Out of commission

I'm out of commission today. No training. I'm not sure what I did, but my back went out on me last night. I did some pretty good damage to my back when I worked at UPS so this happens every now and then. I could barely move when I woke up so I took the day off work. It's a little better right now, but not much.

Since I'm stuck on the couch today, I thought I'd post some pictures from the summer.



The Ripon Triathlon

This was my second triathlon. This one was a lot of fun, even though this is the event that gave me tendonitis in my left knee. It was 1/3 mile swim, 15 mile bike (hilly) and a 5K run (also hilly...the swim wasn't hilly). The interesting thing about this event is that it has 2 transition areas - one for the swim to bike and one for the run to bike. They're about a 1/4 mile apart so it's not the most convenient, but it works. I finished in 25th overall (4th in my division) out of 204 finishers. My time was 1:23:06. I ranked 4th overall on the bike so I was pretty pumped about that. Here's a picture of me starting the run:




This is me heading toward the finish line. This is right before I spotted a competitor I thought I could outrun to the finish line.




The sprint to the finish....probably where my tendonitis came from. Turns out he started in the wave after me so this was all for nothing. The spectators liked it so I guess it was worth it. Anything for my fans.




I have no idea who this is, but I found it in the Ripon Triathlon pictures. Snot rocket while wearing her helmet backwards. Awesome. Better luck next year.




Team Schwinn at the Tour de Cure.

Cheri....




Me at the final rest stop...




Mark lounging before tackling the last few miles into a strong headwind...




Cheri again...




Dennis after ride...





The Janesville Triathlon


This was my first triathlon. I didn't do as well as I'd hoped so I was pretty disappointed after the race. I had a panic attack in the water and swallowed a lot of water, which affected me for the rest of the event. I did learn a lot and had fun so it wasn't all bad. I shouldn't complain because my time was decent for my first tri, but having a panic attack in the water really got to me and killed my confidence. It was a 1/4 mile swim, 16 mile bike, 4 mile run. Overall, I finished 43rd out of 220 finishers. My time was 1:29:15.

Here I am before the swim...


Here's a picture of Tim finishing up the run. Tim always get a big group together for this race, and then he throws a party afterwards. That keeps it fun and makes the Janesville Tri a must do event even though there are several other larger tris running that weekend. Janesville's my hometown too, so that helps. Gotta do the hometown race.





Here's the gang after the race...




Chicagoland Danskin - Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin

Those who know about the Danskin know I obviously didn't compete in this one. It's a women's only triathlon, and this year's Chicagoland Danskin was one of the largest triathlons in the world with more than 4,000 women signed up. It was also Cheri's very first triathlon. It's a world-class event and I had a ton of fun being a part of it.

I knew Cheri was going to do well since she had trained hard for the event, but I have to admit I was a little surprised how well she did especially since she struggles in the heat and it was a scorcher out there. The event is a 1/2 mile swim, 13 mile bike and 5K run. She finished 234 overall (45 of 365 in her division) out of 3940 finishers. That's top 6%! I was really proud to see her dominate the bike finishing in the top 4%. And that's without aero bars. I can assure you she will have aero bars on her bike next year. Her time was 1:27:58.

Here she is before heading over to the swim start...




Here she is right before the swim start. I was impressed she was brave enough to get right up front in her first tri, although I did tell her about 50 times she needs to start in the front because she's a fast swimmer. She did the swim in 13:27. That's flying. She's a fish, a flying fish.




This is the transition area. Chicks like to mark their spot with a balloon. So many of them do it I have no idea how they find their balloon.






Here's Cheri after the finish.





Breckenridge...

Cheri and I took a vacation in Colorado this summer and rode our bikes to Breckenridge on the bike path. Here are a few pictures...








Hopefully I'll be feeling better tomorrow and I can get back to training for the Ironman.