August. Good stuff.

Update for early August. A happily busy peak of summer season.

First, reunion weekend 8/3. So many people = great. So little time = not so great. No good deed goes unpunished: Eileen Pulls off a helluva reunion and then suffers an injury. Get well Eileen. Put that foot up and have some cold bev. Better coverage of the reunion here and here.

Then, a killer training weekend 9/10, now a race weekend 9/17. Followed by weekend races in September along with a weekend in NYC. Love it.

Note: If you've missed the pics from his trip out to California, it's well worth jumping over to the 5th kid's blog entry and photo show.

On to a not too geeky report on my jaunt out to Deep Creek 8/9-10. Rode the Savageman Half (9/21 race) course a couple times. Had long been looking fwd to it. Grateful to be healthy enough to do it. Drove 3hrs up Fri. afternoon, back Sun. afternoon.The weather cooperated. No rain, little wind, lows around 50, highs ~72F.

The weekend was bike focused. Lots of riding, lots riding uphill and generally flogging myself silly. A little optional swimming and running. Oh, and much eating (an underrated aspect of the tri life). My road bike with the triple ring was the machine of choice. I spent a lot of time in the granny gear.

They've added a nasty climb to the already evil race course, nasty and evil in a cyclist's heaven kind of way. Saw plenty of racers similarly scoping the course. DC groups, Baltimore folks, Morgantown people.

20mile cruise followed
by 35miles of
suffering

Sat.: Rode the course with some other DC area knuckleheads, Frequent stops and some social riding allowed me to eat plenty, recover some from climbs and enjoy the views. Post ride food, recovered and then hit the clear crisp lake water for a short swim with transition to a 35min easy run.

Total ride time: 4:49
Stoppage time: 46mins
Rolling: 4:03 (hill crest noodling included)

Sun.: Rode the course again with a different mix of folks. Less noodling, chatting. The last 10miles seemed a whole lot lumpier than Sat. Wooden legs. Wet, heavy, blocky, hardwood. Standing in the pedals for the final climbs, I feared I might go rubbery and crack all together. Transition straight into a 35-40min run. Tried to run with some purpose (tried). Clean up, stretch. Drive home.

Total ride time: 3:56
Stoppage time: 23mins

Rolling time: 3:33

Bike time for the 2007 Race - 3hrs 40 for the bike, including 4mins in pit stops.

2008 Race goal: 6hrs
Swim: :35mins
T1: :5mins
Bike: 3:30
T2: 3mins
Run: 1:47
Total - 6hrs

*Gas for $3.55 along 68 on the return drive.