Commuting Alligators

Join the triathlete fam as we swim canoe at a lake infested with alligators and I go mountain biking and trail running. Then, I take you with me as I bike commute home from work and talk about various issues as I fight traffic. Show includes several audio clips and voicemails, so listen in!
SHOWNOTES!

• Hanging out with Emily and Kai at Hunstville State Park.


• Went mountain biking and trail running.


• We saw big alligators in the lake while we were canoing.


• Kai is killing it on the PVGLIDER.


• Kai finished out that night going "night mountain biking" with headlamp.


• go to maps.blankner.com for a map of where we were. Bigger pic of alligator on flickr.


• Riding bike to work - becoming a bike activist.


• got a couple of weird pieces of audio for you:

1. Onion Radio News - hippies - talking about this on triscoop.com.

2. Calicos in the Cosmos - what do you think it means?

• Lance did the NYC marathon in 2:46 and has the hots for Ashley Olsen.


• Been doing TONS of stuff with family and friends.


• Punk rock concert, 4 bands and music from one band soon.


• Started jamming with friends after work.


• How to clean camelbak, fix creak in cranks.


• Bike activisim... podcast for bvc


• Pm from Brian - 31 miles on 31st bday. Toes got cold. Got a good fix for that.


• Call with voicemails at 512-CRY-DELI or comment on blog at zentriathlon.com

Radio Surfing

The Zentri Army is an astute bunch. We dig triathlons, live well, and embrace cool technology. Knowing this, I thought I would share with you some music from Radiohead's new album, In Rainbows.

Radiohead is known as a technologically advanced band and has an impressive following and resume of hits. Still, it was quite the shocker when they pre-released their latest record on the Internet, no copy protection, for whatever price you want to pay.

What does this have to do with triathlon? Two things stand out:

1. We triathletes listen to mp3 players like crazy. For some of us, the iPod revolution has been what has made triathlon training bearable. For many of us, listening to triathlon podcasts has educated us on the sport far better than anything else. With music, most if not all of what you like to listen to wouldn't exist if recording companies had their way. They explicitly forbid making copies of CDs or downloading music to play on your iPod. You just do it anyway.

2. Dave Empfield of Quintana Roo fame directly credits the explosion of the sport of triathlon to one thing - being able to sign up for races online. Once online registration became available, it was much easier for all of us to get on board. The Internet and improved knowledge of when and where races existed blew the field wide open.

As a music-using triathlete, you can appreciate what Radiohead is doing. The music industry is standing exactly where triathlon was the day before the first race director put his/her registration online. Record sales are declining, recording companies are choking sales even more by putting tighter and tighter copy protection on digital music to try to milk every cent out of a sale, and it is pissing all of us off. Within tech circles, everybody has been saying "you will sell more records by letting people copy the stuff and let their friends hear it." It's a new century and the old model isn't working.

This has nothing to do with whether or not you like Radiohead. I think they're OK and I'm not nuts about them. It's the size of the band that is important. If you've never heard of them, let me just say they are a big deal. Really big.

So what happens when a really big band puts their music online for download and charges whatever people feel like paying? Reports are that people are paying on average about $7.00 for it. Doesn't sound like much? It sure does when you remember that this is going straight to the band and bands usually only see $1 off of each sale. This and it is generating a huge advertising buzz (for free) to encourage people to buy the hardcopy CD with coverart, lyrics, and much more when it hits shelves in a month.

The reality for the bands out there is that most starve. Very few make it big and those are the ones record companies decide their fate, not the fans. By making their own music available for download for free, which spreads the word about their music, many more musicians are now able to play concerts and make money on their own and live comfortably without the "make or break" of the recording industry. Here is a great story about how Jonathan Coulton is doing it.

In honor of the brave move of Radiohead and also to help promote their cause, I put a couple of their songs in my latest podcast. The intro and outro is the jackhammering "Bodysnatchers" and the one about 30 minutes in is the delicious "House of Cards". You will want your best headphones to get the most out of that one.

As usual, the show is littered with audio of me doing triathlon things. I start off with recording part of my trip back to my house immediately after surfing for 3 or 4 hours. We wrap up with a conversation with Chris after trail running at Lake Bryan.

Enjoy the show, and visit Radiohead's site to witness the music revolution as it continues to unfold.

Shownotes!

• Mowing down pedestrians


• Emily rules


• Letting my hair grow out


• Surfing with my John Deere hat on

• House of Cards


• Trail running with Chris

Back in Texas!

I discovered many things in New Mexico. The most significant is that I'm much more of a Texan and Southern Californian than New Mexican. Santa Fe may be a great place to visit, but it is no place for young families on a budget (compared to where I came from). I skeedadled back to Tex-ass after about a month of New Mexican living and went right back to living like the crappy surf riding, warm winter loving, redneck hillbilly that I am.

Hey, but no worries, y'all. I got my great old job back, we never sold our house, and things will pick up right where they left off. And now that IM MOO is over, the shows will revert to the awesome old format of wandering around the Texas countryside and kicking roadkill with my bike shoes. You missed it, admit it!

This episode is truly bizarre. It contains audio of me running 12 miles starting at 10,000 feet elevation, going up to 12,000 feet, then back down to 10,000 in just 12 miles and 2.5 hours. I also splice in bits from my crazy drive across Tex-ass and New Mexico, voicemails, and then Emily gives me a flu shot at home. You can follow this link to download the show. SHOWNOTES!

• Intro - Making coffee, blabbing about why I moved back.


• I'm at 12,000 feet elevation. Running the course of the Tesuque Trail Run.


• Driving in West Texas towards Santa Fe. There's some weird people out here!


• I have a delusional episode, believing I'm some sort of desert Viking (theme music included).

• My new trail shoes? These babies? They are made by Inov8!


• Get your Gatorade Endurance at the Santa Fe Running Hub (or another running store).


• I almost pass out from the lack of oxygen.


• Emily gives me a flu shot. Kai and the dogs watch.

IM MOO Podcast Part 2

Howdy, rowdies! Welcome to the second part of my review of IM MOO 2007. This is a long, heartfelt conversation between me and Emily about the race, step by step. Sit back and chill while you absorb the full experience on how to be an Ironman from start to finish. Click here to listen.

SHOWNOTES!

• Jetpack's Intro, explaining how bad he sucks and how awesome I am for beating him.


• Me in Santa Fe.


• How I actually RACED the ironman.


• Emily and I chilling on the couch with our greyhound, talking about the race.


• Holding back on the swim and the bike to win on the run.


• Using the powertap saved my ass!


• Popping caffeine like turbos.


• Ironman nutrition. How to get in 300 calories per hour on the bike.


• Meeting all kinds of great people on the race course.


• Running backwards to keep an eye out for Jetpack and loosen up the legs.


• Emily says the finish line is like a concert.


• What's harder? Self supported Ironmans or sanctioned ones.


• I'm SO GLAD to be done with that training.


• Triathlete travel tips.


• My list of injuries from the race.

Haiku Triathlon

You have too much on your mind as a triathlete. A three-sport training schedule, gear, your day job, keeping up with the technology, trying to register for races; it is physical and mental overload.

Let me introduce you to the concept of Haiku Triathlon. In poetry, haiku forces us to write in a 5-7-5 syllable format. This strips the prose down the essentials, making it the most powerful form of poetry around. You can do this with that mess you call your "triathlon lifestyle" as well.

I came across this idea while reading a blog posting about Haiku Productivity on Zenhabits.net. The gist of it is to focus on only the most important things. You won't get more done, but the things you do will be done vastly better than ever before. I highly recommend you read the article here.

As an aside, I cleaned up a huge amount of my personal belongings to move to Santa Fe. I now have far fewer things than before. What I do have, I can take better care of. I know where it all is and the loss of useless junk is incredibly liberating. I have haiku'd my personal belongings and it is great!

So how can you apply this to triathlon? Probably the most immediate way is to haiku your workouts. Before you train, set two goals for that particular session. "I will improve my hand entry and reduce my time sitting at the wall." Don't make your goals too broad. They must be consice, actionable items. Too broad and you won't make it happen.

Now, apply this to your gear. Figure out what you need to train and race and sell the rest. If you haven't used something for years, it is useless. Give it to the kid down the street, throw it away, whatever it takes to get it out of your house. If it is sentimental, take a picture of it with a digital camera and start a album of your old stuff. I did this with a lot of my old "cool" t-shirts. I haven't worn them in years and I couldn't bear to part with them, so now I have them in a digital collection and out of my closet, taking up space. I sold my old tri bike that I haven't ridden in forever and filled up the trash can with busted wheels and shredded tires.

Finally, haiku your triathlon season. Set two or three actionable goals for this year. "PR a sprint triathlon, take my entire family to at least one race, and go on a bike ride out of state," could be your list.

Now you have actionable items for your racing and training so you can really focus and improve. You have cleaned out your household of triathlon junk and emptied your mind of distractions. You will find that you can perform far better in your workouts, your racing, and your life.

How can you haiku your triathlon lifestyle?