How I'm going to beat last year's times

Part of achieving better times in this year’s races is to evaluate the “mistakes” I made last year. I came up with seven areas in which I could have done a better job last year. Since everyone loves a list, I’ve ranked them in the order that I think they impacted my times. I’ll devote a post for each topic.

The seventh most impactful area for improvement is my bike. The first thing I did after moving out back in April 2006 was to sign up for the LA Triathlon in September of that year. I needed a challenge to focus on and that seemed appropriate. The only problems were that I didn’t know how to swim and I didn’t own a bike. A weekend swim clinic courtesy of Total Immersion took care of the swimming. As for the bike, I didn’t want to sink a bunch of money into something that was so new for me, so I went to Universal Cycle in Studio City and I got a Felt F90 and a bunch of gear for $800. Except for a new seat post and some tri bars I slapped on, that bike is essentially the same bike that I rode in IM CDA last year.

I’m pretty ambivalent about my bike. On one hand, we’ve had some good times together. It travelled the country with me, it’s done every race I’ve done, it was there when I went down hard in Pasadena, and it’s super reliable. I’m pretty tough on it but it is sturdy and maintenance costs have been pretty low.

On the other hand, it’s HEAVY. Every time I climb a hill, I curse Mr. Felt and his excessive use of aluminum. IM Coeur D’Alene is a fairly hilly 112 miles and I felt them even more because of the extra weight I was carrying on my bike. A lighter bike would make my rides a little easier which would result in faster times.

The question is, how much am I willing to spend to get faster times? It seems that in every race I’ve been in, I’ve both been passed by people with worse bikes than mine AND I’ve passed people with sweet bikes that must cost more than 3 grand. That, combined with the knowledge that riders like Eddie Merckx and Bernard Hinault rode heavier bikes than I ride, leads me to the logical conclusion that maybe there's more to riding than bike weight. Clearly, a poor craftsman blames his tools.

Instead of replacing the bike, I’ve decided to keep the frame and upgrade the components. I took my first step last week when I upgraded my wheels to the Shimano Ultegra / Mavic Open Pro Wheelset after having a spoke break. Next up is new compact crankset and shifters. I think it is time to retire the granny gear.

As I mentioned, the bike weight is the least of my concerns, so I’ll do what needs to be done and maybe next year, I’ll do a big bike upgrade. Next up… #6... race day nutrition.

Are they really hurting our chances to win?

As a rabid Edwards supporter (Edwards, Angelides, Gen. Clark, Bob Graham…can you see a common theme developing?) I know the disillusionment that comes from having someone that you LOVE lose in a primary. I've said, more than once, that I probably just won’t vote at all. Of course, I WILL vote for whichever candidate the Dems settle on (Obama). I stumbled across this Pew Research poll on the effects of the contentious Republican primaries in 2000. Apparently the hurt feelings from primary competitions aren’t THAT long lasting.

My upcoming race season

I wasn't that happy with my 13:57 Ironman and 4:22 NYC Marathon, so I'm looking forward to a new season where I can improve my times. Here's what I've got on the books:

Wildflower Long Course - May 3 - Lake San Antonio, CA - Half IM
Mountain Man Triathlon - July 20 - Flagstaff, AZ - Half IM
Ironman Louisville - August 31 - Louisville, KY
BayState Marathon - October 19 - Lowell, MA
NYC Marathon - November 2 - NYC

I'll be fundraising for Autism Speaks again this season so get your checkbooks ready!

Autism: The Musical premieres tonight

Has it really been 5 months since I posted last?!?! I guess time flies when you're doing shit.

Autism Speaks screened Autism: The Musical at our annual Leadership Conference earlier this month and it was pretty good. I started working at AS without having a personal connection to Autism. Over the last year, I've learned a lot by working to support the organization, my co-workers and the families affected by this disease. This movie, however, gave me a frame of reference in which I could develop that personal connection with Autism I was missing. Check it out on HBO starting tonight. It's not only informative, it's a good documentary.

Me and the Man

A picture of me with the greatest President of my lifetime from this summer's Millenium Network Reception in NYC.


It's been a while and a lot has happened in the past 3 1/2 months since Ironman. After beating my 14 hour Ironman goal by three minutes, I committed to running the 2007 New York City Marathon on November 4. I'm doing this to raise awareness and money for the fight against Autism. I've pledged to raise $2500 in donations for Autism Speaks, a non-profit dedicated to increasing awareness of the growing autism epidemic and to raising money to fund scientists who are searching for a cure. I started working with AS back in April. The organization is doing amazing work and last week I was hired as their Manager of IT Services and Support. I look forward to helping the hard-working dedicated people that work at AS as well as all of the people affected by autism. If you'd like to make a donation to my fundraising efforts, please visit http://www.autismwalk.org/goto/MATT2007NYC

Picture from mile 20 of the run

My teammate Jen's mom snapped this picture of me from the run. Hopefully, the Ironman CDA posts race pictures and video soon.

I'm sleepy...

I got back to LA late last night. I'm exhausted and trying to catch up with work, but I couldn't be any happier with my race on Sunday. I'll put together a race report and post it by Thursday. Thanks for the support!