at the MTB, Sweet!!!!!!!

August holds one of my favorite races at the Big Creek Olympic tri ( I love olympic distance) and a new race for me this year the Dog Days Tri in Belmond, IA. They do the swim last at this one so that will be a bit different.

I almost forgot, this Sunday is the Sturgis Falls 1/2 Marathon and 5k. I will be riding the Hudson, Dike, CF loop and then running the 1/2. If anyone wants to join for the ride, run, or both let me know.

That's plenty of rambling for now.
Ed out!

Ponca Marathon MTB Review

2006-06-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

Headed out to Ponca, Nebraska on friday afternoon with Mr. 24 to hit a 4 hour marathon MTB race on Saturday. Rolled in around 4:30 and hooked up with Noonan, set up camp and went for a pre-ride. 103 degress made for a swamp-ass type ride. Trails were really dry and loose in sections. After pre-ride we headed back to camp for clean up and food. Called it a night around 10:00, storm #1 hit at about 1:00am and storm #2 rolled in at 6:00am. We packed up camp and went to the registration around 7:30. Cooked up some eggs and cakes. By 10:00 Jeff, Noonan, and myself started to warm up and pre road a small part of the course. Shortly after 11:00 the race started and the fun began.

I stayed at the back of the back, my goal for the race was survival, have fun, and take it all in. That's what I did and I HAD A BLAST!!! Just riding and smiling the whole time.
The rain made the course great, traction was good and after 2 laps the down hills had the lines broke in and you could rage down them. The course had lots of climbing and it was very difficult with my 33x18 gearing on Solo-One. If I do this course again I would run 32x20, yes there is that much climbing.
After 3 hours and fifty minutes and 6 laps on this roller coaster I called it good and did not go out for lap #7. I felt really good during the event and would do it again....Maybe even for another 2 hours, wink, wink. I had to see if I could do this type of event and I can. I feel really good about what is coming up for future races and I hope to do well at them. This race was a good testing ground and I'm glad I did it. Thanks to Jeff and Shawn for letting me roll with them.

Pre-ride on friday afternoon, grinding up a hill

After the race, a wink, food, and power-aid.

Trail Running and Gravel Grinding

2006-06-07T19:57:00.000-07:00

Just returned from a hour and twenty minute gravel grinder. Tonight's route was South and East of Hudson. It was pretty much my last test prior to Ponca this weekend. Everything seems fine and I'm looking forward to the event. Now I just need to clean, lube, and tighten everything up. Last night was a hour trail run in the Greenbelt. Just steady base miles all by myself. Not another soul in sight. Here and some pics of the new bike set up and tonights ride.

Hummm, it's not winter or raining.... Sweet!

Level B never looked this good on Trans Iowa

Heads up! Wide load coming at 'cha

Yes, that is my cell phone

Ponca Prep

2006-06-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

Just returned from a hour and a half of night time gravel grinding in prep for the Ponca Marathon Race this weekend. I'm really looking forward to it. It will be my first single track race in over 2 years. I made some adjustments to the bike and wanted to see how it worked. I changed out the grips to my super squishy Serfas and also added bar ends. I really like the bar ends and the Serfas are a big improvement from the stock grips. I'll probably end up with some Ergon's very soon though. I also changed my gear ratio to 33x18 for the hills. I hit the gravel west of Hudson, it has several rollers and a couple long slow climbs. The gear worked great and should be a good choice for the weekend if it stays dry. The rest of the week will be running and spinning to keep the legs fresh prior to the race.

That's all for now, time to shower and sleep.

Ed Out!

My Waterloo Days 5K Recap

2006-06-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

Fantastic morning as I headed out around 7:00 on the Slingshot to the My Waterloo Day's 5K running event. Bike ride in was just short of 10 miles. I could not get comfortable more most of the ride and the legs didn't feel too spunky so I wasn't looking to really fly durning the 5K. As I arrive at the race site I see a familiar face from up north, It was Chad Juel. Chad's website is too the left under "bad monkey". That was pretty sweet that Chad came down to kick some tail on his home turf. We did about a 12-15 min warm up and the legs felt OK at best, Chad's form looked very good. We catch up with my sister at the start line and wish her good luck, this was her first 5k distance race. Chad and I get to the front of the starting line and talk about pace, he was looking for 6:20's and was going for 6:45's so I knew I wouldn't see him very long.

Ready, set, go and we were off. Most of the run is shaded and temps were about 65 degrees, PERFECT!
The start was super fast, people were sprinting of the line. WTF and whatever, go blow up by mile one and I'll pass your sorry ass before I'm even breathing hard. Chad went out with the top five and I just ran my race. Cruising along at mile one my split was 6:27. I was feeling good and starting to settle in. A little roller here, a left or right turn there, and some very nice old houses on this route kept it interesting. Mile two was 6:40, no problem there so I just kept going. Chad came back and ran to the finish with me, my final time was 20:41. Not my fastest on this course but it scored me a 3rd place medal for my age group. Mr. Juel posted a 2nd overall and 1st in our age group. Hummmm, 1st and 3rd......1st and 3rd, there are two other guys I know that ride MTB's that keep getting 1st and 3rd.

All in all a good day and a good race. My sis was 8th in her class out of 15. She was happy, WAY TO GO SIS!!

Ed Out!!

13:59???

2006-06-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

What does that mean??? Well, for some it was the magic time for tonight MTB time trial in the Greenbelt. Congrats to Mr. 24 Jeff Kerkove as he went sub 14 to set the course record. Also congrats to super speedy new guy Dylan Davis. Dylan also runs for the UNI Panthers, SOMEBODY SIGN THIS GUY UP FOR A DUATHLON!!!

As for me, I had no chance of going sub 14. My goal was to improve on my last time by 1 minute. Job done!!! Two weeks ago my time was 18:01, and tonight I was at 16:05. I'm very happy with that and with how the race went. Now it's time to look forward to the next two weekends.

Saturday I'm running the My Waterloo Days 5k with my sister. The plan is to ride to the event, run, and ride home. Should give me an idea on how the bike to run transition is going. The following Saturday I'm heading to Ponca, NE with JK and maybe Buchanandale, G-Ted, or Deerslayer??? We'll have to see. 4 hour marathon race on the single speed should be a great time. Prior to the race I need to order:
Ergon Grips
Elete
Salt tablets.
Also need to go over the bike top to bottom and change the rear gear to an 18 tooth. Jeff says there is a lot of climbing on the course so I don't think my current gearing of 33x15 is a good idea.
That's all for now.

Ed Out

Rolling solo

2006-05-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

The Solo-One that is. Took the KHS Solo-One out last night on a four hour ride to test several things. I was looking to see how the bike would perform on a longer ride and also where my fitness level is right now.

#1 - The bike..... I really like this bike and I feel it packs a lot of bang for the buck. I dig the steel and the softail helps when going over long stretches of rough grass. This bike is also really quick to recover from my errors. A couple of time last night I should have bit it and was able to straighten the bike up very, very quickly. Gotta love a stable platform. I'm starting to like the ugly WTB saddle and will probably stick with it for a while longer. The thing about saddles is you can drop hundreds of dollars trying to find one you like. There are a couple of things I need to change on the set up.
A - my hands, shoulders, and lower back were sore after about 2-1/2 hours. I think a shorter stem and ergon grips will help that problem.
B - I need to change my gear ratio for longer rides. Out of the box the bike comes 33x15 which is good for flat commutes and doing the local TT course, but this morning I had some lower knee pain and that is NOT GOOD!

Over all I'm happy with the ride and just need to make a couple of minor changes.

#2 - Eduardo.....How did I hold up on my longest and roughest ride of the year??? Awesome!! I really don't know why but my fitness is really good this year. I think a bit of a lifestyle change has really helped here. Working at the shop and being on my feet instead of sitting at a desk has helped. I have also been working in the back yard basically every night and on weekends, this has helped keep me in better shape than drinking beer and watching TV. Back to the ride, I rolled out with 60 oz of H2O in the hydro-pack and 40 oz of electrolyte in the Twin Six bottles. I was a hot day and I thought I would use every drop. I also had 2 hammer gels and 2 GU packets. I hit a Gel every hour and drank about 25-30 oz of water every hour. For the first 2 hours I felt great, trails were in good shape and I had really good flow on the bike. I then felt a bit sluggish but was able to come out of it and was strong the rest of the ride. No cramping and no bonking. I was very, very happy.

Looking at the big picture I wanted to see what I needed to do to be ready for the 6/12 hours of Cedar Valley in Late July. Answer - I'm better than I thought and if the race was tomorrow I could complete the 6 hour event without a doubt in my mind. So today while doing my normal blog reading I see Mr. 24 is hitting a marathon race in 2 weeks.... hummmmmm. 5 mile course, 4 hours, how many laps can you complete???? I'm in!!! What a great way to get my feet wet in endurance racing. No lights, a pit crew is really not needed, no second bike, I'm sold. This will be my focus for the next 2 weeks, I hope to keep everyone p0sted on how it goes.

Ed out!!

quick check in

2006-05-16T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hello all... Again my blogging is sucking. Oh well, you do what you can. Currently the rain is killing me!!! Phase 1 of backyard rehab is very close to being done. All I need to do is roll the fresh dirt and seed it. Too bad it rain everyday and it's just a mud pit at the moment.

As for good news, JK and Buchanandale tore it up in Wisconsin this weekend. NICE JOB FELLAS. Thursday is the first MTB TT, hell yea! I say ride to the shop, do the TT, run the TT and then ride home. Training is good on the running side of things, only getting in a couple of rides per week, time to step it up! Also check out the blogging Twin Six team memebers to the right. Lots of kick ass people.

As blue would say,

Peace out yo!

Between Rain Drops

2006-05-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

Finally the sun came out today, only to be covered up again by the only rain storm in the state, WTF?? Rain = crappy off road trails. I did get out tonight for a great long run. Temps were still warm after sunset so I hit Ho-Chi-Min to Shaulis Road, then across 63 and ran the bike trail back to Hudson. Not sure of the miles, probably in the 7-9 mile range. There was a time when I called that a bike ride, ha! Legs were a little sore but it was one of those runs where they just keep asking for more, I love that feeling. I'll have to hit the bike tomorrow to help blood flow and speed up recovery time. I need to get one of these longer runs in every week leading up to my 1/2 marathon in July.
If the rain stays away I plan on getting some major work done in the back yard. One more load of fill and then one load of black dirt should let me complete the grade work for the top level. Steps should be in and seed planted by Sunday! Saturday is garage sale day in Hudson, watch out for the crazy people!!!

Ed Out!

Busted Weekend

2006-04-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

Rain, Rain go away!!!!!

Those of you that are wondering about Trans Iowa the race is going to end in Algona this year. The rain has caused the roads to be almost impossible to travel by bicycle. Buchanondale has reported that one rider had mud squishing out from his booties, yikes!!! So, that mean no Decorah for Jeff and Clay, damn! I love Decorah, they have my favorite ice cream shop, the Whippy Dip. I'll have to go up there later this year. As for how the 5k went this morning....

How to win a 5k 101 -

Step #1 - pick a race early in the season
Step #2 - make sure the race is at least 45 miles from any larger cities
Step #3 - do a rain dance and make sure it works
Step $4 - have construction at the race shorten the distance

As for the race report, my sister Andrea and I headed for Pine Lake State about 6:15 this morning. It was raining lightly and per the radar it was not going to clear up any time today. We located the race start and hung out unti the 8:00 start time. The rain kept several people away as only about a dozen people where there. They said go and I took off in the lead. about 7 minutes in the fun started, I passed the worker that was going to mark the turn around. I reached a bridge and yelled back to her asking if this was the turn around, she yelled no and waved me to keep going. I kept running and guess what, that was the turn around. So I ran just a little over an extra mile, not a big deal. I drove 50 miles to run so a little extra running was no problem. I eventually caught up with my sister and finished the race with her. Andrea got 3rd overall and the guy that finished ahead of her was gracious enough to let me have 1st as I would have won if I had turned around at the proper point. So, I basically got in a run in the rain with some food and fun mixed in.

Pine lake is an interesting park with camping and a golf course right next to the park. I could see what looked like some killer off road trails in the park and after speaking with some of locals they confirmed that. I'll have to get back up there some time and explore.

That's all for now, Ed out!

Where to start

2006-04-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

It's been while since my last blog. Tons of awesome stuff has gone on, I'll try to remember as much of it as possible.

Last Thursday - Last day working for the man!!!!!! Now I'm the man, kind of. I'm done and Bossard and now a business partner with my dad, wow!!!! Never thought this would happen when I was in college. Right now they plan is to grow the business (it's a machine shop) and hopefully once things are more settled start to proto-type some of my cycling gadgets. I'm already feeling the effects of 10 hours a day on my feet, I'M SORE!!

Sunday 2:00am - BARN FIRE!!! Yep, that was a fun 3-1/2 hours in the rain fighting a fire... why do fires start in the rain?? This one was due to the crazy lighting that came with the rain and wind. No worries though, we saved the barn.

Monday - DHL is my new favorite delivery service, why you ask?? Cause the brought my new KHS Solo-One!! Assembled it Monday night and rode it to the shop on Tuesday. I like very very much. Only kicker is the trails are all flooded around the cedar valley so only pavment riding at this time.

Tuesday - Spoke with the one and only Dirty Dirtram. Ironed out our plan for the holding down the fort at the Trans-Iowa finish line on April 30th. If you don't know about TI you should, see it here www.transiowa.blogspot.com the Jackal and I made it just 50 miles last year before deciding not to blow ourselves up. Dirty also said he was coming down to rock the Cedar Valley 12 hour race, on a SS of course! And we are going to partner up for an adventure race in late August, I'm super pumped for that!

Wednesday - Project back yard is back in full swing, two more loads of fill dirt/sand are to be delivered tomorrow. I can't wait till this is done, it's killing my training time. Due to this, I will not be doing the Pig Man Sprint Tri this year.... Not a big deal, I'm going to hit a couple of new tri's later in the season (sorry melissa!)

Thursday - Probably the best Thursday ever. Team Twin Six (www.twinsix.com) launched the new website today and I just happen to be one of the lucky team members. Huge thanks to Brent and Ryan for launching the team giving little guys like myself a chance to rock some killer threads. Oh yea, some guy named Kerkove is in there too.

So with all this going on I'm sore and tired, but still biking one day, running the next. Soon I'll be commuting everyday and that will really help the cycling. Speaking of running, I'm out of here while the sun is still up!

ED OUT!

Holy heat wave Batman

2006-04-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

It's hot out, no really.... it hit 78 degrees today!! Crazy Iowa spring weather. I would like to say the weekend was full of running and riding but not the case. I enjoyed the weather outside with the family doing yard work. Digging up old plants, trimming trees, and raking leaves out of places I didn't know leaves could get into. It was all things that needed to be done, so it was a good weekend.
Tonight I hit my local 2 mile off road 4 wheeler trail for some running. It was great to get into the woods and give the trail shoes there first real world test. The trails were in pretty good shape, a few sticks and small branches at eye level here and there, I came out with only one mark on the shins. Since this trail was made with 4 wheelers there is a lot of twisting and turning on the legs. I'm already feeling it.... hopefully the recover-easy speeds up the recovery process. I'd like to get a couple of people with trail building backgrounds into this area as I think we could make a nice 4 to 5 mile loop. That's all for now.... T minus 7 weeks till Pigman!

Ed out!

When she gets older....

2006-04-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

She's gonna kill me for posting pics like this. Until then, it's some funny shyt. First the bib came off, next thing I knew her shirt was over her head.

What a great day in the Cedar Valley, good temps and a warm wind. I took the night off from the shop and the family went to the Hudson city park. Ainsley loves the swings and slides. After Ainsley was in bed I hit the trainer for a light 30 minute spin. I've been so busy since the first of the year I'm starting over from scratch on training. If I can get a consistant 10 weeks in before Pigman Sprint I'll be in good shape. Speaking of the Pigman I have made up my schedule for 2006. It has a lot of different events so there will be several first's this year.

April - 5k in Eldora around Pine Lake state park. I hear the trails are beautiful.
June - Pigman Sprint and Sturgis Falls half marathon.
July - Cornman Tri and Cedar Valley 12 hour MTB
August - Adventure Race in Kellog, IA Clay, I need a teamate!!!!!

I'm sure I'll also mix in some 5k's and trail runs along with the road and mtb time trials during the week. I really hope to have a fun summer rolling with the Twin Six Team. The 12 mtb race and the adventure race will be first's for me. The 1/2 marathon will be my first in 3 years. September and October have been left open in case I still host an inexpensive adventure trail run. The family also has some obligations those months, so we'll see.

Ed

Another late night Workout

2006-04-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

Workouts seem to be going better at night than eary am lately. Just got back from a 25 min run on the new shoes, still loving them! Great temps for April in Iowa, 10:30 at night and still 40 degrees. Spoke with the one and only Monkeytron tonight. Sounds like he is coming back to Iowa this weekend to run a 5k in Cedar Falls. It's the UNI spring fling or something like that. I don't think I'll be running but I may ride the slingshot in and show some support for the monkey. Triathlete Mag and Mtb Mag hit my door this week, sweet bathroom reading!
I've giving a lot of thought to what events I will be doing this season. Trying to look at unique events, events I have never done, style of racing I have never done, get the most bang for my buck, and schedule around other events in my life. I know what a pain, I get tired just thinking about it. Right now I'm leaning towards marking (or choosing) "A" events and throw some other stuff around them to break up training. What does everybody else think?

Weekend recap

2006-04-03T10:07:00.000-07:00

Hello All, I had a great weekend away. Katie and I headed to the Iowa City area to shop and relax. Got to drool on all the bling bling at the IC Scheels, They had a Scott full carbon dream machine there. I reached up to touch it and had a salesmen on me like white on rice. Also went to the outlet mall in Williamsburg and scored some killer new trail shoes at the Nike outlet. I'm not usually a Nike shoe fan but I love these shoes. Did 3 miles in them last night and lifted, the shoes feel like I've been running in them for the past 100 miles. I also finished my workout with some Recover-Ease and I feel great today, the stuff really works. Speaking of gearing up I'm leaning towards doing a 5k in Eldora on 4/29/06 before heading up to Decorah for Trans Iowa. If anyone wants to go along let me know. I would like to bike to the race. Maybe drive to Dike or Grundy and then ride to the race. Let me know if you are interested. Gotta go back to work.

Ed out!

I'm out

2006-04-01T04:41:00.000-08:00

Out of town that is. KT and I are headed to Cedar Rapids and Iowa City area today. Meeting up with my bestest friends Neal and Katy for some shopping, eating, drinking, and overall good times. We are leaving all our little ones at home so this is just a parents weekend, wahoo! Hopefully I get to check out some good bike shops or running stores. Speaking of running two 5k events going down today. One at Island Park the other is a super fun mud run at Heritage Farms just west of Hudson.

Have a great day,

ED

Has Spring Sprung??

2006-03-30T08:20:00.000-08:00

Weather is getting better and that means my spirits are staring to lift. I love spring! The temps go up and the sun stays out longer, wahoo!!! Seems like my life is in count down mode right now. 2 more weeks at the J-O-B. 10 weeks till Pigman Sprint. 1 week till my 2nd KHS Solo One shows up. I really excited about working at the shop full time. We just picked up a ton of work and I get to ride my bike to work every day, kick ass!!!!!
Expect the blogging to get better in 2 weeks, I'll have a lot of burdens off my shrinking shoulders by then.
In some other news there may be a Cedar Valley Tri club starting up. My co-worker Melissa wants to get one going so we can have training days and hold events. I'm all for it, hopefully it pans out. I've also seen that 2 time Ironman world champion and Cedar Rapids native Tim Deboom will be racing in the Pigman 1/2IM this year, that's pretty cool.

That's all for now.
ED

Jackpot Baby!!

2006-03-23T21:39:00.000-08:00

I love coming home to cool stuff, and nothing is cooler than your team gear showing up! All top notch gear from my friends and Twin Six. Thanks guys!!
In other news I'm a busy boy right now as I try to close down open issues at the current job and gear up to start working at the shop full time. I hope the website will be up and running in 3-4 weeks - way cool.
Training is suffering, what else is new! I'll be ready for a PR at Pigman, no worries.

Happy 1st Birthday Ainsley!!

2006-03-12T09:08:00.000-08:00

Awesome temps on Saturday! I hit my run in the AM an then we got ready for Ainsley's Birthday party. Today I plan on hitting the bike to get some blood flow to the legs as they are a little sore. Hope you enjoy the pics of my little girl. I can't believe she's already 1 year old.

Let's see

2006-03-06T19:42:00.000-08:00

what's been going on. Last week I made 3 of the 4 scheduled workouts plus weights after each run. Really, not too bad for me. I feel good and by the third run I was getting some form back. What else..... I'm starting to build up the KHS. That always makes my mind go crazy looking for parts and reading reviews. Stopped in to Europa Cycle and Ski Saturday to chat with Mr. 24 and Bucannondale. Bucannondale's RUSH was on display. Very, very nice. Mr. 24 loaded me up with elite and Recover-ease. Thanks Buddy! New issue of Mountain bike action showed up today. So far it sucks...... really not much there for me. Oh yea, the new girl I'm training at work is a triathlete. KICK ASS! And the person we hired before her ran college cross country. Another KICK ASS! I can actually talk to them about more that work. Speaking of work, better get some sleep. Going in early all week to try and get caught up, so I can get out!

Peace,
Ed

Good Read

2006-03-03T20:16:00.000-08:00

Check out this article about cycling, coffee, and the Twin Cities. It's so amazing how strong cycling is in a city where temps below zero are common.

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/outdoors/13945120.htm

And speaking temps, 40's for the weekend here in Iowa. So get your butt outside, yo!

Team for 2006!!

2006-03-01T17:13:00.000-08:00

I'll sporting Twin Six gear as I cruise on the bike this year! I'm really looking forward to rolling with them and testing their new products. I'm not that fast but I'll look good! Check them out at www.twinsix.com

That's right

2006-02-27T19:28:00.000-08:00

I'm posting in back to back days. Been a long time since that happened. Here is the run down on what's been happening.

I took the day off from the normal job today to work at the machine shop. It's so much better there than at a "normal" job. We had a new CNC lathe come in last week and we were running it today. It's fast and accurate, just want we wanted. I also started a little mock-up of a rear wheel tensioner for the new KHS Solo-One. It's very simple but will be strong, rust proof, and accept quick release and bolt on axles. It should do the trick nicely. I'm keeping the specifics on the down low for now but I will soon be working at the shop full time. YEA!

Thanks to a link from Mr. 24's site I spent some time yesterday emailing with Brent from www.twinsix.com. They are a small company kicking out some cool looking threads. With a little luck I might just be rolling with them this spring. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Check out the Argyle jersey, it so kicks ass.

I attended a CPR re-cert class tonight for the fire department. Have no fear, I'm trained to save your life if you every collapse on a ride or run! After that I hit the weight room for day one of my 14 week plan to Pigman sprint 2006. This included a 20 min run and some weights. As normal I was hungry when I returned so I hit the fridge for some chow.
That will wrap it up for today.

Ed Out!

Yikes!

2006-02-26T06:54:00.000-08:00

Where does the time go? So far for me in 2006 time has gone to Working a full time job, Working a part-time job, and making some home improvements. Over the past week I've received an email, a phone call, and a blog post from people asking if I'm training and looking for tips as they try their first triathlons this year. To the people that contacted me I say THANK YOU! I looked up to the lunar moon last night and realized I'm 14 weeks away from my first Triathlon of the year and only 9 weeks away from my first Duathlon. Time for me to focus some time on to my 2006 race goals and still keep my 2006 professional goals in line.

For those of you that read and don't know me that well here is a little background so you can get an idea of who I am and what I have going on other than multi-sports. You'll see I'm an average guy with a family, a J-O-B, and a love for endurance activities.
Jeff Slade aka Eduardo the Cuban Cabana Boy
High School sports included baseball, basketball, football, and golf. Yes, I spanked whitie.
Age 26, not far from 27
Home owner, husband for 5+ years, father of a wonderful 11 month old, firefighter, and in two months a full time business partner with my father at our own machine shop.

Started riding at age 18 for that party called Ragbrai. At age 20 I met a guy named Carlos the Jackal(www.carlosdajackal.blogspot.com) and we started riding the local trails on Saturday mornings. The next year we both did our first mtb race in Decorah, Carl was hooked and I was still on the fence. A couple of years later Dirtram told me about the Iowa Games Triathlon and I said what the heck. Almost went under on the swim but I finished with a smile, and I was hooked!!!

This year marks the start of my 5th year in Triathlon and I'm looking forward to a fun season. Introducing people to multisports is more fun to me than ever taking home a first place medal. So for those of you that read, Thank you!

Let's get started on 2006! I'm going to follow a 12 week plan from slow twitch outlined here http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/beginner/notquite.html
Check out the link and follow along with me. I like the plan cause it's not too rigid and it has some good humor with it. Along with 4x20 runs in week one all also mix in some light weight training.

Good luck!

Howdy

2006-02-16T19:17:00.000-08:00

Time for what has become a weekly update, at best. Here goes.

#1 - I have purchased a new truck. I know, I know; walking, running, and riding are much betters ways to get to my final destinations, BUT. I need a truck!!! It's just the way my life is. I have to haul "things" and lots of them at different times. Oh yea, it's a 1998 GMS SLE 1/2 ton extended cab 4x4 with the 3rd door. Very handy for baby seats.

#2 - So while I'm spending money I should buy a bike right? RIGHT!!!! Saturday a new little SS MTB should be at my door via FedEx. It will go squish, squish...........Any ideas on what I bought Ted??? Keep in mind, if I'm hoping for any type of sponsorship from a bike company they need to make both SS's and Tri bikes.

#3 - I got to chat with Citron "29er" Rob this week. Always a good chat. He is heading out to Moab soon, can I go too??????

#4 - We are very close to setting a date for my departure from my current job and the start of full time hours at the machine shop. This is very exciting and very stressful. Self employment scares me!!!!!!!!

#5 - My sewer backed-up on Saturday, that was NOT COOL!

#6 - I have a drawing for a single piece full cnc machined bike mount. I like it, I like it a lot.

#7 - Decorah TT is the same day as Coulee Du.........which one should I do???? Can't do both, I would if I could.

#8 - I'm still not training yet........It will be ok, soon I will have the time. Oh yea, try the POM stuff that JK mentioned on his site. 4oz mixed with your morning smoothie gives you a little extra boost.

I'm out, looking forward to warmer weather, less stress, and more time on the trails.

Ed

Drool

2006-02-08T19:18:00.000-08:00

So, it's that time a year when all magazines go bling bling on all the new products. I have to say after reading my new MBA and Triathlete Mag I'm dreaming bling bling. I'd love to hook up some of those 2K+ rides and the cool gear that goes with cycling and running, maybe some day. Of course Triathlete Mag rolled out the double issue with an Ironman guide special. I often wonder what all fuss is over an Ironman. I understand the commitment and I do feel it's a great achievment but please people, there are 28 Kona qualifiers and HUNDREDS of other distance events. I just feel they don't get there fair share of publicity most of the time.
I will give them tons of credit for putting Sarah Reinsertsen on the cover of the normal issue. Sarah is a challenged athlete and completed Kona this year. After watching her miss the time cut in 2004 (it was hard to watch) she brought it in 2005 and finished the race. For more on athletes like Sarah check out www.challengedathletes.org.
Also this months issue had a nice spread on Xterra. There is a good chance I'm going to spend most 2006 playing in the dirt. Why, cause it's fun!!! When I trail run it's refreshing; no cars, no worries. I hope introduce some other people to the dirt and have a couple of events to gain some exposure to the fun.
That's all for now.

ED

Wow, It's Been a Month?

2006-02-05T06:34:00.000-08:00

Really????? Has it been over a month since my last blog post? That crazy and not cool. I'll I can say is that work is in stupid crazy mode and I just took another promotion. That's two promotions after only working there 12 months. That is cool but the hole I have to dig out of is more like a cavern and the stress is pretty high. I haven't trained at all in the past month which has caused me to take a look at my goals for 2006 and change a few things. I'm not going to lower my expectations but I am going to push the season back a little bit. Not a big deal. I have struck a side deal with a certain company for obtaining a single speed bike. Trust me it is not a huge deal but it's a little support. Oh yea, I will hopefully have an additional SS in the stable with in 10 days or so! Sweet, pics to come.
Stay tuned for the restart of 2006 training, there will be more to come.

Enjoying time off

2005-12-28T18:56:00.000-08:00

Paging Eduardo.......... Hello???? Ed, are you there?
Yep I'm back to blogging after a little time away from the computer. So, What have I been doing?

Christmas was great, Anisley had a blast with all the paper and new gifts. I have to give to credit to everyone that purchased a gift for her as there were no "junk" gifts. Clothing and educational gifts all around. I also have gotten in few gravel runs of over 6 miles, good stuff.

Right now I'm off work till next Tuesday, hell ya! I'm fighting a bit of a sore throat right now but nothing too big. Dad and I will start to move the shop tomorrow. I'll be super happy when that's done. Looking at sending out some sponsorship requests. There are a couple companies that I could partner with for both MTB and Triathlon racing. I'm going to give it my best shot and see what happens.

That's all for now, going to bed early. Hopefully I feel a bit better tomorrow.

ED Out!

Slacking

2005-12-20T18:55:00.000-08:00

My posting has been less that spank-tack-u-lar the past 2 weeks. It's winter yo! Not much exciting going on.
I can say that I have fallen off the wagon. My diet lately is terrible! I am hungry from all the workouts and people keep shoving all thses treats at me, it's rude to turn them down right??? Ahhhh, will-power Jeff, will-power. Cliff bars not pumpkin bars...... but pumpkin is a vegie???????.......I don't know, Ahhhhh!

I'm still feeling sore from that little run Chadly and I did Sunday. Stomping through 12 inches of snow for over a mile tends to do that. This week wraps up my "prep" phase of training. Base starts on Monday, yea!!!! something a little different. Before base phase I have to do a lactate threashold test..... No, I'm not seeing how much milk I can drink. Although I've heard you cannot drink a gallon in 1 hour without barfing (another college story). I will be doing a TT on the bike until I darn near pass-out, sweet!! Headline reads, "Winter cyclist found passed out in pool of his own sufferage" eeeeewwwwww. I have to do the same for running also, but not in my basement.
I hope to get a lot of things done next week, I only work on Tuesday. Finally some time off work and more time with the family!!
Get outside this week freaks, temp are pushing above 20 degrees!

Later

ED