 Rural Girl's latest post is full of interesting pieces of information. First, her husband is going to tackle his first half-marathon at that race. It is always awesome to see people challenging themselves. Who knows, in the future, it might be Rural Girl playing sherpa at a big race. Having spent quite a bit of time with her family, I know she would jump right into it, and I know she will support her husband as he trains for and completes this race.
She also indicated she will attempt to set a new PR for the marathon. In the process, she will try to break the 4-hour mark. That is a huge personal challenge, and I know she is up to the task.
How do I know that? Because I've raced with her in a couple different events, and I've seen her abilities. I know how she stacks up against me, and I know what I'm capable of doing.
While it might be challenging for us to schedule training runs together, I will do all I can to help motivate her in her quest. And there is one thing to which I KNOW she responds. So...
 Here's a little picture of me from my the 2006 Fox Cities Marathon, where I set my PR at that distance. I believe my chip time was something like 3:54, but the clock shows enough to paint the picture. So, I'm POSITIVE Rural Girl has a sub-4 hour marathon in those legs of hers. All she has to do is find out if Las Vegas is where she runs that race.
Go get it, Rural Girl!
On October 9, 1994 my brother and I headed out for a night on the town. My job? Designated driver. His job? Well, that should be obvious based upon my job. He was the designated drunk guy. (Just so nobody gets the image that my brother is somehow a drunken slob, he was going through a rough time, and I suggested a night out. And he DID spend eight years in the Navy. You know, drunken sailor, and all.)
For the record, my brother did a REALLY good job that night. At one point, he asked me for $10 to get a pizza, which I considered a good idea, given his general condition. I was mildly amazed when the waitress delivered the pizza. In a pitcher. Which was needed because the pizza was liquid. And looked like beer.
I took immediate countermeasures to minimize the likelihood of my having to physically carry my brother out of the club. That involved giving away pitchers of beer as fast as my brother could order them. Most of the people gladly accepted the free beer.
All except one woman. She was drinking rum and coke. So, I offered to buy her another round. After all, it would be rude to give everyone else free booze and leave her hanging. The only issue is that she was driving and didn't need another drink.
Not to be deterred, I offered to get her a soda or something. She accepted that, and I ordered a coke. Except it was free, because I was the designated driver. And my brother was bankrolling their night buying beer by the keg.
No beer. No rum and coke. Free soda. It was an outrage. I HAD to BUY this woman something. So, I took the obvious step of asking her out to dinner. Well, if I had any money left after my brother was done ordering beer.
We went out for dinner a few days later. At some point, we took in a movie and started going out more often.
One year later, on October 10th, I asked her to marry me.
Two years after that, on October 11th, we got married.
That was 10 years ago. And while she hasn't been "Mrs. Pol" for all those years, she is the love of my life and the mother of our two wonderful kids. She has helped me through some fairly amazing journeys, including Ironman. And she has some pretty awesome accomplishments of her own.
It's sometimes hard to understand why things happen. That October 9th so many years back, my brother was faced with divorce and needed a night out. In the end, he went on and found the woman he was meant to be with. And his night of buying more beer than he could possibly need led to my finding my wife.
9, 10, 11. Important numbers in our life.
 Okay, so Iron Wil has set up a winter challenge. The details are available at her site, and the image at left links to the "Commit" post. In addition to being a cool way to motivate positive training through the tough winter months (at least for those hale enough to live where there are seasons), it uses Buckeye Outdoors for tracking. I'm sure there are lots of workout tracking sites out there, and this is the one being used for this contest.
Since I signed up (free) for the purpose of the contest, I will be using this as a means of tracking my training. I have an Excel file I use, but it's a bit much for posting here. For now, you can find those numbers on the Training and Racing tab. I have yet to decide how much of my long-term race plan will be posted on here. (If you have suggestions, let me know. I'm willing to post weekly or monthly details if readers are interested in using if for their own planning.)
If you are participating in Wil's contest, keep in mind that the "30 swims in 30 days" challenge is an opportunity to put some big numbers up in her contest. The first five people to commit and complete this challenge will receive four energy gels. In the event there are fewer than five participants, the case of gels will be split as evenly as possible among those who do participate.
So, in the attempt to win "the gold" in Iron Wil's contest, you can score a few energy gels AND improve your swim skills for the coming race season.
Have you ever had one of those days?
I did.
Today.
Most weekends, news from the world of endurance events differs greatly from "ordinary" news. While nightly news casts are full of doom and gloom, race news is generally about people overcoming major challenges and achieving great success. Unfortunately, this weekend was somewhat different.
For the first time in its history, the Chicago Marathon was cancelled mid-race due to weather conditions. Hundreds of participants required medical attention and one runner died, apparently due to the heat. The temperature at 8 a.m. was a very unseasonable 69F, and it warmed into the 80s before the race was cancelled three and a half hours later. Though race officials planned for the higher temperatures, participants reported many aid stations were unprepared for the increased demand for fluids.
Tragedy also struck the Army 10-miler held in Arlington, Virginia. A local man died within sight of the finish line. Again, warm weather was cited as the probable cause.
My first thought is that as endurance athletes, we need to keep our competitive natures in check. Anyone knows that training on an 85F day requires we slow down, increase fluid intake, and watch for signs of heat related illness. Unfortunately, we sometimes lose sight of this when racing. The desire to finish, beat a PR, or achieve some other goal can blind us to our own safety.
There are a great many concerns when racing in the heat. Two, heat stroke and hyponatremia, have the very real potential to be fatal. Many others can turn a nice day of racing into a less exciting day in the emergency room. And just because it's the fall or winter doesn't mean these issues can be ignored.
The tragedies of the weekend are shocking reminders that the sports in which we particpate can be dangerous, even deadly. As with so many other aspects of our lives, we must be responsible for our own safety. Race officials and volunteers face tremendous limits when it comes to controlling all of the factors that can impact a racer. Participants must play an active role when it comes to ensuring they end the day in one piece.
 On my desk at work, I have two pictures of my kids. The first is a picture of my children near the boardwalk in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It is one of those rare pictures I feel really captures a moment. Siblings at peace, sharing and having fun. As an added bonus, it's in focus and has decent lighting.
In time, it is one of those pictures that will become a treasured image. And I am sure my kids will become very familiar with, if not sick of the picture as it shows up time and again in presentations.
 The other picture is from the same day. And it ranks among the best pictures I have ever taken. The image of my son walking on the beach barefoot with his grandfather in his suit is classic. The moment I saw the picture on the computer, I made several copies to ensure it would never be lost.
It is the kind of picture my son will be able to look at in the future and remember the wonderful man who is his grandfather. And my prayer is that my kids will have many years to develop even deeper bonds with all their grandparents.
My only memories of grandparents are vague pictures of my mom's dad and my dad's mom. My other grandparents passed away before I could know them. Even so, both grandparents made an impression upon me. To this day, I have jewelry items my grandfather made. Though they are items I will likely never wear, they are a connection to a man I saw less of than I might have wanted.
Rules that existed in my grandmother's house are used in our house, today. While modified for use with toddlers, some of her wisdom guides me in my parenting. And where distance kept me from knowing my grandfather better, my grandmother passed away shortly after we moved back to my dad's hometown.
 There's just something about grandparents. Obviously, we all know that becoming a grandparent changes people. After all, most parents have faced the situation where they have to ask what happened to the people who raised them. Watching my dad with my kids shows the great impact grandkids have had in his life. He will jump through some pretty amazing hoops for his grandkids. One day, I'll have my daughter ask him to go swimming with her. I've always wanted to see him in a swimsuit.
The value of family is amazing. Sadly, it usually requires the prism of history to allow people to see that. That's why I am glad for moments like the ones shown in these pictures. They are opportunities for my children to see just how much they are loved. Armed with that knowledge, they will be much better equipped for anything the world throws their way.
 For any parent, there is a certain amount of pride in knowing their kids are following in their footsteps. I certainly feel some of that pride when my son and daughter are in the front yard playing triathlon. They kidnap various swimcaps we've collected at races, put them on, and run around pretending to swim. Then, they hop onto their bikes for that portion of the race. After going to the corner and back, they hop off the bikes, remove their helmets, and "head out" for their run.
Now, at no point are they more than a house or two away from home. But to watch them, you would believe they just completed a full 140.6 mile race. By the way, if you ARE watching them, you had better be cheering, because this IS a real race. And in true endurance fashion, they usually hold two or three of these races back to back. They're my little Dean Karnazes' in the making.
I learn a lot from watching my kids race. They run because they love it. My wife and I try to let them run whenever they want, for that exact reason. And their excitement increases as more people join them. Running alone might be fun, but running with half the neighborhood is much more interesting. It also allows my son to practice his skills as the head course official.
 They can also teach a thing or two about finishing. During a recent kids' run, my son fell down near the start. I was handling photography and watching our daughter, and Mrs. Pol had dashed to the finish line to watch him. That left him on the course, alone and frightened. Luckily, a volunteer saw what happened, and hurried to help him up. Scared, crying, and very near the end, my son brushed himself off and started running for the finish line.
That was not the race he wanted to run, and we know it shook him up. Even so, he seemed to recall something from when we run, together. He knew he wasn't hurt, and beat back the gremlins that were frustrating him. After the race, as he ate a much needed "recovery popsicle," he asked if we saw him fall down. And his tears vanished as we congratulated him for getting back up and finishing.
Oddly enough, it was thoughts of my kids that helped get me running again near the end of Louisville Ironman. I wanted to set a good example, so I picked my self up (figuratively), brushed myself off, and started running for the finish line.
 Those adventurous enough to venture to the Training Partners tab may have noticed the recent addition of Midwest Sports Events. With over twenty years of directing endurance events, they produce some of the largest triathlons in Wisconsin, as well as offering many duathlons, 5-15Ks, and half marathons. And when a local youth organization joined forces with my triathlon club to start a youth triathlon program, MWSE was right there to offer their assistance.
In addition to providing numerous race opportunities, the company's executive director offered to help with training. She arranged opportunities for the kids to practice open water swimming and volunteered to provide swim lessons when possible. When it came time to register for the season's big race, MWSE went out of their way to minimize the program's cost and ensure the kids had a successful day. Most importantly, they showed great flexibility in meeting the needs of the group.
So, if you are in the upper midwest and looking for some great events, take a swing by Midwest Sports Events and see what they have going. I have personally raced in the Valentine's Day 15K, the High Cliff Triathlon, and the Oshkosh Area Triathlon. And I know specific people who have completed the Paper Discovery Duathlon, the Green Bay Triathlon, the Chisago (MN) Triathlon, and the Green Bay Duathlon. If the race websites leave you with any questions, let me know. If I can't answer the question, I happen to know the race director.
 Today, I received an e-mail from Ironman. It seems they are missing my timing chip from IMKY and would like me to send it to them, or let them know I lost it.
I responded in the same manner I imagine a great many others did. "My chip was removed by volunteers at the finish line. I do have the empty band they gave back to me. I am unsure of what was done with the chip after it was removed."
A quick review of the addresses on the message show I'm in pretty good company. Heather Gollnick, the winner of the women's race, will have to turn her chip in at Kona. She apparently walked off with it. Nina Kraft, who led the women's race for much of the day, may have to work out other arrangements, as I'm unsure if she is going to race in Hawaii.
Lt. Andrew Baldwin shouldn't be too hard to find. Between service in the US Navy, "The Bachelor" fame, and racing in the Ironman World Championships, they should be able to track him down.
Several members of the Tri Blog Community might want to offer me some cold hard cash. I saw your names there, too. (Names withheld until I see if they want to pay up).
 The part I find most interesting is the failure to do a simple "dummy" check. Using an average of addresses per line and lines per screen, there are an estimated 1700 names on the e-mail sent out. That is roughly 80-90 percent of all starters. That seems a bit high. I told them as much in my e-mail response.
It will be interesting to see what comes of this. Are there dozens of volunteers running around with hundreds of chips? Did 90% of the participants decide to keep the standard black chip as a souvenir? Who REALLY shot JR?
 Before anything else in this post, I want to thank Mr. Iron Wil for the picture at the left, as well as a couple of the images in the current header of this site. Every time I see him at a race, he is everywhere taking pictures. And while his main obective is to get pictures of his wife, he does an amazing job catching incredible shots of others. This is one of several he sent from the Spirit of Racine Triathlon.
This race is very interesting because the swim is essentially a straight line point-to-point swim. Other than short legs from and back to shore, participants can see exactly what a 1.2 mile swim looks like, because it is basically the distance they walk to get to the swim start. Oddly enough, I would rather see the course that way than try to conceptualize the distance as lengths in a pool or laps in a race.
While swimming a a mile or two in the pool might be less demanding in terms of conditions, I would much rather be able to stare the distance in the face and prepare for the challenge. Though waves, water clarity, other swimmers, and current can all add up to one tough swim, it is easier than trying to visualize a "point" in space when swimming the same distance in the pool.
I got to relearn that lesson, this morning, on the second day of my first real week of training since I completed Ironman Louisville. After nearly two years of training (18 months of real training), swimming 1000 yards is old hat. But after a summer of racing in big water venues, long pool swims are especially challenging. Apparently, part of the recovery process is regaining a "love" of the pool. Tough, since I never really HAD a love of the pool.
Those of you looking to regain your "1000 yard stare" in the pool, feel free to join me in November as I once again undertake the "30 Day Swim Challenge." As I learned, last year, it is far easier to make huge gains swimming every day for a month than swimming 3-4 times a week for three months. To make things interesting, the first five people to join me AND confirm they completed the swims will receive a four pack of energy gels, one for each week of training (your choice Power Gel or Gu). It's not much, but it's better than a poke in the eye. And to be reasonable, we'll allow for four missed sessions, since I'm unlikely to make EVERY day, myself.
If desired, I'll figure out some way to post some generic swim workouts that can be adjusted based on ability. That way, we can all work off the same program. And after one month of swim training, I am confident that we'll all be better swimmers.
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