OWS in my Helix Wetsuit

With all the clouds and rain in Georgia lately I had the opportunity on Tuesday to wear my wetsuit far sooner in the year that I would have expected.  The water temperature was still 81-degrees which was a few degrees warmer than the air temperature.

After some wrangling I finally got my wetsuit on.  Fortunately I just found the two sticks of Bodyglide and one can of TriSlide that I misplaced during the Try Charleston 70.3 back in April.  That was a bad weekend. It's a shame that I replaced them both already.  I'm sure it will all get used between now and November.

This was only my second time wearing the Helix wetsuit and I found that it sure was hard to get into and out of.  I'll need the services of a stripper until it gets stretched out.  

I didn't notice any drastic increase in my pace but that should come.  I need to get in the water with my kick board and learn to use my legs more effectively.

After the swim I ran 6.1 miles on my usual course on Emerald Drive.  I've got to pat myself on the back because I had only a few hours of sleep that morning before biting the bullet and sticking to my plan.  It would have been real easy to stay on the couch and watch TV.  It's so easy to get behind the curve when I miss a day.

Thanks for reading.

German Food at the Macie's

Susan and I spent Saturday afternoon and evening with our friends Mary Ann and Jim Macie.  They had some relatives, friends and neighbors over for a German themed dinner at their home on Lake Spivey.  We had brats from Wisconsin, German potato salad, and various German beers.

Then the clouds rolled in.

Then it rained.

We moved the food (and beer) back up to the house.

Then the rain stopped and we went for a late evening cruise.

Thanks for reading.

Training with a Hernia

I have an inguinal hernia.  I have no idea how I got it, but that doesn't matter.  It's there and I have to deal with it.  If you don't know, an inguinal hernia is one that doctors check for during a physical examination - "turn your head and cough".  Sorry, no pictures of my hernia!  But here's a picture of the snake Susan and I saw before a swim a few weeks ago.

...and a picture of me and a friend swimming with Susan following in the kayak.

So, how does a hernia fit into my training for the Augusta Ironman 70.3 and Ironman Florida?  Pretend that it doesn't exist, of course!  I have elected to forgo any surgery until after November 2nd, the date for Ironman Florida.  What I have done is reduced my running.  When I do run, my first thought is to empty my bladder to reduce any weight on my hernia.  However, the gross hematuria that I had before the 2011 Ironman Florida race is back.  To prevent those symptoms, which are blood in the urine, my doctor told me not to empty my bladder before I run.  It's a catch 22!  Fortunately, it's only a big issue during the hot summer months.  September and October should be better.  I just need to stay hydrated and keep training.

Another thing that anyone with a hernia will know is that a sneeze hurts.  I don't have any really allergy issues but I have noticed that I sneeze about a dozen times after I swim.  I'm sure that it has something to do with lake water getting into my sinuses.  I don't swim with a nose clip but I have started using a nasal spray to flush out the dirty lake water.  It seems to work pretty well.  I've used it twice so far and its reduced my sneezes to only about three times during the course of the day.  That's about a 75% reduction.  When I do sneeze I have to drop everything to prepare.  I push in on my hernia so as not to tear it any more.  Ah, the pleasures of getting old.

The can shoots out a fine mist.

All that being said, watching a re-run of the 2012 Ironman World Championship in Kona on TV really brings things into perspective.  Several of the athletes competing in Kona last year were cancer survivors.  Some of whom were even having chemotherapy treatments while they trained.  I'm such a wuss!

Thanks for reading.

PTC to ATL and Back

Wednesday morning brought with it a highly anticipated training ride with my Peachtree City friends, Jared, John, and Chad.  For clarity, I was looking forward to the ride, I'm not sure if anyone else was because I didn't get a hug when I got there.  Maybe they forgot!  I was 15 minutes late.  This was our second or third long ride together (see Naked Lady Ride and Peachtree City Training Day).  They already know each other and have ridden together quite a lot, I'm the newcomer.  Chad, Jared, and I are competing in the 2013 Ironman Florida triathlon in November.  John is a pro rider with the Beck Janitorial cycling team.  On our way to Atlanta we picked up the winner of the 2013 Tour de Quebec, Emile Abraham.  He was trying to get this baby snake out of the road when we rolled up.  Emile was unsuccessful which is okay because, I'm no expert but, it looks poisonous to me.

S-N-A-K-E !

Just after we picked up Emile it started to rain lightly.  Our route took us from the peaceful tree lined streets in Fayette County to the pot-holed, traffic laden, construction detoured, graffiti lined streets of Atlanta.  Wet brakes, fogged up glasses, slippery roads, I was a nervous wreck as we coursed through the busy Atlanta city streets.  The sprinkling turned to into a deluge on the return trip back to Peachtree City.

We stopped in Piedmont Park for a few pictures.

Jared, John, and Chad at Piedmont Park

Jared, Neil (me), and Chad at Piedmont Park

I don't know how many rail road  tracks we crossed over but there were a lot.  One of them got the best of me.  I, in turn, took Jared and Chad to the asphalt with me.

My boo-boo

I was rarely at the front during the ride.  But I was in front for a brief moment when I tried to bunny hop over the tracks in the picture below.  I was unsuccessful.

Bike check after mishap

Chad frowns as he displays his new road rash.

Chad has a boo-boo!

The course probably was something like the famous winter Airport Ride.

So, that's my experience of riding with some pretty tough guys and in an area where I felt completely out of my element.  Maybe we should wait until a clear day to try that again.
 
Thanks for reading.