Very brief post this week, have to pack for RAGBRAI.
We finished off the northern part of Italy, had a quick cup of coffee in Slovenia, and then spent some time in southern Croatia (skirting the border with Bosnia Herzegovina). We came to rest in Serbia after a respectable 615 mile week.
Becky, Robin, and I completed the Moonlight Chase 4-mile race in Eldridge, IA last Saturday (results). Becky did especially well, finishing 6th in her age group (31:04). I was a little slower than I had hoped, but I managed to outkick Becky at the end (30:58). Robin had lots of fun.
Mike competed in the Life Time Fitness Tri in the Twin Cities, he won his age group, and placed 8th in the open division with a time of 2:13:28.8 (results). He had the top bike in his category, and the 2nd overall in the open division (averaged 24.4 mph). Congratulations Mike.
There will be no post next week, we will be biking across Iowa. Look for our bike jump in miles coming in 2 weeks.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Reverse Tour de France
We kind of rode against traffic on the first few stages of the Tour de France last week as we made our way along the Mediterranean coast from Girona, Spain (beginning of TDF stage 6) to Bereguardo, Italy. Hopefully we all enjoyed the French Riveria (Cote d'Azure) and are energized for the remainder of our trip through southern Europe.
Mileage-wise we were in the low 500's, not too bad, but not quite like the 800-mile week a few weeks ago. Chris Fry ran the Alliant Energy 8K last weekend, clocking in at 36:17, good for 29th in his age group and 237th out of all males. That is an impressive race, I remember watching it with Deep Fat about 10 years ago while sitting on some lawn-chairs we found in the trash: you really need to see that lead pack in person to appreciate just how fast they move. This year was no different, with the winners running around 4:30 pace.
I believe Mike is competing at the Life Time Fitness Triathlon in the Twin Cities this coming weekend, so good luck to him. Also, good luck to all those that are putting the finishing touches on their RAGBRAI preparation (just over a week away!).
Until next week, stay healthy out there.
Mileage-wise we were in the low 500's, not too bad, but not quite like the 800-mile week a few weeks ago. Chris Fry ran the Alliant Energy 8K last weekend, clocking in at 36:17, good for 29th in his age group and 237th out of all males. That is an impressive race, I remember watching it with Deep Fat about 10 years ago while sitting on some lawn-chairs we found in the trash: you really need to see that lead pack in person to appreciate just how fast they move. This year was no different, with the winners running around 4:30 pace.
I believe Mike is competing at the Life Time Fitness Triathlon in the Twin Cities this coming weekend, so good luck to him. Also, good luck to all those that are putting the finishing touches on their RAGBRAI preparation (just over a week away!).
Until next week, stay healthy out there.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Event Week; Halfway point
We had lots of stuff going on this week, including multiple events, some interesting sight-seeing, and reaching the halfway point of the year. I will touch on our travels to begin.
We continued to make our way through Spain, coming to rest near the Spain-France border. Along the way we passed the La Mancha region, a harsh, arid region known for several important agricultural crops, its famous windmills, and for the being the setting of the novel "Don Quixote." We then visited Madrid before making our way back to the coast. We hit the Mediterranean coast around Tarragona and Salou, where we could experience Europe's fastest roller-coaster, Furius Baco, a hydraulically-launched beast that takes you from 0 to 84 mph in 3.5 seconds. It is also the world's fastest roller-coaster with an inversion. Had we been passing through several week's later, we could have enjoyed the International Fireworks Display Competition in Tarragona (Becky would have loved that).
We continued northward along the coast, passing through Barcelona, and eventually finishing off in Girona. Barcelona is of course notable for many things, but for me personally the first thing that comes to mind is the Barcelona Olympics of 1992. That event, during the formative years of my life, is largely responsible for my love of sport in all shapes in form. Plus, I had a crush on Kim Zmeskal.
Several notable events this week: Mike and Rob competed in the Hy-Vee Triathlon, both turning in great performances (results). Mike finished in 2:14:58, placing 2nd out of 151 in his age group, and 66th out of 984 for all males. Rob finished in 2:26:25, placing 21st out of 116 in his age group and 158th for all males. Good job to them both.
Becky and I competed in Maquoketa's Timber City Adventure Race, a canoe (8 miles), bike (14.5 miles), and run (3.1 miles) event. We placed 2nd (out of 4) in the coed racing division, but were also beaten by two coed teams from the rec division (the race has way too many divisions). Out of all the coed teams we were 4th out of 18. We both improved over the last time we did this event 2 years ago (Becky by 4 minutes, me by 30 seconds), so we were happy with the result.
Jake and Megan completed the longest 30 meter walk of their lives. I didn't get their time, but I know they finished in high style. Congratulations to them. I also just realized that I did not post the week of Sandra's wedding, so a belated congratulations to her, Ryan, and their new arrival Maggie the viszla.
We are about halfway through the year, as a team we are about 40% of the way around the world. Individually, some are way beyond their goal pace, some are right on, and some are lagging a bit (check the mileage chart below if you are interested). Keep up the good work, and if you have been in a funk, now would be a great time to jump-start your training.
Have a good week, and stay healthy out there.
We continued to make our way through Spain, coming to rest near the Spain-France border. Along the way we passed the La Mancha region, a harsh, arid region known for several important agricultural crops, its famous windmills, and for the being the setting of the novel "Don Quixote." We then visited Madrid before making our way back to the coast. We hit the Mediterranean coast around Tarragona and Salou, where we could experience Europe's fastest roller-coaster, Furius Baco, a hydraulically-launched beast that takes you from 0 to 84 mph in 3.5 seconds. It is also the world's fastest roller-coaster with an inversion. Had we been passing through several week's later, we could have enjoyed the International Fireworks Display Competition in Tarragona (Becky would have loved that).
We continued northward along the coast, passing through Barcelona, and eventually finishing off in Girona. Barcelona is of course notable for many things, but for me personally the first thing that comes to mind is the Barcelona Olympics of 1992. That event, during the formative years of my life, is largely responsible for my love of sport in all shapes in form. Plus, I had a crush on Kim Zmeskal.
Several notable events this week: Mike and Rob competed in the Hy-Vee Triathlon, both turning in great performances (results). Mike finished in 2:14:58, placing 2nd out of 151 in his age group, and 66th out of 984 for all males. Rob finished in 2:26:25, placing 21st out of 116 in his age group and 158th for all males. Good job to them both.
Becky and I competed in Maquoketa's Timber City Adventure Race, a canoe (8 miles), bike (14.5 miles), and run (3.1 miles) event. We placed 2nd (out of 4) in the coed racing division, but were also beaten by two coed teams from the rec division (the race has way too many divisions). Out of all the coed teams we were 4th out of 18. We both improved over the last time we did this event 2 years ago (Becky by 4 minutes, me by 30 seconds), so we were happy with the result.
Jake and Megan completed the longest 30 meter walk of their lives. I didn't get their time, but I know they finished in high style. Congratulations to them. I also just realized that I did not post the week of Sandra's wedding, so a belated congratulations to her, Ryan, and their new arrival Maggie the viszla.
We are about halfway through the year, as a team we are about 40% of the way around the world. Individually, some are way beyond their goal pace, some are right on, and some are lagging a bit (check the mileage chart below if you are interested). Keep up the good work, and if you have been in a funk, now would be a great time to jump-start your training.
Have a good week, and stay healthy out there.
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