a 9-5 athlete

Running

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:47:36 PST

Reasons I love to run. 1) If I had a choice to do anything, I would run because it's so simple.2) When it seems easy, the motion is effortless. 3) When it seems hard, the reward of motivation lasts forever.3) The act of running is so powerful, it can influence peoples' lives.4) Running is a way to display athleticism in a really simple form.5) I love running so much and it's so difficult

Surprises, virtual connections, and networking

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:56:18 PST

I had some great surprises in October/November. I received an offer for rehire at my old position as a Senior Mechanical Engineer working for my old boss. I am designing a electronic control unit for transmissions in cars - the thing that makes your car drive itself. In modern cars, you step on the gas, you turn the wheel, and the car basically drives itself. No real effort or stress is

Rich K.

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:07:49 PST

You are toast at camp buddy. Just wait, when we are done doing repeats up Mt. Lemmon, you will be walking your bike up past Windy Pt.

I'm selling...

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:33:30 PST

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Great Floridian Ultra Race Report, 3rd OVERALL!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:14:13 PDT

At the urgent request of my one reader of this blog, I decided to finally write my race report. It's been 9 days since I raced my 3rd IM, and 2nd this year. Doubling up was a wild experience. More on that later. On October 22, 2011 I raced the Great Floridian in Clermont, FL. Clermont is a growing suburb about 50 minutes from Orlando, the city of Disney. Going into this race, I had a

Great Illini Half Race Report

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 05:31:44 PDT

The good:1st 30-34 age group The bad: 100 degree weather and humidity, no shade and minimal race support (they ran out of water). I guess I need to go faster haha.Swim: no wetsuit, very pedestrian pace, 42Bike: somewhat pedestrian in the first 10 miles: 2:35Run: extremely pedestrian, 1:56, it was so hot I could feel my skin burning. I came off the bike a few spots down but near the front and

Need to recenter

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:08:31 PDT

RIP my friend Jeremy Russel. You were too young and the wrong guy to be claimed by cancer. I can't imagine what your family is going through right now. I feel so insignificant compared to what you were facing. Going through this you really showed us how to be courageous. Doing an IM doesn't even compare to fighting a battle with 3 cancers. I hope to see you in the promised land my friend....

For Sale: Powertap with Mavic Open Pro Wheelset

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 12:04:45 PDT

I'm selling my wheelset. Here is the advertisement on Craigslist. Email me at linbenja@gmail.com for details.http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/bik/2475494895.html

What I love about IM recovery

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 21:07:21 PDT

My top ten list of IM/Marathon recovery in order of increasing delight!1) Sense of accomplishment in the days following the event. 2) Not having to do any structured workouts for a few days or maybe even a week after the event.3) Sleeping in. The looming thought of not having to do a long workout that takes up half the morning isn't present.4) Identifying weaknesses and areas of improvement. Big

Forgot to thank those...

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:50:25 PDT

Mom, Jenny, Patrick, Mike, Bill, Tony, Nathalie, Dad, Jeremy, Jerome, Kari, Mary, Julia, Renne, Rich, Andre, Jamie, Tucson Campers. I'm sorry if I forgot anyone, but these people had the most impact on my success.

IM #2 in the Books

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:25:34 PDT

Ironman #2 is in the personal record books. It's taken me a few days (almost a week) to gather my thoughts. Highly unlike myself, I haven't even downloaded my data from my Garmin because I just want to get away from Ironman, training, and triathlon for a week or two. I have a long season with Ironman #3 in late October, so I want to make sure I hit the crtl+alt+delete on my brain and mental

Living with Fatigue

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 19:13:53 PDT

Thanks to all those who read my blog over the past few weeks. At first, I thought no one was going to read this thing and I could just do a brain dump every few weeks to get my thoughts out. However, I am amazed to have 5 followers haha! I have been through a myriad of life changes since Rev3 last month! It's amazing to realize that when we train for big endurance events in life, be it a

Rev 3 Knoxville

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 16 May 2011 18:05:33 PDT

Last weekend, I raced the Rev3 Half Iron race for the fourth race of the 2011 season. Overall, I executed an above average race, getting 6th age group and 28th overall. The highlight race was the OLY, but the Half was just as exciting and tough competition-wise.The swim:I had the Garmin 310xt measure it very long, but it could be highly inaccurate. I only believe my HR data which was an

Testing...

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:03:10 PDT

Just testing some movie uploads for a friend..

In sync with training

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 16:12:31 PDT

Three more months to go and no where but up! I'm in pure synchronization with my training and recovery. Just like Dorthy. Best listened to with headphones on max volume.

Computrainer, Garmin, and the virtual cycling world

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 19:25:34 PST

I have all this techie stuff in my house and I sometimes wonder how to integrate it all together to enrich my life and training. I've been experimenting a lot this past winter with ERG and the creation of ERG files for the Computrainer. I must say, the Racermate software is pretty dated from a userinterface and it bores me to death...I feel like I'm stuck in the early 90s. Creation of ERG

Life's a balance

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:28:01 PST

I'm ALIVE! I survived the holidays in one piece. Every year, I travel to San Marcos, a northern suburb of San Diego, not really San Diego proper, but these suburbs are called "North County". This year, I didn't go and it was the first Christmas we spent frozen in the midwest. I was out of my element because the spots I usually visit in Cali, I missed this year. I'm not sure why we didn't go,

Sad but true...

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 18:24:02 PST

Coors-Morgul Bismark

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 06:59:36 PDT

I enjoy the creativity of JH and her workouts. Entertaining swim workout titles, like "I am Michael Phelps" keep it interesting. And, that has helped with my consistency the past month. I've been good to my schedule, waking before dawn, starting to run outside when the stars are still out, and finishing before the light of dawn. All summer long, I was lazy, waiting to workout when I was

For Amazing Core Strength...

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 08:03:53 PDT

Practice Mula Bandha (root lock), Uddiyana Bandha (abdomen or navel lock), and Jalandara Bandha (throat lock). All three really teach how to fundamentally breath not just with the lungs. How does this relate to core strength? Practicing each will allow one to pick yourself up off the floor from a sitting position, almost levitating because everything inside you is light.Root lock is also great

Rebuilding the Engine

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 04:01:35 PDT

This is me in deep thought, on a Sunday morning, waiting for the sun to come up so I can go out for a short bike ride. My mind has been really focused on training and where I am currently at, where I would like to be. I know I have to start building soon for CDA. Last week, I got a bike fit at the Trek Store in Highland Park using Retul. Today will be the first real ride I take on my Kuota

Recovery

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:31:35 PDT

I've learned:Loss is part of life. Whatever it is, physical, emotional, mental capacity, it exists.The cycle of experiencing loss, ebbs and flows.Life changes are constant.Growth from experiencing loss and living through that change is optional.Since life was not designed by Apple, it is not a lossless format.Bike parts are expensively designed, cheaply manufactured, then rebaged, made to look

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:31:28 PDT

I'm sick. No ambition and very unfulfilled with myself. I left my mom's tonight after dinner and she said, smile. So I forced myself to smile for twenty minutes on the way home. It made my facial muscles ache.I haven't worked out in 4 days. Last weekend, I buried myself on a 3.5 hour brick in low 90s and humidity. On the last few hills, my quads (both), simultaneously locked up. My mouth

How important is the mental game in training/racing?

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:08:22 PST

We all have seen top pros in triathlon looking so smooth and we tell ourselves, "if I looked that fit, I could fly!" It's true, being totally fit helps, but I realized this week how important the mental game is in training. We all are courageous enough to toe the line at the swim, start a marathon or half marathon to try and PR, but getting to the start line is the real test. Motivation is the

Frozen in the Midwest

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:15:11 PST

I am cold. We just got a huge snow dump, I didn't bother to look at the amount of snowfall. This winter, I rated it as a little, a lot, and a shit-ton. When it started to snow in November, I thought oh boy, 4-5 months of winter, but now, the end is in sight. March will be here soon and I will be in the saddle again. I feel like my swimming is getting better (took my t-pace down over 30