Dave Chappelle Breaks Endurance Record

Dave Chappelle has broken his own Laugh Factory endurance record. The 34-year-old comedian topped his record of six hours and seven minutes, set in mid-April, by taking to the stage Sunday and telling jokes for six hours and 12 minutes.

Xtremely funny comedian! I almost fell off my cycle trainer watching him one time on Comedy Central. With the type of winter weather in Northern Ohio these days it's always great to have a gut busting laugh.

2007 New York City Marathon

Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Manhattan
New York, New York

NYC this weekend was a lot of fun seeing and hanging with all my cousins. Traveled to Long Island for Aunt and Uncles 50th Wedding Anniversary and Family Reunion. Awesome times! My 2 cousins and I took the Long Island Railroad into Manhattan to watch the NYC Marathon. Walked from 34th street through Times Square to Central Park South. Couple hours watching the race.


Central Park South
Time-Warner Center in the distance. Scenic spot for us to view the marathon. Half mile from the finish line.


Dathan Ritzenhein, Second Place Finisher, U.S. Olympic Time Trials
Dathan and fellow athlete happened to be watching race next to us. Dathan was talking to people advising when race leaders would be approaching. Very friendly guys telling us the leaders were coming.


Top Women 2007
1. Paula Radcliffe (GBR) 2:23:09 - Left Runner
2. Gete Wami (ETH) 2:23:32 - Right Runner


Top Men 2007
1. Martin Lel (KEN) 2:09:04 - Right Runner
2. Abderrahim Goumri (MAR) 2:09:16 - Left Runner


Lance Armstrong (USA) 2:46:43
Lance ran a consistent, progressively faster 2007 New York City Marathon, finishing in a time of 2:46:43. His time beat his 2006 time of 2:59:36.


Brian, Myself and Scott
Cousins and I enjoying sunny day in Manhattan.

Portage Lakes Triathlon - Race Report

Portage Lakes Triathlon - Portage Lakes State Park
Akron, Ohio

Rolled out of bed at 6am. Breakfast of "Organic" Frosted Mini-Wheat's cereal and orange juice. My race started at 8:30am. That was cool, but so was the weather at 38 degree's. Took 25 minutes to reach Portage Lakes course. Lucky I got close parking place to transition area. Unloaded my bike and tri gear quickly. Zoot tri backpack was super smart purchase 5 months ago. Really helps me stay organized on race mornings when I'm half asleep. Chit chatted with my training and racing buddies on course. We all commented how it was freaking cold weather. By race start time temperature was 43 degree's. I put my wetsuit on which felt nice and toasty. Feet were really frozen. Water was warmest thing on the course. When I got in the water my feet warmed up. This was my coldest tri to date in 6 years of racing.

[International Distance Race - All 2 laps]

Swim - 1,500 Meters (00:37:54)
Key component of my race strategy was to go all out for swim course. Worked very hard since May on swimming. Swimming has never come naturally to my mind and body. Huge progress though with stroke and endurance. Much room for growth still. Ready to go. Start of race I couldn't breath right. I wasn't loose and relaxed at all. Should have warmed up. Next cold race I will. There was this plant life just beneath surface of water. Only way I can describe it was similar to being caught in a fishnet. After 5 minutes my swimming and breathing was in synch. My race time after 1st lap was 18 minutes. I thought either swimming extremely fast or course is slightly shorter than 1,500 meters. Turns out was combination of both. Near end of the swim I felt strong. Swimming last year was exhausted before I jumped on bike. End result for 1,500 meters - new PR for swim by 15 minutes.

Bike - 23 Miles (01:20:42)
Removing the long sleeve wetsuit is very slow process. T1 needs practicing for next year! Bike course is a mix of flats, slight hills and couple steep ones. I was trying to go fast on bike since I didn't want to sprint the 10K run. Drank bottle of orange flavored Gatorade Endurance and ate a blueberry Cliff bar. Took 2 Hammer Endurolytes too. Saw the "free range" chicken sign - means end of bike course is near. Side note: I've biked by that area 3 occasions and have never seen chickens roaming the fields.

Run - 10K (00:50:34)
Time to suck it up or whimper like the caged chickens. I need sub 3 hour race to close out the fun filled tri season. Knew I had to hustle. Felt solid first 4 miles, but wasn't burning up the run course. With 2 miles to go was concerned sub 3 hour wasn't going to happen - like my sub 6 at the Greater Cleveland Triathlon Half Ironman. Last mile I sprinted and hauled to finish line - 2007 triathlon season over at 02:58:29 hours!

Burton Custom X Snowboard

Chill is in the air. Snowboarding season is right around the corner. Time to start thinking about purchasing a weapon of choice for the slopes. Burton Custom X Snowboard is it.

Description:
Burton's Custom X Snowboard has all the characteristics of the all-popular Custom with plenty of added performance. With nearly three decades of building experience and new technology, Burton gave the Custom X a precise feel for the sickest terrain. Truly an all-mountain board, the Custom X benefits from a proven Dragonfly wood core, Vaporskin Topsheet, Pro-Tip, and Sintered WFO base. These enhancements reduce the overall weight and hop-up the speed and handling for taking on the steepness gnar or biggest booters. With a directional shape that rules any terrain, this customized Custom excels everywhere from steep lines to huge kickers.

Greater Cleveland Triathlon 70.3 - Race Report

Half Ironman Triathlon - Mentor Headlands State Park
Mentor, Ohio

Pre-Race Evening Highlights:
After an easy day with no training I prepared a quick dinner. Dinner was Trader Joes potato onion pierogies with stir fry vegetables and salsa verte. To get pumped up and relaxed I went to see the summer action popcorn movie Bourne Ultimatum - big thumbs up. Time now to do everything so I can just roll out of bed and go to race. Checked bike: oiled gears, inflated tires and reset cycle computer. Packed all my gear into the Zoot tri bag. Ground fresh beans and added water for coffee in the morning. Set table for super early breakfast. In bed at 11pm.

The Race Day:
Woke up from clock radio at 4am. Slipped on the 2XU triathlon suit. Starting to get excited. Loaded triathlon gear into car. Turned on coffee. Breakfast of Natures Path Optimum Power Cereal with sliced banana and orange juice. Brewed coffee, poured in travel mug and drove to Mentor at 4:45am. I arrived at the Mentor Headlands transition area at 6am. Felt pretty relaxed and found my transition area rack. I knew the walk from transition area to my swim start was 20 minutes and meant there was no time to waste. Put on Orca Sonar wetsuit up to waist and got walking briskly.
(Swim 1.2 Mile)
Water was calm and amazingly perfect. No mystery junk floating around. Is this really Lake Erie? Clear blue skies. I arrived at swim start with 5 minutes to spare. Saw friendly faces from the Cleveland Triathlon Club (CTC) just starting in wave before me. In what seemed liked a very quick minute our wave was going and we're all running and diving into Lake Erie. Ripple free swim made it easy to sight the distance markers. Best swim I had in a triathlon race. First time I've participated in point to point course layout and liked it a lot. Thought about the Bourne Ultimatum movie during time in water. Fired up when spectators yelled my name running from beach to transition area. Felt energetic after 1.2 mile swim.
(Bike 56 Miles)
The bike course is scenic and fast. 2 big laps and 2 small laps at end. Felt pretty good throughout bike course. Enjoyed so much the support from CTC members both cheering and handing out nutritional supplies. The guy on the monster hill with the cool music blasting from SUV kept my motivation high and jazzed. Top speed of 40 mph was clocked on cycle computer going down that steep hill near the golf course. It was at this point I was having fantasies of sub 6 hour race time. Nutrition: 3 bottles of Gatorade Endurance, 3 Cliff bars, 2 gels and 6 Hammer Endurolytes.
(Run 13.1 Miles)
Fast running at first. After quarter mile the thighs were burning like hell and in a world of hurt. Then the Gatorade and Cliff bars consumed during bike were slushing around my stomach. I knew the run would be tough, but was more painful than expected. Bummer because run is my strongest event and I need to make up time from the swim. Jogged the straight aways and walked up the hills is what I ended up doing for 9 last miles of race. Consumed water on every other aid station. Ran strong and felt healthy for last mile of race. Happy to see family and friends at finish line. 06:37:29 was my race time. Nutrition 8 cups of water, 1 gel and 4 Hammer Endurolytes.

Post Race Reflection:
Last leap upward in course distance was the Chicago Triathlon - International back in 1994. My goal for this Half Ironman distance race was to have fun and finish strong in a sub 6 to 6:45 hour time frame. Now with that goal accomplished I'd like to finish a Half Ironman distance race with a sub 6 time. By vastly improving my swimming speed and increasing running distances this can be accomplished.

Greater Cleveland Triathlon - Environmental Graphics:
For the Greater Cleveland Triathlon I developed with race director a flexible and modular course way finding program. Velcro mounted color coded arrows on safety yellow corrugated plastic sheet with contrasting black lettering. Each primary color was a different triathlon course. Racers stayed on course and were able to focus energies on the competition. Other environmental graphics were developed and deployed in the field on race day, such as color coded course maps and body marking charts.


• Free Standing - A Frame Version


• Wire Standing - H Frame Version

Thanks!

Thanks everyone for the support during my completion of Greater Cleveland Triathlon Half Ironman (70.3). Special thanks to my 2 legs. Sorry, I put you through this, but it was so worth it! Full race report soon.

Xtreme Summer Fun

Europe Adventures
Berlin, Prague and Krakow

Summer's flying by! Faster than the Porsche's passing us on Germany's Autobahn. And even quicker than swimmers lapping me at the Columbus Triathlon. Well you get the picture. Within the week after racing in Monroe Falls Triathlon I was off to Berlin, Germany. My cousin Scott from Seattle met me at the Berlin Tegal Airport. Scott graduated Washington State University (Cougars) a year ago and saved up to travel 4 months in Europe. We traveled for 2 weeks via Euro rail system to Berlin, Prague and Krakow. Good times! I studied at Pratt Institute almost every art history - exciting to see the real deal in person first hand. During the trip Scott and I visited historical sites in daylight and night time partied it up. While I was in Berlin the Ironman Germany was going on in Frankfort. I found this out by a racer in front of me at the Columbus Triathlon who just completed that 3 weeks earlier. It's amazing the conversions us triathletes have waiting to jump in the water. A highlight in Germany was driving on the Autobahn. Scott and I rented for 24 hours a BMW 325D with 6 speed and navigation. We maxed out the BMW. It was a rush traveling 142 mph on the autobahn! Glad I had the Scion driving instruction week earlier at Mid Ohio Race Track. We drove from Berlin to Nurnberg. Stayed the night at my friends house in Nurnberg. Raced back to Berlin in morning for rental car to be returned on time. During sightseeing in Prague I saw a British guy with a Xterra World Championship (Hawaii) backpack. Talked to him and found out he's a top age grouper competing next day in the nearby mountain range. When racers were waking up at 4am to compete in Xterra Czech Championship I was exercising late night on the dance floor of a 5 story club in Prague. Training was definitely on the back burner during trip, but I did have memorable run on a Nike trail in Krakow, Poland. Checkout my Flickr site on the left for Europe snapshots.


Columbus Triathlon - Antrim Park
Columbus, Ohio

Paying the price for lack of training during Europe trip! Anyhow I decided to race the Columbus Triathlon - International distance. I needed to stay on racing schedule for Greater Cleveland Triathlon - Half Ultra distance. At least I competed in triathlon first time with the Orca wetsuit. Quarry filled lake was amazingly clear. Swimmers could see the bottom of lake. Swim course was triangle with 2 loops. Second loop it was becoming crystal-clear I really lacked endurance for this distance swim. Good news is the 1.5 K distance jump-started my swim training for GCT. Orca wetsuit really saved the day, but my energy was drained from the swim. Longest distance from swim exit to transition area I've ever seen. Bodyglide really works for getting wetsuits off quickly. Took my time putting the bike gear on. Right away happy to be cycling. Bike course was pretty fast. Enjoyed the smooth roads. Fun to view all technical cycling gear in action. Water and Cliff Bar blueberry flavor boasted my cycling energy. Transition from bike to run was decent. Run was scenic because course is on nature trail and around the lake. 02:55:11 was my race time. Lots of fun to hangout with Cleveland Triathlon Club members before and after the race. CTC racing support is awesome! My first Fat Rabbit Racing event. I discovered they put on a first rate event.

Munroe Falls Triathlon - Race Report

Munroe Falls Triathlon - Munroe Falls Metro Park
Munroe Falls, Ohio

The need for speed. Last years time at inaugural sprint race: 01:18:21. This years time even faster: 01:13:11. I knocked off 5 minutes. That's about 7 percent reduction in time. Happy about that fun fact. Focused the past 18 months on sports nutrition for endurance athletes. I attribute nutrition and New Vision indoor cycle training on fluid trainer throughout winter with the improvements. This years race conditions identical to last years: air temperature was 60 degrees, water temperature was 75 degrees and sky was sunny with light fog on surface of lake. Wetsuit was left at home for short 500 yard swim course. Wetsuit would have saved energy for the bike and run, but transition eats up any time savings. I felt decent on the swim - glad this years swim goggles have the gray lenses. Sun always blasts the eyes for early morning swims at this beautiful lake. Lake is infused with underwater springs, so there's warm and cold spots throughout. Transition went smoothly from swim to bike. 11 mile bike course is diverse - flats, hills, straight a ways and hairpin turns inside and outside the park. Recent hill training helped plenty during miles 3-6 of the bike course. Transition quick from bike to run. I felt tired from cycling for first half mile of 3 mile run. After that slight uphill for first half of lap 1 - the run course tapers downhill. My running groove was in gear. I really like the 250 downhill yards to finish line. Just like last year I flew by guys in my age group during this final stretch to finish line.

Scion Exposed - Race Report

Scion Exposed - Mid Ohio Race Track
Lexington, Ohio

Time to get my mental endurance revved up and into fifth gear. Day before Munroe Falls Triathlon - my first multisport race this season. Didn't want to use my physical endurance 24 hours before a triathlon. Scion had a free promotion with racing, food and cool giveaways at Mid Ohio Race Track. It's called Scion Exposed. So I drove 90 minutes to Lexington in my Scion tC and had a blast - luckily no crash! When I got to race track Scion owners had a special entrance. VIP treatment already was a good sign for what to expect from behind the course concrete crash wall. Came through the underpass bridge. Scion had set up a unique village with music, camping, bonfires and awards for best tuner cars. Scion brand is a lifestyle experience that promotes progressive art, sleek automotive design and jamming music with a beat. Scion at the Detroit Auto Show always has the best music blasting from it's exhibit display. After viewing the performance tuner cars and lunch it was green light for the auto race to begin. Glad I purchased the stainless steel OBX racing pedals and Scion iPod radio. My iPod radio was cranked. Gorillaz - Demon Days tunes rocked throughout race. 2 lap auto race lasted about 15 minutes. I stayed and finished in my poll position. Racer in front of myself almost crashed on the famous hairpin turn, but recovered. I snapped memorable photo's with my dashboard mounted digital camera. This Friday I leave for summer vacation. Meeting my cousin Scott from Seattle and friends in Germany's capital city of Berlin. Stoked now more than ever to drive the autoban!

18 Holes of Golf

Rotary Golf Tournament - Fox Den Golf Course
Stow, Ohio

First time out on the golf course this year. It's been 6 months since I was swinging a golf club last. Time to dust off my golf clubs and hit the links. Golf is a game of mental endurance. It's not in the league of race car driving or chess, but it's challenging to hit a ball 3-5 times 150-500 yards into a hole. Went out with my dad and 100 other golfers for team best ball. My golf mojo, hook and slice appeared during the sunny hot 90 degree weather. Was a lot of fun with awesome cookout afterwards. Horace on my team hit the closest ball from a tee on drive. See above photo of Horace with his 1 foot from hole drive. Hole in one wins $1,000 and bragging rights for a lifetime. Other photo my dad is letting out the shaft with a monster drive.

Tagged for Random Things About Myself

Charlie has tagged me for random things about myself. Below is my top 10 list.


(10) I'm 29 years old.

(9) My age is how I feel.

(8) I was born in same hospital as 43rd President of the United States.

(7) My parents are both from NYC.

(6) I wear Under Armour black boxer briefs during training.

(5 ) I had turtle as a pet when in grade school.

(4) When I was 5 years old I had blond hair and a button nose.

(3) I never had a mullet haircut.

(2) I'm a fake news junkie - Daily Show and Colbert Report.

(1) My favorite weather is sunny and 75 degrees.


I will tag Bloggister, JenuineIMExperience and Papa Louie.

Your it.

Cleveland Half Marathon - Race Report

(Above Photo from Left to Right: Cathrine, Charlie, Jack, Rob)

I had a fun experience at race. My results for Cleveland Half Marathon: (01:48:17, 8:15 pace). First time I ever ran over 9 miles. For the past 3 weeks I jumped my training miles from 6 to 9 miles. That helped a lot on Sunday morning. Watching "Batman Begins" movie right before I went to bed on Saturday night put me in right mood for the big race.

Temperature and racing conditions were almost perfect for race: 55-60 degrees, light wind and overcast skies. I thought volunteers handing out water on Half Marathon course were great. Big thanks to those folks!!! Nice to run with speedy CTC members for part of the race, like Charlie and Jack. They kept my running pace at a good clip when I started to fade at mile 9. Last 2 miles and at the finish line I felt strong. Glad they had recovery food and friendly faces at finish.

Cleveland Marathon race courses are scenic. Devils in the details - the way-finding course graphics were not well thought out. For the high cost of race I'd expect better. Race course needs very large visible arrows on every turn. If the herd or pace car goes wrong way everyone does. Example: Sundays 10K distance. International airports are best examples of way-finding graphics, I suggest race directors study these and get inspired.

Cleveland Half Marathon was perfect training for my 2007 "A" race: Greater Cleveland Triathlon - Half Ultra.

Mount Si - Trail Run

Mount Si Trailhead - May 9, 2007
This mountain range was made famous on the Twin Peaks television show. 8 mile mountain trail run on Mount Si. 4 tough miles up the mountain and 4 easy miles down. I've been training hard for Cleveland Half Marathon - this challenging course will help on Sunday.

Swimming - First Outdoor of 2007

Federal Way, Washington - May 7, 2007
First outdoor training swim of the season. It was sunny and 75 in Seattle. My swim in Federal Way's chilly Steel Lake was warm and toasty using the right equipment - 2007 Orca Sonar wetsuit. After 6 years doing triathlons I finally bought a wetsuit. This is first time I used it. Surprised how buoyant it's on water surface. Very hot in the sun too. By the way, Steel Lake lake is third stop of four-city National Series for a one of a kind, women only USAT triathlon sponsored by Suburu in the end of summer. My cousins house has scenic view of Steel lake from there rear deck. After my second cousin Brian took wetsuit photos we all went to his confirmation and after party to celebrate.

2007 IDSA Western District Conference

West Coast Innovation Design Conference - April 28, 2007
Talking advanced running products. Guy next to me is design manager of Nike footwear.

Backpacking - Pacific Crest Trail

Summer 2006 - Washington State
Stevens Pass to Snoqualmie Pass - 75 Miles in 4 Days
Annual backpacking trip with my Seattle cousins. Sunny blue skies all the time in Cascade Mountain range. We always trek a different route in the Pacific Northwest, this was one of the best.

Xtreme - Blogger

Welcome everyone to my Xtreme Blogger site!