Good news indeed!!

So, I'm sitting through a car wreck of a children's skit at church yesterday afternoon and my phone buzzes in my pocket that I have new voice mail, email or whatever. I ignore it hoping the play will be over soon. (Our 3 boys all had minor roles in the play) Afterward, I finally sneak a peak at the phone and find I have a voice mail from a number I don't recognize but is in an area code near my work. (for those who don't know, I am a Systems Admin - read that as computer geek and as a consequence I am on call pretty much at all times) So my first reaction is the tightening feeling in the pit of my stomach that this could be a long night. I live the farthest away and if they're calling me then it can't be good. I step outside to quickly listen to the voicemail and that is when I get the surprise of my fall!

A couple of months ago I applied to get onto a triathlon team based in Livonia Michigan called the Racing Greyhounds. I did it on a whim and felt then as I do now that I could at the very least commit to the minimum race requirements to be a part of the team. They seemed to be a group who were fun and semi-serious which I thought really suited my personality. I thought it would be cool to roll into races and have a support crew there. (no really any of the official team races they bring the bike techs and service/tune up your equipment for you pre-race) I also thought it would be cool to have teammates to Cheer on and be cheered on by at races. Let's face it, it can get pretty lonely out there at some of the bigger races. I also thought any other perks or discounts for being on the team would be nothing but a bonus. So, I applied for the team.

Until Last night I had almost forgotten that I had applied. That changed quickly when I listened to the voicemail. I am now a Racing Greyhound!!

I am initially very excited and a bit apprehensive about what the heck did I get myself into, haha. I will find out more at the end of this week when I go to the 2009 team orientation meeting.

I was planning on posting my 2009 goals this week. I now think I better hold off until I see what happens at the team orientation and how I can mesh my personal goals with those of my new team obligations.

That's all for now, more to come as soon as I have it.

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Body Glide, Triathletes best friend

Shortly after I started training for my first triathlon a couple years ago, a good friend told me about Body Glide. I was complaining about some minor chafing issues and I was told this was the product I needed to try. Fast forward a couple of years and I have now done/competed in over 6 triathlons ranging from sprint distance all the way up to a Half Ironman. I won't ever race or train without it. I believe in it so much that when I went to my season ending Blue Water sprint triathlon and realized the evening before that I had forgotten my stick of Body Glide, I drove all over Port Huron Michigan looking for a sporting goods store that carried it. I ended up buying the last stick of it they had at a Dunham's store. It would have been ugly if they had been out.

The reason Body Glide works so well for me is it's wide variety of uses and ease of application. The product comes in "deodorant" like stick which makes application and storage a breeze. It is not messy to put on like Vaseline or many of the "whatever butter" products can be. Body Glide has never stained or ruined any of my expensive tech clothing. It retains its lubricating effect even through long hours in the saddle on training rides. During my Half Ironman race, I applied it generously in the normal "chafe sensitive" area (read that as inner thigh, saddle contact location, rear end, crotch or what ever your preferred term is haha). Then I applied it just as generously around where my shirt would rub on my shoulders, my nipples, and in my shoes where I know I have a tendency for blisters. 6 hours and a ton of sweat later, I was chafe free. I only had a couple of blisters on my feet from my cycling shoes, not my running shoes where I had used the product. In fact, had I not used it in my running shoes the blisters from my cycling shoes might have caused me to quit had they gotten worse on the run. I had been sweating profusely and dumping water over my head all day and Body Glide just kept on doing it's job. I can honestly say the when I am wearing Body Glide, I don't even think about rubbing or chafing issues. I have enough to think about while training or racing and I am thankful worrying about rubbing or chafing is not one of them.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was sent a couple of samples of Body Glide prior to this review. However, I was a committed customer well before I received the samples and I will continue to use it to literally save my rear end at every race.

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Hey did anyone miss me???

Ok all, if anyone is left that is, rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated. Well, ok, maybe there have been no rumors and maybe not many really care where I've been or missed my posting but hey, just a quick note to say.

I'M still ALIVE.

Stay tuned. I promise, this time there is more to come. All I'll say for now is this, once my Half Ironman was done my family and job both needed more attention than they had gotten for a while. Nothing serious but with out all of their support for my endless training this summer I needed to give some back.

Now it's time to get back to work and begin planning the 2009 season. In the short term you can expect a long over due review of Body Glide, a product I won't race without, and a look back at the highs, many lows and lessons learned from Steelhead.

So for now, enjoy the season;

Craig

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