Yes, I finished. And I actually crushed my own goal, which was 3 hours. I did the race in 2:20 and finished 86th out of 100+ people. I don’t know the final count since the results aren’t up yet.

Let’s just say I’m pretty pleased. Want to hear the whole story and see some pictures?

It started with the swim. At about 10:00 100+ of us were set free into Wellington Lake. I’m in here somewhere:

This was the very first time I ever swam in open water, and it was not bad at all. I posted something around 21 minutes for half a mile. Good enough, but certainly not great.

So, after the swim, I stood around admiring my success, and took a whopping 6 minutes to transition to the bike. Apparently, this kept me from finishing several places higher.

The bike was brutal. It started off with a 1000 foot drop over 3 miles of dirt road. Pitted with giant ruts, huge potholes, cars containing campers, and a fox with a mouse in its mouth, this was one hell of a ride.

After the 3 mile downhill, we crossed some rolling single track for about a mile, climbed about 700 feet on some gravel, for  another mile, descended for a couple miles, and then…

We climbed back up that 1000 foot drop we started on. I averaged, according to my GPS watch, 5.7 mph on this stretch. It took me like 30 minutes to go up three miles. Brutal.

Anyway, here’s a pic of me taking off on the bike, which my 3-year-old son has named “Serious Cookie”

I pre-rode this course before the race and it took me about 2 hours. On race day, I got it done in about 1:20. Not bad.

Of course, after the bike it was time to run. I’m not going to lie, my run training was not great. It took me 30 minutes to cover 2.5 miles. Could have been better, but I’ll take it. The run had way more hills than I thought it would, so I was happy I didn’t fall. Here I am setting off to start the run.

And of course, after the run was the finish line. Since I did way better than I thought I would, my wife wasn’t ready at the actual finish line with the camera. Here’s me shortly after the finish. To the right is Andrew, my 3-year-old, telling me I’m #1. As long as he thinks so, it’s good enough for me.

So, what’s next?

I’m dong the Xterra at Eldora on August 2nd. www.digdeepsports.com. It’s supposed to have the toughest bike course in the whole wide world, so it’ll be interesting.

I’d like to thank my wife and kids for coming along with me to the race and putting up with me during training. You guys are the best and I love you. I’d like thank my dentist, the guy who runs the Xterra Buffalo Creek, Dr. Robert Martinich. He’s a great dentist, by the way. I’d also like to thank the B&B that we stayed at in Pine the night before the race. That awesome breakfast may have been my edge. www.crystallakeresort.com/bedbreakfast.htm

I’d also like to thank you for reading this far.

So, my suckiness at the swim will cause me to downgrade my plans. Now I’m doing the half X-terra at Buffalo Creek on June 21st.

However, I’ll be training for the full Xterra at Eldora on August 2nd. www.digdeepsports.com.

The bike and the run are going great. In fact, I’m thinking about moving up to a full-suspension bike. I’ll keep my hardtail, but it wouldn’t hurt to have another horse in the stable, would it?

I’m looking at the Fisher Hi-Fi’s and I might check out the Konas. But I am a card-carrying Gary Fisher fan.

Anyway, check back soon to see what I’m up to.

I’ve been busy. So busy that my blog has gathered dust for about a month. Sorry about that.

 I’m still training for the June 21st Xterra  Race at Buffalo Creek. Weight loss: Without chaning my diet, I’ve dropped about seven pounds. Here’s a summary of my training:

Bike. Going well. I’m a pretty strong mountain biker. I stopped riding the steel beast- my 1993 Trek 930 and picked up a 2007 Gary Fisher Tassajara. It’s a decent hard tail and I’ve been enjoying the hell out of it. I put in about 15 miles yesterday in Cherry Creek State Park. They have some surprisingly decent dirt in that park, which is riding distance from my house.

Run: Running is going well. I put in 4 miles last Wednesday, which is a personal best for me. Running with my wife, a former marathoner, has helped tremendously.

Swim: I suck at swimming. I can put in about 16 laps before I think I’m going to die. I ordered a DVD called Freestyle Made Easy from Amazon, so we’ll see if that helps. I’m swimming 3 times a week at Lifetime Fitness in Parker.

I think I’m alos going to do the Mountain Bike portion of Elephant Rock on June 1st, and the Indian Peaks Xterra in August.

Buffalo Creek Xterra: www.youtriit.com

Elephant Rock: www.elephantrockride.com

Indian Peaks Xterra: www.digdeepsports.com

Anyway, that’s my brief update. I’ll try to be a better blogger.

So, I turned 39 this year. That means I’ll be 40 next year. As you might be able to relate, I’ve started paying a little more attention to the concept of anti-aging.

About 5 years ago, I was lucky enough to meet expert strength and conditioning trainer Steve Maxwell at a kettlebell certification seminar. This guy is amazing. He’s 54, and in better shape than guys half his age. One of the things that Steve taught us at that seminar was a unique series of joint mobility drills. These moves are sort of like stretching, but the goal is to get your joints warm and ready for action. There are other benefits, too…

Daily practice of these moves will almost guarantee that you’ll suffer fewer injuries. And studies also show that rhythmic movements like these can help improve your mood. So the next time you’re feeling grouchy or blue, give these drills a whirl. As if that weren’t enough, practicing these moves daily will help ward off the inevitable stiffening that comes with getting older.

Steve was kind enough to let me use the article from his site to help share this information with you. I’ve modified it just a little bit. Each of these moves should be done in sequence. The number of reps should equal your age. So if you’re older, you have to do more reps. It should take you about 10 minutes to perform the full routine.

Try this circuit before your next workout and see how much of a boost it gives you. It’s really amazing. (Remember to clear this and any other physical activity with your doctor before starting because you could get hurt.)

See the rest (including pics) here:

http://strongerleanerbetter.com/a_bodyweight.html

Well, for those of you waiting on the edges of your seats, here is my Xterra training log to date.

2/4/08- Decided to do the June 21st Buffalo Creek Xterra race. Having never done a tri before, this is a big shift in training for me. Went to triathlongeek.com to buy a self coaching program ($17.95)

2/5/2008- Started with a walk/run combo for 45 minutes. Managed to cover 3.16 miles. Decided that my running shoes suck and decided to get new ones.

2/6/2008- Kettlebell upper body strength training 4 sets of each:

• Double clean and military press
• Alternating one-arm rows
• Double floor press
• Double snatches
• Multiple 2-minute rounds on the heavy bag (for shoulder endurance)
• Various core exercises

2/7/08- 20 minute run

2/8/08- off

2/9/08- lower body weight training 4 sets of each of the following:

• Barbell squats
• KB step-ups
• Double clean and jerks
• Windmills

2/10/08- off- My legs were really sore and I decided I’m done with barbell squats. From now on it’s kettlebells only. In fact, I listed my power rack and barbells on Craig’s List and got rid of them

2/11/08- Ran 2 miles

2/11/08- off

2/12/08- the bike trainer I orderd online arrives. I set it up in my basement. 15 minutes into riding it I realize that bike trainers suck. I vow never to ride anywhere but outside ever. I do a 15 minute run and call it a day (it took a long time to set up the stupid bike trainer).

2/13/08- 40 minutes on my mountain bike, a 1993 Trek 930. It’s a stell-framed beast. I know I need a new one, but it’s good for training.

2/14/08- bodyweight mobility training.

2/15/08- off.

2/16/08- lower body kettlebell training

Then, I hauled around 600 pounds worth of free weights out of my basement and up to my office to sell. I had to bring most of them out of the window well, over the fence, and into my buddy’s truck.

2/17/08- ran 3.5 miles

2/18/08- off

2/19/08- Rode the mountain bike for 45 minutes. You ight notice I have yet to swim. I’m waiting until I’m 14 weeks out to start swimming.

2/20/08-off

2/21/08- ran hills (2 miles)

2/22/08- upper body lifting (see above)

2/23/08- 30 minute run

2/24/08- lower body kettlebell lifting

2/25,26,27/08- off

2/28/08- The weather’s getting better, so I rode my mountain bike about 7 miles. Got a Garmin GPS training watch from my wife, so now I’ll know exactly how far I’m running and riding. It’s pretty freakin’ cool.

2/29/08- Ran 3.4 miles

3/1/08- Rode the mountain bike 8.47 miles.

3/2/08- off

OK that brings you up to date. See you soon.

Well, for those of you who’ve been following along, I dumped the old blogging platform because it sucked. So here I am, starting again.

I decided not to move the old posts. Sorry if you miss them.

AS you may or may not know, I’m training for my friend/dentist’s Xterra triathlon. It’s the off-road race in Buffalo Creek, Colorado on June 21st, 2008. 1 mile lake swim, 20 mile mountain bike ride and a 5-mile trail run.

Those of you who know understand that this is a big change of training focus for me. I’ve always leaned more towrds the weight lifting side of things. But I’m getting a littile older (39) so I thought that maybe it’s time for a change.

So I’m going to chronicle my training here. I’ll also be sharing my thoughts on whatever I feel like writing about. Don’t worry, I’ll spare you the “Dear Diary” type crap and stick to training, nutrtion, recovery, hydration, stress, etc.

I’ll post my training log to date either later today or in the next few days. It’s gorgeous here in Denver today, and I just got back from a 3-mile run with my wife and our dog.

 Dr. Glenn Hyman