Tony Stark

Let's set up the metaphor. Right now I am Tony Stark. Crippled and pathetic. Smart, charismatic, and good looking but that is about it. Crime fighter? No. Self-Absorbed? Check. Ironman? No.

I am in the process of building the Ironman. I'll unveil my Ironman in Florida in Early November. But it sucks and isn't ready yet. Imagine a legless Ironman suit that sputters and is about powerful enough to toast bread. However, the 1st block is done!

It took my narcissistic ass 3 weeks and here are some of the highlights.

Three long rides. two long runs, one mile repeat workout, one 40k all out followed by a hard 5k. 45+ hours of training.

Finally I get to rest and wait for the second round of construction. 5-7 days of recovery and sleep. The next block, I have to make sure the Ironman suit can fly... sort of like a turkey flies... life or death situations only. Then the block after that it should fly like a Canadian Goose! Then I'll worry about the paint job.

Before I leave... I leave you with this.

"You know, the question I get asked most often is, 'Tony, how do you go to the bathroom in your suit?' [Pauses, making relieved face] Just like that."

Pee on the bike.

Stark Out.

Wow

I am sitting here literally stunned...

My buddy asked me about a week ago to accompany him on a ridiculous workout... 5k in the pool to smash yourself and then 10x1 mile repeats all sub 6.... Monumental task. I can only assume he asked Jack Bauer to help him do it but he must have been busy so he asked me.

After 4k continuous in the pool and 5k total we jumped on the track.

I led out and we hit 5:59 on the button. Comfortable.

5:57 comfortable

5:57 comfortable

5:54 getting there

5:50 hurt

5:57 comfortable again

5:56 seeing the light at the end

5:56 light is too far

5:58 pain

5:50 killed it

We waged lightning war on the track... I thought there was no way we would hit all of the reps under six but there you have it. 10 miles all under 6. The best part... easy is the wrong word but it was controlled and within myself. I probably could have knocked off several more...

One more week of thrashing then recovery.

A good night

Friday night was a good night by anyone's definition of a good night. Webster defines good night as an evening that start with Mexican food and drinks and ends with several dance battles and more drinks. Having one of these nights was a good idea at the time.

Fast forward 10 hours and I was 10 minutes into my long ride, thinking I was not the sharpest tool in the shed. My legs felt like they were made of cotton candy and luke warm lasagna. I meandered around for a while pondering bagging the ride @ 2 hours instead of 4. But at about 40 miles in, the hangover just vanished. My lasagna legs turned into firm beef jerky legs of coiled steel and I actually finished the thing feeling relatively good.

Highlights of the ride include:

• Eating 2 pickles mid ride which effectively cured my hangover
• Seeing the Kim Kardashian Klan (Kim and family)
• The last 40 minutes of hammering to get home
• Finding new roads in an empty car-less canyon

Long run today

Chris McDonald Interview

Chris McDonald is a domininant Ironman Champion. He got a late start in triathlon but made up for lost time with major wins at Challenge Wanaka, Ironman Louisville, and Ironman Wisconsin. A podium threat in every race he does, he is setting his sights on Kona this year. Big Sexy on the Big Island. It has a nice ring to it.

JP: First question, where did you get the nickname Big Sexy?

Chris: It all started from getting called Big Fella. Then Brett Sutton gave me the nickname Big Sexy when we were in Leysin in 2008

JP: Being sort of late to the game in triathlon, what did you do to accelerate your development to catch up with the boys who started when they were in the womb?

Chris: I did get a late start for sure . My first tri, I was 24, I really just jumped into the sport head first with a sink or swim attitude. I raced a lot and learned a lot quickly. I also had a great mentor in Scott Molina.

JP: You are a monster on the bike… What do you attribute this to?

Chris: I love to ride my bike! The first couple years of triathlon I did a lot of bike racing which helped . I still race bikes quite a bit in the spring.

JP: Could you suggest a workout for age groupers that you have found particularly helpful?

Chris: As much as it is not nice, I think doing some very focused intervals on the trainer is invaluable.

JP: What did you work on last off season to step your game up?

Chris: To be honest I spent the whole of last off season trying to figure out an injury I had been racing on for 12 months

JP: What is your plan for the back half of the season?

Chris: I will be racing next at Challenge Copenhagen in Denmark, then the next big race is Hawaii.

JP: If you could chose to win something other than a triathlon what would it be and why?

Chris: An arm wrestle against my wife….cause I would like to be the man of the house!

JP: How are things in terms of sponsorship in this frigid witch of an economy?

Chris: Things are not too bad . I have some great sponsors that have looked after me well over the years , I like to have long term relationships with the people and the companies so you can really help each other grow over the long term.

Lightning round:

Favorite Meal? burger and fries

Who do you not want to see on the starting line if you had to pick someone? Anyone who has a reputation for drafting . I HATE! people who cheat.

Favorite American City? Boulder, CO

Win Kona or win 20 Ironmans? Kona hands down!

Hills or Wind? Wind and rolling hills ;) nothing beats a howling cross wind!

JP: Thanks SO MUCH for the time, Mr. Sexy. Last question, can you give three tips for the age groupers out there?

Chris: Consistency is the key! Create a great support structure to help you to your goals and

learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

So it begins

I just officially started my Ironman florida build. It is something like 15 weeks long and most likely will be quite hard if my first ride was any indicator.

70 miles with 3k of climbing... the 3k was set up like this. 1 k over 8 miles (fine) and then 2k over 4 miles (cruel). The 2k over 4 miles nearly had me walking. I was spitting up strings of drool all over my aerobars and barely turning the pedals. Imagine a teething baby.

The reason for this lack of composure was I was riding my tt bike with a 52-42 on the front and a 11-23 on the back. For those of you who don't get that gear ratio kind of lingo, it is like bringing a knife to a gun fight. The gun fight is the mtn. The knife is my ill equipped steed. I was unprepared and paid dearly.

I got home and mapped the ride and ended up riding 20.7 mph avg. I was over the moon as the effort was comfortable and the conditions were not speedy ie lots of wind and enough climbing to slow way down. My back half riding is getting stronger. I am going to key on that for this build. I need to be very strong where everyone is weak... miles 70-112 of the bike and miles 13-26 of the run. And so it begins.

He's a bad mother. Shut your mouth.

Jens Voigt is probably the biggest baller in all of sports. Maybe in all of the universe, save Fred Bear. However, if you put Fred Bear on a bike, Jens would eat him alive like all the big game failed to do.
His exploits are too many to list but he recently crashed, broke his bike, snatched a junior's bike with toe clips and caught back onto the group. The bike is essentially a tricycle. Take a peak inside his mind....

Sometimes you can hear your body start talking to you ... 'Oh, I can't do it anymore, I can't do it anymore,' and your mind goes 'shutup body and do what I tell you' and your body is almost like ...
revolting against you and saying 'I can't do it, leave me alone, I can't do it, I want to pull over now,' and the mind goes, and the brain goes 'no, no, no, you keep going, you keep going because I want you to do what I tell you to do' and you know, your lungs are burning and you have the little taste of blood in your mouth and your legs are burning, and they don't want to turn around anymore and you know if someone now attacks you will be blown out of the water but you go 'no, I just keep going' and you just keep going and ... you make it happen."

I get paid to hurt other people. How good is that? How good is that?
I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel, that's good."

I did it for the Glory

So over the holiday weekend, I found out I am completely not funny. Not only that, I am unoriginal in every way. All my material… shamelessly lifted.
Basically I found this out in the following manner: Caitlin (girlfriend and best thing ever) starts telling a story to a circle of people. Her voice is the combination of a socially awkward deer and a shy prairie dog. She mumbled through the story and naturally no one listened/ laughed… except me…
Then I looked at her…the shifty eyes came out and I started the story over in my startlingly loud and unignorable thing I call my voice. Heads snapped over to me and the crowd reaction was stellar. I did it for the glory and then wouldn’t make eye contact with Cait after. HA. Then I thought about it and this happens constantly. She tells a story/joke and I pounce like a jungle cat. I am a mouthpiece for a very funny low talker… and I think I am ok with that as long as the glory is mine.