2008 in Review

17 Races Completed:

7 marathons (3 sub-4 BQ race times!), a half marathon and a 5K

3 half iron tris and a sprint tri

4 bike time trials

Two of Three 2008 Race Goals Met:

Run at least 5 marathons - Check!

Work on speed and do shorter distance races - Incomplete. Did some bike time trials but managed only one 5K and one sprint tri before I pulled a hammy and had to lay off speed work :-(

Sub-5:45 Half Iron tri - Check, 5:42:32 at Miami Man!

First year I tracked my training (except for vacations). As of today:

Swam 196,906 yards. Will break 200K this year!

Biked 2540.30 miles.

Ran 723.95 miles.

Other workouts 34.58 hours.

A Year of Patience:

Signs of plantar fasciitis at the start of the year. ARGH!!!

Bike crash in February (no upper body workouts for over a month due to bruised ribs and major loss of confidence on the bike!).

Stepped on glass while barefoot at the Gulf Coast half iron tri in May (foiled race goals).

Pulled hamstring end of July (greatly reduced running but an opportunity to improve my swimming).

An INCREDIBLE Year for Blogging and Giving Back:

Made it to the finals of the second Evotri sponsorship contest. Thanks again to everyone who voted for me and got others to vote for me!

Logged over 100 hours helping out with local races. Thank you Track Shack for the wonderful opportunity to be a part of your staff!

Supported some awesome blogger friends by coaching and donating to their fundraising efforts. Congrats to Petra, Fe-lady, Iron Eric, Tammy, MarathonChris, Stef, CewTwo, Maddy, Planet3rry for challenging yourself to meet new goals and helping others!

Opened EnduranceSportsBar.com to have an additional outlet for inspiring/motivating others. Is one blog ever enough?

Please help me give away four $25 gift certificates by voting for your favorite blogger in two polls currently at the Bar. Just click on the image below. (Voting ends Sunday, Dec. 14, at midnight Pacific Time) THANKS!!!

Post-Fay Update

TS Fay and her far-reaching rain bands are finally out of here -- WOOHOO!! Here's a few aftermath photos that are sure to NOT make the news.

Lots of water in our backyard that only threatens to increase the mosquito population.


A big (~20") flat-shelled turtle that is not happy conditions are drying out.


A smaller, rounder one enjoying the wet grass.


A usually popular road for cyclists, but not today.

In other news, I'll be holding the first people trivia contest at EnduranceSportsBar.com this week. Up for grabs is a $25 gift certificate from an online sporting goods retailer (e.g., TriSports.com, All3Sports.com, RoadRunnerSports.com, PerformanceBicycle.com or SwimOutlet.com). Just be the first person to answer the question correctly!

The Bar is now OPEN!

Just a quick post to let you all know that my new Endurance Sports Bar (www.EnduranceSportsBar.com) is now open. And I'm giving away six (6) $25 gift certificates to various online sporting goods retailers via three types of challenges!!

These challenges are open to EVERYONE and I encourage you to participate and tell all your friends. You do not need to have a blog or website.

If you'd like to add the above image as a link to to the Bar your blog/website sidebar, just copy and paste the following HTML code:

<a href="http://www.endurancesportsbar.com/" target="_blank">
<img src="http://lh6.google.com/prattshirley/R_pSSdnODaI/AAAAAAAAAF8/w8bcqqeV6cQ/s288/esb_logo.jpg">
</a>

Hope to see you at the Bar!

Dare to Dream Big

Did anyone see the latest issue of Parade Magazine in their Sunday paper?

Usually the most useful thing to me in the Sunday paper are the coupons but this week's Parade front page story caught my eye. It was about Carnegie Mellon University professor Randy Pausch's last lecture. He'd been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was told he only had months to live.

Why'd it draw my attention? Because Randy, Dave and I used to all work in the same field of computer graphics and virtual reality research many years ago. I'd read a number of papers he wrote, attended conferences he was at and I think he was one of the referees on a journal paper Dave and I co-authored. I remember him being one of the good guys, brilliant but very approachable. He is also our age (late 40's) and there's nothing like seeing it happen to one of your own to make yourself feel mortal ...

I loved many of Randy's last lecture points because they were nearly the same as those I adopted after my dad died of kidney cancer back in 1992:

Always Have Fun ... Dream Big ... Ask For What You Want ... Dare To Take a Risk ... Look for the Best in Everybody ... Make Time for What Matters ... Let Kids Be Themselves

Before then, I was a stubborn workaholic and a control freak who was destined to be miserable and probably dead from stress by age 40. It took seeing someone like myself (my dad) taken away by cancer for me to realize how short life was and that I needed to make some changes to mine. I used running to deal with my grief and have used endurance sports over and over again to build a new, much healthier and happier me.

And so I hope to pass on torch by creating a new website that will feature everyday athletes and their stories to provide daily inspiration and motivation for others:

The bar's vault is now OPEN and accepting contributions from YOU, the community. To add a link to it in your side bar, just copy and paste the following HTML code:

<a href="http://www.endurancesportsbar.com/" target="_blank">
<img width="180"
src="http://lh6.google.com/prattshirley/R_pSSdnODaI/AAAAAAAAAF8/w8bcqqeV6cQ/s288/esb_logo.jpg">
</a>

Bar operations will begin on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, 2008. I hope all of you will be a part of it. Mostly, I hope all of you will dream big and not let anything stop you from achieving them.

BTW, Randy is still with us and still fighting for his life. His latest entry in his journal, dated April 2, 2008, said "I hope to be back on the bike in a week or so." Way to go, Randy.

Opening Soon!

Update: Just saw that TriSaraTops is the winner of the second Team Evotri slot -- CONGRATULATIONS SARA!

Thank you again to everyone who voted for me. The winner of the second Evotri contest has not yet been announced but it was not me, unfortunately. I got an email from them today saying someone else's vision for bringing together the endurance sports community was found to be the best fit for the team this year. I'm sure it must be great!!

In the meantime, I am going to launch my plan regardless. What is it, you ask?

I'm opening a cool new hangout spot:

EnduranceSportsBar.com

This will be a website that will bring together in one spot photos, videos, podcasts, blogs, people profiles, ANYTHING online that has to do with everyday endurance sports athletes like us. And with help from you, the community, to fill the bar's vault, I will be serving up some of the best to provide inspiration and motivation every day:

Movie Mondays (must-see videos)
Talk About Tuesdays (gotta-listen podcasts)
Who's Who Wednesdays (people, clubs, groups that rock)
Thoughtful Thursdays (tips, questions to think about)
Foto Fridays (great photos)
Saturday Stories (cool reads)
Sunday Specials (announcements, polls, comics, whatever!)

It'll help fill the big gap between all the individual blogs, podcasts, videos, photos, etc., that are out there and the bigger-name websites that focus most of their attention on top athletes, product reviews, coaching tips, etc. In a fraction of the time it'll take you to find them online, the bar will connect you with some great athletes and stories that may never make the cover of a magazine but may be just what you need to get you moving. No memberships will be required and you won't have to be a blogger to contribute or participate!

In addition, I'll be organizing 2 friendly challenges:

1) Improve yourself through endurance sports (lose weight, quit some bad habit, overcome limitations/fears, meet some big goal, etc)

2) Help or inspire others through endurance sports (raise funds for a cause, start a training group, organize some event, etc)

Stay tuned for more details!