EverymanTri.com

Ironman ringtone a huge hit

With well over 2000 downloads as of midnight last night the consensus is clear.

The super short Ironman ringtone is the most popular one by far.

click Download ironmansupershort.mp3
to download the super short version for your cell or smart phone.

Get your very own Ironman ringtone right here

As many of you may know the new Ironman movie is scheduled to come out next year.

But did you know that the trailer for the movie has already been released?

And did you know that it features a pretty cool Ironman music score which for your cell phone ringtone pleasure I have converted to an easily downloaded mp3 file.

That's right you too can get your very own Ironman ringtone to remind you of your next race, or your Ironman status with every phone call you get.

Click Download Ironmanringtone.mp3

to download the long version of the ringtone.

Or click Download ironmanringtoneshort.mp3 to download the short version.

Or click Download ironmansupershort.mp3

for the super short version

that cuts right to the chase....the "I am Ironman" part that is sure to motivate you, and impress your friends and family.

We're all about choice here at Everyman Triathlon so choose the one that you like the best.

Once you right click to downloaded the mp3 files and save them to your computer, you just upload them to your cell phone or smart phone, and select one as your ring tone.

I hope it motivates you, or perhaps just puts a smile on your face when you hear it.

World's Fastests Areo Helmet

Recently Austria’s Markus Stoeckl, 33 set a new downhill mountain bike record of 210.4 Kilometers per hour in Chile’s Alps wearing this funky full head and shoulder Areo Helmet.

He smashed the previous eight-year-old record by 23 Km/h.

You can read all about it HERE.

You can also watch the video of his record breaking run HERE, but it helps if you know German.

I'm just wondering how long before some intrepid triathlete decides that this new helmet is "da bomb" and "da way" to qualify for Kona by giving him the uber edge at his next Ironman, and puts on the crazy thing for the bike portion of the race.

Or perhaps with the release of the Hollywood blockbuster movie Ironman next year (not the athlete but the comic), the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) along with Ironman Helmets will create the ultimate product/movie tie in for some zany marketing campaign.

That's a freebie for you WTC. No need to thank me ;-)

Fall House Cleaning and ASSICONS

It is time for a bit of fall house cleaning.

Yes, I know that most people do it in the Spring, but you know it has been a very busy summer with all this driving back and forth to the Midwest for this and that race.

As I write this I'm looking at a shrinking pile of my first book sitting on the table next to me. I have just about a half a dozen books left.

BTW: My second book is now finished and I even have an agent.

Wow, next thing you know I'll be on Opraah. That's Opraah with two 'a's a local community access book show here with a viewer ship of about 12 on Sunday night at 2:00 a.m. ;-)

FYI: My first book basically takes the best of my writing from this web site and compiles it into a grammatically correct chronicle of going from Everyman to Ironman.

The book is full of useful and useless information that I know will keep you entertained for hours. It is a great way for Newbies to learn from my mistakes and seasoned pros to have a chuckle or two.

Click HERE to read the Amazon.com reviews.

And unlike this web site, you’ll be able to take the book with you when you travel, or read it on the plane, train, or automobile on the way to your next race, and most importantly give it to a buddy as a nice tri Holiday present.

To help generate more sales and to make it easier to give as a gift, I've lowered the price of the book to $12.95.

The book makes a great present as it comes inscribed by the author (that would me yours truly) to whoever you want, with whatever saying you want.

Just click the button below and I'll get your fall reading...in the mail...ASAP.

I've also done a bit of fall cleaning from my computer by deleting all of those emails that you get and keep for no particular reason. Below is my favorite one just for your email pleasure:

We all know those cute little computer symbols called "emoticons,"
where:

:) means a smile and
:( is a frown.

Sometimes these are represented by
:-)
and :-(

Well, how about some "ASSICONS?"

Here goes:

(_!_) a regular ass

(__!__) a fat ass

(!) a tight ass

(_*_) a sore ass

{_!_} a swishy ass

(_o_) an ass that's been around

(_x_) kiss my ass

(_X_) leave my ass alone

(_zzz_) a tired ass

(_E=mc2_) a smart ass

(_$_) Money coming out of his ass

(_?_) Dumb Ass

Wahoo!

Wahoo!

I finally got my second place trophy from the Clydesdale long course national championships last weekend.

As you may remember the awards ceremony got rained out so I left empty handed again.

But now that I have this expensive hunk of wood I'm still a wee bit troubled.

My dog remains completely unimpressed.

Happy the dog is my toughest critic.

She's a hard one to crack so it looks like I have a lot of work to do next year to impress her.

Oh well, maybe if the folks in Chicago get their act together I'll have another award that might get Happy's attention.

Double Wahoo if and when that happens!

Doping is as old as sports

By now I'm sure you know that Floyd Landis was found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs and had his Tour de France titled stripped away along with all of the money and perhaps fame.

He now has the dubious distinction of being the first Tour winner to have his titled stripped and given to somebody else.

I guess that's something.

Basically, he and his defense team tried to discredit the testing lab used to test his blood sample by pointing out numerous sloppy mistakes in the testing procedure.

My New Favorite Triathlon Web Site

Zombo.com in now officially my new favorite triathlon web site.

Why?

Because anything is possible at Zombo.com. Remember...you can DO anything at Zombo.com...anything at all ;-)

(Just remember to turn the volume up on your computer)

Belive it or Not

Did you know that Zipp has a new disk wheel out (the sub 9) that is aerodynamically negative.

From the Zipp web site:

"The ultimate speed weapon, At 1000g. this radical edge bulge design, captures air flow and gives a -80g drag reading at 15 degrees of yaw, adding a 12 watts saving to power requirements."

In other words, Zipp (I believe is saying) that the wheel when rotating at speed is propulsive. Yes propulsive means just what you think it means...the wheel actually helps to propel you down the road like an engine on your bike would to the tune of 12 watts.

I bring this to your attention not because Zipp is a great sponsor of mine, and I'm trying to promote one of their new and revolutionary wheels, but because I recently ran across these two photos from England. For the life of me I could not figure out why somebody would build, let alone race, a bike with two rear disk wheels.

Please note these are real bikes used in a real race. These are not doctored photos as far as I can tell as they came from a amateur team's web site in England.

So when I learned that Zipp had a new wheel out that is actually propulsive...it all made sense.

If one wheel provides 12 watts of power, two wheels must provide 24 watts of power.

In other words, these must be the first triathlon bikes that you don't ever have to pedal once you get them up to speed.

Those crafty Brits have discovered the ultimate triathlon racing machine.

Believe it or not.

World's shortest Ironman Race Report

As you may recall from this story, my most excellent Ironman Madison Sherpa Scott Fliegelman of Fast Forward sports raced the 24-Hours of Triathlon to raise money for the SAME Cafe.

The idea of the SAME cafe is simple. You have lunch or dinner and you pay what you can. In other words, you can donate a dollar or you can donate $20. It's up to you.

From the SAME cafe's web site:

"Hunger is a Problem

There is always something (part 4)

Do you want the good news, or the bad news first?

Let's start with the bad news.

As you may recall flushed by my short course Clydesdale victory in Chicago, I registered for the Harvest Moon Half Ironman triathlon as it is the long course Clydesdale & Athena National Championships. It was also a week after Ironman Wisconsin.

The bad news is that the wheels pretty much came off the cart at about mile 8 on the run. I got to a point yesterday when I had nothing in the tank.

Ouch !

The results are in and the answer is not good.

As you may recall flushed by my short course Clydesdale victory in Chicago, I registered for the Harvest Moon Half Ironman triathlon on on September 16 as it is the official long course Clydesdale & Athena National Championships.

The date is important because the race falls exactly one week after my recent Ironman adventure in Madison.

Last week I asked; How much will I suffer during the Harvest Moon half Ironman race?

On a scale of 1 to 10: One being almost no suffering (like watching an episode of Entourage on my comfy couch) to 10 being such excruciating pain (like watching twenty episodes of Desperate Housewives in a row while cleaning out the fish tank), how much will I suffer?

You voted and the answer is....well ouch.

Ironman Wisconsin 2007 Cheers and Jeers

Jeers: To the drunk college girl who came back from partying to our hotel at 2:30 a.m. and banged on everyone's door until she found her own room...which just happened (as luck would have it) to be next to our room.

She proudly, and in a drunk voice, announced to her friends that she just woke up half of the hallway trying to find her room. Than she spent the next hour blabbing at top of her lungs until somebody finally screamed at her to "Shut the F" up in such a crazed homicidal manner that it even scared me.

I guess when you train an entire year for a race you probably want to get at least a few hours of sleep before the big day. I can see why you would happily take (say a chainsaw) to a rude and drunk coed who would think it funny to wake you up with her inane drunken blabbering at 3:30 a.m. At least that's what I was ready to do had I had a chainsaw and a few ounces of gas.

Cheers: To Scott from Fast Forward sports and my buddy Steve for being two of the most excellent Sherpas. It was so nice to have both of these guys to help me across the finish line at the end of the day.

Steve was kind enough to bring up his scooter from Chicago which made the second loop of the bike so much easier. Scott was even kinder to take my number and chip and run a personal PR for me of 1:30 on the first half of the marathon.

You know I'm just kidding...right?

These guys were terrific to me and it made my day that much more fun and special. I would highly recommend both of these fine fellows as your next race day sherpas and don't forget to tell Steve to bring his scooter.

BTW: If you live in the Boulder or Denver area and you are signed up for Ironman Wisconsin for next year, Scott is running a training group next year, and doing the Sherpa duties for his group all over again. If you are lucky and email him, he may let you join and that would make your IM so much better that I can't even begin to tell you how much faster your race would be.

Jeers: To the Mexican dude who took my run special needs bag.

In case you don't know you get two special needs bags for an IM. They give you these at the halfway point of the bike and of the marathon. I tend to put things like salt tablets, extra nutrition, and something like an ice tea to reward myself in these bags.

When I was in the transition area before the race checking on my transitions bags I put down my special needs bags for just a second. When I looked back my run special needs bag was gone.

I can only assume that the Mexican dude next to me picked it up thinking it was one of his. I only looked away for a few seconds and he was the only possible person who could have taken it...which is understandable since we are all carrying around a bunch of these bags. Only I wish he had put it into the special needs section for me since he must have known he had one too many bags.

In the end I had to beg and borrow salt tablets since I spilled all of mine on the bike, and my back-up stash never showed up for the run. And you know I was really looking forward to a sweet ice tea at hour 11 on the run.

Jeers: To all of the swimmers I saw who cut the corners of the rectangle and swam inside the corner buoys, instead of outside the corner buoys. I saw at least several dozen people do this at each corner of the swim and it really made me angry.

I had a pretty crappy swim as I was unable to make a clean single stroke without hitting somebody else. So I understand why hundreds of people swam inside the buoy line. That's all well and good but you still need to come around, and not inside, the corner buoy.

Trust me I completely understand why you would cut the corner. You are swimming along and in a few strokes you happen to be past the corner buoy, but on the inside of it.

I really get it as a very similar thing happened to me last week. I was sitting at home with a syringe full of EPO and before I knew it my hand slipped, and I had ejected myself with the stuff.

These things happen right?

No they don't.

An Ironman swim is 2.4 mile and not 2.3 or 2.38. If you cut the corners for whatever reasons on the swim, in my book at least, you are not an Ironman. You are a DQed athlete.

Cheers: To all of the 3500 hundred volunteers and thousands of spectators for helping out and coming to watch the race. I have never been to a more friendly race in my life. The entire weekend was like a magic carpet ride of joy and cheers. It was beyond my wildest expectations and I'll be forever in love with the fine folks of the city of Madison, Wisconsin.

Cheers: To Mike Ricci, my couch. Here's what he just wrote the team about me:

"Roman! - I don't know what Roman's goal was - but I knew he was going to do better than Great Floridian in 05. Two weeks ago, we tapered Roman for an OLY race, so I wasn't sure how he would handle the IM on an extended taper, but he did GREAT! Congrats Roman! Big guys can race fast too! Run splits: 2:43/2:49! Very nicely paced out Roman!"

So Mike needs to read my Blog ;-) but besides that I couldn't ask for better coach. He got me through the race in fine form. I felt great afterwards and I did exactly what I needed to do to be able to race this weekend. I had a huge smile on my face the entire day (except when I discovered my special needs bag was gone) and I completely blame Mike for that smile.

Thanks Dude!

Jeers: To the guy on the bike course who gave me a dirty and disgusted look when I was on the phone to my wife and son in Colorado. I was coming up to the bike transition and I called, yes I called, my wife to tell her so that she and Tommy could see me on Ironman live when I came back from the bike. I also called her right before I crossed the finish line.

Dude, I'm not racing you for a Kona slot and the phone call was my only way of sharing the day with my family. So take a chill pill (preferably the suppository type) and relax. By that point in the race it must have been pretty obvious to anybody including you) that none of us were in the money so just let me share my day with my family.

Cheers: To my family, friends, raceAthlete crew, readers, and great sponsors for all of your support this year. It was a great day so thanks to all of you.

Cheers: To North American Sports for putting on a great race and for letting me get a voucher to register for next year before the race. I now have a gold ticket to next year's race and best of all I have until October 10 to register and pay.

Will I be racing again next rear?

I really can't say as of today since I still have that half Ironman this weekend. We'll see but I just having the gold ticket in my pocket makes me feel all giddy inside.

Today's Triathlon

Ahhhh...I had forgotten how sore and tired I get after these races.

Could it be the race or the 16-hour post race car drive home through the corn belt of America?

Not that there is anything wrong with corn, but I saw a lifetime of it on the bike course around Madison.

On a side note there is an especially enchanted part of the bike course that we (the five in the car pre-running the course on Saturday) decided to call Monkey poo forest.

Why?

Because you plunge down into what can best be described as a tropic forest in the Hills of Verona somewhere around the 40 mile mark that I swear is inhabited by very rude monkeys. You can't go through the forest without being pelted by something nasty from the thick canopy of the trees.

Don't believe me? Well you'll have to do the race and experience the wonders of the enchanted Monkey Poo forest yourself.

Anyway, I'm not sure why I hurt so much but all I can say is that today's triathlon will be a shower, shuffle and nap.

The Michelin Man Breaks 14-Hours in Madison

I just wanted to say thanks to everybody who supported me and team raceAthlete this year.

Your guys really made my race and it was so great to see so many cheering raceAthletes along the course, not to mention al of your comments and emails.

A full race report will follow shortly, but it was great day. I manged to shuffle run my marathon.

Note to myself: shuffling a marathon is pretty much the same as run/walking it.

Thanks again for all of your support. Number 2 is now in the books in my goofy quest for a Clydesdale Hat Trick.

Next Sunday I finish the year with a half Ironman for a shot at the Clydesdale long course national
championships.

I figure I should be in great shape after yesterday's long brick workout ;-)

Time to eat.

Does this bode well for my race tomorrow ?

Here's a picture of the toilet in my hotel bathroom in Madison.

How exciting...I know.

But I'm just wondering if this bodes well for my race tomorrow.

Are the Tri Gods trying to tell me something about my ability to use the bathroom the day after the race?

Inquiring minds are a bit worried ;-)

Second Lap Monkey

The purpose of the swim is to get you on the bike.

The purpose of the bike is to eat for the run.

The purpose of the first run lap is to put money in the bank to pay the monkey that will jump on your back the second lap.

The second lap monkey...he is a very big monkey.

If this is your first Ironman, you probably felt everything in your training that you will feel on race day, except the second lap monkey.

You can't train for that.

The second lap monkey caries a big stick, and its name is pain.

Love it, hate it, get angry at it. Breathe it with every breath, feel it with every step and use it.

It lets you know you are still alive, more alive than most people will ever feel in their whole lives.

The clock keeps ticking and everything bad must eventually come to an end.

All you have to do is keep running in a straight line until somebody tells you to stop.

Author Rich Strauss

Race Ironman Wisconsin