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Well, this was going to be a well thought out, heart felt, and wonderful blog about how much fun I've had the last 24 hours just being a dad. I got to go out with my two daughters (just daddy time) to WALL - E , the movie, and then played with them a lot of the morning today without trying to email , answer phone calls, train and write programs. It was reall awesome to actually pay attention to them!
However, after getting them to bed (literally screaming and kicking us) at 8:30 (wow what a blessing- this never happens) Clancy woke up 20 min. later screaming and is still up as I write this. My back is killing me and I can't do anything about it. This reminds me of most nights before races. In fact the last time it was this bad at home was the night before Gear West Duathlon- here's hoping things turn out that well.
More tomorrow. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Getting it all done?
Wow! It's just too much for me sometimes! Tomorrow Micki leaves for Arizona to teach for Spina Bifida Association, I leave for Des Moines- then Arizona and the girls head to the farm then back home with my folks until we get back. I'm going to miss them so much and feel pretty horrible to leave them for a week. It makes getting everything ready tougher- not motivated. I think it's probably from guilt as we are so blessed to be able to do these cool things!
Another reason I'm fretting is trying to get some monster training in while all this is going on. I have a 5 hour ride and 2 hour run to try and squeeze in this weekend. I'll be helping coach the MJETS team as well as do some Regional Development Coordinator stuff. It's great to get to go down and see so many awesome athletes and be on my own a bit but I do get overly worried about how it will affect rest, recovery and my general health (which hasn't been good lately).
All of this is such a blessing and my children will be with both sets of Grandparents which is also too cool for school. I guess I need to heed my own advice: "enJOY what your doing while doing the best you can".
I hope you all have a blessed and safe weekend of training, family time, work and anything else we are privileged to do!!
* I gotta get Kate to help me get some pictures up on this thing!
Another reason I'm fretting is trying to get some monster training in while all this is going on. I have a 5 hour ride and 2 hour run to try and squeeze in this weekend. I'll be helping coach the MJETS team as well as do some Regional Development Coordinator stuff. It's great to get to go down and see so many awesome athletes and be on my own a bit but I do get overly worried about how it will affect rest, recovery and my general health (which hasn't been good lately).
All of this is such a blessing and my children will be with both sets of Grandparents which is also too cool for school. I guess I need to heed my own advice: "enJOY what your doing while doing the best you can".
I hope you all have a blessed and safe weekend of training, family time, work and anything else we are privileged to do!!
* I gotta get Kate to help me get some pictures up on this thing!
Monday, June 16, 2008
1/2 Iron Success!!
This weekend was exciting! Not a mile from my house was a two race event that filled like an Ironman (waiting list and everything), drew a solid field in both races and made use of the park I train in daily and have grown to absolutely love. It was a race in my own backyard!
After a few down weeks I was ready to have a solid race again! I had almost forgotten how it felt. Two weeks ago was the start. An absolute flop at Pigman Sprint. This was the beginning of the downward slide.
Coming up on Alacatraz I got two different infections and ended up traveling and sleeping the nights prior in chills and cold sweats. One infection was a saddle sore which made it almost impossible to sit on my bike. NOT FUN! The weekend was really awesome though as our hosts (Ted and Mai) were absolutely awesome again. We also got to gather as a Fellowship of Christian Athletes crew and minister a bit. It was awesome! The race was pretty crummy but overshadowed by a beautiful day and great experience!
So coming up on this past weekend I was beginning to feel better , able to sit on the saddle and ready to rock my neighborhood triathlon! It started well but alas I ran into more of the same. NO GAS! I later figured out I was several pounds low and likely dehydrated. It was somewhat of a blessing in disguise.
In my struggling coming back in I was going slow enough to enjoy seeing so many impressive athletes out there going hard and finishing STRONG!
Congrats to : Dawn Keller (first 1/2 finish! Awesome!), Greg Meyer (1/2 finish), Bob Mackenzie (1/2 finish), Erin Schindler (Olympic Finish), Jamie Heying (first 1/2 finish!), tons of others out there who soldiered through and MADE IT!
Special Congrats to Kate Monster- 4th overall Olympic finish and PR 2:27!!!
It was an honor to be out there with all of you- it's inspiring to keep going and try harder!
More to come...
After a few down weeks I was ready to have a solid race again! I had almost forgotten how it felt. Two weeks ago was the start. An absolute flop at Pigman Sprint. This was the beginning of the downward slide.
Coming up on Alacatraz I got two different infections and ended up traveling and sleeping the nights prior in chills and cold sweats. One infection was a saddle sore which made it almost impossible to sit on my bike. NOT FUN! The weekend was really awesome though as our hosts (Ted and Mai) were absolutely awesome again. We also got to gather as a Fellowship of Christian Athletes crew and minister a bit. It was awesome! The race was pretty crummy but overshadowed by a beautiful day and great experience!
So coming up on this past weekend I was beginning to feel better , able to sit on the saddle and ready to rock my neighborhood triathlon! It started well but alas I ran into more of the same. NO GAS! I later figured out I was several pounds low and likely dehydrated. It was somewhat of a blessing in disguise.
In my struggling coming back in I was going slow enough to enjoy seeing so many impressive athletes out there going hard and finishing STRONG!
Congrats to : Dawn Keller (first 1/2 finish! Awesome!), Greg Meyer (1/2 finish), Bob Mackenzie (1/2 finish), Erin Schindler (Olympic Finish), Jamie Heying (first 1/2 finish!), tons of others out there who soldiered through and MADE IT!
Special Congrats to Kate Monster- 4th overall Olympic finish and PR 2:27!!!
It was an honor to be out there with all of you- it's inspiring to keep going and try harder!
More to come...
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
New Goal
I have a new goal (with some pressure but in a good way) of making a post on my blog each week. We'll see how it goes.
For now a quick recap of the last couple weeks. It's really been a lot of highs and lows. The story of life I suppose. After my best performance at Gear West Duathlon I was flying high. Still having some work to do during the week, I was still excited to go into Apple Du 5 days later and see what would happen. Admittedly not as fresh as I'd like the race actually went quite well.
The first run of apple was really amazing and fun. We had a few more big runners in the field and the second group packed up nicely with the giant Ellingson twins and D Train leading the way into the sharp wind. We didn't seem to be loosing a lot to the leaders about 1/2 way through but then DKT and Sam put it down and gained significant time on us the last mile. Regardless things were looking good. I passed D Train early in the bike and set us up once again to battle it out and legally help each other but pushing each others' pace and battling it out with several passes. I ended up leading a charge into the wind the last few miles and in prime fashion Dan came around to lead into transition. Coming out and up the hill I was having to really work to catch Dan. He backed off a little and we ended up running the rest of the way together. At first we flew but as we realized no one was close we began to settle and really dogged the last mile. We talked about some scenarios but I was disappointed in my willingness to just concede. I truly believe if we would have raced it in hard Dan would have still beaten me but I don't do either of us any favors, or make us better, by just pushing cruise control. Needless to say I ended up 3rd but was still super happy with how the du season went. I was super pumped to start TRI SEASON!
Next up was Pigman Sprint. If you really want to know how I feel about it read Midwest Events Magazine in July/August on handling disappointment. I did not rest well at all the entire week and the lack of sleep and added stress caught up with me big time. In a race I really felt like on a good day I would have been 2nd, bad day 3rd I was 6th. Out of the money and with a big points hit for the teams' season points. The swim was pretty good. Bike felt really off and the run was HORRIBLE- no legs at all. I'm VERY disappointed in my discipline this week. I came in very tired, a couple pounds heavy and it showed!! My apologies to my family, my sponsors and my Lord. I did not take care of my end of the bargain and it's all on me! But it's all about forgiveness and perseverance. I'm pretty good and the bounce back!
Next week is another day- I'll be ready! A really cool side note. I actually got to hand out a Fellowship of Christian athletes card to someone who noticed my fish tattoos I wear at each race. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
As always big ups and mad props to God, my family, friends and ROME, GEARWEST, FCA and SCS Multisport!
For now a quick recap of the last couple weeks. It's really been a lot of highs and lows. The story of life I suppose. After my best performance at Gear West Duathlon I was flying high. Still having some work to do during the week, I was still excited to go into Apple Du 5 days later and see what would happen. Admittedly not as fresh as I'd like the race actually went quite well.
The first run of apple was really amazing and fun. We had a few more big runners in the field and the second group packed up nicely with the giant Ellingson twins and D Train leading the way into the sharp wind. We didn't seem to be loosing a lot to the leaders about 1/2 way through but then DKT and Sam put it down and gained significant time on us the last mile. Regardless things were looking good. I passed D Train early in the bike and set us up once again to battle it out and legally help each other but pushing each others' pace and battling it out with several passes. I ended up leading a charge into the wind the last few miles and in prime fashion Dan came around to lead into transition. Coming out and up the hill I was having to really work to catch Dan. He backed off a little and we ended up running the rest of the way together. At first we flew but as we realized no one was close we began to settle and really dogged the last mile. We talked about some scenarios but I was disappointed in my willingness to just concede. I truly believe if we would have raced it in hard Dan would have still beaten me but I don't do either of us any favors, or make us better, by just pushing cruise control. Needless to say I ended up 3rd but was still super happy with how the du season went. I was super pumped to start TRI SEASON!
Next up was Pigman Sprint. If you really want to know how I feel about it read Midwest Events Magazine in July/August on handling disappointment. I did not rest well at all the entire week and the lack of sleep and added stress caught up with me big time. In a race I really felt like on a good day I would have been 2nd, bad day 3rd I was 6th. Out of the money and with a big points hit for the teams' season points. The swim was pretty good. Bike felt really off and the run was HORRIBLE- no legs at all. I'm VERY disappointed in my discipline this week. I came in very tired, a couple pounds heavy and it showed!! My apologies to my family, my sponsors and my Lord. I did not take care of my end of the bargain and it's all on me! But it's all about forgiveness and perseverance. I'm pretty good and the bounce back!
Next week is another day- I'll be ready! A really cool side note. I actually got to hand out a Fellowship of Christian athletes card to someone who noticed my fish tattoos I wear at each race. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
As always big ups and mad props to God, my family, friends and ROME, GEARWEST, FCA and SCS Multisport!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Bright Spot
Wow what a weekend! My trusty companion (lovely wife too) was gone being a camp chaperone on Friday and then an trail racer on Saturday so I had the girls to myself. It is always really fun to have just Daddy time but it can also be a true challenge. You never realize how much you depend on the help of your spouse until they're not there. Everything would have been just fine but I had some work to do on Saturday, the lawn needed mowing and the upcoming "start" to the local racing season was upon me. I became more and more frustrated while trying to prepare for the Gear West Duathlon, finish up company work, try to get a couple tune-up workouts in and still be superdad for the girls. As Micki got home the arguing ensued. We were both strung out, tired and crabby- it showed! Not to give too much info. but not our best night. Micki was also feeling the effects of stomach flu and was up all night making runs to the bathroom. HOW WAS I GOING TO PERFORM AT MY RACE!?
While riding over to the race course I was wondering the whole time- "is this worth it?" all the headaches, fatigue, arguments over this sport, money and the like make me wonder A LOT. However, as I pulled up and heard the familiar greetings of "hey Shelper" I remembered the main reason I do this- THE PEOPLE!!! WOW I LOVE ALL OF YOU!! It was so much fun to catch up with everyone, joke, warm-up, be nervous together - just plain COOL. What a gift from God! I was VERY nervous for the race, you just never know how you'll feel until you're out there. My multisport friends made it so much easier to handle.
The race started well, I felt pretty good and we were cruising along nicely. I have to admit secretly waiting for the gorilla to jump on my back but it seemed to just be a spider monkey this time. As we got to our bikes I was pretty optimistic. The legs were ok on the bike, not great, as my bro Danny Boy and I battled it out we seemed to be catching some key runners early. Then something crazy happened! David started to get closer into view. Yes he was pretty deathly ill but it was still cool to do something I've never done actually ride up and catch David. Of course one we did we stirred the hornets nest and he was GONE but it was still an honor and neat experience. After that I seemed to pull away from D-Train and, refusing to look back. wondered if I was putting much time into him. About five miles later I found out when he came blasting past me near the end. Into T2 we went. David was just out and Dan closely behind, I was in third. I new we were going well when we left transition no one was in the parking lot yet.
The last run was weird. I really didn't try to race, just one foot in front of another and BOOM there was Dan, as I past we chatted a bit and then move on, a weird feeling came over me- I just couldn't believe what was happening and really didn't think about it. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. Soon enough it was over and I'd had my best GW DU ever and hopefully a start of a great year of racing. The fun began again as we all returned to chatting, running, eating, laughing. It's hard to put the experience into words but it was just such a bright spot in a tough weekend.
Thank you too; Julie Mac, Becca, Danny Boy, Kevin, Fellowship of Christian athletes bothers and sisters, Gear West, Rome, SCS Pose (Swart and crew), KWJ, Julie Hull, Cathy Y, Brian, the Kellers and the 100's of people I haven't mentioned. Most importantly I love you to the 3 Shelp girls (Micki, Quincy and Clancy). Mad props to the Florida 70.3 chicks (Brook, Jen and Katie) and Mark!
Thanks be to God!
While riding over to the race course I was wondering the whole time- "is this worth it?" all the headaches, fatigue, arguments over this sport, money and the like make me wonder A LOT. However, as I pulled up and heard the familiar greetings of "hey Shelper" I remembered the main reason I do this- THE PEOPLE!!! WOW I LOVE ALL OF YOU!! It was so much fun to catch up with everyone, joke, warm-up, be nervous together - just plain COOL. What a gift from God! I was VERY nervous for the race, you just never know how you'll feel until you're out there. My multisport friends made it so much easier to handle.
The race started well, I felt pretty good and we were cruising along nicely. I have to admit secretly waiting for the gorilla to jump on my back but it seemed to just be a spider monkey this time. As we got to our bikes I was pretty optimistic. The legs were ok on the bike, not great, as my bro Danny Boy and I battled it out we seemed to be catching some key runners early. Then something crazy happened! David started to get closer into view. Yes he was pretty deathly ill but it was still cool to do something I've never done actually ride up and catch David. Of course one we did we stirred the hornets nest and he was GONE but it was still an honor and neat experience. After that I seemed to pull away from D-Train and, refusing to look back. wondered if I was putting much time into him. About five miles later I found out when he came blasting past me near the end. Into T2 we went. David was just out and Dan closely behind, I was in third. I new we were going well when we left transition no one was in the parking lot yet.
The last run was weird. I really didn't try to race, just one foot in front of another and BOOM there was Dan, as I past we chatted a bit and then move on, a weird feeling came over me- I just couldn't believe what was happening and really didn't think about it. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. Soon enough it was over and I'd had my best GW DU ever and hopefully a start of a great year of racing. The fun began again as we all returned to chatting, running, eating, laughing. It's hard to put the experience into words but it was just such a bright spot in a tough weekend.
Thank you too; Julie Mac, Becca, Danny Boy, Kevin, Fellowship of Christian athletes bothers and sisters, Gear West, Rome, SCS Pose (Swart and crew), KWJ, Julie Hull, Cathy Y, Brian, the Kellers and the 100's of people I haven't mentioned. Most importantly I love you to the 3 Shelp girls (Micki, Quincy and Clancy). Mad props to the Florida 70.3 chicks (Brook, Jen and Katie) and Mark!
Thanks be to God!
Friday, May 2, 2008
New Technology
Look @ me I'm blogging on my phone!
Hoping this saves time that I can spend with my family and training!
Hoping this saves time that I can spend with my family and training!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Luckiest Man on Earth
Just got done with a MONSTER workout designed by my boy and fellow athlete Danny Cohen. We did a series of 6 min. efforts on the bike followed by a sub 6 min. mile (10 total). It was really great to workout with my old friend again. We haven't gotten to do that much the past couple seasons and it was painful but fun! The workout actually went very well and has given me good confidence for the upcoming season.
When we finished we talked about life a bit and especially about the women in our lives. I was complaining a bit about a fight Micki and I had last night. Pretty much small talk and just letting off steam but as I drove home and continued the day it made me really reflect on what's going on this season and how hard it can be on my family. It seems lately I wake up and ask myself if this is all worth it. Time away from my family, energy and $ drained all to race some silly races that seem to be pretty much all about me. I guess when you think about it none of this crazy Triathlon stuff really matters and yet it matters immensely. It's that love hate relationship that we all have with many things in life.
With that said I do feel SO completely lucky to be able to train, rest and race with the support of my family. More so I'm so blessed with the women in my life MICKI, QUINCY and CLANCY are what matters in my life. It's sounds crazy but it's very comforting to know that Triathlon and sport are truly not my life and when this all fades away the most cherished things in my life will remain.
I hope you are all as blessed as I am!
ps- Shout out to Chell (fellow member of class of 1990 cancer club), my sponsors ROME, GW, SCS and all the home town players of the Midwest Multisport Community. Special prayers and blessings to JEREMY SARTAIN- get well !
When we finished we talked about life a bit and especially about the women in our lives. I was complaining a bit about a fight Micki and I had last night. Pretty much small talk and just letting off steam but as I drove home and continued the day it made me really reflect on what's going on this season and how hard it can be on my family. It seems lately I wake up and ask myself if this is all worth it. Time away from my family, energy and $ drained all to race some silly races that seem to be pretty much all about me. I guess when you think about it none of this crazy Triathlon stuff really matters and yet it matters immensely. It's that love hate relationship that we all have with many things in life.
With that said I do feel SO completely lucky to be able to train, rest and race with the support of my family. More so I'm so blessed with the women in my life MICKI, QUINCY and CLANCY are what matters in my life. It's sounds crazy but it's very comforting to know that Triathlon and sport are truly not my life and when this all fades away the most cherished things in my life will remain.
I hope you are all as blessed as I am!
ps- Shout out to Chell (fellow member of class of 1990 cancer club), my sponsors ROME, GW, SCS and all the home town players of the Midwest Multisport Community. Special prayers and blessings to JEREMY SARTAIN- get well !
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