Well this last weekend was my 20th class reunion and it fell right on one of my biggest training weekends. What to do? I contact my coach and explained the situation. We decided to move everything up one day so that I was done on Saturday - just in time for my reunion.

Thursday - I woke early as usually to begin three days of approximately 75% of the ultraman. I had sent my coach a text asking what the goal of the next three days was and received a text back that kind of pissed me off. It read..... "You should not be asking the goal of a race a simulation: what is your goal in the race??? The goal?? To survive the next few days until the run: and then actually be able to run 40 miles!" Well upon receiving this text I became a bit dejected. Was he trying to fire me up or what?

The swim was long and boring and I hurt much more than anticipated. I was in the water for almost 2 hours which equally about 5 miles. I thought about the text the entire swim. After the swim I had my wife drop me off at the bottom of Deerhill on the Silverado Trail. I spun for a few miles before starting the climb to Angwin. This climb is about 7 miles and is not too steep. My goal was to mimic the first day of the Ultraman and climb right after the swim. A few days prior I had changed my bike set up to a more traditional geometry. This helped as I climbed better than I have all year with a nice steady pace. Once I reached the top I turned around and headed back down to do it all over. The second climb was equally good. My pace remained constant and felt good about what I was doing. The ride was to be 75 miles and finished strong rolling through Butts Canyon Road to our cottage in Hidden Valley Lake. It is amazing how 75 miles really feels like nothing these days.

Friday was a 150 mile ride. My goal was to get through the day in good shape for tomorrows run. I pushed off at 6am and rolled nice and steady to the base of the mountain where I climbed to the top, struggling a bit as the grade on this side is much steeper. Once over the top I flew down the other side back to the Silverado Trail where my speed picked up big time. I cycled up and down the Trail to get enough miles before I could head towards home. I felt great all day. Maybe the text that I received was having an effect on me because I rode mad all day. Riding through Vallejo on the way home I approached a railroad track that I had gotten flats on 2 times before. As I rolled over it - booom - flat. Will I ever learn? Unfortunately, I did not realize that I had blown a side wall and 5 miles later got another flat. Not having a spare tire I used a GU rapper to try and prevent another flat. This worked for a while but a slow leak prevented me from making it all the way home. A good friend - Keith Metzger - picked me up about 6 miles from home. The total miles for the ride were 142. Just shy of the 150 but I was happy.

This is where things get interesting. BAR NIGHT - The pre party for the reunion on Saturday. The plan was to have a few friends over for a beer and then head over to the Round Up, a bar in my town. A few friends turned in 20. We all had a good time and headed over to the pre party around 7:15pm. I was trying not to show my exhaustion. At around 8:30pm I thought to myself "what is more important? Staying out late or getting home to bed to prepare for what lied ahead tomorrow morning. I decided to sneak out. I was caught by one of my friends, but he was cool and understood what I needed to do. At home I crawled in bed and dreamed about the pain the next day had in store for me.

Saturday Morning - Today I will run 40 miles I told myself at 5am as I gathered my nutrition and supplies for the run. The plan was to park my truck at the entrance to the Lafayette Moraga bike trail so that I had food and water near. I decided that I would do five eight mile loops - four out four back. The first loop was very painful due to the tightness in my quads. They began to loosen half way back and I began to feel good. After each loop I would stop briefly at my truck and refuel. The next few laps were uneventful. The section of the trail I was running on was slightly uphill going out and slightly downhill coming back. This was great as I would look forward to the turn around. After the 4th lap - mile 32 I hit a wall. My legs froze up and had to walk a bit. Thinking about the text again, I started running. Slowly I got into a rhythm. My running was a bit unorthodox and was slowler than my desired pace but I was moving forward. Instead of 4 mile out, I elected to go 1 mile out and 1 mile back until I finished. This way I was closer to the truck if I needed anything.

As I finished - The text made sense. I guess that is why I am not a coach. I still wish there was a bit more encouragement, but it made sense. Thanks Coach... blu

Today - I feel I can race the Ultraman not just finish.........

Well - I am now about 9 weeks out from Ultraman and so it's time to really buckle down and focus. This weekends training was focused on a big ride. Over the past 4 months I have been doing the same boring rides over and over so I thought it was time to do something different. What might you ask.....? Well I decided to do a destination ride. On my past destination rides I have ridden to a place where I have met my wife and made it a family affair. Many times I have ridden from San Francisco to Monterey or Carmel and then spent the night there. This time I decided to do something a little different.

After looking at the map and using gmap pedometer (an online mapping tool for cyclist) I decided that a ride from Fresno to home would be ideal. I checked the bus schedules and found that I could not put my bike on unless I packed it in a box. Too much work..... I then tried Amtrak. Perfect. A train left from Martinez at 2pm on Friday which got me to Fresno around 6pm. My next problem was how do I get my clothes that I wear down to Fresno back home??? I decided to wear the oldest, rattiest clothes I had and just thrown them away. I tore my dresser apart and found and old pair of running shorts. I little too tight and showed a little too much, but they were perfect. I found an old shirt from a race I did long ago. The kind of shirt that had been wore and washed one too many times. The kind that you can see your chest hairs through. I went into the garage and found an old pair of running shoes and I was set.

My wife dropped me off at the train station just before the train arrived. Not knowing anything about Amtrak I was a bit nervous as to how it worked with bringing your bike on. As I boarded I saw the bike racks. Easy I said. After sitting down I began to wonder if I was getting myself into a situation that may not be good. What if I have a mechanical problem I can not fix? What if I get stranded in the middle of nowhere? It could be a 6 hour round trip for my wife to pick me up... Not good.

Arriving in Fresno, I asked where the Holiday Inn was. Lucky for me it was right around the corner. My old running shorts were beginning to act more like a Speedo and needed to get them off. After checking in I began to get my stuff ready for the next day’s adventure. My plan was to leave at 3:45am, so I needed to be ready to go before I went to bed. All went well and I was confident that I was prepared. My alarm went of at 3:20am. I change and had a cup of coffee hoping I could do my business before I headed out. No luck. As I enter the lobby to head outside, 4 German girls were coming in from what looked like a very fun night. Three of the girls where helping another get out of a cab. Talk about two extremes.

Well I was off - As I rolled through the streets of downtown Fresno, I thought of what lied ahead. Once I got out of town it became very dark. My bike light worked well. On the outskirts of town I was pedaling along when I head what sounded like finger nails tapping on a hard surface. I turned to my left and saw what looked like a bitpull mix with slobber flying everywhere chasing me with all his might. The determined look on his face was frightening. My heart rate went from 125 to 180 in a split second. I stepped on the pedals as hard and as fast as I could. I was able to out run the dog but it scarred the **** out of me.

The ride went well until a portion of Highway 33. At this point, the shoulder disappeared and had a near crash when I was run off the road by a truck. Not wanting to go out that way I stuck out my thumb. The first car stopped. A guy by the name of Jim said hop in. I put my bike in his van and we were off. Turns out he was a profession fisherman and just got done guiding a trip. Three miles up the road the shoulder returned and he dropped my off and gave me his cell number in case I need help along the way. What a cool guy...

At mile 117 I hit Del Puerto Canyon. This is a 27 mile stretch that is 90% climbing. Once at the top, there is a small country store as the reward. As I climbed through the canyon, my bike computer went from 99 degrees to 117 degrees. Half way up I ran out of water and was beginning to feel the effects. I tried to tell myself that I only had 10 more miles before the store. The goal on the climb was to try and keep a nice tempo and cadence around 80. Did not happen. I was good for the first part, but fell off big time at the end. As I rounded the last corner before the store, all I could think about was ice cold water. As I pulled in, I noticed no cars. The front door read "Closed" ****.

I was in bad shape. Nothing to do but keep going. The road pitched up for another 3 miles until the top. At the top it rolled down hill into Livermore, but it was still 3o miles. I struggled for the next hour and forty five minutes until I hit the 7-11. Victory!!!! The plan was to call my Mom at 1pm and let her know where I was. The problem was that I had no cell coverage until 3:30. I would now have to wait an hour for her to come get me or take a cab. I decided to take a cab and got $80 out of the ATM. I called my Mom to let her know my plan to find out that she was waiting for me in Livermore and was worried to death. Do I have the GREATEST Mom in the world? Total ride = 162 Miles

The ride was tough, but worth it. Money in the Bank. Next Weekend - Friday 5 Mile Swim then 75 Mile bike Saturday 150 Mile Bike - Sunday 40 Mile Run...... Should be FUN....

Cool Video of my Buddy Chris Lieto doing the Outside Magazine Shoot

I met her about ten years ago. She was the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen. She was unlike anything my friends had. She was the whole package. I loved her from the day I saw her. She was a perfect fit. We were two pees in a pod. We spent many hours together traveling the world, experiencing things most would only dream of – Malaysia, New Zealand, Austria and many other exotic places.

Over time we began to have problems. Was it me? Was it her? Who knows, but the more I am with her the more problems I am having. A real pain in my ass. The time has come to let my old lady go. She was a good bike, a real piece of work in her day. I only use her for training these days, but her final days are numbered. I bring her to the shop every 1000 miles or so for a tune up but she is just not the same. I will hang her in my garage and look at her as I head out for a ride on my new old lady. Thanks for the good times.

This weekend was a heavy on the bike. The plan was to ride 6 hours on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Unfortunately, I do have a job and Friday I was only able to get a little over 2 hours in. Saturday, I rose at 4am, hooked up my bike light and off I went. You see some weird things early in the morning and have to be very careful due to the many obstacles in the dark not to mention the late nate early morning partiers. A few weeks back I was training up in Clear Lake and saw two drug deals before 6am. A little crank would probably do wonders for me this early. Saturday was fairly uneventfully. As always I get many odd looks from people headed off to work or going to get the morning paper. I rolled back into my driveway around 10am and began the day with my daughter who was anxiously waiting for me to return.

Sunday was another early morning. My wife had gone to a wedding in Carmel so I had to have my mother come over at 5am to be there when Hadley awoke. What a great MOM. I rolled for about an hour solo until I met Eric and two other friends. We set out towards Danville to do the House of Pain Loop. They call it this because on Saturday mornings a large group does this ride and is led by some of the top cyclist in the area. The pace is usually fast and relentless. Today the pace was fairly quick and my legs were heavy from the days before. At about 60 miles into the ride I began to have problems with my cranks and dropped off the back to fix it. The group continued at I limped along. I took the short way back and finished my ride around 10:30am. The weekend totaled about 13 hours on the bike. Not bad.

Tuesday – I like doing crazy things - things out of the norm. Yesterday I took BART from the City to Rockridge. From Rockridge I ran up to Tunnel Road. Tunnel Road is a six mile climb with an average grade of 4.5%. Upon reaching the top, I turned right on Skyline Blvd. From there I ran to Palmores which is a steep down hill for another 4 miles. This was very painful on the legs. Once at the bottom, I ran another 9 plus miles home. What a great run….Today – Another 2.5 hour run…….

Check out a www.richroll.com.  He is racing this years ultraman with me.  This guy is amazing........

Peace - Out

A few Cool video of some friends

The first is Chris Lieto. Chris is one of the top ironman distance athletes in the world and the fastest on the bike. He holds many bike course records. This video shows Chris leading the Ironman World Championship. I was about 30 feet behind Chris durring this video ----- On a bike...

Julie Moss - I became friends with Julie Moss through Wendy Ingrahm. The stories I could tell, but I won't

Quick story before I tell you about my race this weekend.  So I am in Austria racing an ironman and things are going great.  My swim was a breeze and the bike, although very difficult was incredibly fast for me.  As I started out on the run, my stomach began to rumble.  Not the rumble when you are hungry, but the rumble when well you know...  At about ten miles in I realized that I am going to need to find a porta potty.  As I began to get desperate and unable to run because of the impending explosion an old lady standing outside of her house notice that there was something wrong with me.  Our eyes met as I attempted to walk her way.  Not knowing her language, I thought to myself "How was I going to explain to her that I needed to take a big dump and could I use her bathroom".  No need - She sensed my desperation and led me around the side of her beautiful house on the lake.  As we rounded the corner she motioned me to this well manicured flower garden.  I tried to explain to this lady, who was most likely in her 80's that I needed to go number 2.  To my surprise she understood and again motioned me to the flower garden.  At this point, I had to go.  As I positioned myself between her perfectly placed petunias, I glanced over at her as she grabbed her garden hose.  I finished my business as she approached me with the hose.  She motioned for me to turn around.  She sprayed me clean.  What a relief.  Before I proceeded back to the course, I walked over to this sweet old lady and gave her a big hug and a kiss on the check.  What a great lady.

Back to the race….

It is the day before my first race of the year and I am sitting in a beautiful house overlooking a lake in Eastern Mass. watching the news.  As I am half watching half getting my equipment ready for the race I heard the words "Great White Shark" on the TV.  I turned my attention to the news caster to hear that there have been 5 great white shark sittings in the area.  Holy ****!  The swim potion of the race takes place in the open ocean and although I am a good swimmer, this kind of **** freaks me out.

Race Morning - I show up at the transition area at 5am still with thought of Great Whites swimming through my head.  I am the first athlete there.  This is a running joke between my friends.  I am always the first to arrive.  This morning was unlike any other since arriving on the East Coast.  The wind was blowing between 15-25 knots and the ocean looked like a washing machine.  This is not what I was hoping for.  At the swim start I proceed to put on a new wetsuit.  One that I had never tried on.  I do not recommend this to anyone.  I was **** out of luck if it did not fit.  Lucky for me it fit like a glove.  As the gun went of, the 200 athletes took off in one big group.  For me it is very important to establish my line and get out front so that I have clean water.  The first half of a mile was relatively calm due to the break water.  I took the lead with 2 other swimmers.  Because I wear glasses and can not see very well with goggle, I try to establish which swimmer is about my speed and let them navigate.  As we rounded the outside of the jetty the swells hit us hard.  I swallowed gallons of water for the next 30 minutes until rounding the outside mark.  This is when we swam with the swells to the finished.  I exited the water in 3rd place.  I could have been in second but let the guy who I swam with and navigate exit before me as a sign of appreciation.

On to the bike - 112 Miles - To make a long story short.  The first 30 Miles were directly into a strong head wind.  Not fun....  In addition, every 20 feet there was a separation in the road to allow for expansion during snow seasons.  This made for an extremely rough ride.  At mile 78 and 90 I got flats.  I finish third in my division and 13 overall.  Not bad, but not great.  My ass still hurts!!!

Peace - Out  - Blu

Well it all began on a flight to Mexico. I had just gotten separated from my ex wife and decided to take a trip. I was totally out of shape, but told myself that I should go anyway. I had searched the internet for a race in a far away place. I found a half ironman in Huatuco Mexico. I said to myself - Perfect. The plane flight was long but I did not care. Upon arriving at my destination I saw a bus with a sign that read Half Ironman Shuttle. I jumped aboard and sat down. I noticed that I was by far the fattest person on the bus and then realized I was on a bus full of Professionals. I decided not to say anything as I did not want to embarrass myself. Upon arriving at the hotel, the race staff led us to the check in. Assuming I was a Pro they gave me a room key. No credit card - nothing. I wheeled my bike to my room and sat on the bed wondering what I should do. As I began to get up, the door between rooms opened. The hottest blonde girl appeared wearing the smallest bikini I had ever seen. "My name is Wing" she said. I realized at that moment then this was Wendy Ingraham or as the triathlon community calls her "Wingnut". At the time she was one of the top ironman triathletes in the world. She sat down on the bed and began talking to me like she had known me for years. Wing is a multiple Ironman winner and is famous for her crawl to the finish at the Ironman world championships in 1997. Here is a link to the YouTube video.

Serious you should watch this. It makes me cry every time I watch it. So back to this hot girl I just met. After about 15 minutes of explaining to her I do not think I should be in this room. She convinced me to stay. We decided to get our gear ready for the race. As we talked and put our bikes together Wing noticed that everything I had was blue. My bike, helmet, glasses, and racing jersey were all blue. From this day forward she named me "blu". That trip was the start of my journey towards truly becoming a serious triathlete. The race did not go very well. The temperature was 105 and I sat under a tree on the run course for 30 minutes. Wing and three of the biggest names in Triathlon came out on the course and ran with me to the finish. They included Paula Newby Frasier (The Queen of Kona)

Yesterday - I swam 4500 Yards. This week is a big swim week for me. I leave for the East Coast next Tueday to race a full Aquabike.

Peace - Out

The Ultraman is considered one of the toughest events in the world by Outside Magazine. A 3-day, 320-mile (515-kilometer) individual ultra-endurance event which takes place on the Big Island of Hawaii. Entry is limited to 35 participants and is by invitation only. Founded in 1983, the event is held annually on the traditional Thanksgiving weekend. This race takes place over three days.

Stage I - 6.2-mile (10 km) ocean swim from Kailua Bay to Keauhou Bay, followed by a 90-mile (145 km) cross-country bike ride from Keauhou Bay around the southern tip of the island via Route 11 to finish at Namakani Paio Park in the Volcanoes National Park. Vertical climbs total 7,600 feet.

Stage II - 171.4-mi (276 km) bike ride, from Volcanoes National Park (Route 11) to Keaau, then turning east with a counter-clockwise loop through Kalapana, Kapoho and Pahoa, then on through the City of Hilo. From Hilo, the route continues north along the Hamakua Coast (Route 19) to Waimea, and over the Kohala Mountains via Route 250 to finish at the Kohala Village Inn on Hawi Road, just above its junction with Route 270. Vertical climbs total 8,600 feet.

Stage III - 52.4-mile (84 km) double-marathon run from Hawi to Kawaihae (Route 270), then on to Kailua-Kona (via Route 19) and finishing on the beach at the Old Airport State Park.

I am coach by one of the top ultradistant coaches in the world - Chris Hauth. He has coached me to 12 Ironman finishes (2.4 Mile Swim, 112 Mile Bike, 26.2 Mile Run), 1 Triple Ironman (7.2 Mile Swim, 336 Mile Bike, 78.6 Mile Run) and 1 Ultraman. Chris is responsible for my daily program. www.aimpcoaching.com.

I will be updating my blog every couple days as to training and preparation. Last week my mileage totaled 3 miles of swimming 300 miles on the bike and 40 plus miles running. I have lost 24 pounds since I started training and I have 15 more to go before race day. Stay tuned ---

Peace - Out-

Jamie - Blu