t2k's Blog-er-ama

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for First longish Ride into NW New Jersey

2010-03-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

Garmin Connect -
Activity Details for Ride to Bernardsville and back

Tommy starting to Crawl...

2009-09-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

Tommy is staying with Gran and Grandad and putting them through there paces...

Sitting up!

2009-08-09T05:59:00.001-07:00

Working on building my abs now.... Perhaps I will crawl soon?

Shortly after his jailbreak

2009-07-13T18:57:00.001-07:00

GeoTagged, [N41.06815, E73.51787]

Tommy escaped from Alcatraz for a weekend at the beach...

my mum's 10k

2009-06-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

My mum ran a 10k today in Leeds, UK. She normally runs with my dad but since he is injured she had to do run by herself for the first time in a race. Dad was on the sidelines to film her.... we are so proud!!

Probably the best bacon in the world

2009-06-12T18:02:00.001-07:00

And then we followed this up with a superb porterhouse at peter Lugers last week. Yum!

Thompson

2009-06-12T17:59:00.001-07:00

Our lad is beginning to get used to being upright. Perhaps his flat head will round off now!

Saturday lunch

2009-04-25T10:44:00.001-07:00

Tommy at 3 1/2 months

2009-04-01T15:13:00.000-07:00

Smiling and looking a lot like grandad!

Lucy and Abby

2009-01-25T17:32:00.000-08:00

Ready to take the Fashion world by storm...

and ready to find some suitable Princes...

Lucy's first time on skis

2009-01-18T13:14:00.000-08:00

Self Portrait

2009-01-18T09:32:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-02T17:47:00.000-08:00

Lucy Cooking (again!)

2008-12-27T15:58:00.001-08:00

This time in the snow

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-27T09:56:00.001-08:00

Lucy after one too many..

Lucy Singing to Tom

Tom's 2nd day...

2008-12-11T17:36:00.001-08:00

He's just a little peanut!

Lucy playing babies...wait, this one is REAL!

2008-12-10T17:44:00.001-08:00

Fresh like a box of Krispy Kreme

2008-12-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

Tom, Aged 2 minutes!

A few minutes later...

The new family of FOUR!

surprise!

2008-12-10T00:26:00.001-08:00

12:30am charlotte woke me up
1:15am korie arrived to stay with lucy
1:35am arrived at hospital
2:35am epidural complete
2:45am 3 pushes and out he came!

Thomas Mueller Bashforth born 12/10/2008 at 2:45am. About a month early at 5lbs 8oz, 18inches long.

Lucy with her Baby Brother Tommy:

3 Nights in Arizona

2008-11-24T18:39:00.000-08:00

By the numbers:
4 trips to In-n-out Burger
1 chocolate Shake
1 Neopolitan Shake
1 French Fries
2 Arnold Palmers (1 M, 1 XL)
6 Double Doubles Animal Style

Tasty!

Is there a better way to watch an Ironman than with a double double?

Tobin anxious to dig in for his first bite..

New England in November...it ain't Florida!!

2008-11-18T06:26:00.000-08:00

Lucy all ready for the great outdoors!

Lucy fashion

2008-10-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

Lucy's favorite pastime is cooking in the back yard and wearing ALL her colors and patterns at the same time!

Westchester Toughman Triathlon

2008-09-28T07:18:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday I participated in the Westchester Toughman Half Iron distance triathlon. This was the first running of this hopefully annual event and I was particularly looking forward to it as a portion of the bike course overlapped some of my favorite training routes. True Motion were also sponsors of the Age Group Awards so we were involved at the expo with a booth to sell our goods as well as providing gift certificates for the top three in each age group.

The race was set to start at 7am but a little fog over the water created a 10min delay until the course became visible and the race organizers blew the horn to send off the first wave which included my age group (M35-39). Unfortunately, the fog then really came in quite thick and it became impossible to see any of the turn buoys. Instead we had to take cues off the supporting Kayakers and after managing to successfully navigate to the first turn buoy the kayaker I was following seemed to lose track of the course and I ended up going way past the 2nd turn only to come across a police boat stopping us from going further afield. Fortunately I could just about make out a silhouette of the shoreline so I decided to swim straight for it, figuring if I missed the official exit I could at least find my way to it along the shore. Luckily my directional sense paid off and I ended up swimming straight to the exit but by this time I had lost around 10mins to what I expected. However, I expected many others to have been in the same predicament so I just got on with getting my bike gear on and set off on the bike.
Swim 43:14
T1 1:47

The weather was a little chilly first thing – about 50F so the first few miles took some warming up. Hitting the first hill I ran into issues with my gears slipping when in the small ring so I stopped a couple of times to see if I could make a quick adjustment. No joy there so I figured I’d just have to use the big ring for the majority of the ride and use the small ring for only the steepest of climbs (luckily, the lowest gear was the only one not slipping!). After about 10miles I found myself going back and forth with 3 or 4 other guys. Typically they would pass me on the uphills and I would pass them back on the down hills and stay ahead until the next climb. The course itself was on open roads but traffic was light so cars didn’t present a problem. Mid way through the bike I noted how strong I felt yet my breathing was extremely easy. I had not been doing a great deal of long training sessions so I was concerned if the bike took too much out of me, the run would be a disaster so this was a good sign. I kept on at the same intensity through the remainder of the 56miles eventually dropping the group of guys before mile 50.

Bike 2:45:41

Transition was very quick. True Motion Marketing Director Mimi Boyle was volunteering in the transition area and her cheers spurred me onto a race best 23 second T2 split and out I went onto the run course.

Aerobically I felt very strong on the run but early on I felt the onset of cramping in my lower quads. I had probably consumed a little less fluid on the bike than I would prefer so I was a little anxious the cramps would worsen and I could end up walking at any moment. I diligently took on water and Gatorade through the aid stations and managed to stave off the cramps but as the course took a turn into the hills the leg pain certainly didn’t go away! While also challenging, the run course was really beautiful, with road sections through residential parts of Croton, trail sections through the woods and a section across the top of the dam. Finally by mile 11 the pounding up and down the hills got the better of me and my pace really slowed as my legs seemed to fall apart. Having passed a few until this point and been running relatively solo I was now passed by 4 or 5 other athletes as I ran into the last mile. I did managed to eek out a little more speed down the finishing chute as the race announcer called out my name.
Run 1:46:01

I later found out I had managed to hold on for 3rd place in my age group and that two of the guys passing me in the last mile had actually knocked me down from the 1st place spot!

All in all, a very challenging but fun triathlon. The Toughman was an exceptionally well run event and I look forward to being a part of it in the future.

Sch-wing batter, batter, batter....

2008-08-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

The Padres are having a shocking season this year. I think it's time the called up Lucy from the minor, minor league ranks :)

Gran and Grandad before they were even Parents!

2008-07-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

My dad made the mistake of sending me this classic picture from before I was born...

I can't resist making a few cheeky remarks:

How skinny??? Skinnier than I have ever been I am certain!

My mum's gloves - beautiful!

Ginger Goatee - say no more!

Top Hat - wonky for effect i wonder?

My mum's handbag - looks like she could have bought that this week!

Dancing Queen....on no naps and way past bed time!!

2008-07-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

After an early wake up, long drive to Orlando and a long day in Disney we then tested Lucy's mettle even further by taking her to a raucus Greek restaurant for dinner... As can be witnessed below, she passed the test in flying colors!

News from the Bashforth's....

2008-07-14T10:05:00.001-07:00

Some General news updates on a few changes coming up for the Bashforths....

As the picture above might suggest - we're pleased to announce we're expecting our second child in January 2009!! So far we're at 14 weeks so still a little early to find out the gender but Charlotte is certain she saw a "winkle" while getting the ultrasound this morning. We'll find out the gender for sure in a few more weeks. Naturally we're really excited and Lucy seems to be as well - she was asking Mommy if she could see the bay inside her tummy last week :)
Charlotte has taken a new role with Diageo based back in Norwalk, CT so our time in FL is coming to an end. We're officially "heading north" on August 10th and will be returning to live in Stamford CT (but not in the same house!). We're certainly going to miss our friends down here and the FL lifestyle but we're also excited to be nearer to our old friends and family and I of course am excited to be nearer the snow!(Charlotte not so much!!)
I am also on the move job wise and will be starting a new role with Jefferies at the beginning of August.

Disney and why it pays to take along your daughter ;)

2008-07-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

As we have now entered our final month of Florida residency :( we decided to make a trip to Orlando this past weekend for a couple of days at Disney World.

Amongst the many, many attractions for Lucy to see , her favorite activities seemed to include anything that involved a Princess. As a father, I'm sure you will understand just how much of a drag this was ;)

Lucy with Sleeping beauty (we caught her between naps)
Cinderella (yes, the glass slipper DID fit!)

Lucy with Belle (having tamed the Beast - see further down)

Lucy with Ariel

The Beast dancing with the beauty (I was picked from the crowd to play "the Beast" at story time with Belle which was of course devasting for me....)

the Beast now turned into a Prince! (and we all lived happily ever after....)

ABCs..

2008-07-07T17:27:00.001-07:00

Lucy picked up the Mike and gave us a (partial) rendition of her ABCs!

Tidyman's Carpets

2008-06-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

This one is an absolute classic...my friend Dave and I used to recite this on a daily basis walking back and forth from school...

classic North - South humour!!

2008-06-26T06:29:00.000-07:00

Splash n Play

2008-06-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

my first ever Sprint Triathlon!!

2008-06-23T07:45:00.000-07:00

Although the Mack Cycle Trilogy #1 race in Key Biscayne FL was my 30th multisport event it was first ever SPRINT distance triathlon! The race was due to start at a nice and civilized 7:30am so i ambled over to registration around 6:30 and got myself set up in transition. In retrospect I should have arrived much sooner and had a proper bike warm up but as it was, being a "newbie" at the distance i only had time for a 5min spin before it was time to head over to the beach.

Swim - 0.25 miles, 6:22mins
The swim was none wetsuit (Water temp 82F) and being so short i debated whether to wear my Xterra speedskin wondering if it would take more time to take off than the time i might gain from wearing it. I tested it out in the pool last week and was convinced it would be worth it. The pool was a beach start out to the first buoy then a left turn to a straight away parallel to the beach then the exit. My wave was quite large so there was a decent amount of mayhem going into that first run but quite honestly the swim was over so quickly I can't remember anything else!

T1 - 0:54mins
T1 involved a decent beach run, through a nice deep puddle from the storm the night before which served nicely to get rid of any sand from my feet and then into the grassy transition. Pulled off speed suit, Grabbed helmet and was on my way...

The Bike - 10 miles - 25:39mins
Went against all rules of power meter pacing and pretty much just went for it! the course was a simple out and back with a short climb over the flyover bridge once in each direction. Instead of "managing" my work over the bridge ascents I just hammered up in the aero bars both times and perhaps paid for it as my watts dropped slightly from what i thought i should be able to hold in the latter miles.

T2 - 0:45
Not my fastest ever T2 but ok. had to navigate a few large puddles and didn't have an optimal location in transition....was nice to come in and see so few bikes though!

The Run - 3.1 miles - 19:17mins
Went hard from the start with no regards for the heat figuring it was 3.1 miles so I should be able to hang on regardless! First section was 0.5miles out and back so I soon saw (as expected) the phenomenal John Reback (one of US Olympian Laura Bennett's brothers) as race leader and was pleased to see there was not too many folks between us. Unofortunately there was a duathlon going on simultaneously and also other fast age groups starting in waves behind us so it was really no indicator of where i was in the field. I just kept looking for the next guy ahead and aim to reel them in. By the finishing final long straight before the finish I could see a couple more ahead but just didn't have any kick in my legs so just kept up the same hard pace. Felt great crossing the line after a good short sharp "workout" and after spending a few moments to recover and cool down I enjoyed watching and cheering folks coming into the finish.

Finish time - 0:52:57
3rd/89 Male 35-39
17th/771 Overall

Bike Power info:
(this is having removed the coasting in and out of transition and putting on shoes etc..)

TSS: 40 (intensity factor 1.009)
Norm Power: 241
VI: 1.04

Min Max Avg
Power: 0 397 231 watts
Cadence: 61 108 95 rpm
Speed: 11.1 35 24.0 mph
Temperature: 80.6 86 84.3 Fahrenheit

Classic cycling from 1987

2008-06-18T10:13:00.000-07:00

I found this clip on You Tube from the 1987 Tour De France - it is one of the most memorable stages of all time and from the era when I first became a fan of the race.

Ireland's Stephen Roche had lost a bit of time to race leader Pedro Delgado but made a miraculous ascent up to the ski station town of La Plagne taking about about 1 minute appearing round the last corner seconds after Delgado. Roche then went on to win the Tour...skip to about 2mins into the clip to see the finish and witness Phil Liggett (Commentating) at his most excitable!

hot! hot! hot! (Eagleman 70.3 Race Report)

2008-06-12T16:02:00.000-07:00

I had been really looking forward to this race and hoping to finish even faster than my PR day last year. I have recently changed up my training routine some and noted some good improvements in training, particularly in my swim and bike…..That was until a) I foolishly thrashed my body water skiing the weekend before the race resulting in severe aches and pains throughout most of last week and b) finding out the race day weather forecast – 95F and insane humidity! Still – I was raring to go and felt great race morning, albeit hot and sticky as I entered the Choptank River in my wetsuit.

The Swim (36:40)
For once the Choptank river was not living up to its name and instead was as calm as a mill pond. I positioned myself way to the right of the field to try to avoid too much hustle and bustle and took a few warm up strokes prior to start to loosen things up. From the gun I managed to avoid too much contact and soon settled into a strong rhythm that I felt I could sustain for the distance. I actually really enjoyed the swim for a change and definitely noticed my improve swim fitness towards the end as I felt strong throughout. I was slightly disappointed to see my split being slower than last year but realized the current in the river was probably against our favor so remained positive.

Coming out of the water

T1 (2:53)
Pretty uneventful although I did notice a few more bikes than usual in my section of transition so this gave me some confidence of an improved swim relative to my peers. The aero helmet straps present the usual fumbling but not too many lost seconds and I was soon on my way.

The Bike (2:32:13)
I did a race rehearsal 2 weeks ago at goal watts and felt perfect so I knew this was purely going to be a repeat exercise in patience and execution rather than any racing and I just went with my power meter for pacing right from the start. In my race rehearsal I had learned that in the past I had perhaps tried to consume too many calories on the bike which had led to bloating and discomfort on the run so today I went exactly as rehearsed and it worked perfectly. 2x nuun tabs, 2 ½ scoops of carbo pro, 2 gu packets and water was all I took and finally everything was absorbed without issue. By Mile 40 I had been steadily passing people and noticed there seemed to be a lot fewer folks on the course this year than last. This was probably due to me starting in a prior wave but probably also due to many people opting not to start the race due to the ridiculous weather. And then came a fairly large pack of about 8 guys, some of them guys I had passed in my AG earlier and others from the wave behind catching up and for the next 10 miles or so my even pacing strategy went a little out of the window. Although I a pack, for the most part everyone was proactively trying to ride the legal distance apart but the congestion added a new twist to what had been a pretty mindless pacing effort until this point. For a while I had to keep make surges to re-pass the group as they slowed and then had to soft pedal or coast to drop back when they pulled past and cut in right in front of me which was a little frustrating. I missed a water bottle hand off at the final aid station which came up much sooner than expected but thankfully one of the guys in the group offered up half his bottle. (thank you Scott from Maryland Tri club – you saved my race as that water was just enough to get me into t2!) After about 5 miles the group finally seemed to drop off the back but they caught and passed me again about mile 50 when I started to cramp up in my backside and hamstrings. I had been aero the whole time until now and pedaling constantly but I think the water skiing aches had finally caught up with me and returned sporadically for the remainder of the bike. I was optimistic they would not impact my run but for the next 5 miles my avg watts dropped fairly significantly as I would stand, coast, stretch etc.. every few mins to try to get rid of the pain. Coming into T2 I watch the seconds tick by and noted my split would be pretty much identical to last year. However, I noted during the ride how using the power meter for pacing had made me much more even than normal where I would inadvertently surge and then slow down even though I thought I was pacing evenly. I also felt incredibly fresh despite the heat of the day and was now ready for the most challenging part of the day in this weather.

Early in the race, no one around :)

Later in the bike, pulling along the Peleton :(

(Scroll down for Bike Power data)

T2 (1:42)
No messing around: rack bike, take off helmet, put on shoes, go. Wasn’t really going all out for the fastest T2 award but efficient enough.

The Run (1:50:18)
Last year I had an amazing run in this race and I felt my speed coming into the race was at least as fast as last year but my long runs had been sporadic at best in the last 2 months so the endurance could be questionable. I started out very conservatively in the heat and soon noted the lack of obvious mile markers so my pace was something of a mystery. I was pretty much passing people and only rarely being passed and I had no GI issues so my attention was focused on keeping cool and getting adequate but not too much hydration and nutrition to no upset the apple cart. From the first aid station I tried the “ice in the running hat” trick for the first time and was quite amazed how effective it was at keeping the core temperature down. As the ice typically melted a minute or so before the next aid station it became obvious how quickly things heated up without it so I knew I was onto something good and kept at it. I hit the turn around at mile 6.55 at exactly 50mins so got the first indication of my pacing. While certainly not close to my previous time on this course I was relatively pleased as I still felt I would have enough gas to pick things up in the last few miles and negative split the run. Then things started to go a little down hill. On the way back the aid stations were not in reverse order with ice coming up first which meant I had to stop to fill my cap before taking water/coke for drinking. I also had to make a bathroom stop so this started to cost me some time. Somewhere in the middle of the course there was a long stretch between aid stations which also seemed to be the most exposed and felt incredibly hot. This section really took its toll and I could feel my pace beginning to slow. By the time I got to the next aid station I was desperate for fluids and downed was too much water and coke. Minutes later I paid for this with a painful side stitch and was reduced to a combination of walk and jogging for the next mile or so until it miraculously disappeared just before the final aid station. Foolishly I didn’t take any ice or fluids at this stop and my pace ground down to a virtual crawl as I seriously started to over heat. By the time I hit the finishing chute I had nothing left in me to pick up the pace even slightly and I literally could barely walk another meter once I crossed the finish line. Following a 20minute lie down with a few bags of ice in the med tent I took a nice long dip in the river which was literally the most pleasant part of the day!

Although my time was 21 mins slower than last year I am very pleased with the outcome of the race and particularly my progress in the swim and bike. I finished a good 10% higher relative to the field this year in both those disciplines which gives me a lot of confidence the changes I am making to my training.

Fairly early in the run

Finish Time 5:03:44
142nd /1382 overall
26th /207 in M35-39 Age Group.

So with IMAZ in April, that is two races done this year and both in 95F+ weather conditions! Next race I hope for a bit of a break in the weather department! Even rain would be a pleasure!

Afterwards - please to have finished!

Bike Power Data
FT is 239, Goal Watts 198 (IF 0.83/TSS 173)

Entire 56 miles:
Duration: 2:32:00
TSS: 172.3 (intensity factor 0.825)
Norm Power: 197
VI: 1.02
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 664 194 watts
Cadence: 51 108 92 rpm
Speed: 5.7 27 22.5 mph
Temperature: 82.4 95 88.9 Fahrenheit

first half:
Duration: 1:15:55
TSS: 87.6 (intensity factor 0.832)
Norm Power: 199
VI: 1.01

Min Max Avg
Power: 0 518 197 watts
Cadence: 53 106 92 rpm
Speed: 11.1 25.9 22.5 mph
Temperature: 82.4 89.6 85.3 Fahrenheit

Second Half
Duration: 1:16:10
TSS: 84.8 (intensity factor 0.817)
Norm Power: 195
VI: 1.03
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 664 190 watts
Cadence: 51 108 91 rpm
Speed: 5.7 27 22.5 mph
Temperature: 89.6 95 92.4 Fahrenheit

a swimming mom...pretty amazing!

2008-06-06T14:01:00.001-07:00

End of the school year

2008-06-06T06:09:00.000-07:00

Lucy's time at Coconut Grove Montessori has come to an end :(

Graduation was on Wednesday and yesterday was their final day. She will miss her buddy Valentin.

Lucy and Valentin

Another reminder of younger Bob...

2008-06-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

Here's our lass aged 18 months in Queenstown, NZ

It's a hard life living in Florida...

2008-06-02T15:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a very fun and hectic weekend between stints of tedious tidying up necessary for getting the apartment ready to sell...

Saturday we went to visit Lucy's beau Valentin, his sister Josephine and mom Erika (Father Emanuel was away in France for work/family visit). The weather was superb so we spent much of the time playing in the yard, in and out of the pool and eating Brazilian snacks. Some photos below. Later we went to dinner on the Miracle Mile in Coral Gables and Lucy got to stay up WAY past her bedtime and ended up hitting the pillow around 9pm!

Lucy pretending to "go to the bathroom"

Lucy carefully considering a Marriage Proposal by Valentin

Valentin didn't take too kindly to the rejection

Sunday morning we were up bright and early for a day of boating on the bay with Charlotte's former boss and some colleagues. We spent most of the morning zipping around taking turns to water ski and i managed to learn how to mono-ski for the first time - naturally I was up and doing turns on the second attempt ;) We then moored the boat close to a sandbar and hung out for the afternoon relaxing in the sunshine, eating etc.. Was a lot of fun and we call caught our fair share of rosey-skin before returning back to dry land on Key Biscayne about 5pm. Our final social commitment was then a quick BBQ at our neighbours Lyndsey and Jason. They had a few other friends visiting and we went round for some hot dogs and the like before returning to more cleaning up and bed for Bob. A very fun but exhausting weekend was had by all.

Today (Monday) I am feeling stiff as a board and sore from head to toe from the waterskiing!

Little Bob...

2008-05-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

Now Lucy is 2 and a little girl i thought it might be fun to remember her as a little squirt.... :)

and one from when she was even younger:

some nice publicity for true motion...

2008-05-29T07:40:00.000-07:00

have a look at this interview....

popcorn and twizzlers...

2008-05-23T19:41:00.000-07:00

a short movie clip from Ironman Arizona...filming by my dad, very poor attempt at editing by me :)

Bob turns 2!

2008-05-20T15:23:00.000-07:00

Saturday May 17th marked Lucy's second birthday so we invited a bunch of people round for her birthday celebration. The VIP guest for the day was Lucy's special friend Valentin, her glamorous half French/half Brazilian sweet heart from Coconut Grove Montessori. We also had a bunch of other kids and their parents (mostly our friends or Charlotte's colleagues) and had a good old time.

Charlotte did a splendid job of planning a "Go Diego Go" themed party with lots of decorations, games and toys for the kids. We also had a small buffet and of course the Kid favorites of Pizza and PBJ's didn't last long as the parents seemed to prefer them over the more adult oriented hors d' 0euvres!

Lucy of course was very spoiled with lots of gifts and thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention! The finale was a purple Dora the Explorer cake with Peanut Butter Ice cream inside.

Poor Lucy was worn out by the end of the day but as you can imagine didn't want the day to end so going to sleep that night was a little more work than normal!

The calm before the storm:

Paul, Charlotte and Lucy

Christy, Mauricio and Lucy

Lucy assisted by Valentin

Lucy's cousin Sotiri

Lucy applying her lipstick

Josephine (no relation to Napoleon but she IS half French...)

Christy, Max and Lucy

Mile Marker 68

2008-05-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

So last weekend, C and I had a little escape to the Florida Keys. For those who don't know what the keys are, they are a string of tiny islands off the south coast of Florida connected by a single road featuring MANY bridges. The final key at the end of it all is Key West which everyone must have heard of? Well anyway, we didn't go that far - we stayed at mile marker 68 (not literally camping on the side of the highway of course...in a b&b type place overlooking the water). We did make it as far as mile marker 55ish but still a long way from Key West which is at Mile Marker 0.

Here are a few pics taken between some hardcore relaxation :)

View of absolutely nothing from the Poolside:

More of almost nothing...

Wow - the excitement of a dolphin! That's as good as it gets for this blog..we were just too busy relaxing to take more photos ;)

PS For those of you who are "Key impaired" - Mile marker 68 is in Long Key. We had a quick peek at Conch Key, Spent much of Saturday at Duck Key and had dinner at Key Largo and Key Colony Beach.

4 years and a day...

2008-05-09T09:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Charlotte and I celebrated 4 years of marital bliss! :)

It's hard to believe Lucy is almost 2 years old already and that 4 years have passed since we were married in Barbados. We were truly blessed to have an entire week long party for our Wedding shared by (most of) our families and good friends.

Here's a pic from the cocktail hour, shortly before we sat down for dinner...

...and in the background is the raft where I went on to lose my wedding ring about 5 hours later. (it was found by sister-in-law Anne thanks to her superb diving and seeing-in-the-darkness skills!)

Overcome with excitement!

2008-05-07T16:10:00.001-07:00

wow. wow. WOW!! (can you tell i am excited yet??)

First off, Lucy just told me she wanted to go potty. She's been saying it now and again lately but without anything coming to fruition. HOWEVER, this time she actually had a dry diaper at the time so off went went to the bathroom and i sat her down. Lo and behold! A few grunts and a bit of gritting the teeth later we had a small pool of liquid in the potty! And then a bit more. And then more still... Totally exciting stuff for both father and daughter!! I showed her some TP and explained how to use it and then we flushed everything down the loo before washing our hands with soap and water. What a performance!! Looks like we are finally turning down the road of potty training!

Of course, we'd just been watching "Go Diego Go" so perhaps she was all inspired to do a pee pee in the Deigo potty?

Other exciting news from today...

So we (True-Motion) just got our first proper product review on a tri website.. Feel free to have a read if you like: XTRI.com

So far we have have some very positive feedback about all the features we packed into the jacket so hopefully this will help spread the word a little wider and get us great exposure....

mmmm....tasty!

2008-05-05T07:13:00.001-07:00

I picked up my new tri bike on Saturday...

Side view in all its glory!

It is built a few changes from the standard build:
* Ergomo Power Meter w/ FSA crankset
* Dura Ace Brake Calipers
* Fi'z'ik Arione Saddle
* Zipp Wheels - Note the old skool front wheel ;)

Rear view - nice and sharp!

frontal aerodynamics - cuts through the wind like a hot knife through butter!

staring at the ceiling

2008-04-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

Yep. I am pretty certain that must have been caffeinated coffee I was given after dinner because its now 12am and I'm still staring at the ceiling. Correction, I am staring into a black abyss but I'm pretty certain there would be a ceiling if I turned on the light.

Speaking of which, I am considering turning on the light to check if charlotte has a handsaw and a pile of logs over on her side of the bed. Or is she just snoring?

Don't worry, I haven't been wasting my time laying here for the past few hours. I am almost done with inventing a special handheld cooling device for people running long distances in hot weather.I can tell you it involves a CO2 cartridge to provide the necessary coolant but I'm still working out the final details so I don't expect production to start before the morning.

PS we found coco the bear halfway up a fig tree and lucy has been sleeping like a baby since. (Like a baby that sleeps continuously for 12 hour periods, not the type that wakes up screaming on the hour thankfully)

it's a DRY heat...

2008-04-26T09:25:00.000-07:00

Well - I mentioned a few days ago I did the Ironman in Tempe, Arizona the other week. I wrote this report up about a week ago but now i am a "blogger" I suppose I ought to post it up here for posterity....

So here is the story of the day:

Ironman Arizona, Tempe, AZ - April 13th 2008.

I woke up at about 3:30am, 30mins before my alarm and felt noticeably more calm than I had prior to my previous ironman races - the benefit of having a 3 hr time difference in my favor meant I had been able to sleep since 8pm so I felt nicely rested and ready to go. I had applied a layer of sunscreen the night before in order to maximize absorption and applied a second layer before dressing. Although it was forecast to be a very hot day the mornings are quite cool in the desert so my new True-Motion Transition jacket with a toasty fleece lining was perfect for wearing until it was time to put on my wetsuit. Breakfast was a peanut butter and jelly bagel and a banana at 4:30am and I steadily sipped a bottle of water with one scoop of carbo pro between then and the race start.

Upon arrival in Transition I set about completing my bike setup adding my powermeter, waterbottles, taping a banana to the aerobars and inflating my tires. The next task was body marking so I found two volunteers with marker pens wearing my T-Zero jacket and said to them "How do you like these sleeve zips??" with a grin. They took one sleeve each, unzipped and wrote my number 697 on my upper arm and zipped them back up - easy! I spent the next 15mins sitting by my bike listening to my ipod going over my race plan one more time and then found my family for a few last minute "good luck"s before donning my wetsuit and heading to the start.

Swim
I started out all the way on the left side about 10m back from the start line hoping to avoid too much congestion. There was some physical contact during first 10 mins or so but nothing like I had experienced in Lake placid which is a much narrower start and i was able to keep my mind focused on my stroke rather than avoiding a beating which helped me relax into a nice rhythm. Swimming into the sun meant sighting was virtually impossible so i just went with the flow and ended up staying pretty close to the buoys. This probably cost a few seconds rather than taking a more direct route to the turn around on the slight dog leg course. Being a one lap swim made the feel really long so i had no idea if i was swimming well or not. On the return portion i ended up going quite wide to the right and although I enjoyed the lack of congestion i again probably swam a little further than normal. I exited the swim in 1:09:57 which was a PR by about 2 mins so I was encouraged as I head off into T1 to prepare for the bike. The swim is always my least favorite discipline so I always feel good running into T1!

T1
Being a pretty average swimmer the transition tent is usually a mob scene for me in T1 so I opted for grabbing my T1 bag and sitting on the grass outside the tent to give myself more room. I made the mistake of not clearing the grassing cuttings off my feet when I put on my bike shoes which proved to be somewhat annoying during the bike but fortunately didn’t cause any blisters. I put on my aero helmet and sunglasses, handed off my T1 bag to a volunteer, was lathered up with more sunscreen by more volunteers and ran off to pick up my bike.

Bike
Having a powermeter on my bike for the first time in a race was to make pacing a simple numbers game and had eliminated a lot of the normal pre-race anxiety I might have about not going too hard to blow up my run. The plan was to ride the course at an average of 73% of my threshold power which I had calculated 3 weeks prior so all I had to do in theory was pay attention to the powermeter and ignore all the riders around me. The out portion of each lap was directly into a very strong headwind so the powermeter was invaluable in keeping my mind positive as watching speeds often as low as 14 and 15mph would have been very depressing had I not been able to see I was doing the appropriate amount of work. During the latter portion of the swim I started getting some abdominal discomfort and this was getting progressively worse on the bike so after the turn around I decided to take a quick pit stop at the aid station. I immediately felt much better and the slight downhill and strong tailwind for the return portion meant I was soon hitting 35mph and flying passed others as I aimed to keep my watts close to my goal. Coming into town for the start of the second loop I felt great and although my average watts were about 69% my average speed was now above expected so I was feeling positive about a great bike split. As I made my way through the second loop I noticed my Heart Rate start to rise along with the air temperature and it started to get more difficult to ride even just below my goal watts. On the final loop this got much worse and I started to get very frustrated as a struggled more and more to generate the watts and was feeling pretty rough. In my training rides I was comfortable riding at over 80% towards the end of my 5 and 6 hr rides so it was really demoralizing to barely hit 60% on race day trying to keep my HR and perceived exertion in check. I stayed focused on being as aero as possible to minimize the time damage but was pretty miserable and took two bathroom stops, probably more for a mental break than anything else! The final tailwind made me feel a little better coming back into T2 but I was certainly not enjoying myself and desperate to get onto the run course. On reflection i think the deterioration in the second half of the bike was probably due to cooking my brain inside my aero helmet as i was having no real problems getting the nutrition down...

Nutrition on the bike went down exactly as planned:
One banana, 4 bottles of Carbo pro (3 scoops with 2 nuun tabs in each), 3 gels, about 6 or 7 salt pills plus a bottle of water either drunk or poured over me for every aid station (~ every 10 miles)

(see bottom of report if you care to see the power data from my ergomo)

T2
I entered the T2 tent extremely relieved to be off the bike but at the same time anxious how well I would fair running in the 95F heat. The volunteers were as exceptional as ever, putting cold wet towels on my neck while I put on my runners, soaking my running hat with iced water and applying sunscreen. I overheard a guy next to me say “it was not going to be a PR day” which gave me a much needed push to reassess my goals for the race. My only real goal prior to starting had been to run an exceptional marathon and hopefully get under three and a half hours but I knew with the conditions of the day I needed to simply run as well as I could relative to the field and forget about any time goals.

The Run

Starting out on the marathon my plan to keep cool was to wear a latex glove and have it filled with ice at each aid station, the theory being that cooling the blood in the hand would then flow through the body and hence work as a central cooling system. I quickly discovered while this would certainly help keep my core cool the extra dry conditions would also require much greater fluid ingestion than normal so I knew it was going to be a delicate balance getting in enough fluid and calories without creating any dreaded GI distress. By mile three I was feeling really lousy and as the course makes a return to transition area soon after I was seriously thinking about calling it a day. However, I then realized I was actually running pretty well relative to everyone else on the course and continuously passing people so this helped start to turn things around. By the fourth aid station I had figured out the “system” that seemed to work at each aid station and made a decision to stick with this routine for the remainder of the race. I slowed to a walk, took put three wet sponges down my tri top, downed some water, put ice in my glove, downed some coke, sipped some more water and threw a bunch over my head and over the sponges in my top and got straight back into running. I knew I was walking a fine line between getting in enough fluids and having a stomach explosion so I forced myself to keep the pace steady – better to be able to maintain this pace throughout than create serious issues in my stomach and end up having to walk. For the same reason I opted to avoid the gels I was planning to use and simply have coke and water for the whole marathon and thankfully the plan seemed to work just fine. After the first loop I started to feel pretty good, my legs felt reasonably fresh so I became confident I could sustain my pace through the finish. I actually enjoyed both the 2nd and final loops of the run and sure enough barely dropped my pace as more and more of the people I was passing were now walking something of a death march. I ran down the finish chute high fiving the crowd and took some time to enjoy the moment. Although I’d not biked and run quite as fast as I was hoping I was thrilled with how well I had executed the race in these circumstances and especially hold a down virtually even paced marathon together. Final marathon time was 3:42:56 (run splits below)

Overall finish time 10:51:05 :beer:

Charlotte, Lucy and I shortly after the finish...

Run splits:
1 0:08:36
2 0:07:51
3 0:08:39
4 0:08:32
5 0:08:32
6 0:08:47
7 0:08:26
8 0:08:26
9 0:08:20
10 0:08:06
11 0:08:11
12 0:08:33
13 0:08:33
14 0:08:19
15 0:08:56
16 0:08:33
17 0:08:29
18 0:08:29
19 0:08:37
20 0:08:39
21 0:08:35
22 0:08:35
23 0:09:03
24 0:08:53
25 0:08:35
26.2 0:09:37

Bike Power Data:
lap 1:
Duration: 1:49:05 (1:49:52)
Work: 1008 kJ
TSS: 88.8 (intensity factor 0.699)
Norm Power: 156
VI: 1.01
Distance: 37.521 mi
Heart Rate: 140 bpm
Cadence: 94 rpm
Speed: 20.6 mph
Temperature: 87.3 Fahrenheit

lap 2:
Duration: 1:49:00 (1:49:13)
Work: 974 kJ
TSS: 83.6 (intensity factor 0.679)
Norm Power: 151
VI: 1.02
Distance: 35.519 mi
Heart Rate: 148 bpm
Cadence: 93 rpm
Speed: 19.6 mph
Temperature: 101.5 Fahrenheit

lap 3:
Duration: 2:08:40 (2:12:19)
Work: 1001 kJ
TSS: 77.2 (intensity factor 0.6)
Norm Power: 134
VI: 1.03
Distance: 39.817 mi
Heart Rate: 146 bpm
Cadence: 90 rpm
Speed: 18.6 mph
Temperature: 105.2 Fahrenheit

Entire workout (143 watts):
Duration: 5:46:50 (5:51:29)
Work: 2982 kJ
TSS: 251.8 (intensity factor 0.66)
Norm Power: 147
VI: 1.03
Distance: 112.863 mi
Heart Rate: 145 bpm
Cadence: 92 rpm
Speed: 19.5 mph
Temperature: 98.4 Fahrenheit

Emergency on planet earth

2008-04-26T08:55:00.001-07:00

We have a bit of an Emergency right now....It's Lucy's nap time but we can't find Coco the Bear! We had a bit of a throwing-up incident in the car seat last night and Coco ended up going for a swim in the carrot soup. Fortunately we managed to toss him in the washing machine overnight and Shamu the stuffed killer whale seemed to suffice as cuddly toy of choice for the night. But no longer will he do. Now we need Coco and we can't find him! I checked the dryer - no joy. I checked the balcony - no joy.

As if it wasn't bad enough that I tore Lucy away from the jar of peanut butter...

new calling?

2008-04-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

So I went to the bike shop today to get measured for a new bike. The guy took a bunch of different measurements of my anatomy and said "you know, if the triathlon thing doesn't work out for you, perhaps you should take up boxing?"

I thought about giving him a left hook and then I realized he was telling I have extra long arms! Good to know I suppose and I'll have to think of a few advantages this gives me in life...

Still, not sure how appealing boxing would be. I guess he didn't notice how big a target my nose would present to any would be pugilist?

Out West

2008-04-24T18:48:00.000-07:00

So this is a bit late but since I only started the blog today, I feel like playing a little Catch up...

The family were on vacation last week...The Family meaning not only Charlotte, Lucy and I but also Gran and Grandad who were visting from the UK.

The first part of the vacation involved 4 days in Tempe Arizona. I was participating in the Ironman Triathlon and in fact for this leg of the trip we had even more family with us - Charlotte's father Peter and his wife Chris joined the cheering crew for a very long day in the desert. (More about that later...).

So here is a pic from the Desert:

That's me and my mom (aka Gran) - the picture was taken the day after the race which might explain why I am looking a little malnourished. btw, behind us is a Cactus, not Grandad. He is a little less prickly, even when he hasn't shaved for a day or two.

Following on from Arizona we took a drive across the desert in our own version of the Mystery Machine with Grandad at the helm, Charlotte as first officer, Lucy and Gran blowing bubbles and me trying to avoid turning green with my head between my knees. After about 4 hrs of desert we had seen plenty of cacti and plenty of REALLY LOOOOONG freight trains so we decided it would be fun to watch the temperature gauge drop as we Ascended the mountains along Interstate Route 10. Starting temp a sea level was 99F (we did actually hit 100F earlier though - woo hoo!) and as we gained elevation the levels of excitement inside the car reached titanic levels as we watch the temperature drop before our eyes. By the summit at 4,400ft we had dropped 30 degrees of Fahrenheit to an astonishing 69F! Can you believe it? Nor could we. OK, now i am rambling...

Approximately 6hrs post departure we arrived in the beautiful Island of Coronado. This was home for 3 nights staying with the Maden Family (Ken and Joan) who have been family friends for over 20 years. During our stay in San Diego we took in a ball game at Petco Park (my first visit to the relatively new home of my team the Padres) and Lucy made her first trip to Sea World. She was thrilled with all the shows loving Shamu, Dolly the dolphin and the Seals but I think her favorite was seeing the cats and dogs as she's a lot more familiar with them.

The final stage of the trip was spent in Huntington Beach visiting Charlotte's Aunt Cary and her husband Joe. We of course HAD to take in a day at Disney being so Close and below is a picture of Lucy riding the Carousel.

Here is Lucy, Granddad and a cow. (Gran would point out that Grandad is the one in the baseball cap)

The final stop on the tour was to In-n-out burger. Normally it is absolutely my first port of call when landing in California but my stomach hadn't been feeling 100% since the race so I only made it in the nick of time before we left. The usual order of 2 double doubles animal style of course but this time I added an order of Animal Style Fries. During my last visit to Cali, Fries had been on the banned list so this was the first time I'd been able to sample the animal fries. would i recommend them? hmmmm...perhaps without animal style burgers! (just a bit too much animal going on if you ask me...). I'll see if i can find a pic to post later...

EDIT: Here's a pic. Looking more delicious as the memory of in-n-out grows fonder.

first day stuff..

2008-04-24T07:11:00.000-07:00

Wow. I did it. I have landed safely in the nerd kingdom of Blogosphere. Hmmm...the weather seems fine and the ice cream is delicioso! Perhaps I'll stick around...