Speed Golf and Tough Triathletes

>> Thursday, October 31, 2013

Two interesting / random / kinda strange things...

First, Runner's World recently wrote a bit about the Speedgolf World Championship. Here's a bit about what it is in their article:

The emerging sport combines running and golf — a player’s score is his or her total number of strokes added to the player’s running time for 18 holes. Most players carry four or five clubs in a lightweight bag they hold with one hand as they run.

This weekend, 24 golfers participated in the elite division.

The winner was Rob Hogan. The Irishman built a lead Saturday by playing the resort’s Old Macdonald course in 77 strokes, with a blazing running time of 39 minutes 31 seconds. He then played the Bandon Dunes course in 41:24 on Sunday, taking 79 shots, giving him a total score of 236.55.

Eri Crum, a former teammate of golfer Tiger Woods at Stanford, was second with a score of 242.34.

Hogan and Crum have golf backgrounds, the traditional draw for the sport over the past decade. But since the first world championships last year, speedgolf has started to appeal more to runners.

The field this weekend included Olympic runners Nick Willis and Bernard Lagat, as well as a variety of other runners.

[...]

Willis tried one round after the Beijing Olympics, and said it was tougher than he expected.

His interest was renewed when he learned about the Speedgolf World Championships, and he asked tournament director Tim Scott if he could play.

His reaction after Saturday’s round was similar to many others trying the sport for the first time.

“It was a lot of fun, very challenging,” he said. “I’m hooked. I want more.”

I'd love to try that. I like to play golf, but I'm horrible at it (I play about once every 4 years). The good news is that I really only use 3 clubs, so that'd make an event like this easier - I only need a 3 wood, a 7 iron, and a putter.

Here are a few photos from the Runner's World article:


Bernard Lagat reacting to a putt that just missed the cup on the 18th green.
He looks pretty pooped.






And TOTALLY unrelated to that... Did you see the article about triathletes being tougher than everyone else?

Triathletes can tolerate more pain than the rest of us, a new study confirms, which helps explain why they would swim, then bike, then run, all because they want to and not because they are, perhaps, being chased by a bear.

That’s interesting on its own, but there’s more: Researchers say that understanding how athletes can withstand the pain of a grueling endurance event may eventually lead to potential treatments and therapies for people with chronic pain.

[...]

In one experiment, the researchers asked teach volunteers to put a hand in cold water, about 53 degrees; they were told to remove it if or when they experienced unbearable pain. In another experiment, they experienced gradually increasing heat applied to a forearm with a computerized gadget, starting from about 95 degrees Fahrenheit. They were asked to press a switch when they first felt pain, and then press a switch when they could no longer tolerate the pain.

The triathletes and non-athletes registered pain at about the same temperatures. But the triathletes were able to withstand the pain for longer. “Triathletes appear to exhibit greater ability and/or motivation to endure pain in the experimental setup, and possibly, also in everyday life,” Dr. Ruth Defrin at Tel Aviv University in Israel and colleagues wrote in their report, published in the journal Pain.

But why? Do tougher people tend to become triathletes? Or does becoming a triathlete make you tougher? Defrin has a few theories. “Since triathletes experience repetitive pain during training and competitions, perhaps the pain inputs that reach the brain constantly trigger the brain stem structures responsible for pain inhibition, which, in turn, produce a more powerful pain modulation and tolerance, but this is yet to be tested,” Defrin said via email. So their brain-and-body chemistry grows accustomed to the pain, which makes it more bearable over time.

Click here to see the entire article.

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Semi-Wordless Wednesday: Eating with a Kid

>> Wednesday, October 30, 2013

From my Instagram page last week:


"How every Dad eats pizza with a toddler in the house. #CanIHaveASausageDaddy"

Back with 2 fun "endurance" stories tomorrow.

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Another "Kitten Mile"

>> Monday, October 28, 2013

This is a highly-secretive event. The details have been changed to protect those involved. Even though I'm calling it a "kitten mile," actual kittens may or may not be involved. Here's what I CAN tell you (from my "kitten mile" race report from last year):

What I'm talking about is a "Kitten Mile."

Here's how it works:
- Someone shouts "GO."
- You chug some cat nip.
- Then run 1/4 mile.
- Chug more cat nip.
- Run another 1/4 mile.
- Chug more cat nip.
- Run another 1/4 mile.
- Chug more cat nip.
- Run a final 1/4 mile.

That's a total of 48 ounces of nip and a mile of running. All of the cat nip chugging has to take place in a "transition zone" - you can't start running until after you're done chugging. If you throw up your cat nip before you finish, you have to do an extra penalty lap. If you have too much cat nip left from your 4 containers (usually something like 1 oz can be left when all of your extra is added up), you have to do a penalty lap.

Being I'm injured this year, I couldn't race. And this was my "A race" for the year. Damn. I raced the last 3 years finishing my first 3 "kitten miles" in 6:46, 6:47, and 6:54. I was listed in the "Hall of Fame" among some pretty great people:



There was a cute women (who I was lucky enough to go home with!) who got a little chilly as the race was getting ready to start:




A few seconds before the start of the "male" wave.


Winner of the first wave hitting the line.


The second wave was the "female" wave.


This is the eventual winner stumbling away from one of her transitions.


"The Thrill of Victory..."
(Not only did I have to hide her identity, but also the identity of her left nipple.)


"... and the Agony of Defeat."
(This was last place in the FIRST wave, and he finished in the middle of the 2nd wave... FINALLY.)

At a kitten mile, there are a few people trying to "kill it," but many people are just having a good time. Take, for instance, this photo of 2nd and 3rd finishing happily side-by-side (even though they were really sprinting hard):




2 seconds after the start of the final "elite" wave.


Winner of the elite wave checking his time right after crossing the line.

The 3-time winner from the last 3 years was de-throned this year! He had trouble with his final round of cat nip and ended up spewing it up just a few feet into the final run. So he had to do a penalty lap and was easily beaten. Here's evidence of his spewing:



SHOOT! I forgot to censor that photo!! Damn it.


Have you ever seen a censored photo of barf in order to protect it's identity?
You have now. Welcome to my blog.

Afterwards, the lovely lady and I grabbed some chicken and fish tacos from Lulu's Deli which is QUICKLY becoming a favorite local place of ours. We had an order of fried cheese curds too. And then cake from Cafe Latte. Sheesh. We watched game 3 of the World Series and had a great low-key night.

I hope to be racing the "Kitten Mile" again next year, and I hope my time will still be "Hall of Fame" worthy! CLICK HERE for my 2011 "Kitten Mile" race report, and CLICK HERE for my 2012 race report (which has a lot of photos of me racing).

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A Swimm Chalengee From A Jerck

>> Saturday, October 26, 2013

Me justt gotten this:



ProTirathlete Devon Plamer postted this on his BloG:

My fremesis Steven Stenzel has been unusually unruly on the Twitter as of late. He has fired off several churlish and libelous tweets and even a few that are awkwardly lascivious. The lil fella probably has some pent up energy as he recently injured himself to sabotage our own duathlon relay attempt. Since his legs are essentially useless and he has all that energy I am curious if he would be interested in a swim challenge. I would swim a 500 and we would agree upon a suitable shorter distance for him to swim. This would be done from a push start and we would be pulling with paddles. At least I will be. A time, date, pool, and exact terms would have to be negotiated. If someone can read this to him (I have heard that despite his frequent tweeting and blogging he is actually completely illiterate) please let me know what he says. Thanks.

Time four me to get to swimmmming more then 3 thymes / month. It's on like Mario Kart.

PS: "Hooked on Fonics" workd for mee! (These priveight gramer tudors have been payying of!)

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Friday Funny 609: Top Halloween Costumes by Year and Some Funny Links

>> Friday, October 25, 2013




Finally, here are some of the most popular posts from the last 2 weeks from my tumblr page:

Athletic-related funny things:

If you weren't a runner, you are now.

Ain't that the truth!

Great idea.

When you have a really nice butt.

Lose with your head held high.

Why women shouldn't lift weights.

Great photo from an old bike race.

[GIF] This will make you feel lazy.

Duh.

Awesome Dad.

Awesome MTB trails.

A good run.

[GIF] She's got soccer skillz.

Great sign from the Chicago Marathon 2 weeks ago.

[GIF] Gym fail.

Some lovely ladies from the Underwear Run before Kona a few weeks back.

Non-athletic funny things:

Answering questions like a politician.

Teaching diversity.

When should you take a nap?

This guy is mean to vegans.

McDonalds needs this.

My phone.

Maybe the best idea for a Halloween Costume.

A REALLY spooky jack-o-lantern.

[GIF] Caught on kiss cam.

This guy can be my dad.

Alcohol.

Great halloween costume for computer nerds.

Dear God... use a comma!!

How to get the girl (according to the movies).

Best study guide ever.

Ladies, this is very true.

Why video games make you violent.

The effects of different drugs.

Why none of us can sleep.

[GIF] Me, tomorrow morning.

[GIF] A new way to look at problems in your life.

How to make the best salad ever!

Thanks, friend.

The proper way to "make" cookies.

Taco bell.

[GIF] I REALLY hope Professor X did this at least once.

As my caption says, I'd be insulted if it weren't true.

Remember, check out steveinaspeedo.tumblr.com often for funny stuff. Happy weekend!

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Friday Funny 608: Trick-Or-Treating on Yelp

HappyPlace recently posted 6 reviews from trick-or-treaters if you could post about homes giving out candy on Yelp:













Find more funnies on steveinaspeedo.tumblr.com.

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Friday Funny 607: 25 Clever Halloween Costumes




Lots more funnies on http://steveinaspeedo.tumblr.com!

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Friday Funny 606: Dumb People on Facebook

Here are 15 of the worst offenders:






When Google doesn't understand your question, then you know you have a problem...






Yeah, why? lol.




What?














Stop.

More funnies on steveinaspeedo.tumblr.com!

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Mountain Bike Back Flip Over a Canyon

>> Thursday, October 24, 2013

Here's some awesome "first person" GoPro footage of some mountain biking at a Red Bull Rampage:


Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x76VEPXYaI0

Well THAT got my heart rate up a bit, especially those first few seconds on top of that ridge.....

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Wordless Wednesday: Awesome Race Shirt

>> Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Seen at a "Tough Mudder" race:



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Winner of the OnlineShoes Giveaway

>> Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Time to pick a winner from last week's giveaway from OnlineShoes. They have a number of Patagonia Shoes they are promoting right now.

On the giveaway post, there were 142 blog comments, 103 Facebook "likes," and 31 tweets. So that meant 276 numbers went in the proverbial hat.


Values placed.


A winner picked.

Because the final 31 numbers were tweets, the winner was among the tweeters. That number corresponded with a tweet from the owner of a cleanly shaved head named Stacey Scarboro. Congrats Stacey! Contact me and I'll get you in contact with the people from OnlineShoes.

And big thanks to those folks from OnlineShoes for the giveaway!

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Recent Sassiness with the Pro Triathlete "Frenemy"

>> Monday, October 21, 2013

Yep. Devon and I have been at it again. A few weeks ago when it looked like the Vikings were on their way to losing in the final seconds AGAIN, I tweeted this:



Devon replied with:



And I shot back with:



Does that make sense? You know what I'm trying to say, right? If I have to explain it, then it sucks. Sorry.

Then more recently, I tweeted Devon this:



That link was to an image on my tumblr page, and it was this:



Good times.

Back tomorrow to announce the winners of the OnlineShoes $150 shoe giveaway!

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More Off-Season Eating...

>> Saturday, October 19, 2013

About a month ago, I posted about a quick stop we made at "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store." Well, we stopped back there on Thursday.




From Instagram: Grandma and Henry with a 5000 calorie gummi worm."


From Instagram: "For the millionth time: "No Henry, we can't get that..." #MNsLargestCandyStore"


I WANTED to get these, but I didn't.


I DID pick up a pack of these, however.


I shared this with Grandma, my Sis, and her 2 kids.
You can't tell from that photo, but it's 2 inches thick and full of cream!


I say that ALL. THE. TIME.

Then we went a little farther down the road to Emma Krumbees. We didn't eat there, but we played outside at their "Scarecrow Festival."




Rope maze with Henry brining up the rear.
Note: my Mom is one of 7 people in the world who still wears earmuffs.


Henry's on my lap, and that's his cousins Ian and Bree in front of us on the train ride!


Cousins!


Henry LOVES Minions! He's screaming at it here!


He didn't even want to turn around for picture - he loved the Minions too much!
(So this was the best photo I got.)


Looking for something else to get into.


Zonked out a few hours later after we made it home.
(Note the candy and ketchup around his mouth.)

At the candy store, I got another case of assorted sodas - half root beer and half "other:"



I'm curious to try these:



Click here to see photos from my visit to Minnesota's Largest Candy Store from last month, click here for my "Root Beer Journal" where I soon be posting more about this trip, and make sure to click here to enter my giveaway from OnlineShoes.com!

Happy weekend!

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