Photos

The "Pain Cave".  Not pretty, but functional.  The asbestos insulated steam pipes above are in pretty good shape.  Only a little peeling paint on the walls and ceiling.  But overall pretty good with ventilation a couple good fans and HDTV with a DirectTV Genie.  Hey, maybe I can get Direct TV as a sponser.  They are a critical element of my winter training.

View from the cockpit.  I've worked a little on my aero position the last month.  I increased the reach and I'm at abotu a 17cm drop.  About as low as my neck can tolerate for 5 hours.  I increased my reach 10mm with a longer stem from where it's been the last seasons.   The biggest change was going to 165mm cranks.  I really like the change.  No difference in RPE at the same speed, but my legs feel a little fresher when I step off the bike.  Pretty happy with my new Cobb V-Flow+ saddle.  Not quote to the "OMG it's the greatest in the world".  It's not perfect but a brmatic improvement over the OEM saddle.  I'll keep it.

THE BEST PHOTO EVER!   Captures what my life is realyl all about these days.  Chasing dreams and tryign ot balance training with family & work committments.

Me at Hyvee Triathlon.  I took a Slowtwitch.com recommendation to increase my reach with a longer stem, which also puts me a little lower since... especially since the stem is a -17deg.  The 165mm cranks also effectively raised my seat up just a little.

The face of racing.  An Olympic is about 95-99% of threshold for bike and run.  Pushing hard.

Comming out of the water at Lake Geode Challenge 2013.  A solid swim for me.  Kept me in striking distance of the 2 leaders.

In the lead comming into T2 with the police escort.  My first Victory at teh Olympic distance and a race with >200 competitiors.   It was a huge metal boost for me.  within a few weeks I went from "I'll never do a Ironman"... to lets go for it, and why not target a KQ while I'm at it.  A real turning point for me. 

Sailing out of T2.  I absolutely nailed my transitions.  Probably went out a little fast on the run.  I still had my normal leg fatigue/cramping issues, but still went sub 39:00 for hte first time.  Actually went 37:55.  It felt a lot slower the last 3 miles.

Pigman Long Course - About mile 1, headed out on the run.  Feeling great at this point.  Pretty awesome race.  Fnished 10th overall, 8th amature since there were 2 pro's in there.