Here I am once again in Syracuse, beginning the first build stage as I gear up for Ironman Florida in November. But not to get to ahead of myself I have come to Syracuse to do some recon on the Cuse 70.3 bike course. But first I have a couple things I need to get down and put in the blog because they are at the forefront of my brain at the moment.
1. All3Sports - You guys are awesome! I recently purchased a pair of the Bont Sub 9 triathlon cycling shoes. I was beyond excited to receive these this week. I had been kind of reluctant to purchase more bike shoes because over the past few months I purchased not 1 new pair but 3. 1 pair was a Shimano set that just didn't work for triathlon. At about hour 3 my feet would begin to absolutely scream with pain. There was something that really put pressure on the top of my foot. I thought it might just be a break in period thing but I wore them for three 6+ hour rides and they just weren't cutting it. Thus I have been left with semi-worn shoes I won't use. They are for sale if you would like them. They are the 2009 Boa style cycling shoes in size 44 (us10). Anyways, after I used those I realized that I should just stick with what I had been using, which were DMT Radials. (Just like the one's Lieto rocks) All I needed was to just get a different size since it seems my foot has begun to flatten out or something over the past year. Also my feet have been constantly a little swollen these past few months just due to the injury I suffered..so anyways I just needed a different size to make myself feel better. I ended up getting another pair of white DMT radials, and at this point I should have been good to go but leave it to the internet to show me a pair of GREEN DMT radials (the exact pair I wear) that could only be purchased in Europe of GB. Soooo me being me I just had to have these to match my Train This gear and my bike..it took me literally 5 minutes via a google search to find a bike store in Virginia that had received a shipment of these green DMT's back in May. I took a shot and called them to see if they had any in the size I was looking for. It turns out they did and next thing I know I am throwing down my card to order them. They arrived and I quickly put them to use. I even wore them at IMLP. I love these guys. So now I have a pair of white DMT's that are basically on ice. I wore them once but other than that they have just been sitting comfortably. This brings me to buying the Bont's. Being a tri-aholic, I love everything triathlon and a good marketing campaign will have me buying a product in no time. Just look at what Trek did to me! So anyway I ordered these guys up and went to my new friend Jim Cornell's house. This guys is a serious engineer and former world class speed skater. He has been using Bont equipment for a long time and he even has his own homemade compression machine that helps you fit your shoes to an unprecedented level. So we began the heating and molding process but to our disappointment when we went to screw in the cleats the screws just wouldn't thread. It appears that the piece that anchors the screw on the bottom of the cleat was spinning along with the screw (it should not). We tried a couple things to fix them but nothing seemed to work. I ended up going on my way, a little disappointed by not overly. I knew I still had my DMT's. Finally, I called All3Sports today and talked to a wonderful woman who was really nice about the whole thing. I told her I am not usually a fussy customer who returns everything but she said that it was no problem and that I should be concerned about this because I paid over $300 for a pair of shoes...so in short she was completely understanding. She even said that she would send me a return label on Monday when their UPS system is up and running. So now I don't have to pay for return shipping. The end game is that I am going to get store credit because for now I am just going to stick with my DMT's. They are nice and I like them and I have other things I "need" for my triathlon lifestyle. I guess this was a good reminder that I didn't really need new shoes. Someday I might give the Bont's another chance but for now I am holding true to my DMT Radials...that is until Lieto goes with someone else, then i might consider a change :) haha. So in summary THANK YOU ALL3SPORTS you guys are awesome and you will continue to have my business! I hope that others that read my blog will also give them a shot. :)
2. I must say that WHITE HOT as they call him has been chosen by KWSISS to be a sponsored athlete. All I can say is that he deserve's it. The man works his butt off! He has gone from a crazy first IM in Florida a couple years ago where his run took longer than his bike to a 2x Kona qualifer who is this year looking to stand atop his AG podium. My bet is that he fullfills his goal. The guy is the real deal. He is a 6'5'' 200 something pound monster who crushes the bike, has a very solid run, and who is now getting serious about the swim. Professional athlete's WATCH OUT. WHITE HOT is coming and he is going to be ready to to rock! SOOOOOO i say this because I am very very jealous of him now. Jealous of his triathlon accomplishments but also jealous because he has a KSWISS sponsorship now! KSWISS and Trek are pretty much my idols in the triathlon world in terms of retailers right now. In fact I have sent my resume to both of them just to see if I'd get any responses to work in their Finance department, or even their on the road marketing team. Yes to very different fields but If I must tell the truth, my love is in advertising, marketing, and selling. I love to create and interact with people. And more importantly I love to talk about the things that are near and dear to me. The things that I have a passion for...like triathlon. Thus, I love Kswiss. I run in their K-Ruuz for OLY and sprint distances and I just purchased their blade light run's (which came yesterday). The blade lights really look promising as they are light, sturdy, and have excellent drainage (something that comes in handy when you are dumping waters all over yourself and peeing in your pants as well...ewww gross! But if you are fast enough you can earn the right to pee yourself...or if your just that tough! Haha)
Well then, congrats White Hot! If you someday feel the need to be nice to a fellow triathlete named Turbo and hook him up with some gear, well I would be forever grateful :)
Now that I have updated you on the two things that were on my mind when I began this post (Subsequent things have filled my small brain), lets get to the details of the day that has been. Even though it is 12:30 I have been up since 4:15 so I have had a full day already and will be in search of a nap shortly.
To start off I must say that the Cuse 70.3 course is quite interesting. You end up spinning for a good hour at the beginning since their are just so many hills. Kinda cool really, it should really make for a fun race next month. The hills should really have a Darwinistic effect of "natural selection" during this race since even though the hills may not effect the hammerhead because its only 56 miles, it will certainly come back to bite them on the run. I truly feel that this is the case even though its only 13.1 miles compared too 26.2. Even with the run being a 1/2 marathon that is essentially a net downhill I have to imagine that hitting the hills on the bike course early will end up using a lot more energy than many will think. It's just that they are so darn consistent. I honestly think that the first hour of this course is like ascending to the top of the LP keene decent about twice over with no downhills. With that said I look forward to the challenge. I look forward to figuring out a good plan that will allow me to be as fast as possible on the bike and also allow me to rip off a good run showing. I hope to be able to ride this course again before the race in November. I'm going to get surgical with this! BUT more important the Cuse 70.3 bike course has quite the scenery. With rolling hills, corn that is 8 foot tall, roadkill, run-down houses, lakes....and ELEPHANTS! Yes, you read that last line correctly, I said that I saw an elephant on my bike ride today in Central New York. This was no ordinary elephant either. It was a great Syracusian humpback white tusk'd Elephant. I have never seen one of these in the wild, in fact I thought that they had been extinct since the ice age. However, to my great surprise Chris, Don, Ken and I happened upon one of these magnificent creatures today. As soon as I saw the beast I knew I had to get a closer look. This was just one opportunity that doesn't come along to much. So here is how I approached the big guy...
I made my way across the great plains (a 3 mile run in bike shoes) remembering to adhere to proper elephant approaching protocol in order to ensure that my safety would not be compromised.
And here I am speaking with Jennifer. Yes, the great beast was but a 20 something year old girl. She was as nice as could be, even offering me some of her drinking water that she was slurping up in the field. I declined as I had just drank from my waterbottle but none the less it was a kind gesture from Jenny.
Jennifer explained to me that she was a great supporter of athletics even though she was not able to participate. You see Jenny was raised by humans. Jenny had come to America by boat when she was only but a young girl. When she arrived she was shocked to learn that the whole Dumbo story was made up. This was a huge let down for Jenny as she had really been hoping to meet up with Dumbo find the eternal happiness that she had heard America would bring. After a few years of wondering the Western states of Washington, Montana, and Utah (Utah didn't go to well for Jenny, the whole Mormon this was just to weird for her)...anyways she ended up taking up residence at the age of 12 in Boulder, Colorado. It was here that Jennifer first witnessed humans doing something so extraordinary that even she, a great big elephant, was truly impressed. What she had seen was tiny humans doing extraordinary feats in pools, on bikes, and on the snowy trails. Yes, you guessed it, Jennifer had encountered her first triathletes. With great wonder and awe Jennifer began to research the sport at the local Boulder library. Since she was so large the nice librarian made extra large copies of the books that she wanted to read. It was quite nice. Jennifer and the librarian ended up spending a lot of time together as Jennifer read every piece of literature ever published about Triathlon. So as the years went by Jennifer began attending many M DOT sponsored events, becoming somewhat of an icon. You haven't heard of her? It's probably because Jennifer likes to keep a low profile. That is why she has rarely ever been seen in person, and this is why Don, Chris, Ken and I were so lucky to see her. And I was even luckier to be able to have a chat with her. Anyways, Jennifer went on to explain that she had been in Lake Placid watching the IM last month and she had heard about another race in September that was in the nearby city of Syracuse. Thus, she made her way down to the area which explains why were had the chance to meet her. We chatted some more about the latest tri gear, and the upcoming world championships in Kona. After about 15 minutes we said goodbye and went out separate ways. She promised that she would be watching the race in September but one truly knows if she will or not. She is a deceptive creature who really has never settled down for long. Either way I will be thinking about her when I ride that course on Sept 19th, and it is my hope that I also see her down in Florida this November. Rumor has it she likes the beaches! I did get her email address so I will be able to try and see if she will write me back. If I hear from her again I will be sure to let you all know.
Welp that was the highlight of the bike ride today. I am now at Wegmans eating a nice 6 dollar meal consisting of 1 chicken breast with 2 sides of broccoli..what a steal. I will now continue to roam the internet and read my triathlon literature.
wtf is a giant elephant statue doing there??
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