What a whirlwind!!

I know, I know . . . I've been off the blog the last couple weeks. I've had two good races (especially in light of my injuries) and haven't written a word about them. My latest is the unexplained swelling in my left calf and foot -- nice looking cankle, huh?

Well, soccer is back -- what can I say. I send the boys back to school tomorrow and hope to catch up then. I have some great pictures from Greater Cleveland Tri and a soggy Carnation Tri.

Labor day in one week -- WOW!

Stay tuned . . .

Pre race jitters

I haven't had time to post after a WONDERFUL weekend at Greater Cleveland Tri, so here's a quick preview -- Conor's first time "racing" at GCT -- he skipped the bike, but did a great job in the swim and run.

More soon!

Greater Cleveland Tri - race weekend

It is almost here -- my favorite race of the season and I'm still trying to recuperate enough to race decent on Sunday. Regardless of what happens with my race, I'm jazzed about the whole weekend of festivities. Roland - the Clot Buster -- and his lovely wife, Liz arrive tonight. Tomorrow the kid's race is in the morning and we are manning the NATT booth at the expo the rest of the day. Saturday ends with dinner at home with our racing friends that we haven't seen in too long.

Sunday should be a beautiful day weather-wise. Hopefully,everyone will have a beautiful race too!

Breaking News!!

In an overwhelming upset, the Head has triumphed over the Heart in Deirdre's upcoming race schedule. Originally slated to compete in the Half Iron distance race on August 12th, the latest information coming across our news desk is that Deirdre has switched to the International distance race. We tracked down the Head for comment on the stunning development.

"Well, we were riding on Saturday -- the first time since last Sunday's race -- and I pulled out the big punches. I kept going over the amount of training time Deirdre's put in recently against the amount of time she's spent in the sports doctor's office -- the answer was clear. Hell, I almost thought I could get the sprint race in there, but I knew that would be a huge risk.", the Head stated.

We discovered that in spite of existing hip pain, Deirdre recently tried to switch to the new Newton running shoe. Given the strain they place on the hip flexors and calves, it was the last thing she should have tried mid-season -- let alone while already nursing a couple injuries.

The Heart responded to our request for comment with this written statement:
"Greater Cleveland Tri is clearly one of my favorite races; it is literally in my back yard. Two years ago, I got my Ironman slot when I completed the Half Iron race here. It will always be special to me. The Head made an argument I couldn't compete with this time. I believe I will be fine in the International race and I am looking forward to cheering the other racers on. While I'm especially saddened that I won't be able to do the same race as Bill, I'm thrilled that I will be at the finish when he comes across. I plan to focus on getting healthy and mapping out next year's races -- which will definitely include GCT - Half Iron distance. Thanks to Mickey (the race director) for allowing me to make this adjustment for race day."