DO WORK

The past 4 weeks have been so nice. I've managed to re-group and rest, something I've needed for quit some time. While I've had an enormous itch to start things up again, Dave has been right there holding me back. December 4th will start my prep for next year.

Outside of Triathlon, I've got two projects going on right now....2 websites that is. It's been nice. I've been able to give 2 people something of myself. Something I hope makes them very happy in the long run. To me, a personal or Triathlon specific website is an extension of the athlete or company, and a reflection of their passion in the sport. My goal was to create something one could be proud of. In the end, I think I accomplished just that!

I enjoy building websites. It's something I picked up during my technology days and it's served it's purpose well over the last 8 years. Personally, I've always been intrigued with technology.....hence the reason I built my website. I had the knowledge, tools and time to create the site, seemed only invaluable not to. In the end, my hopes were to give back to the sport in some way shape or form. Either through coaching, valued training philosophy's or just to put something out there athletes could relate to.

On the flip side of life....I caught a small cold a few days ago. I'm sure I caught it in the gym, as there's more germs exchanged there than anyplace else I go. I've had a lot of congestion and a small cough. It comes and goes as I think my body's trying to fight it off but doesn't want to back off. Last couple days I've been real meticulous with what I've put into my body as I'd like this to go away before Monday. While I'm doing everything possible to get well, the weather's got other plans.

Forecaster's are calling for an Arctic Front to blow through town the next couple days. Texas always cracks me up with there analogies of cold fronts. I lived in Colorado for almost 4 years, 2 of those at 9200 ft in Vail, Colorado. Try driving around on black ice from Beaver Creek to Vail Village. I had a 4 wheel drive truck then and I remember it like it was yesterday. It probably snowed 2 feet that day and night. My roommate Max rang me up and asked me to pick him and a couple friends up from Beaver Creek....the buses had stopped running. Pushover that I am and the only person with a 4-wheel drive vehicle, I jumped in the truck and headed out. Took me like 2 hours to drive 12 miles to Beaver Creek. Another 2.5 hours to drive back. Texans just don't have a clue.

I enjoyed those days. Living on the mountain, care free life. I literally had no clue what was going on in the rest of the world. News and current events were a thing of the past. Snowboarding and work (cook in a local 4 star restaurant) were the only two things that required my undivided attention. Other than that, it was chasing women and doing quite a bit of drinking and partying.

I remember waking up each morning hoping it snowed enough to fill the tracks up in the back bowls or the back country in East Vail Shoots. Big powder days meant going big and I mean big. There are more cliffs around the Vail resort than any other place I've been. As big as you want. The only thing that separated you from getting a little crazy on some ridiculous cliff was fear, and to me, nothing made the hair stand up on the back of my neck like bombing some 30+ foot cliff. Nothing was more exhilarating either. To me, that was all the reason I needed..... Powder days were the only ticket to getting a little wild. You need that feather soft landing when your off your rocker a bit. Nothing like landing in what would seem like cotton. It was kind of like a foam pit for bmx or motorcross guys. You could try things you wouldn't normally do when conditions were a bit more packed.

We (2 friends and I) lived in a studio / 2 bedroom condo that had one heck of a view. The reason I say studio was because the place wasn't all that big. Pretty tight quarters in my opinion for 3 dudes. Not to mention we had at least 1 or 2 people crashing on the couch at any given time. The view was another story as the balcony overlooked the mountain and "Born Free". Born Free was the run that ended at the bottom of our building. A chair lift was only an elevator ride down to ground level followed by a short 50 meter walk to the lifts. Now that I think about it, that was pretty sweet! We lived in Lionshead village, one of two villages in the town of Vail. You've got Vail Village and Lionshead. Lionshead was nice.....more locals, and the Gondola was right there. Easy access to the mountain.

While I enjoyed Vail.....it was a time of my life that has come and passed. I took it for what it was worth, and moved on. I learned a lot, made some good friends, and experienced something very few people every get the chance to do. Reminiscing's nice......it reminds you where you came from and who you are. Without a past, without memories, whats the point......

Now.... enough chit chat about the cold. That's one reason I left Colorado. Sick and tired of freezing weather, speaking of which.....it's sleeting outside right now. Where's my beloved heat?

Back to training. Rolling strong. 10 days post race I did absolutely nothing. The first week back I logged up a total of 5.5 hours. 2nd week back a total of 6.5 hours. This week maybe 12. We'll play it by ear with the big terrible cold front coming in. Chances are that if there's a speckle of ice on the road my pool will shut the doors due to inclement weather.

I'll post back later on next week once things start rollin again......

Mg

I've had a couple weeks go by with little to no real training. I've been in the gym a few times, at the pool a few and walk here and there, but nothing to write home about. With all this free time on my hands I've had time to reflect on several things...how to approach my off season training, how my 2007 will lay out, how much food I seem to be eating, and all this extra time I've got.

I'll start off with food since I just finished eating dinner. While I've got an edge when it comes to nailing down my nutrition, I've got one Achilles heel....sweets! Not a true issue, but non the less...it's still an issue. Lets just say that being an endurance athlete creates a "larger than life" appetite.

During the ride home from Florida I think I had close to 10 bags of various candy not to mention my request for Julie to have a box of Lucky Charms waiting for me at the house when I arrived. For some strange reason, I had this deep urge to eat some Lucky Charms. I ate half the box the night I drove in and the remaining half in the morning. Now that I think about it, that's a lot of cereal! That box wasn't small either...I'm talking Family style! Well that was just the beginning.

For a good 7 days, I ate everything I could get my hands on. Lets just say I've managed to get a handle on my nutrition since then. Short story, I have no self control when it comes to food and I mean zero! It's either out of sight or in my belly! If I end up with an itch for Ice Cream, its either take a serving and throw the rest away or I'll eat the entire container. For the most part, I have to shop on a day to day basis only buying what I need to make meals for the current day...otherwise I'll just eat everything in the refrigerator. Yeah, I know....pretty bad! Maybe I have an eating dissorder. I'll have to keep an eye on that one.

With regards to how I feel. I couldn't feel better. Dave has me on a strict regimen, active rest. This past year was long and now's the time for the body to reset itself. Honestly, If Dave wasn't there to keep me in line, I gaurentee I wouldn't have been this disciplined. To be honest, with each day that goes by, I feel more and more alive than ever before.

With regards to the cut on my head.....I'm all good. Healed nicely with a small scar.

To everyone who e-mailed regarding my day in Florida...."THANK YOU!" I've never received e-mails like the ones I received after that day. It's truly a blessing to have so many people follow your performance and stand by you during the hard times as well as the good times in your life.

With regards to next season. I've solidified my plans to race Ironman Arizona, Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs and Ironman Florida. Anything else will be a B priority race only setting up solid performances at these three events.

Next year will be very focused and very exciting as I feel I have so much to improve on. There's a deep desire within myself right now to improve. A desire I've never felt before, and something I'll be leaning on throughout the 07 season....

Mg

Race morning went well. I woke up at 3:15 and couldn't get back to sleep. I laid around for about :15 minutes....gathered my thoughts and was up to start the day. Couple bananas, a peanut butter and banana sandwich, couple gu's, EAS Muscle Armour and some Catapult....I was ready to rock. Not really.....

I stepped outside to find the weather had done exactly what I thought it would...Plummet to sub 40 degree temperatures with winds in excess of 20mph. While I expected this.....I wasn't prepared for how I would react. I spent the first part of the morning shivering because of the cold. I left for the race venue at 5 a.m. hoping to find a expo store open where I could get a jacket of some sort, toe warmers or whatever would do the trick and keep my core temperature down. Fortunately Dragon Sports was open and there to accommodate everything I needed. I grabbed a tight wind jacket....one that wouldn't flap around in the wind, some toe warmers and gloves.....total price $215. Being warm on the bike.....Priceless!

After my shopping spree, I headed over to my bike, pumped up my tires and was off to the swim start. As I crest the top of the hill, I noticed a 2 foot shore break that wasn't there all week. I looked out over the horizon and notice the sea looked like someone took a pair of scissors to the water edge out in the distance. I asked someone what that was and they said this....."You ever heard someone talk about 6 foot swells out in the ocean....well that's them". My thought was holly cow.....this is gonna be fun, and with 2000 other people....Great!

We hit the water and I started right up at the front. I tried to break and jump into a group but that wasn't the case. Everyone had the same general plan. Once we got out past the 2nd buoy, it was settle in and try not to get smashed into someone else. The swells were throwing people everywhere. If you saw pictures, they wouldn't do it justice. To spot the buoys, you had to wait until you were on top of the swell. All I can say is the swim training paid off because had I not been ready for those types of conditions, my swim time would have been horrible.

The swim went well and I was out of the water in 1:03. Transition took a while as It took myself and race support 1 min to find my freaking bag. I also spent a good 4 minutes putting on knee warmers, arm warmers and my jacket. Oh yeah, when I got to the bike, I tried to get the gloves I purchased on.....they were a pair of those super thick winter gloves and which ran me $59.95. I couldn't get the freaking things on my hand. I ended up tossing them in the garbage on the way out of transition. Yeah, I know......60 bucks down the drain.

Off on the bike and the wind was just like back home in Dallas. There's not much to say about the bike other than I stayed in control the whole time. I rode the entire leg holding back. I didn't want my race to end here. I was happy with my execution and nutrition. The way I laid up my water bottles with one on the front was perfect. I wouldn't have changed a thing other than take off that 100mm front wheel I was running. A 50mm front wheel would have been the best choice and will have a spare next time I race.

The drafting was horrible. I heard about a talk during the Pro meeting in which they informed everyone that there will not be enough support to monitor the drafting. There was only so much man power that could be attained. When I say drafting, I don't mean pace line drafting, I'm talking peleton where people were riding side by side in groups of 30-40. It was so horrible I couldn't believe it. I spent the first 50 miles cursing peoples names under my breath. No wonder people go fast on the bike here.....there's absolutely no concern for the rules.....Blatant cheating.....no other way to put it. Needless to say, I was disgusted to see it taking place. I'd say 90% of the field drafted yesterday and did it knowingly.

The bike went just the way I wanted and finished in 5:24. Perfect execution for what I hoped would be a superior run.

I took a couple minutes in T-2, drank a Red Bull and gathered my thoughts. I didn't scream out like most people do. I enjoyed the small break off my feet (90 seconds or so) and was off and running.

The run was going awesome. I went through mile 1 in 7:14, mile 2 in 7:35, mile 3 in 7:45, mile 4 in 7:55, mile 5 in 8:00, mile 6 in 7:55. After mile 4, I realized that my pace needed to be 7:55-8:05 for in order to run the entire race. I ended up running up to a female pro who was holding the pace I needed to be at. She was sitting well, not breathing hard and not making a whole lot of noise.....so I figured I join in, slow down and get into a rhythm. I hit the 6.55 mile turn around in :49 minutes. That wasn't the only thing I hit!

The turn around was a quick 180 degree turn into a Big Metal Ford Sign. Picture the Ford emblem with the oval side hanging out over the edge of the course. When Ms. Unknown Pro and I hit the turn....she went to the outside and I went on the inside. Full speed and I nailed it with my fore-head. Completely flipped me upside down, landed on my back and head. I was told I was out for about 10 seconds. I was wearing the rubber style Fuel Belt visor that sits really low on your brow. I did this so I'd be focused on the task at hand, not distracted by people cheering or scenery....therefore allowing me to keep my eyes glued to the ground and what was immediately in front of me. I now have this beautiful gash as a souvenir. When I realized what had happened, I was hesitant to even touch it, as I was worried what I would find. What I found was a hand covered in blood after feeling around my head. Lots of people stopped for a quick second to see if I would be ok but pressed on as they were all in good shape for a really solid time. I would have done the same. What people did say as they passed me or I passed them was.....Hey man, did you know your bleeding?" My thought was, No Dude.....I got this gash in my forehead and I have no idea what happened.

After I hit that sign and laid on the ground for a minute or so before I managed to to get back up and start it up again. I figured I would run and figure out what to do in the process... I went through each aid station pouring water over my head to wash of the blood off my face. I even met back up with a couple fellas I was running with. Everyone was like....Mark....dude....are you ok. My response to each one of them was a resounding "NO".

Just past mile 10 I saw Ben with Team Timex. I immediately went over to him and asked how bad it was. He said it didn't look good and asked me how I was feeling. I literally broke down right there as my race had taken a huge turn. I was running strong with confidence all the way out to the turn around point. After that I was having trouble keeping it together. I was a little dizzy, shaken up and in a completely different territory than what I expected.

Ben and I chatted for about 5 minutes. He looked at my eyes for a concussion and I did the whole walk a straight line thing. While I did not plan on running into that Ford sign....I did, and now I needed to decide whether or not finishing was worth it. Still a little lopsided, I managed to get it together and find a way to finish up the remaining 16 miles. I think talking with Ben for 5 minutes helped me calm down and get out my feelings. It really helped that he was there and willing to talk with me.

To me....the work I did all summer, the preparation I put in, the sacrifices my family has made...I have made....my coach has made....were worth it. I told myself.....just slow down....don't push it. I couldn't push it anyway since every time I tried upping the pace I started getting dizzy. So from mile 10 to home I opted to just relax and finish the day.

In the end, I am very happy that I finished. I learned a lot about myself during those last 20 miles. What I can do mentally, and what I can do under the most extreme of conditions, is something you cannot be trained.....only learned. To know I can put together a respectable race given the unfortunate event that happened....gives me the confidence that becoming a better athlete is firmly in the cards. I tell you what! After today race, it's going to a true pleasure when I bring it all together. That alone was worth the last 3 hours and 15 minutes.

I want to say thank you to my very special wife, Julie Gingrich who endures my pain, my struggles and my up and down emotions on a day to day basis. The support she gives me is a support I couldn't get from anyone else. Although she couldn't be with me today, she was in my thoughts several times throughout the week.

I also want to thank my coach, Dave Latourette who has spent the last 6 months molding me into a much more well rounded athlete. Since were working on a 5 year plan, there will be many more Ironman's and countless amounts of racing to hit that elusive perfect day. Thank You again Dave, as I am so happy where I am physically. I just wish I could have given you a better time. I'll just have to keep my head up at the next race.

Last but certainly not least.....Thank you to all my sponsors. EAS who supplies all my nutritional needs, Blue Seventy who lined me up with my swim wear. That sleeveless suit was awesome and I had a blast out there in the rough water. Speedo, who put together a race top and bottom at the last minute with a great chamois inside the shorts. I love the suit and how it wears......just awesome. To Oakley Eyewear for some of the best shades around, Fizik for the saddles, Fuel Belt for the visor extras that are needed to hold your nutritional needs, Continental for the tires, Rotor Components for the awesome Q-Ring, and last but not least.....Blackwell Research for a set of stealthy 100mm race wheels.

Next year I will be keying on Ironman Brazil for a mid season A race. Not because of a Kona spot which I wouldn't even accept if they handed it to me.....But because this year they enforced the 10 meter rule on the bike and from what I hear....they were strict about it. Not to mention it's a beautiful place and I've wanted to see that part of the country for a while. I brought up the Kona spot because I want to make it clear that Kona is not my goal....my goal is to become a superior Ironman athlete and Kona doesn't fit in that deck of cards right now......not that I would have qualified yesterday.....just letting you know where my interests are right now.

For the next 4 weeks, I'm taking it down and I mean way down....sooooo

......Be cool......and keep you head up! I'll write again in the next few days...

I'm currently sitting in the lobby of the Boardwalk Beach Resort's new tower edition..... punching away on the Keyboard. The spot where I'm staying....9 miles up the road doesn't have Internet access capability. While sitting around the house with my feet kicked up....eating meals made by yours truly....me....is nice and all, I felt I needed to get back in touch with the 20th century and find out what's shakin back home and around the world. Coming from an IT background.....I get a little antzi without my internet fix after a few days. I suppose it's similar to someone who's addicted to coffee.....

On to the training and racing front. I've been in the water the last two days and both days couldn't have been more opposite. Wednesday's water was as calm as a swimming pool, the sun was out and temps were into the high 70's to low 80's. There were also more jellyfish than I cared to get close too, including the Man of War. If you don't know what it is...do a google search....Creepy creatures. Probably saw 3-4 of those and another 10 circular shaped jellyfish. The water was so clear. With the wind down and the sea calm....you could see 30 feet away at a minimum. Yep, 30 feet....so when I got out to the 4th buoy.....200 meters past the second shelf, I remembered that was where all the bull sharks like to hang out during the day......deep water past the 2nd sand bar. When I couldn't see the bottom anymore, which was about 200 meters out past the 2nd bar....it got a little Erie...not to mention I showed up late the the Gatorade swim and was out there alone.

Today was a tad different with it being overcast most of the day, temps into the low 60's and an off-shore breeze that churned up the water to give it more of that murky look. I swam for about 30 minutes and headed home for an after noon nap. When I hit the pillow, I still felt like I was in the sea. That rocking back and forth feeling was still with me.

I was out on the bike yesterday and was able to catch a glimpse of both the run and bike course. Both look to have a great asphalt surface which will boast well for running and cycling. Let's hope the winds die down before the race as there expected to get up to 30mph tomorrow. I'll have to venture down to the water when I check my bike in to see the conditions. I'm sure it will make for a pretty sight....NOT!

Actually, I just checked the weather report and it's changed and gone up now. Winds as high as 17mph on Saturday by 9 a.m and a wind chill of 37 degrees.....NICE! My knees are already aching. Base layer clothing might be a must. The way things picked up here in the last 24 hours, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw hard wind conditions all day Saturday.

Other than that, been keeping a low profile during the week, eating in every night. I'm here alone, so I've had plenty of time to relax and gather my thoughts. At times, it's been lonely but makes for an interesting prep going into this race. There's really only one thought going on in my head right now.

As I've been writhing this blog, I've had the pleasure of hanging out with Bella Comerford and Stephen Bayliss. Both are here to race and Bella comes in with 3 Ironman Florida victories. Stephen comes in with strong 4th place finishes at Ironman Brazil and Ironman New Zealand. They were having some trouble with internet connectivity when I showed up. Bella came over to inquire about possible problems and when she saw I was up and running I recommended they might want to switch sides to another side of the room. Since I obviously was in the right spot, they headed over my way. It was only after talking with them for 10 minutes and switching topics over to the race that Bella told me who she was. So after a small amount of introductions we talked a little bit about the race, competition and some other things.....like swimming in open water which is something Stephen says he's not keen on doing. Super down to earth people and they were a pleasure to talk with. I'd have to say, if they end up as a couple long term...they'll end up like the Lovato's which have got to be the friendliest tri-couple around.

Well, that's it. I'm headed home now. No more internet until after the race. To everyone who sent me an e-mail, phoned me up to wish there best....I appreciate it more than you know. It's always comforting to know someone's out there in your corner....where ever they may be!

As for how I feel. I couldn't feel better. I've managed to get some much needed sleep over the past few days and my senses are coming around. Coming of a 13 hour drive....there's a small amount of mental and physical fatigue that you can't hide from..... but I'm coming out of it nicely and tomorrow I should be 100%. I've pulled out all the stops this time for a taper and I'll be excited to see the end product race day.

Until Saturday.......