Lazer Tardiz Aero Helmet GIVEAWAY!

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was recently sent a sweet package in the mail:

Oh yeah...


... a sexy peek under the lid.


Sweet, sweet speed.


No baby... YOU'RE turning ME on.

Well, since it's come in the mail, I haven't had a chance to go for 1 single bike ride. So I haven't gotten a chance to truly test the helmet. What I know for sure is that it looks better than the first time I put on my Rudy Helmet a few years ago:

Geeky in my Rudy Helmet in April 2008

A cool feature (literally) of the Lazer Tardiz is its ventilation. Many aero helmets can run hot because the more openings for air will take away some of the aero qualities. Here's a bit about it from Lazer's description:

The rear vents of the Lazer Tardiz TT Helmet allow for the heated air from the head to escape to the back of the helmet where it is trapped on the matte dimpled surface, providing for better aerodynamics at the rear of the helmet. However the aerodynamic advantage is worthless if the rider can't stay cool. Thankfully, Lazer addresses this issue with the innovative Aquavent. Conceived while racing across the radiating lava bed roads of Kona, Aquavent is a ventilation port on the top surface of the helmet. You can use your bottle to deliver water into the Aquavent to help reduce overheating. Special perforated EVA padding allows for the water to filter down and around the head.

You just pop off this black vent cover (seen at the top of this photo below) if you know you'll be racing on a hot day. Add water, and you're cool.

The Tardiz also has a 360-degree fitting system that fits better (and more comfortably to your head.

I still need to review the helmet, so look for that MAYBE this fall, but for sure by next spring once I'm out on my bike more.

All that I know is that any good aero helmet gives you about 1 "free" mile per hour. Over an Olympic distance triathlon, if you normally bike 20 mph, this aero helmet will bump you up to 21 mph and save you almost 4 minutes (1:14:24 vs 1:10:51). Over a 70.3, if you can normally do the 56 mile bike with an 18 mph average, this helmet will save you 10 minutes (3:06:40 vs 2:56:50). And over an Ironman distance race, if you'd normally finish with a 17 mph average, this helmet will save you 22 minutes (6:35:17 vs 6:13:20). Obviously, the time differences are greater in the longer races, but in the shorter races, every second counts. I watched my brother-in-law Matt have to hold off a sprinter at the Waseca Tri so he could place second (and not third) in his division. Had he been wearing a non-aero helmet, he would have lost more than a few seconds, and he would have been 3rd. Every second counts!

TO ENTER TO WIN THE LAZER HELMET:

JUST LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST!! Yep, that's it. Boom: you're in the running to possibly win a $175 aero helmet!

If you'd like to earn an EXTRA entry, follow me on Twitter and send out this tweet:

There's a SWEET Tardiz aero helmet from @LazerHelmets being given away on @SteveinaSpeedo's blog - http://iwannagetphysical.blogspot.com/

(If you post the tweet, make sure to note in your comment that you've earned 2 entries!)

Then check back early next week (Oct 24 or 25) to see if I draw your name as the winner. Lazer can ship ANYWHERE in the WORLD, so unless you're on a Space Station in outer space, you can enter!

So comment now! Right here! Do it before Sunday the 23rd! Thanks everyone! Happy Monday!!

Read more...

Tweets That I've Twitted on Twitter

Just some random fun on Twitter recently:

"Going to a male ob/gyn is like going to a mechanic that never owned a car." Nice. True. I'm assuming.

Everyone asks Henry's name, but no one asks mine. #NewDadPains

PATIENT: "The problem is that obesity runs in my family."
DOCTOR: "No, the problem is that NO ONE runs in your family."

Based on some remarks from friends on Twitter, I've started a "daily poop tweet." Between my sometimes strange bowel movements and my son's sometimes strange pretty normal (for a baby) bowel movements, I figure it was only appropriate. Here are 2:

First #DailyPoopTweet: Henry had a MAJOR poop all over his changing pad. Lets just say now I can NEVER eat butterscotch softserve ice cream.

3rd #DailyPoopTweet: Just took out a trashbag of Henry's dirty diapers, but "topped it off" w/ BBQ meat-chunks from the crockpot. #NastyFunk

If you're on twitter, feel free to follow me for plenty about poop.

In a totally unrelated note, here are 2 recent photos of Henry:

Figuring out how to stay upright


He usually sleeps in the mystical "iron cross" position

Back with a giveaway TOMORROW!

Read more...

Friday Funny 233: The Rules Of Bacon

These are all true. Especially #8 and #12.

Related: I've found this to be true:

Two things:

- If you still haven't seen the "Sexy Farm Animals Cheering" video I posted last week, check it out. It currently has 74 "likes" on FB.

- There's a great giveaway coming early next week! Check back for that!

Read more...

Friday Funny 232: How To Be a Lady On a Date

Here are some tips for all you single ladies. It's from an (obviously) old book. But as far as I know, these are real.

Resisting... the urge... to comment....

;)

Read more...

Friday Funny 231: Disc Wheels That Look AWESOME

You don't need $2,000 in carbon fiber to make Disc wheels. All you need is a little mirrored glass:

Yeah, that looks like it will last....

Read more...

5-Part Random Post: Workouts, Speed, Kona, Stroller Run, and Henry Updates

· SEPT WORKOUTS AND NOTHING LAST WEEK:

Well, September went down in the books WITHOUT a single bike ride OR a single swim workout. I guess I should be happy that tri season is over! :) And then after the TC 10 Mile 10 days ago, I did NOTHING the rest of the week:

... well, I DID weigh myself last Monday. That's.... something.... I guess....


· FINAL THOUGHTS ON "SPEED vs ENDURANCE:

Two weeks ago, I posted this entry about balancing speed work with endurance training. It chronicled my history of what I was thinking was more important over the last few years. (If you missed that post, check it out - there are some interesting points in there.)

I wanted to bring this up one last time with regards to my TC 10 Mile training. I told myself months ago that with my busier schedule (new job and new baby), that I was going to really work on my ENDURANCE while letting my SPEED WORK slip a little. And that's what I did. I really only did 1 "true" speed work workout in the middle of August (2 x 2 mile intervals), and the rest was all longer runs with "race pace miles" built in. (Oh, here's my post about the importance of "race pace miles" - that's also a good read.)

And you know what? The lack of speed work and the concentration on distance WORKED FOR ME for the TC 10 Mile. Sure, I was 2 minutes slower this year, but I still posted a 1:01:20 on a very reduced training plan. Note to self: make sure to get in those LONG runs! Let the speed-work slide if need-be.


· SPEEDY JP:

If you've been a blog follower for a while you remember my 3-part IM New Orleans 2009 race report (here's part 1, part 2, and part 3). In the first part, you saw this hunky photo of my wife's teammate JP. This is NOT posed - this is just a "candid" shot I took as he was finishing up an OWS in Lake Pontchartrain:

Looks like some sort of Nautica ad

Anyway, after posting a 9:24 Ironman finish in Florida...

... he had hoped for a sub-10:00 finish in Kona. We hooked up Pharmie's laptop to our TV so we could watch IronmanLIVE on a bigger screen last weekend:

I took a video of JP finishing - click here to see the video (he's the one in black and red who finishes to the right with his hands in the air). He NEARLY nailed his goal: he finished Kona in 10:00:09!! Check out JP's blog here.

And then he posted this photo on Facebook:

Dear. God.

That is excellent.


· STROLLER RUN WITH HENRY:

Last night, I got home from work earlier than I have been getting home lately, so we had some great family time. After a few hours, I decided to go for a little run with Henry.

Loaded up at home


Wide awake at mile 1 (along the Mississippi)


Getting heavy eyes at mile 3


He passed out moments after taking that last photo;
this photo is from mile 4

After a warm-up mile through some residential streets, I was down by the river, and I slowly upped the pace. I ran a 6:40 mile heading up to the turn-around, and then I ran 6:31, 6:36, and 6:13 before easing up. So that's 26:00 for those 4 miles WITH the stroller - I'll take it! And Henry slept for all of those fast miles!

(I sort of feel the need to note all of this for those who think that this is bad for a baby - he was awake and happy for 3 miles, and then comfortably slept for the next few miles until we were home. Oh, and I was wearing a reflective vest because it was starting to get dark. Don't worry - we were SAFE.)

We got home, and he was still passed out:

By the rocks and bushes in our front yard

... so I walked around the neighborhood for 20 minutes as a cool-down.

Sweaty boobs in the house post-run

It was a nice 8-mile run with my son!!


· HENRY PHOTOS:

Our little guy seems to be getting better and better. His colic symptoms are going away, and now it's easier to just "hang out." Here are 3 recent photos:

Chillin' with Dad on Thursday morning


Out to celebrate Mom's 3rd 29th birthday (you do the math) on Friday


Hanging out on the porch in his jammies on Sunday morning

And here's a quick video of Henry giggling in my office at work. We had a work function on Thursday night, and Henry got a little overwhelmed by all of the people after about an hour. So Pharmie and I took him into my office to calm him down. And we got some fun smiles. The giggles around the 0:30 mark is my favorite part:


Direct link: http://youtu.be/Z81Sc1t11BI


Oh, one last thing... I thinking there will be a giveaway next week....

Read more...

This:

Read more...

Some Final TC 10 Mile Thoughts

Jeez, my predictions were pretty spot-on for this race. I made a lot of pre-race predictions in this post 10 days ago, and here's how 5 of those panned out:


• I said there was a 65% chance of finishing between 1:00:00 and 1:02:19. And I finished right near the middle of that in 1:01:20.

• I nailed my opening pace. I said "I'll probably go out somewhere between my slower start in 2009 and my faster start last year. I bet I'll hit mile 5 in under 31:00." I hit mile 5 in 30:49. Boom. And look at how even my splits were at that point:

1:02:43 in 2009
59:05 in 2010
1:01:20 in 2011

My splits this year were within about 5 seconds of each other for the opening 5 miles! Consistency is great! But then (looking at the chart above), I let up too much. That brings me to my next prediction...

• I had noted that I did NOT have the same level of cross training as I had last year. I posted this: "...All of this will hurt me around mile 6-8 of the race. I'll be H.U.R.T.I.N.G. at that point, and I'll have little to pull me through." Well, that nearly off-the-charts slow mile at mile 6 (and 7) was proof that I wasn't as trained.

• I also predicted that my final mile would be fast: "...So no matter how I finish, mile 10 should look good on paper." Well, look at that chart above. Yeah... my closing mile was off-the-charts FAST! I had WAY too much left, and finished with a 5:27 final mile! (Yes, it's a "downhill" mile, but that's still too fast!)

• Actually, here's my full final prediction from my "prediction post": "My closing miles will be fast. When I question my endurance, I usually ease up too much in the middle, and then have a lot to use in the final mile or 2. So no matter how I finish, mile 10 should look good on paper. This isn't a good thing."

Read that last quote again, because that's EXACTLY what happened.

I wussed out. Plain and simple. I wasn't sure how much I could push the pace on my scaled-back training plan this year. So instead of pushing it and seeing if cold work my way up to "the line," I kept it a little easy to avoid crashing and burning. I'm a little disappointed in myself. I felt OK during and after the race (knowing that I didn't quite give it everything in the middle), but as it's set in, I've been annoyed that I didn't go harder. I KNOW I could have been sub-1:01 had I raced more mentally strong in those middle miles.

Photo from just after the finish - still breathing hard
(Oh hi, "vein of approval!" I haven't seen you in a while!)

Here are my numbers from the 1 split that the 10 Mile runners had (it was at mile 3.8 last year and mile 5 this year):

2010 (Start-to-3.8 and 3.8-to-finish)


2011 (Start-to-5 and 5-to-finish)

- In 2010, I didn't pass ANYONE in the last half because I was dying. This year, I passed 15 people in the last half because I had too much left "in the tank" and went FLYING past a number of people in the closing mile.

- In 2010, I passed 43 people between the start and the next timing mat. This year, I passed 235 because I stupidly started too far back (I spent the first full mile dodging people and shooting up and down the curb to pass people that I should have started in front of).

According to my finisher's certificate, I only started 1 second behind the starting line last year...

... but I was 15 seconds back this year:

That's a pretty big difference in how many people were in front of me.

So there you go - that's my over-analyzed TC 10 Mile from this year. Hopefully, some of my family will want to run it with me again next year, AND hopefully we get selected for a 4th straight year in the lottery!

- CLICK HERE for my "prediction" post
- CLICK HERE for my race report
- CLICK HERE for photos of the farm animals cheering at the Marathon
- CLICK HERE to see the insane video of the farm animals dancing at the Marathon (cover your children's eyes...)

Read more...

Friday Funny 230: Farm Animals Cheering at the 2011 TC Marathon

Call your co-workers over.

Turn up the volume.

Enjoy.

Direct link: http://youtu.be/FmNAplgJs9E

Awesome, right? I think the raccoon stole the show - he's got some sweet moves! And if you listen carefully in the last clip, you can hear little Henry "talking" in the background.

If you missed the video from the TC Marathon last year and the year before, CLICK HERE to watch the first 2 videos from 2009 and 2010.

I don't know a better start to the weekend than to watch this video again.... :)

Happy Weekend!

Read more...

Friday Funny 229: Fake Science

I love the site "Fake Science". Check out a few of these:

I always knew that about butter. And I suspected that about candy corn.

Check back around noon for the "Farm Animals" video!!!"

Read more...

The Farm Animal Video...

.... is coming tomorrow. I just need to do some finishing touches. Check for it around noon. It's horribly awesome.

In the meantime, check out my race report from Monday and photos of all of the farm animals cheering from yesterday. But make sure to stop back for the video.

Read more...