A new experience

Not often does one get to celebrate their 66th birthday and have a new experience all in a matter of days! It just doesn't get any better than that!

In early July, I flew to Buffalo, NY, where I was raised, to participate in the "Tri in the Buff." I was signed up for the Olympic distance triathlon (1.5-Kilometer swim, 40-kilomter bike and 10-kilomter run).

During a triathlon in Florida in the spring, I met a fellow Buffalonian, Dave Lillie, who happened to be a neighbor of one of my brothers. He had told me about this event and we rode out together to the event. We became the best of friends when we found out we were in different age groups -- all you age groupers know how that is!

I had even shipped my bicycle up to Buffalo and had practiced putting it together. Believe me, I was prepared. I had even considered contacting some old classmates from high school to see my triumphant return to the Buff and witness my athletic prowess!

We couldn't have asked for better weather, sunny, cool and very little wind! Lake Erie was very calm, and because of the temperature, wetsuits were permitted.

The horn sounded and off we went. I could not have asked for a better swim, my time was even better than my expectations! The first problem that I encountered was exiting the water. I normally swim in until I touch bottom, then stand up and run to the transition area. Well, not this time! The bottom was slippery rocks and as I tried to stand up in shallow water, I lost my balance and fell over. After several attempts, and looking like a real clown, I swam back out to deeper water, stood up and gracefully (?) proceeded on my way.

My first transition was very quick; those newer wetsuits are easier to get out of. Oh yes, I have more than one. My rationale for getting a new one was telling Sister Mary Aggressive (my wife, Carol) that my old one didn't fit anymore and must have shrunk! My gaining a few pounds had nothing to do with it!

There I was out on the bike, near the front of the pack, but not going very fast, about one half of my normal speed. It didn't occur to me that I might not have assembled the bike correctly! The first indication should have been when one of my tri bars was pointing at the ground! Of course, I stopped and tightened it after kind of lining it up with the other. About halfway through the bike I had been passed by everyone. I then stopped again to check it over and found that the front wheel was rubbing against the brake pad! After correcting that, I was able to finish the bike and rush into the second transition. The rest of the race was uneventful, other than my offering to help some Girl Scouts at the last water stop lift a large container into their van. The troop leader saw what I was going to do, and yelled, "He can't help, he needs to finish the race!"

Well now for the finish! My brother Sam joined me on the run course to encourage me to push on! By that time, I just wanted to disappear into the woodwork! As I rounded the corner to the finish line, I noticed that it was adjacent to the awards ceremony. The announcer spotted me, and urged everyone to cheer the last competitor (me) in! As I crossed the finish I waved to all my fans! This was my new experience, finishing last! It was fun experience! I have never been cheered by so many people in any of my previous athletic endeavors!

Both Dave and I won our respective age groups, me being the only one in mine, and received nifty brass belt buckles. It was a terrific event and one I hope to return to in the future.

Lesson learned - practice a lot more on proper bike assembly!

Our next event is the Nation's Triathlon in Washington, D.C., on September 14th when I and Sister Mary Aggressive compete head to head again!

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Catching up!

Oh yes, despite a slow beginning, I'm beginning to even the score with Sister Mary Aggressive (wife, Carol)! After our most recent dual endeavor, a swim event called the Masters Mile challenge at Fort Myers Beach, it is now two to three in Carol's favor!

This was our first U.S. Masters open water swim, and it was held in conjunction with USA Swimming 2008 Open Water 5K and 25K National Championships. We did see the 5K and some other USA Swimming age group events. It was really neat to see the up and coming swimmers in the open water category!

As for our event, Carol and I were the second oldest male and female swimmers entered. We couldn't have asked for a better day and a water start, with only approximately 25 other competitors each. The course was rectangular, and during the long upwind leg against the current, I never thought we would reach the turning buoy. After that it was all downhill on the final leg to the finish!

Carol was accused of fooling around with that buoy, try as she might, just couldn't seem to get away!  Oh yes, it really was a buoy! No awards, but that is OK, great location, great swim, and great competitors, can't ask for anything better than that! And my time was faster than SMA's!

I recently wrote that I was focusing on running for upcoming events, specifically the Marine Corps Marathon. My record is abysmal with this event, having signed up twice before and bailing out at the last minute! Our daughter Megan, age 35, has signed up too!

Just a little bit of history, several years ago Megan and I ran the Disney World Marathon together. We started in separate corrals, so didn't see each other until she passed me at the 25 mile mark! I pleaded with her to wait for me, so we could finish together. She knows me too well, and knew that I would sprint past her at the finish, so she waved, yelled, "See you at the finish", and kept on running! This is just another reason I want to improve my running: Guess what Megan, payback is hell!

To that end, I have signed up for Jeff Galloway's online "ecoaching program". So far, so good. I have managed to keep up with the training plan and have begun to show some improvement, yes, at age 65!

Upcoming events include a "Tri in the Buff"( I checked and modest attire is required) in Buffalo, N.Y., and some triathlons and open water swims in Florida. We just canceled our entry in the Lee Swim in Cork, Ireland, scheduled for July 19Th. Carol has had some surgery, so has been out of the water and would not be ready to compete. We did it last year and had a marvelous time. Possibly we will be back in 2009!

Hang in there and enjoy your summer!

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Winning again

We are now into our fifth month of competition for the year and in the four events that I have gone head-to-head with Sister Mary Aggressive (wife Carol), she has beat me in all three running events and was getting of cocky!

But I had my day in the St. Anthony's Olympic Distance Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Fla., on April 27th, when I finished ahead of her, not by much, but enough! It wasn't as close as three years ago, when my margin of victory was 4 seconds. Since we start in different waves, we had no idea how close we were until we got home!

If you have never done St. Anthony's, I'll tell you that it is very well run, and I believe the second largest in the U.S. at 4,000 participants, second only to Chicago's Accenture which is the largest at around 8,000!  If you are interested, you need to go online to their website, www.satriathlon.com, and find out when registration opens, it usually fills up in a matter of hours.

As for the start, they changed the sequence of when the older male age groups had started in the past. Those of us 60 and older started in the last male wave. Carol was in the first female wave, which  started several minutes behind us. This was pleasant for me, since I wasn't getting run over by the younger males on the bike. Also didn't mind getting passed by the women, who started after us, some very nice scenery, and they were very encouraging in their comments as they went by!

As we got ready to start, I noticed Charlie Futrell, a resident of The Villages, and the oldest competitor there at age 88. He first started doing this event when he was 70, and this was his 18th consecutive start. I hope I'm still going when I'm that age, what an inspiration. The oldest female competitor Sister Madonna Buder, age 78, from Spokane, Wash., of Ironman fame. She blew by me on the run like I was standing still! 

The water was cold enough to permit wetsuits, so I opted to wear one. I normally don't but the buoyancy does give you an advantage, and at my age every little bit helps. Tampa Bay is sometimes hard to judge, and as the morning went along, the swells appeared to get larger. Well on the first leg, I got tossed around a lot, swallowed some water, but made it to the turn to the second leg. This was smoother than the first, so I was really looking toward the third and last leg to bring it home. Well, then it was the swells pushing you off course and down the beach, so one found themselves having to adjust direction every few minutes to stay on course!

The bike and run were uneventful, and I was pleased with my performance, considering what little training I had put in on the bike and run. You all know that feeling; gee if I had only trained more!

Our next event was on May 4 at Disney World for Disney's "Women Run the World  15K". Carol ran well, and it was neat to be a spectator and watch 3,000 very fit women complete this event!

Future events include a one-mile open water swim May 31 in Fort Meyers, Fla.  We'll see where we stand in our head-to-head competition. As an aside, I am working on my running.

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Villages, DC, Boston, St. Pete

The Seal Fitness Challenge was held on March 29th. There were over 100 participants including about 12 residents of The Villages, of which I was one. The swim was first and not a problem; in fact, I even finished before some of the young men and women participants.

After that it was a real challenge for me. I did the pushups and sit-ups, but not the minimum amount in the allotted time. As for the chin-ups, they helped me up so I got at least one in. I also completed the run. The other Villagers, both men and women did very well, a number of them completing most of the required exercises. When receiving my participants t-shirt, I told the young SEAL, "Not bad for a guy on Medicare!"

Our local Newspaper did a nice write up on us seniors and referred to us as Courageous! The article closed with the following:

"Someday, perhaps on the battlefield, they will become acquainted with courage. Only then will they be able to comprehend what motivates a 75--year-old man to do chin-ups alongside a 20-year old."

That afternoon, there was a SEAL static display at our Polo Fields and a demonstration from the SEAL jump team, the Leap Frogs. To start the afternoon off, a Navy SEAL jumped with the American Flag. This jumper was Captain Norm Olsen, USN (Ret.) and a former Navy SEAL. Yes, it was the Sky Fossil, whom I have written about before. He is a resident of The Villages, and I might add 77 years young.

The next weekend we did another fun road race, the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in Washington, D.C.  We started at the Washington Monument, and toured through numerous monuments on what was supposed to be a bright warm sunny Sunday, April 6th! I didn't even pack any warm running gear, knowing it was going to be a nice day, even had sunscreen with me, which I had forgotten to use the weekend before in Florida, and my forehead (now a five- to six-head) was still peeling. 
 
Race morning we got up as planned at 5 a.m. I always want to be there first, and not have to worry about the crowds from almost 20,000 runners descending on D.C. 
 
Well I looked out the window; saw the pouring rain, the wind, and the temp of 47 degrees from the TV. I told Carol this is ridiculous, I am not going to stand in pouring rain in that kind of weather for 2.5 hours with nothing but a shirt and running shorts on. We reached a compromise and called our son-in-law Tim, and asked him if he had a rain jacket I could borrow.  He also agreed to give us a ride. The hotel kitchen staff was kind enough to give us trash bags we could wear over our clothes until race start.
 
Believe me, it was cold, and I was shivering before the start. We finally got underway, and for the first four miles it was with the wind, so not so bad. We paid our dues in the last six miles when the rain and wind increased and the temperature dropped.
 
The highlight of the race was seeing son-in-law, daughter and grandchildren on Memorial Bridge at about mile 7.5, and getting our pictures taken with them, albeit separately, since Sister Mary Aggressive (my wife, Carol) had about a 10-minute lead on me.

Prior to the start we had decided that it made no sense to wait for each other at the finish. We'd just get on the Metro back to the hotel. Trust us; it was a very cold trip back. I didn't think it was appropriate for me to want to hug all the nice young women on the Metro for warmth, so for a change, took the high road and did not ask! 

During the next week, I went over The Villages Charter High School and watched a district track meet featuring teams from 10 area high schools. They have a beautiful facility for athletics and in talking to some of the visiting parents, they and their children love to come and compete here.

The Villagers also get involved not only as spectators, but in all facets of the meet. For example, the meet director, Chris Murray, is a former Olympian and college coach. These facilities are in the middle of The Villages, which makes it very convenient to see all these events.

That weekend, I participated in The Villages Senior Games Swimming competition. We had some great competition, and I was pleased with my results, a couple of second places. I had a fun time, witnessed some great swims and can take pride in how far our team has come in the four years I have been associated with it. Oh yes, our cheerleaders were there cheering us on, as they are for all our athletic competitions. Another motivator to do well is the hug you get from them when you receive your award!

What you may not know is that I first heard about The Villages at a National Senior Games Swim Meet in 2003. We visited The Villages, liked what we saw, moved here in early 2004 and have been swimming biking, running and ever since. 

Bike Florida Safari is a bike ride sponsored by the Florida freewheelers out of the Orlando, Fla., area. It is a six-day ride with varying distances, based on the rider's desires. The first three days are out of Live Oak, the county seat of Suwannee County, and the last three days out of Cherry Lake. We get riders from all over and all ages. It is a tremendous ride and about 60 percent of the riders are repeats. Because of the Swim meet, I wasn't able to join the ride until Monday, but got some rides and swims in. Along for the ride were a number of Villagers, as well as friends of ours from as far away as Spokane, Wash. It is very reasonable, and there is a three-day option as well. People can't say enough about the food. For more information, go to their website: www.floridafreewheelers.com.

After returning to The Villages on Thursday, we caught a flight to Boston Friday morning to watch the Women's Olympic Marathon Trials and The Boston Marathon. Yes there were Masters athletes in both. It was a terrific experience to See Joan Benoit Samuelson compete at age 50.
We are now back in Florida, getting ready for St. Anthony's Triathlon this Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

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A Salute to the Navy SEALs

A Salute to the Navy's SEALs will take place in The Villages, Fla., on Saturday, Mar. 29. The event is open to the public and free of charge. 

The first part of the event will be The NAVY SEAL Fitness Challenge which is open to men and women. The challenge consists of a 500-yard swim, push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups, plus a 1.5-mile run. Please go to the following Web site to get additional information on this event: www.sealfitnesschallenge.com. 

In looking at past participants on their website, the oldest was a male, age 77! Whether you participate in this or not, it will be fun to watch and cheer on the youngsters as well as us senior citizens!

Oh yes, I'll be there, and I'll be participating. I'm not sure I can do it, but I do know I can try! The swim is not a problem. The push-ups, well, the days of asking, "Which hand, sir?" are over. I am just hoping I don't break my nose again, as Sister Mary Aggressive (my wife, Carol) says, "It is pretty flat now, can it get any flatter?"  The pull-ups I will concede on since you only get credit for going up, not down! Sit-ups, well I thought it would be easy, but not so. I just don't bend that easily in the middle any more! We shall see, looking forward to a fun event! This event will take place at our Laurel Manor Recreation Center from 8 a.m. until noon.

In the afternoon, "A Salute to the Navy SEALs" will take place from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at The Villages Polo Club. It will feature the U.S. Navy Parachute team, made up of  Navy SEALs, as well as a display of their equipment, among other attractions. Speakers will include a U.S. Navy Admiral, a SEAL, and two Medal of Honor recipients. Country artist, Lee Greenwood, will perform at 2 p.m.

Believe me, I can not think of a better way to spend a Saturday, a tribute to some of America's finest, the U. S. Navy SEALs! Hope to see you there!

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Running in all kinds of weather

Our 2008 competition season is well underway, with two half-marathons to our credit! The first, the Surf City Run in Huntington Beach, Calif., was a challenge from a weather standpoint. The last two years we enjoyed nice breezes and sunshine. This year Saturday was one of the sunniest and warmest days they had experienced in a while. Well, Sunday morning was a different story! We woke to a very wet and windy morning. The temp was a balmy 45 degrees; the winds, from the West, were 20 knots, gusting to 40; and it was a heavy downpour.

We have gotten a little careless, living in Florida, and neither of us had thought to bring very much cold weather gear! They used a wave start, and you were supposed to align yourself by your expected finish time. Both Carol and our friend Kathy had a lower finishing time, so we parted ways, and I proceeded to the back, when I got to the wave where I thought I should be, looked around and noticed two other gray haired gents. I introduced myself and found that we were pretty much the same age. They were from Arizona, and totally underdressed. As time went on, we just got wetter and colder. We all decided to go into our hotel lobby, which was by the starting line to await our wave, when one of my new found friends had the best idea, let's just go up to the front and start with the next wave and we did!  I fear that had we gone back inside and waited, there may have been time for a go/no go decision! All in all, it was good run. With the weather, you had little time to think about how miserable you were!

Carol, Kathy and I, had all decided, at the finish, just to head for shelter, and we would get together later. By the time I got to our room, Carol had just arrived with some Mimosas. What a neat surprise and what a great way to celebrate our run! We are both committed to returning next year. Through our friend Kathy, we have established a neat group of friends there and it is always fun to spend Super Bowl Sunday with them! Having lived both in New York and New England, the best team won!

Back on the East Coast, we found ourselves two weeks later in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., for the inaugural "Run 26.2 with Donna". The cost of the race was totally supported by the sponsors, so the entrance fees and donations all went to Breast Cancer Research! It was a totally awesome weekend! The expo, the course, the volunteers, the spectators, the participants all clicked! Believe me, Pink was the color of the day everywhere. They had runners from all 50 states, and many foreign countries.  Everyone displayed at least one name, if not more, of someone who they were running in memory of. Our good friends Tom and Cynthia said this is a keeper.  That means, one day we will be back to run again! It was also neat to have my twin brother and sister, Sam and Sarah, down from the North to participate. This was a little different than Surf City. The day before, it was sunny, but cool. However race day, it was warm, sunny, and just got hotter! Well, it took a toll on a lot of the runners, especially those from the North -- enough said!  Oh yes, the score, Sister Mary Aggressive- 2, Joey- 0!  The season is not over yet, we still have through December to compete! 

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Competitive season begins

Our 2008 competitive season is about to begin! But first I must say there's a little bit of acrimony between me and Sister Mary Aggressive! I recently received notification that I was selected as 2007 Masters Triathlon Championship, "Sprint Overall Male". As you'll recall in my last blog entry, Carol beat me in that event. Well she was beside herself! She very defiantly informed me, that as we enter our fourth year in Florida, the kitchen is still closed and will remain so until further notice. 

She had a recent up lift in spirits, when several Villagers who saw her out running, informed her that she was shown running in the most recent Villages promotional DVD. We picked up a copy and yes she was and I was not! Regardless, the kitchen is still closed.

Last Saturday was a big day for our swim team. Approximately 70 of us, swimmers and significant others attended the Florida-Auburn Swim Meet. Auburn men and women are ranked No. 8 and No. 2 respectively in the country. Florida is ranked No. 5 and No. 7, respectively. With this being an Olympic year, it was a terrific meet. The Auburn men won as did the Florida women. 

They also swam long course meters as they do in the Olympics, and in almost every event, the winner made the Olympic trials qualifying times. We have kind of adopted Florida as our team to cheer for. We all showed up in orange shirts with "Go Gators" printed on the front! They reserved a section right down in front for us and we a chance to talk with both the Florida and Auburn coaches. It was a real treat and the charter bus up and back was great fun. We may be older and medicated, but still know how to have fun in The Villages!

Carol and I flew out to LA last week. We ran in the Surf City (Huntington Beach) Half Marathon on Sunday, Feb. 3. This was our third year in a row and will meet up with friends Kathy Atkins and Dana Peters, who also ran in the race. This is like coming home for Carol; she is from Whittier, and years ago, when we lived in California, used to spend a lot of time at HB with our children!

Another neat thing about this event is that they close Pacific Coast Highway for the day, since they also run a full marathon, just a neat event.

After that we will be running in a half marathon in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., on Sunday, Feb. 17.  It is the "26.2 with Donna", the inaugural national marathon to fight  breast cancer.

More about our results this Sunday as well as other upcoming events next week!

In the interim, I need to figure out how to get the kitchen opened, because I don't cook! 
 

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