I was in San Francisco Last weekend to do the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. I had been Excited about the event and felt I was well prepared. The weeks leading up to the event I had done Bay to Breakers+ bonus (15K) and the Armed Forces 1/2 Marathon in Concord (12K option) the week before I did The Herbalife 24 L.A. Triathlon (Olympic). So after three events in a row my and training my immunity was probably Challenged. Combine that with the 5 year old kid who plopped down next to me at the gate in LAX and started hacking and sneezing and low a behold I came down with a cold mid-week. By the time I got into S.F. for Alcatraz registration I was on the downslope of the cold but it was in the cough stage. Sat. night as I tried to sleep I was into a heavy coughing cycle and every time I breathed in a deep breath my throat tickled and I started to cough again.. Considering the possibilities I decided that the middle of the Bay while swimming and breathing heavily which I assumed would create undesired coughing it would be best if I scratched. It was a hard decision and I wan't sure If I was afraid, lazy? all negative input my inner voice sometime feeds me. I determined that since I do this for fun the potential benefits were not worth the potential risk. I am going to scale back my competition schedule next year and will circle Alcatraz. It was a beautiful calm sunny day on the Bay and was perfect weather. I can only hope for the same next week. Otherwise as an Aging Athlete I think its important that we keep our limitations in mind. Not barriers put up by negative inner voices but real limitations associated with who and what we are. Shawn

I did the Herbal Life 24 L.A. Triathlon this morning. Matched my time from earlier this year at Discovery Bay but the course was tougher. I got a good night’s sleep and only woke up a couple of times the last being 2:15, the wake-up call at 4 O’clock was a little jarring. I flew in yesterday and appropriately for June 1^st L.A. was covered in fog, June gloom. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned before that I am not a morning person so early this morning the inner gremlins were talking smack in my head “what the heck are you doing?” “I bet you’re going to be cold in this sleeveless wetsuit”. Luckily, I was able to ignore the negative talk and just embraced gratitude for the ability to do what I was about to do. The water temp didn’t bother me at all. The reported temp was 66 degrees but according to the race director it was 62, it felt like 66. The swim was fun and like bike was cool. There were a couple small hills but when do you get to ride your bike on the likes of Venice Blvd., La Brea Blvd, Olympic Blvd. by USC, Figueroa and Wilshire with no traffic whatsoever? I’m not a big fan of the loop courses which this one the run leg is 2 laps. Of course, my gremlins were back telling me to bail out on the Olympic 10K distance and just quit at the sprint 5K. Again, I ignored the gremlins and did the full course. I bought the V.I.P. upgrade for $99 and that included a post-race meal at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant (that looks funny spelled out “Wolfgang Puck”) It also included a post-race leg massage (by a male masseuse) and then I took the shuttle back to the start at Venice Beach. The race was well organized, and I would recommend it and will probably do it again, did I mention it is the USAT Western Regional? The room I am in at the LAX South Travelodge serves its purpose, bed, shower, T.V., I would not recommend it for the family. The rest of the day is about car racing and the Basketball finals game later. The best thing about the room is the free shuttle to nearby LAX which I will utilize in the morning and fly home.

I'm half war through my four weekend in a row event schedule. First it was Bay To Breakers. You can check out my blog on that if you like. This past weekend Miss Adrienne and I did the 12K version of the Armed Forces Half Marathon. Our goal was 1:30 and we came in at 1:27. We had the opportunity to be bused into the Concord Navel Weapons Base. The run wound it way through the paved part of the base and we were warned at the start wondering off the path was a Federal offense, we didn't. From there it let out onto one of the main roads leading into downtown Concord. The run started at 7 A.M. and we were blessed with perfect temps. for a run. This was the first year of the 12K so it wasn't overly crowded. There was 2 water stations which was enough but I would recommend one more if possible next year. That being said I do plan on doing it again next year since its in my backyard. I couldn't think of a better way to spend Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend than running in an event staged by the military. The participation medal (I chuckle every time I say that) was  Coast Guard themed with a ship on the medal and Coast Guard Colors adorning the strap. As I join the 21st century I will soon be able to post pictures. As I mentioned in the first sentence of this blog I am 2 of 4. This weekend is the Herbalife 24 Las Angeles Triathlon, the West Coast Regional for USA Triathlon. I'll blog on that next week. Then off to San Francisco for the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. I do my best to enjoy the process, but honestly my mind wants to wander past the swim leg of Alcatraz. I'm not afraid but just I believe naturally apprehensive. As for this week a little swim off Venice beach and bike through Downtown and a run from L.A. Live to USC, 2 laps. I'll let you know how it went next week, Shawn

So, this last Sunday I ran in the Bay to Breakers in San Francisco. As described, it is a 12k run from the Embarcadero at the base of the bay bridge to the North Beach part of Ocean Beach. I ran with my regular running partner my Cuz Jodi and newcomer to my circle but not to running Miss Adrian.  The night before the event was storming and the weather reports were calling for thunderstorms around the time of the run. Both running partners were still in. As usual the anticipation kept me up and I only got 4 ½ of sleep. I woke up at 4:30 a.m. before my 5:00 alarm. We got to BART on time for the first train at 6:15. On Bart both ladies were not happy about the forecast and I assured them it was not going to rain. We got to the City and headed to our corral (D) out of A-H the 11-12 min mile pace. Our goal was 2 hours. That included the bonus 3k along the beach for a total of 15k. As per tradition the tortilla shells were flying through the air, but I only got nailed on the back of the neck with a wet slimy tortilla once. As promised by me it was not raining and by the start of the run and for the remainder of the run the Sun graced us with its presence. Again as per tradition the was plenty of alcohol ( again I have been sober 2 years) but that did not bother me although I was intent on finishing before them. According to my running mates they counted 26 naked men and I counted 2 naked women. The run itself was beautiful, through the City and Golden gate park. We finished at 2:00:06 but that counted the time we stopped at the extra distance turn around to offload rain clothes to Adrian’s husband Tim. It was a great run and I broke personal best thresholds for best 1k,5k and 10k. The event was well organized and put on, I’m sure challenging to accommodate 40 runners. If your looking for a fun destination run or are local I recommend adding this one to the must do once list. Happy Trails, Shawn

I was reading the top 10 list of questions people have about Triathlon so I thought I would answer a few. First I must establish context, the answers I am about to give are for age groupers and weekend warriors of which I am one. This advice is not for Pro, Elite, are those determined to win their age group. #1. do you need a wetsuit? Use of a wetsuit is optional in all events and not allowed if ruled by the race referee according to water temperature. I recommend if allowed in your event you take advantage and use one as it helps with buoyancy and warm is better than cold. My last try the water was 67 degrees so I went with a sleeveless that improves range of motion and opens up breathing a little bit. #2. Do you need a special bike for Triathlon? I have a Tri bike better known as TT bikes for Time Trial as they are very aerodynamic and built for speed. Do to that and rider position T.T. bikes are less stable and frowned upon on group rides. I have both and used my T.T. Bike in my last Tri and will the rest of the year except for Escape From Alcatraz which is a hillier more technical coarse so I will be using my road bike. For occasional tri studs I just recommend a good road bike as you will probally get more bang for your buck. Draft legal Triathlon is gaining popularity and T.T. bikes are not allowed, just road bikes. #3. Combing 2 questions, do you need a tri suit and do you change clothes? It is best to wear something under your wetsuit. A tri specialized suit is good because you can wear it  under your wetsuit and straight through the bike and run. Otherwise I have worn a speedo or speedo shorts and after the swim either put on bike pants or shorts which include a padded chamois or just wear the speedo the whole way and risk a little groin chafing. This is the point where you determine how bad you want it and are you really going to improve your finish adding a layer or 2? Then preferably a zip up jersey as pulling a jersey on a wet body is difficult.#4. Do you wear socks? I can tell you my last event I didn't and ended up with open wounds on my heels. But I did take 40 min. off my time from last year, LOL. It is hard however again to put socks on wet feet. I hope this answers a few questions let me know if you have any more. Shawn

I was reading "Unlimited Power" by Tony Robbins, the chapter about food as fuel for energy. He touched on something I have become aware of over the last few months. Most diet recommendation that are doled out as the current best way to loose weight are actually marketing campaigns staged by a variety of food group lobbyist. It hard to find unbiased information on what is really best. Even the Doctors don't all agree on the same thing. There are some interesting coloration between the U.S. Government fight against heart disease starting around 1970 and the steady increase in obesity since. There also is coloration between the production of corn leading to surplus that was processed into cheap corn syrup. The last few years the dairy industry has been pitching dairy as a clean source of protein. Their current pitch to endurance athletes is chocolate milk as the perfect recovery drink. Let me point out I am not a Nutritionist I am only speaking from experience and observation. I do believe that when you eat and in what combination is important to mange. I have been doing intermittent fasting from 9:00 P.M. until somewhere between 9-12 A.M. and I try to work out in the morning in a fasted state. I was afraid of fruits and vegetables for a while do to the natural sugar "carbs" but have come full circle understanding the fiber offset and rapidity of digestion and assimilation in the colon. I have also read some claims that we Americans just need to eat less. Personally I have lost aprox. 20 pounds in around 8 months with steady exercise (triathlon training) and not eating highly processed starchy foods as well as some of the tips above. Shawn

I/m working on a book that is part autobiography and part journal of my escapades this summer. The point of the book is to encourage aging athletes to not let fear or self doubt keep them from going out and competing. Part of my story is about recovery so he book is a combo of aging athlete and recovery experiences. To that point I was listening to an Audible book during my 2 hour ride this morning, Matt Fitzgerald's "Life is a Marathon" at one point he was interviewing a race promoter asking "who is your typical customer"? to which the promoter answered people with "addictive personalities". I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. It was just after finding my longest stretch of sobriety in over 30 years that I started training for the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon in June of 2018. It was also around that time that I did the 2018 Discovery Bay Olympic distance Triathlon that I referenced in an earlier blog. I have been training "addictively" ever since. My idea of a bad addiction is something you can't control and has negative consequences. At this point I don't consider training to have "negative consequences" so I'm going to keep it up. Also Matt mentioned that some people can be considered lazy but not. What that means to me is I'm having a hard time dragging my ars out to pull the weeds in that front yard, the ones I pass just before I go for a training session. So I think I fit that profile. Since I started training hard 2 years ago I have either been listening on audible or reading hard copy books that are motivational. Usually somebody else sharing their journey. That's what inspires me to write a book. I think there is plenty of material out there, some of which I'll mention along the way. In the meantime I believe my book has the potential to help at least one person, maybe you. Otherwise another book added to the list of hours of reading potential can't hurt. On a different note some Religions consider this Easter Sunday as the day of Resurrection. I can't help but think how wonderful it is that we all get second, third, unlimited chances to live our best life. As for me today I believe I am, I am still very flawed but am thankful for my redemption (in progress). Shawn