Early morning run around the University of Florida

Got up early this morning after arriving in Gainesville early Monday afternoon and went out for a quick 5.5 mile run around campus. It was great to see the sites again. Really do miss it down here. Weather was good, overcast and warm, but not hot, although it was pretty humid. Took off from Jenn and Tim's down 34th Street towards campus, running up the hill on University Ave passing by the stadium and then the Chemistry Dept, getting down to 13th Street at the other end of campus before turning around and running through the center of UF by the bell tower and then the Stadium, the O'Connell center, the track and then finally the law school before heading back north on 34th Street to Tim and Jenn's again. I felt pretty good, maintaining about 8 min/mile for the run with only a couple stops for lights.

Recovery run in Georgia...

Betsy and I left Cole with his grandparents this morning and went out for an easy recovery run. After 16 miles on Friday morning and a long 10 hour day on the road Friday, we needed a day off yesterday and then a short run this morning to loosen up badly. My left hip and shoulders were really tight, but overall, we were just maintaining a 9 min/mile pace, so it wasn't too bad.

Long run! 16 miles

Finally, after multiple weeks of other obligations (races, weekend plans and a tropical storm) I got in my long run, in this case a 16 miler around the house. In order to enable multiple water stops on the course without having to drop bottles ahead of time, I did 4 loops around our house to either side, meaning I repeated two different 4 mile loops twice. I started off at 6AM in a light drizzle, but with Betsy, Cole and I leaving to drive to Georgia this afternoon to start our vacation, I had to get the run in or risk missing it all together. I got going, maintaining about 9 min/mile, which was my goal. It really is amazing the amount of wildlife out that early, even in a heavily populated area like where we live! I came across multiple deer, a few rabbits and the wildest were the two miniature dobermans who "chased" after me after loop 3 (causing me to miss 0.4 miles in the course). I finished the first loop with a starting rash, so I ran inside briefly and put on some body glide and had some water before heading out for loop two (I also took a second to give the little Cole-monster a kiss). The second loop saw me getting a bit of tightness and pain again in my right hip this time. Then compensating for that, by loop 3 my left knee started to get sore. But none of it was too terrible, so I kept on going heading into loop 4. Before starting the fourth lap, I ran inside and grabbed Betsy and Cole as they were joining me! We finished the final lap passing the time laughing at Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric last night and happily discussing our upcoming vacation! Finished with a total of 16.27 miles, averaging 9:01 min/mile overall. My mile times were 8:50, 9:08, 9:03, 8:54, 8:52, 8:54, 8:53, 9:084, 8:58, 9:16, 9:04, 8:54, 9:08, 9:00, 9:17, 7:46 min/mile.

Hitting the Trails

Mountain biking at Rosaryville State Park. Just taking it nice and easy and adding in the extra technical section. Great ride overall.

Photos from the BRATS race

Waiting in line to start the pool swim. With 15 seconds between each swimmer, I got into a chat with a damn good triathlete Adam (silver cap behind me) who won the 20-29 age group.














In the pool to start the swim. Each of us had to first get down on the ledge, then shift to the center and then hop in and wait to be told to go. Being number 22 I had a bit of time, but at least I wasn't at the end. There were a number of breast strokers, but unlike the CUA tri, there was room to pass...














As I said, the swim went well, but I took forever in transition 1, here is me screwing around and finally getting my bike out of the blocks. The bike portion of the race itself went fairly well, with me spending the majority of the time with the eventual female winner of the race.














Me finishing strong!!! I had my fastest run splits ever in a triathlon during this race. Of course the shorter distance played to this advantage, but 2.05 miles at 6:52 min/mile is nothing to be ashamed of in my book.





























Here I am after accepting my award. But as you see in the next pic, as much as I enjoyed the medal, another little guy enjoyed it a bit more than I did!

The all boy Caldwell run...

Went for all male run! Betsy needed some time to herself, so after working from home today, I went for a short 4 mile run, just me and Cole! Despite pushing the stroller, I still finished at 8 min/mile, so can't complain about that! Plus it was lots of fun to chat back and forth with the little chatter box that is my son! Great time!!! However, the inside of my left hip is still bothering me, don't know what it is. Hopefully some Naproxen will clear it up.

Recovery run - Monday

After the great triathlon yesterday, I needed a nice easy run to loosen up. Felt really tight most of the way and only averaged 8:31 min/mile. I didn't push too hard, so it did the job. Will have to see how I feel tomorrow, but the inside of my left hip is really sore.

The REAL big news!

So my Uncle Steve has been valiantly battling his prostate cancer for a number of years, and as of a year ago, his level of PSA , or the Prostate Specific Antigen, in his blood was very high at 76.7 ng/mL; a level above 20 is considered at high risk of cancer. This is despite having had surgery to remove the cancerous tumor (which should have reduced his PSA level to zero) and many chemotherapy treatments. However, he began Internal Radiation Therapy (intravenous) as part of an experimental effort. AMAZINGLY, his PSA level has since dropped to 7.7 ng/mL!!! This dropping him into the slightly or moderately elevated level! While it is great that we are having such success raising money, this is one of those points where we can see such money actually making a difference! Lance Armstrong has always been a hero of mine for how he fought and overcame his cancer to only come back stronger than before, well I wanted everyone to know of my Uncle Steve for the same reason. He might not win the Tour de France (but if he wanted to train for it I would love to take him for a ride!!!), but he is winning the most incredible battle of all. I would ask you all to just say a quick prayer or think some positive thoughts for him as he continues this difficult battle!

Bristow Area Brats Sprint Triathlon #3 in Manassas, VA

Betsy and little Cole got up early this morning to drive my sorry butt up to Manassas, VA (about 1 hour away) and stood throughout the race to cheer me on! Similar to the Catholic University Triathlon in DC earlier this year, this started with a pool swim, however this was much better organized with 15 secs separating consecutive swimmers. The swim was a 350 m effort with flip turns made illegal, yet I still managed a 5:35 time (1:28 min/100yards). I got out of the pool and then took off for the transition area. I felt good, but it was pretty cold. My transition was terrible, as I took a wrong turn out of the pool then dilly dallied around getting dressed and putting on bike gloves. Seriously, it was a 10.2 mile bike course and I still thought bike gloves were a necessity... OH well, I got on the bike and put in a pretty strong ride, keeping pace with a woman, Candy, who apparently was the female overall winner. I would pass her, then she would pass me and vice versa, ending up with her heading into the second transition with a slight lead. It was her birthday however so we will say I gave her that as a gift... yeah THATS the ticket YEAH... Overall I avg'd 19.8 mph on a 3 loop flat course, so I can't complain too much. I got into the second transition feeling pretty strong and actually had a pretty speedy switch. I put on my quik laces last night, significantly easing this switch. So I started off for the short (just over 2 miles) run, feeling a bit tight, but pushing hard. For the first time I can remember, I spent the entire run passing OTHER people and not being passed myself! According to the race finals, I actually maintained a 6:54 min/mile pace! Overall I came in 2nd in my age group and 13th overall. It was a great sprint and will definitely do it again next year! Pictures to follow soon!

28 mile ride

Going for an easy ride around the Mt. Carmel loop. Felt pretty good, with the main goal of the ride being to get comfortable on the bike before the sprint triathlon tomorrow morning. Kept an 18.4 mph, which isn't bad considering I just maintained an nice steady cadence and didn't push at any point. Looking forward to the tri tomorrow, it is my first tri since March!