Vendetta creation

Not me (its Cam Watt), but it's my wetsuit creation - the Vendetta. I like this photo because you can see the little dimples and I'd rather be in Australia creating wetsuits. This wetsuit is awesome, and you can read more about it at www.xterrawetsuits.com. I'll be racing in one at IMC next month.

Hula Hoop on the Roof

I think this hula hoop only cost $1.99 at Vons. Rip picked it out herself while we were shopping the other day. The woman in line behind us had the gall to say to me: "Don't you think that's a little too big for your daughter?" Boy, talk about minding your own business. What I should have done is turned to Rip and told her: "That woman says No Hula Hoop." The screaming would have caused the woman to have a heart attack.

$1.99 is probably some of the best money well spent. We've hula hooped in pink bedroom, on the couch, watching TV, on top of Stevie (or whacking her head), and on the roof. On the roof is probably the best, and so this is a phot of us finding the perfect place to hula hoop on the deck upstairs.

Bloody Nose - Ripples meets the Badger

I'm "in charge" of Ripples and Stevie every Monday and Wednesday morning. Not that I'm not in charge of them at other times, but on these days my wife hangs out with some surfer-dude at the gym while I am responsible for making sure that the kids are up, fed, etc..

The Badger Hinault went on to win the TdF after a bad crash and a bloody nose. That was the lesson I was trying to teach Ripples the other morning.

She didn't cry. In fact, she has a very high pain tolerance.

La Jolla

In mid-March 08, I abandoned ship (e.g. quit my law practice), purchased a pair of shades for Liz Stevie, and moved to La Jolla, California. Here, I'm working with my former law partner, Brian, who was thrown overboard last July 4, 07, making the fastest triathlon wetsuits known to mankind.

I'm racing Ironman Canada in almost exactly 1 month, and I'm going to try to blog every day until then.

Seeing (C) different in Kona

There's no way to explain what it is like to race Kona in the heat, in pain, with nothing but lava for all but the swim.

The way to pass the time on the swim is to look at the fish below.

The way to pass the time on the bike is to look at the ocean on your left (up to Hawi) and on your right (back into Kona).

The way to pass the time and dull the pain on the run is to watch the smiles of the volunteers as you pass.

Both of these fine men were able to enjoy the scenery. Matt did it with his eyes. Charlie saw it better, though, by absorbing the sounds of every drop of sweat dripping from the athletes he passed, and listening to the waves crash from just feet from Alii to miles on the Queen K. Check out "C Different Foundation" (Matt Miller, president)

Bathroom Lines are Long

The lines for the bathroom are crazy here in Kona. You'd swear they were handing out candy or money. From left to right - from 3rd to 9th - Torbjorn Sinballe, Tim DeBoom, Marino Vanhoenacker, Chris Lieto (biker extraordinaire), Eneko Llanos, Luc Van Lierde & Austin's own (or so we're claiming) Michael Lovato.

One is an ATC sponsored athlete

Last night I was trying to recruit these guys to also be ATC transition sponsored athletes. Macca's T1 time was slower than both Craig Alexander's time this year and my T1 time last year. Transitions are "free time." Though, Macca didn't need it.

Geoff Cleveland hitting T1

Geoff was the 7th age-grouper out of the water. He was in the chase pack with Paul O'Brian and Ian Young. Geoff's from Phoenix and is in the Air Force. He's been to Kona a few times, and today did some of the pulling in the 2.4 mile swim.

Ian Young exits in style

Ian Young (Men's 25-29) exits the water in 52 minutes. He and Paul O'Brian worked together in their Xterra Velocity Speedsuits. Paul was 4th out of the water, and Ian was 5th, amongst the age-groupers who at this point were on for a great race.

Stripping to his ATC Garb

Fresh out of the water in 49 minutes, MarkyV has time to pose for a few shots as he strips.
Underneath his speedsuit Mark has his bright yellow Austin Tri Cyclist jersey. The shirt was certainly one of the brightest one's out there on the course making it easier for the cameras to spot. Mark zipped through T1 and proceeded with a 4:50 bike.

First Green Cap

A cheer goes up as the first green cap (#1703) reaches the steps. He was unexpected so it takes a few seconds for the announcer to scroll into the 1700s to find his name. Eventually they find it, Mark Van Akkeren, an age grouper wearing an Xterra Velocity speedsuit. Mark is currently living in Boulder, but is really from Austin.

Reinhart exits

Jennifer exited the water. Like Fish (see below), she pulled a bunch of boys and finished in 1:01.

Reinhart Rocks

Jennifer Reinhart looks poised for the race start. She eventually came out of the water 3rd in her age group. I always try to get on her feet in the water if we are racing together. I only managed to hang on once.

Fish out of Water

Here's Andrea Fisher relaxing pool-side at the King Kam hotel just minutes before the race start. Her tri-sherpa would not provide his name, but he looks pretty fit as well. Fish is the head coach for TexasIron, based out of Austin. Fish eventually swam 2.4 miles in 53 minutes, pulling a bunch of boys along the way.

Lovato running smoothly

Lovato looked soooo smooth at this point in the race. Although a bit behind, he was really running like he could catch almost everyone in front of him, especially if any of them faltered. Ultimately he was 9th overall and probably should have caught Luc (3 minutes ahead) except he stopped for photographs up Palani Road with some athletes from Austin and for a latte at Lava Java.

Rob Chance on Cruise Control

Here's Rob Chance, who is the only triathlete from Tulsa to make an appearance in Kona this year. In addition to being 2nd out of the water in his age group (also in an XTERRA Velocity speedsuit), Rob pushed himself on the run to make it on the podium. He's not racing Kona next year because it is his wife's turn to shine on the lava fields.

Speedy Stephan Schwarze

Crusing to a 3:06 marathon, Stephan looks good and poses for the camera. Stephan has had the fastest overall age-group run, and today put himself on the podium.

MarkyV leads the race

Here's Mark Van Akkeren on Alii Drive, just before St. Peters (about mile 4.5 of the run). He's leading the age groupers at this point with 2 guys in the hunt 2 minutes behind. I didn't capture the grimace on his face from a bad back.

Macca on Alii Drive

At this point in the race, after the St. Peter's turn around, Macca was clearly in control of the race.

World Famous Cheerleader

With a cowbell in hand, World-Famous Ripples cheers athletes at the Longhorn Triathlon Festival this first full weekend in October.

Rip is sponsored by Puma and is looking for other sponsorship opportunities.

Taking the Tagents - Smoking at Age 66

Susan Wallace totally dominated the field and her age-group, beating all other women over 60 and placing 3rd amongst both men and women over 60. Here, she's passing a Jack & Adam's fella by taking the tangents, a trick she learned from her son Chris Rulon (another fine triathlete that just aged out of my age-group so I have a breather for a few years).

First Prize to the Men's & Women's Winner

Here we have the Texas "everything" : the State mascot, the State tree, the State flag, the State grass, and the State Ripples.
The overall male winner got to take home to Colorado one of these beasts. The overall female winner instead turned her prize Longhorn in for a life-time supply of Ripples' hugs.

Shade .... finally

There was no shade on the race course. None. Athlete were drafting on the run trying to get in the shadow of the Texas sun. But, the sun seemed to always be beating down on the racers.

If anyone compares the heat and humidity of Austin this weekend to Chicago you'll see that Austin was much worse.

Anne finds Tim hanging out in the massage tent

Usually Tim is at the massage parlor. Anne found him post-massage with this silly grin on his face.

If you didn't see Anne on the course this weekend it was because she was smoking fast. She gave Tim a 10 minute head start and started hunting him down on the run. Tim had lots of athletes giving him splits on Anne's time, which is kind of unfair but that's the way Tim works when a year-supply of massages is on the line.

Free saline

At mile 13.11 of the race, Seton Medical Center sponsored their own aid-station.

Louie explains to Geoff what he did wrong

Louie, having just finished up with an Ironman, explains to Geoff that taking nutrition on odd-numbered aid stations only is meant for Sprint triathlons and not Half-ironmans.

Geoff, still in a daze, puts a towel to his face and explains: "Yikes, I thought I was doing something wrong by skipping all the free water and cola at even-numbered stations."

TexasIron athletes have lots of tricks to winning races. But, Geoff's strategy is not one of them.

Take that!! Love, Geoff

Local folk-hero, Geoff Whitfield, squeezes in a sub-4:40 half ironman. What is even more amazing is that Geoff only took nutrition at odd-numbered aid stations. Strange, but true. Geoff has his sites on Kona next year, passing all Full-Ironman races this year to hang out with his cute daughter.

Geoff is another TexasIron athlete who can train in his sleep.