Upcoming Races

Pharmie and I have some busy weekends ahead.

Next weekend, Pharmie will be completing her 15th marathon!! She's doing the Minneapolis Marathon for the first time. It's mainly along the Mississippi River, and she'll be running within a mile from home around mile 15.5 and 23.5. So Henry and I hope to see her at those points!

Henry cheering for Mama at last year's TC Marathon (her last marathon).


Soon-to-be sister-in-law Angela, Pharmie, and Henry (stealing Mama's chips) at TC 2012.

The weekend after that, I'm doing the short-but-straight-uphill 3.5-mile Trinona Time Trial in Winona, MN. The next morning, Pharmie will be doing the Trinona Olympic Distance Triathlon! (Yep, Pharmie's doing an Oly that is known for having a MASSIVE climb on the bike just a week after a marathon.)

Henry and I before I did the Trinona Oly last year.


A photo from half way up Garvin Heights, "thee hill" at the Trinona TT and Triathlon.
Click here for a slideshow from last year's Time Trial.

On a related note, Devon posted his Gear West Duathlon relay race report on his blog yesterday. At the start, he accuses me of taking out his teammate pre-race. (My attorney has advised me not to speak on this matter right now.) At the end, he wrapped up his thoughts on our relay challenge, and then he MENTIONED SOMETHING IN THE WORKS FOR THE TRINONA TIME TRIAL!!! Here are Devon's words:

This was by far the most fun I’ve ever had at a duathlon. Steve and Pete and Jon were all great sports. I hope everyone has enjoyed the drama over the past couple months. Overall I am really proud to have mentored Steve in talking trash. And by mentored I do mean schooled. I can’t announce anything yet, but Steve and I are looking to end our rivalry by working TOGETHER on something at the Trinona Time Trial in a few weeks.

Oh yeah... Devon and I might be done trash talking (for the moment), but now we've moved on to teaming up for some more fun! Details are still being worked out. Just note that some great things might be happening on a big hill in 2 weeks...

Links:
- Devon's Gear West Duathlon race report
- My Gear West Duathlon race report
- "Crowning Ceremony" after the GW Du
- Photos from Devon's Mom
- Photo Gallery from the GW Du in an Examiner article of mine

Happy weekend!

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Friday Funny 527: Some Quick Running Funnies

Here are 3 quick "running funnies" from the last few days of steveinaspeedo.tumblr.com:

More funnies on steveinaspeedo.tumblr.com!

Have a great weekend!!

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Friday Funny 526: Photoshop Troll

I love / hate to stop by PhotoshopTroll.com now and then. People THINK they're asking a Photoshop expert for help on an image, but instead they get trolled. Here's a good one. (WARNING: naughty words.)

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Friday Funny 525: Beer Innovations We'd Actually Use

College Humor recently presented "8 Beer Innovations We'd Actually Use."

Lots more "funnies" at steveinaspeedo.tumblr.com!

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Devon's Version of the Relay Race at the Gear West Duathlon

Devon posted an album of photos taken by his Mom from the Gear West Duathlon this past weekend. Here's the story he tells, along with his captions. He's pretty witty.

His album has the caption: "Epic Relay Challenge between the noble Gold Gopher Guys and the notorious Team Itchy & Scratchy. This was probably the most fun you can have at a Duathlon." He's right... teaming up is a blast. I've been saying that for years.

NOTE: Everything under the photos that's italicized and "in quotes" is Devon's caption. Anything else is my rebuttal.

"Last second substitute for Ben, 'Benstitute', Jon Ryss. Jon and I raced as the Gold Gopher Guys. Possibly the greatest duathlon relay team in the history of duathlon relays."


"First wave at the start. Our mortal enemies, Team Itchy and Scratchy, took a massive head-start."


"Gold Gopher Guys waiting 12 minutes until our wave started behind our rivals, Team Itchy and Scratchy. We tried valiantly to close the gap but due to Steve's questionable handicapping it was insurmountable."
That mustache is questionable.


"Our wave was mostly just Jon."


"Pete Webster of Team Itchy and Scratchy (Pete was Scratchy) on the move."
I guess that makes me Itchy. I'm OK with that.




"Steve struggles with poor vision. Without his glasses during races it is quite difficult for him to hydrate properly so upon completion I am always there for him with a refreshing cup of water. To the face."


"Aggressive hydration assistance! Pete lined up behind waiting for his turn."

As I noted in my race report, Devon ran up right after I finished and shouted "EMERGENCY HYDRATION" and nailed me in the face. Then he did it 2 more times for the camera as seen above. I love that you can see Jenny taking photos with my camera in the first photo, and I love Pete creepin' in the 2nd.

I also mentioned that we beat Devon's team by over 5 minutes, but Jon came FLYING to the line. Look at the guy who's being passed by Jon: his body language is saying "Shit!... Where'd YOU come from?!?"

"Teamwork!"


"Team Gold Gopher Guys graciously crowning the champs of the Relay Challenge, Team Itchy and Scratchy. Even though Steve blatantly rigged the race we respected their effort on the day."
You blatantly have... a moustache....... (I'm not good at words.)


"Such pride. Such achievement."


"Team Itchy and Scratchy performing some sort of celebratory ritual."
I DO NOT RECALL DOING THIS. I HAVE NO NO NO NO IDEA WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE.


"Proud champions"


"Pretty sure Steve recruited the King of Denmark"


"The agony of defeat."


"Such pain!"


"Steve also struggles with incontinence, as you can see."

That last line is partly true... I mentioned in my race report that I had tummy issues throughout and after the race, but I assure you that THAT is only mud from the nasty off-road racing.

- Click here for my race report
- Click here for the "crowning ceremony" after the race
- Click here for a gallery of photos in an Examiner article of mine

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The Crowning of the Champs at the Gear West Duathlon

My big race report was on Monday. It tells the tale of Pete and I (team "Itchy and Scratchy") beating Devon's team. Check it out if you missed it.

Devon's girlfriend (yes, he SOMEHOW has a beautiful girlfriend) made some sweet crowns for the winner of the showdown. So Pete and I were formally presented with our trophies:

So formal.


This doesn't look awkward at all.


Clean biker butts (to the left) and dirty runner butts (to the right).


Devon's Mom (in the red to the far right) got a photo of us from under the finish line....


.... and then Devon and Jon showed their emotion over being beat.

Henry LOVED playing on all of the equipment out there. THANK YOU PHARMIE for chasing him around for nearly 3 hours during and after the race!! I love you! (And thanks again to Jennifer for taking all the photos so Pharmie COULD chase Henry around!)

"That's enough of Dad!... back to the playground, Mama!!"


Crowned champs.

Officially, we were the 3rd place team as I mentioned in my race report. Devon's team was first (they beat our time, but we did better based on the handicap start), and former student Jeremy's team beat us by 61 seconds too. So Pete and I figured we should RE-crown Jeremy and his biker Kyle with the crowns:

Third place crowning 2nd place.


Newly crowned champs.


My eyes get creepy when I get that close to tubular meat. And my my nipples perk up.


I went back to find Pharmie and Henry after eating, and they were still playing hard!


Packed up and ready to go.


My 2 pairs of socks from the race still wet on the basement floor 24 hours post-race.

If you missed it, CLICK HERE for my race report, and CLICK HERE for a gallery of photos in an Examiner article of mine.

Back with some awesome photos from Devon's Mom tomorrow!

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