My First Triathlon

Well, it's finally over. On February 14, 2009 I completed my first triathlon in Clermont, FL. My co-worker Rachael and her fiance Christian talked me into trying one after they did one last year and loved it. This was not a full on lengthy triathlon, because I had to start small. Eventually I plan on completing one of the longer events. The Valentine's Day Sprint Triathlon was at Lake Louisa Park in Clermont, FL. It consisted of a 400m swim in Lake Louisa, a 9 mile bike through the hills of Clermont, and a 2 mile run to end the race. This was a great starter race for me and definitely sparked my interest in the sport. I didn't realize how intense some of these triathletes were and it was pretty amazing. Some of the competitors had bicycles that looked like they cost more than my car. Vendors were selling rims for the bicycles that cost over $1,600... I could by 20" rims for my Jeep for less than that. Heck, those rims didn't even come with bike tires on them.

Overall the race was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I was really worried about the swim portion, because that was the only thing I had not been training for. I figured 400m wasn't too long so I could just wing it. Plus the water has been freezing since it is only February so I didn't feel the urge to train for that beforehand. The swim portion was definitely the hardest part of the race, but the adrenaline I had with all of the other swimmers around me helped me through it. The bike portion of the race was by far the easiest and it was almost like a resting session before the run started. Like a rookie, I made a few mistakes during the bike, because I wasn't keeping track of how far I rode. I thought the 1/3 mark was actually the 1/2 way mark and that threw me off mentally when I was trying to conserve energy. The run portion of the triathlon was over 50% in the sand which is definitely not something I was expecting, but it wasn't too bad.

My first sprint triathlon was a great experience and I am looking forward to my next one. I am targeting the April 11th race in St. Petersburg, FL or the Moss Park Triathlon on July 18th. The water will be a lot warmer in the upcoming months so it will be a lot easier to train for the swim. I am hoping to improve my times across the board. My times for the Lake Louisa Sprint Triathlon are listed below:

400m Swim- 13:34

Transition 1- 3:03

9 mile Bike- 29:18 (18.4 mph avg.)

Transition 2- 0:53

2 mile Run- 12:07

Total Triathlon Time: 58:54

I finished 4/15 people in the 25-29 year old men's division and 41 out of 120 overall in the race. If anyone is interested in doing the next one with me let me know. So far it looks like I already have Scottie and Kelsey signed up. Let's start training!

For more pictures of the race feel free to visit: http://www.asiorders.com/view_event_photos.asp?EVENTID=47411

Lane Kiffin... Open Mouth and Insert Foot

I haven't blogged in a while, but I also haven't seen anything that inspired me like yesterday's events. I have to say, I honestly felt bad for Lane Kiffin when he was fired from the Oakland Raiders. I figured he just fell prey to Al Davis like many others have in the past. Now I have to say that it amazes me that he ever landed an NFL job.

For those of you who do not follow college football during the off season, let me fill you in. Basically, Lane Kiffin replaced Phillip Fulmer as the Tennessee Volunteers coach a little over 2 months ago. Tennessee is coming off one of the worst years I have ever witnessed them experience. The players and fans were demoralized after last season and Kiffin looked like the guy to get in there and turn things around. He is a very young coach, 33, who is full of energy and also a great recruiter. If I had to describe Kiffin, I would say that he reminds me of a car salesman. He has a way of manipulating people in ways that benefit him or help him reach his ultimate goal. I would hire him in a second if I wanted to get 100 minivans off the lot by Sunday at 10:00pm. Well, let's face it. This is the SEC, not CarMax.

Yesterday, Kiffin spoke to over 1,000 Tennessee fans at a breakfast about how successful he felt his recruiting class was this year. He went on a tangent about how he stole one of the University of Florida's top recruits, WR Nu'Keese Richardson. He explained the whole scheme about how he had Richardson tell Meyer he was coming to Florida, while the whole time they were holding his fax with his signed commitment to attend Tennessee. Kiffin went on to say how they used a fax machine at a school down the street so Richardson's high school wouldn't mess up or change the signature on the form. As the fans started to react to Kiffin's story, he brought out the big guns. He stated that he got Richardson to sign with Tennessee even after Urban Meyer cheated by breaking the NCAA regulations that state that a coach can't contact a recruit while they are on another campus. Actually, his exact quote was, "Just so you know, when a recruit's on another campus, you can't call a recruit on another campus. I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn't get him". Here's the funny thing LANE, that is not really an NCAA rule and therefore Meyer did not violate anything.

They can't blame Kiffin for trying to get the fans smiling by throwing the head coach of the the best team in the country under the bus. Oh wait, yes they can, and they did. Mike Slive, the SEC Commissioner, was quoted saying, "We expect our coaches to have an understanding and knowledge of conference and NCAA rules". That is basically saying that the SEC is ashamed that the head coach of one of their conference's powerhouses can't even read a rule book.

When Kiffin realized that he "goofed" he was asked to make a public apology. Kiffin's apology went a little something like this, "At an energetic breakfast with some of our donors and alumni I made a statement that was solely meant to excite the crowd. If I offended anyone at the University of Florida, including Mr. Foley and Urban Meyer, I sincerely apologize. That was not my intention".

Not your intention? Oh really Lane? You didn't see the cameramen that were outlining the room you were in? Do you really expect to call out Urban Meyer in front of 1,000 people (and cameras) and not expect to offend him, Gator fans, or the University? Given, I am sure Meyer loves this playful banter, but come on. Maybe that is Kiffin's plan. Who knows. There is one thing this gator fan knows. The next time Kiffin sees Meyer will be on September 19, 2009 at the Swamp in Gainesville, FL. He will have 90,000+ gator fans screaming their heads off all around him. He thinks Raider fans are scary? HA. Meyer will probably not mention anything about Kiffin's comments, but he doesn't have to. Meyer is the type of coach that uses instances like this to fuel his players before games. Maybe Lane Kiffin should give Mark Richt a call to see what happened to his Bulldogs after they excessively celebrated on the field in 2007... Show some class Lane, or your Volunteers will get run off the field just like Mark's Bulldogs did in Jacksonville in 2008.