Topper's Favorite Ironmen

On a crazy pre-christmas Saturday afternoon my husband switched on the tv loooking for some football.  This is usually greeted with loud complaints of "look how busy we are, you should be doing something more productive with your time.....etc.  (poor guy just stopped for lunch, we wives can be so ungrateful)

Luckily I was on my best behavior and satisfied myself with a behind-his-back eye roll.  Good thing, too, cause he happened upon my all time favorite sports program.  The Ironman Championship showcase! 

The oldest female participant in '08 was 72!  How cool is that!  She has participated in many Hawaii Ironman races before, but I still think she's cool.   All the individual stories are so inspiring.  Gets me thinking about next season...

The Ironman stories always make me teary-eyed, but the Hoyts are absolutely the most inspiring. 

If your reading this blog, you know a bit about triathlon probably, and may have seen pictures of the Father/Son Hoyt team.  But if not here is one of the many videos that tell their story.  It just shows to what lengths good parents go to help build their children.  Grab your tissues,   

Absolutely beautiful.   

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy8hOOvM0t0

(the video is pretty old, the Hoyts didn't race this year, but I still love their story best.) 

Almost famous

We've got some great trails for running and riding just south of us. I spend lots of Saturday mornings back there. This Saturday I was trying to put together a particular loop and link some trails together instead of doing an out and back. I bumped into two kind ladies who let me follow them for a bit so they could show me how make the connections I wanted to.

After we parted ways I came across three guys who were heading up the hill I was coming down. They stopped me and said, "Who are you?" Their tone wasn't hostile, it was more one of -- we know everyone who runs back here, but we don't know you. The ringleader of the three was Luis Escobar. He's got a website here. After chatting and ensusuring me I wouldn't slow them down, they let me follow them. It was pretty fun for me. Almost like being able to ride a bike with someone from the Garmin Chipotle Team. Not necessarily world famous, but definitely well known in certain circles. I got to find some more new trails, and they invited me back out. I don't know if I'll make it out much with them though. They are almost constantly training for something loooong. I like riding my bike too much to run as much as they do.

A grievous oversight

In one of the original posts on this blog I mentioned some people who ought to be posting on this blog. (I'm still trying to work the logistics out on that one and open to suggestions.) Some of those folks received the distinction of being the founding members of the Montana chapter of the Syndicate. The Ransoms originally didn't get their asterisks. They certainly earned them, and the oversight has been corrected. The college intern the Syndicate hired from Missouri responsible for that oversight has been fired, and replaced with a much more capable intern from BYU.

Represent yo!

Congrats to Ezra who threw down in the Navigator Sprint Triathlon. Reds killed it, placing second in the Clydesdale division. Way to fly the team colors east of the Mississippi!

A Do and 3 Don'ts

First the do:

When I was in Georgia I got to run in the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. Some of the best trail running I've ever done. I'm fortunate that my folks live right next to it. If you're ever there make it a point to run on those trails.

Now the don'ts:

Don't run 16 miles in a new pair of shoes that only have a 5k in them. 5k is not enough to break in a pair of shoes.

Don't think you can introduce the weight of two bottles of water and the associated hip/lumbar holder into a training program without kinks. I'd recommend running the shorter distances with empty bottles, then filling them halfway for middle distances, and then topping them off for long distances. In other words ease into the extra weight. Your joints and muscles will thank you.

102 degrees is too hot. If you didn't make it out before the heat of the day wait until the sun heads down.

Something of an introduction

I know not everyone thinks the name of the blog is as cool as I do, and when I mentioned the idea of a blog on this topic to Ginet she was polite enough to refrain from vomiting, but couldn't help at snickering. According to dictionary.com a privateer is, "an armed ship that is privately owned and manned, commissioned by a government to fight or harass enemy ships." In recent years motocross racers and mountain bikers who couldn't secure a factory sponsorship were also known as privateers. They might have had a handful of sponsors, but shelled out a lot of their own money and turned their own wrenches. "Racing" is self explanatory (but not limited to a particular variety) and "syndicate" sounds much cooler (to me) than team. So there you have it.

Anyway, here's what I was thinking. I've lost a lot of productive time reading the Freakonomics blog at the New York Times web site. One of the topics they've discussed there is commitment devices. They talk about how making public commitments can help people to follow through on goals they've set, from quitting smoking, to running a marathon. I thought perhaps this blog could serve as a commitment device, for folks waffling on whether or not to enter an event, or just needing some encouragement to slog through training.

I also thought it could serve as a place to share training/racing/eating/etc lessons learned. I don't have many to share, but I know some folks who probably do. Likewise, if folks are braving a new frontier i.e. first triathlon, marathon, 5k, body-building contest, beauty pagent, etc. they could ask for advice, tricks, or tips.

I don't really want it to be a "blag" where folks post about how they beat all the pregnant women and midgets. But if you know someone has been training for a race and you googled the race and saw they finished, then give 'em a holla. For example, Ginet's brother Brent just wreaked havoc on the town of Burley, Idaho (no, you da ho!) in the Spudman Triathlon, and back in May my third cousin three times removed (according to the table of consanguinity) Derek Kirkham served notice to Coeure d'Alene that he was indeed an Ironman. Well done gents!

Membership in the syndicate is pretty easy. If you've completed an event where you had to pay an entry fee in the last year you can be a member. Anyone who's a member can post on the blog. I'll need to make sure I know how to invite people.

Here's the shameless plea. I need other people to post. No one, and I mean NO ONE, wants to hear only from me. Ginet reminded me of that as I was writing this. I realize this won't be an overnight sensation so I'm willing to give it some time, but if after a couple of months it's going no where, I'll pull the plug. (An event that will likely be filled with such collective relief that it may be commemorated as a national holiday.)

Welcome to the syndicate...

Those about to rock (or post)

Ginet is always kind enough to proofread my posts. As she proofread the previous one she said, "I don't sound like a very supportive wife." That's not a true statement, she's very supportive, but also honest and frank with me, qualities that I appreciate, and sometimes rashly ignore. I asked if it would help if I ensured everyone knew she was definitely a member of the syndicate (a marathon under her belt, the Wasatch Back, a variety of half marathons, 10/5k races, a childbirth* x 4). To which she replied, "No, cuz it's stoopid." And she said it just like I spelled it.

Anyway, here's a short list (in no particular order) of folks who I know have paid their hard earned money to race, and who I hope will post:

Ginet's family
My family
D&L Ransom**
D&A Bills**
J&S Burns** (Weapons School is not an excuse not to post!)
Derek Kirkham
Days of Santa Barbara
K Howells**
M Christensen**
A Kingfisher**
T Fontaine (Todd's got some 24-hour race cred!)
R Egbert (Don't think you're exempt. We know you've paid two entry fees this year!)

It's not exclusive. Spouses are invited to post too. I also welcome other folks I may have forgotten about. I've got a raging case of early-onset Alzheimer's, so just because you're not named doesn't mean you're not invited. I know there are some lurkers who paid money to run the Provo Freedom Festival (who live in Riverton) out there who never comment but who are welcome to post.


*I neglected to mention in the maiden post of this blog that giving birth to a child grants you automatic lifetime membership.
**Founding members of the Montana Chapter of the Syndicate