Sunday, December 30, 2007

Tribal Christmas

We have survived the Holiday flu! Apprently Tac's illness was felt by each and every member of the Clan ending with Trimama in bed today, one week later with a slight fever :( Despite the technicolor spewing, the time spent together was good and a reminder of how blessed we are to have close family and friends.

New Years Eve will be spent with more good family friends, toasting champagne, sipping wine and probably enjoying a few really good cigars. Tac has 4 weeks until any form of training begins. So until then all he needs to do is accomplish a major career change and manage three to four work sites.

Wish Tac luck (or a coveted prayer).

Thanks

Here's a little window into the Tribe's Christmas eve...

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Have a holly jolly flu...


Tac wakes up this morning with significant digestive issues. You will be spared details. It's all about the timing. Trimama and I were planning a hot christmas shopping/watch the vikes at our favorite pub date tonight. Hopefully, if well rested the plans will go forward.

Chopper is all over the presents this weekend. Angling to open "just one" prior to Christmas Eve. Mama and Tac are holding strong, but he does get points for tenacity.

Hope you have a great Christmas weekend

Tac

Thursday, December 20, 2007

The Chopper



Chop got hold of Tac's Mac.

Too funny

Tac

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Holding My Own

>
Well resume building is going well. Tac's been throwing the virgin document before some corporate friends for feed back and refinement. Please be gentle with me.

Not one aspect of the 'changing careers' adventure has been very simple. The cultural shift from manual labor/small business owner to corporate employee is hard to envision and prepare for.

Yet were holding our own. WE meaning Trimama has been a HUGE support through this process, both emotionally, practically and spiritually. Thanks dear.

The Christmas season is moving along nicely, the kids took part in our small church's music program this Sunday. Very cute. We are planning the big family get together next week. Where multiple tribes will descend on Grandmas house. Which always has a nice cinnamon smell on Christmas day. Presents will be opened, good food and wine shared and general thanksgiving for the blessing of family will be the theme. Looking forward to that.

Grandmas house will be making new memories, but Tac's been scanning in some OLD photos of said superhero and a certain Triathlon Mom from their early days. Pictures to appear some time soon. What? Now? O.K. here's one...

Pre-Chopper Pic


Well off to do the 'not training for IMCDA yet/not really base training/more keep in shape from all the Hershey kiss cookies' swim.

Tac out

Wednesday, December 12, 2007


Have you ever tasted home made Ice cream. Holy cow, Tac has reached new levels of super hero status with this latest advent gift. Ironically, or not, the boys are the main chefs for the sweet frozen treat. Tac's preatty sure we produced about 40,000 calories worth of Creamy goodness over the last 4 days. This is exactly why Mama and Tac bought this machine, not the calories, just to enjoy creative outlets with the tribe.

It's been averaging about 2 degrees here lately. So, we make ice cream...what the fruit. Oh well the cold seems to creep into the brain and lends towards insanity and that's why we have 16 quarts of Ice Cream in the freezer while Tac is trying to lose weight.

Must resist, must resist...yes.

It is working. Tac is down a full 20 pounds from last year at this time and is heading to knock off another 10 before training begins in late January. Last year was the backward year where a bottle of wine every night during the holidays and tons of snacks made the spandex a bit tight on your resident superhero. Whoo whoo. Have not seen these numbers on the scale since the early formation days of the Tribe. Good grief, guess kids will do that to a dad. Well it feels good to be lighter entering my fourth Tri season. Tac's always known that to really see good bike times (for tac thats 6 hour IM rides) I needed to drop weight. So that makes anticipation for the upcoming season that much sweeter.

Man, I gotta update my side bar soon. The plate spinning quotient is a tad high right now, but Tac does see some breathing room in sight! Have a great weekend!

Tac out

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Cant fight this feeling any longer


Well if you have stopped over at Trimama.com, you've realized that the smokin hot Trimama is taking on her second Ironman challenge in Arizona.

Sweet!

Apprently Iron Jenny is in for the ride as well. Tac should have a good time cheering them on as the official sherpa at the Fall IMAZ 08. Correct, Tac is not racing Arizona next year. That was part of the decision that we made regarding Florida as well. The frantic pace of marriage, family and buiness would make dual training for an Ironman to challenging of a task. So we've reached a compromise.

Tac has always wanted to do this race. In fact about 3 months ago he wished he could go, but realized that was now impossible.

Until he recieved an email from TriStud (think local male version of Iron Jenny) who had some interesting race 'opportunities' available. Needless to say, the email went out on Saturday, the confirmation is now at about 90% so Tac is spilling the beans.

The official A race for Taconite Boy in 2008 is HERE!!

Thanks Team Ortho!!!

Tac Out....whoooo hooooo hu uh..hu uh

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Tac's got news


All he can say right now is that some big stuff just happened (triathlon related) and he's waiting to post the final details until he's able to confirm.

It's taking Tac all of his superpowers to restrain from spilling the beans, but he's gotta wait to confirm.

Dang it

Tac out...and VERY EXCITED

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Tac's just sayin

There seems to be some friction at work lately. He's preatty sure it has something to do with either envy or irritation regarding Ironman accomplishments. It's not like when Tac's working he wears it on his slee...




Maybe Tac does have the Greyhound schwag-whore disease?

Tac out...and be careful bragging out there Ironmen

UPDATE Trimama has changed her blog location. Point your browser here

Trimama.com

Wednesday, November 21, 2007



Can't tell what Tac likes more...the Thanksgiving/Jessi Ventura like boa or the hat...hmmmm

What Taconite Boy can tell you is that the tribe is ready and were heading down to trot our turkeys all over your a__. Either that or were just going to join about 8000 other people and 'gobble!gobble!" our way through the 5k tomorrow. I dont think you can miss us in these...



Local bloggers and friends join us here after said festivites!

Dunn Bros. Minnetonka Mills


View Larger Map

Tac out...and have a great Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Turkey Trot 07




Were heading out for the Turkey Trot on Thursday morning. Mama, Tac and the Tribe are heading down with other local bloggers, then heading over to Minnetonka Mills Dunn Bros. after the race. Join us if you can!

Tac out

Monday, November 12, 2007

I'm not a multi-tasker..


Well at least that's what one of my most junior employees (and nephew) told me several years ago. He stated this after Tac had forgotten to bring some item to the job site that morning. Tac loves employes, they make him money, they usually become friends and he can count on them to never understand how complex, hectic and crazy the life of running a business is.

Well all the multi-tasking super-powers will be needed for the next few months. The hunt for the new job has begun with preparation and training commencing this week. Within 6-8 weeks Tac will begin sending out the resume to prospective companies. While radically changing careers takes loads of mental courage and energy, Paradise Painting has it's many various demands. Jobs to find (in a fairly slow market), payroll to meet, projects to manage and bills to pay (Trimama's going shopping). A tad overwhelming...Maybe my nephew is slightly right :(

Tac wrote this favorite quote on the chalkboard in the kitchen several months ago...

There is one way to love God,
To not take a single step without Him
and to follow with a brave heart
wherever He leads.

Totally dig that.

Sense a theme here?

Taken by Simply Stu in lake San Antonio-Wildflower 2007



Version 2



Taken by Bigun in Gulf of Mexico-Ironman Florida 2007

Theme is...Tac's a fortunate fella

Tac out...and have some plans for local homies on Turkey day!!!

Thursday, November 08, 2007

What a weekend

Tac Plane landed late last night, wheels down and back to the secret identities of jobs, kids and general life stuff. Which is quite fine because this weekend was the reward to much hard work and money in the bank for the next several months of responsibilities.

Did Tac mention he loves Bigun and Di even more now? What a couple. We as couples slept little, played hard and generally had a rocking good time. Here's some pics of the adventure... (many taken by the Bigun's)




Trimama enjoying the not-so-Minnesota weather




Tac Boy enjoying some of Mama's angelic state of being.



This is IronTriTim who was motivated to do this race by Kahuna and the Get your Geek on Podcast. He followed the blogs and commented occasionally. One of Tac's favorite parts of the weekend is when Tim wanted the cape wonder to deliver a message to Kahuna, to say thanks for motivating him to Iron. Tac gave him one better, within a minute Kahuna was on the phone with Tim. Tac thinks he saw Mama tear up a little when Tim conveyed to Kahuna how his influence was a huge factor in him becoming an Ironman.

Cool or what?

When we were leaving the coffee shop on Monday morning, we all encouraged Tim to start his own blog.

IronTriTim is here. Visit often and leave bloggy love!


O.K. Tac is sounding off. You ask, why are there plastic cups on top of all the taps at the bar? It can't be that a bar IN THE HOST HOTEL, ON THE BEACH would not have enough beer for Ironman weekend. Yeah, those Ironmen are too health conscience to consume adult beverages.

Alas, by the evening of race day (Saturday) the main miro brew was out, and by Sunday afternoon (during THE football game) the cheap crap ran out too. Overall the redneck Rivera, also know as Panama City Beach pretty much lives up to it's name when talking cuisine and good drinks. Just about every eating venue we visited, with the exception of a good Mexican joint was fairly awful and under staffed.

Trimama and I laughed when one of the waitresses said she finds it insulting that so many people think they are only open when big conventions or Ironman's come to town. She stated that there open year round catering to all kinds of people.
Hummm could people be asking that because every time we come down to visit it looks as though the Hotel manager just figured out Ironman is in town and he better grab 1 extra keg for the weekend along with roping in his nephew to be 'the only' cook in the kitchen?

Ironically, the one place that was both good and consistent. The Waffle house. Some of our friends called it the Aweful house, but Tac liked very much! Wish they had more of those around the Midwest.



Apparently Iron Jenny loves those eggs too. :)

Tac out

Saturday, November 03, 2007

The Tac machine is ready to strip...

Only to find out when arriving that the peelers at IMFL are full. So Trimama with the help of Tac's superpowers (a volunteer shirt) are going to show up anyway because Tac will not be denied.

Had a great meet up time last night with the Bigun's, the Lana's and our local tri homies!

For Trimama and Tac arriving back at Panama City Beach was full of emotion. We could not stop talking about every little store, beach marker and boardwalk that reminded us of last year. To the point where poor old metro boy, Kahuna even got a emotion laden call from us as we passed the tattoo parlor. Tac won't lie...He was a little 'Ferklempt

Last year's Ironman would stand alone in Trimama's life as a defining moment of just personal achievement, but it was so much more. We as a couple had been through a very difficult 9 years of a heart wrenching cycle of pain, recovery, repeat. We love our kids, we're thankful for the occupations God's given us, but we needed something tangible to reach for. Something that was not as weighty as life, but still epic in scope. Triathlon fit that bill nicely. The pursuit towards Ironman Florida yielded the fruits of so much more then an Iron metal. We as a couple grew in our love for each other, God, and for the many new friends and bloggers we had met along the way.

Panama City Beach is reminding us of how blessed we are!

Tac has also just been reminded it's time to go by Trimama

WATCH OUT PEELERS IT'S TIME TO GET SCHOOLED BY TACONITE BOY

Tac out

Monday, October 29, 2007

IMFL!!!!!


Tac is amazed that it's already here. By the way, he recieved a charity entry into Florida last week and is doing IMFL as well. He figures 4 weeks from IMMoo to TC Marathon and then 4 weeks to IMFL should be just right.

O.K. Taconite boy is a complete liar, but he does kinda wish he could do it. Kinda.

Mama's getting all the last household details together before we leave on Friday morning and Tac's making sure houses are getting painted while he's gone.

Tac has several goals for this weekend...

1. Strip wetsuits like nobody's business. I'm mean, sorta lean and a stripping machine.

2. Enjoy first time blogger meet and greets with the likes of Bigun and the Mrs., Lana and Tridaddy?

3. Swim with said friends in the ocean with wetsuits ect.!

4. Watch the best football game of the century (Pats vs. Colts) on Sunday afternoon with Mama, suds and friends!


Speaking of good partying, Mama and Tac want to start off the weekend with a meet up at the Host Hotel on Friday night (assumes racers will be hunkering down in preparation). May include finding a good watering hole as well :)

Where: Boardwalk Hotel 7:00 pm Friday

Contact Tac or Mama by email to exchange vitals!

Rest well racers, Tac and Mama will be cheering you on!!

Tac Out...and ready to enjoy another Ironman event!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Mile 19

Wello oh well oh well (as Jack White would like to say).



Man that's hot.

Tac's nearing the end of 4 weeks straight of work (including weekends).

One of the houses he's been at have been filled with these colors...



This is a crappy iphone photo, (why yes, Tac does have an Iphone..hehehe) just imagine the intensity about 5x from what your seeing. These colors are all over the main area of the house.

Yikes!

Have'nt done one things since the Twin Cities Marathon, other then savor it, in the last 2 1/2 weeks. Probably good, because the Tac machine has been devoting all that energy elsewhere.

Have a good weekend.

Tac out

Monday, October 15, 2007

Half time entertainment

14 days of work in a row. Wait. Tac did have one day off last Sunday

The day he ran a Marathon.

He did escape to see this on Friday night!



He's got another 14 in a row coming up. (no marathon though...dang it) Then things settle down a bit.

So for now hope you enjoy this...



Tac out

Sunday, October 07, 2007

I DID IT!

It was hot, humid and long but Tac finished!

4:35:44

Race report to follow (some time soon)

Tac out

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Go Tac Boy!

Alright. All the run junk is together. Dialed up the nutrition for a 3 or 4 or close to 5 hour run.

Tac is just darn excited and a bit nervous. He really wanted to do this race last year, so just being able to start and compete in this event is way cool.

Trimama update: She is doing o.k. Still in some pain and not able to really put alot of pressure on her leg. If we don't see major improvement by Monday it's probably in for an MRI to determine what's up.

Tac is sad for Trimama. She was really looking forward to this and other marathons to qualify for Boston, and this whole injury makes that seem very far away. So this race is bittersweet.

Any spectators, or racers tomorrow this is what the caped wonder is wearing.

Black shorts
White sleeveless shirt with TACONITE BOY cartoon printed on it. No sleeves of course to display the tat ;)
Ironman Wisconsin Finisher Hat...of course.

Tac out....and looking forward to seeing the local tri homies tomorrow!!

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Mara What????

So I'm doing this in two days.



How the H E double hockey sticks does your tri caped wonder get into these situations. Oh that's right, Trimama was attempting to fly like a justice league veteran. She would have of course, but for the rascally little peddle cage.

Dang it.

Tac had just spent six days straight working hard and was on his way home to enjoy his tribe and Mama with her new bike.

Ring Ring
!
'Tac!" "I crashed on a bike and blew my knee out, screaming pain, get over here!"

Quickly assuming hero like mode, Tac raced over to the bike shop picked up Mama, instantly supplied her with necessary pain medications (ok we stopped at home) and had her at the Urgent Care in a single leap.

Tac debated bringing it up. How does one approach this subject tactfully?(get it)

Medications, heavy ones will do.

Once Mama was in the waiting room and had that smile that only good barbiturates can bring. He went for it.

"So, do you mind if I take your number and just run for a couple hours in the Marathon?"

"No, not at all"

Mama took Tac's number last year and used 18 miles of the TCM for a training run for IMFL. Tac's blown out IT Band wouldn't let him compete, so Mama was able to enjoy the beauty of the Marathon, without the need to finish.

Tac is approaching this race exactly the same. Two hours into the run, all knees, joints and other parts will be assessed and then further racing commitments will be addressed. Same during the third and hopefully not to much of a fourth hour.

Four weeks ago Tac finished the Ironman, took two weeks off, did a 5 mile and 10 mile run last week and is now tapering...AGAIN.

Well this should be interesting...

Tac out....and really liking his iPhone.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

IMMoo Bike and Run

Well well it's good to be back in the posting mode. Obviously Tac's life is allowing for little else then work right now. It's fall in Minnesota and that means all the projects that clients (and certain painters) were holding off on are now needing to to get done. By mid November the exterior painting ends so the harvest is ripe and Paradise is in a bugs-life like gathering mode. The madness will probably end near the time Mama and Tac leave for IMFL in early November.

Speaking of Ironman Florida. We just found out this morning that Bigun and Mrs. Bigun are making there way north to Panama City Beach. Tac will have his favorite (and only) script writer by his side while they cheer on the Iron athletes.

Finally, here is the conclusion of the Immoo race report.


THE BIKE

Coming out of T1 Tac felt calm. The pre-race course drive with Simply Stu and riding the course in July gave Tac a good sense of what he was in for. Many Ironmen Tac spoke with prior to the race consider this bike course one of the most technically challenging in all of Ironman. So steady and slow was the plan. About mile 5 Tac got behind a guy named Trey who was going slower then he liked. Yet Tac looked at his conditioning and his serious bike and realized that this was the pace to stay. Trey was the wise rabbit and Tac traded spots back and forth with him for at least 70 miles.

In order to break up the 112 miles, Tac divided the two loop course into 4 sections.

Section 1: The ride out and arriving at the gas station around mile 28 (not that Tac boy needed gas he took care of that in the carbo load dinner) just before the climb to Mount Horeb. This section kinda blows. Simply Stu agreed that this portion of the course is boring and annoying because the hills are continuous, but not very fun or scenic.

Section 2: The Mount Horeb climb. This was the fun part. Tons of crazy fast rollers and beautiful views as we reached the highest point of the race. Then a nice 8-9 mile downhill/flat reward after all that climbing.

Section 3: The monster climbs. These began as you reached the rock quarry lake. It was hard to miss this because the perfect sunny day caused the water to illuminate a neon like turquoise glow. When you reached this you were about to begin the three big hills.

Hill 1: Long and nasty-TONS OF CROWDS! Although on the second loop Tac was really looking forward to those crowds and when arrived there they were down to just a few near the top :( O.k. He knows he's slow but come on people...

Hill 2: Short and very steep. Awesome crowd support. In fact he was really struggling on the second lap and his tri club friend Iron Tim ran along side the tac-mobile banging his cowbell and shouted him right up to the top! Thanks Tim, you have no idea how important that was.

Brief aside. Fan support. Tac's volunteered at 3 different Ironman's prior to this race and he had no idea how meaningful that support can be. You may not know when your "good job" or cow bell clanging matters, but sometimes it's just what that athlete needs in the darkest point of his day! For Tac seeing the tribe in their red capes throughout the day kept his spirits high and that constant reminder that Mama was an Ironman and quitting would be very bad for Taconite Boy.

Hill 3: Long and punishing. This hill seemed less difficult then the first, but wow did it hurt. Especially on that second loop.


Section 4: This final part began after the third big hill and continued into Verona. This section is fairly easy and flat which is a nice break after what you just did.

Keeping a fairly granny like pace kept Tac feeling pretty good after the first loop, but the second loop started on a bad note. The wind shifted by noon and we were now heading into the wind during section 1 which already stunk. By the time Tac got to the top of the huge hill just before the rollers began he had to pull over.

Something was happening with his feet. A unbelievable burning sensation began. Trying to move his toes and stretch out didn't seem to help very much. Jumping back on the bike Tac hoped this would subside as he began the big roller sections up to Mt. Horeb.

The burning didn't stop. It got much worse. By the time Tac finished the second loop he literally was thinking that he was going to DNF. The thought of doing a marathon (which Tac had never run) with his feet feeling like they were on top of two blow torches was totally demoralizing. That's why when Tac climbed the second hill and Iron Tim was screaming at him to get up that hill and get to the run, it seemed to penetrate the clouds in my mind that were saying 'quit'.

As we turned back to Madison the road was supposed to be fairly easy. The wind was against us on the way out so we should have a nice tale wind.

Unless it shifts the opposite way.

Which it did...and Tac's feet were still hurting...

damn it.

There is one final big hill climb as you head back into Madison. Tac had mentally prepared for this hill many times. He knew that it was coming and new it would be difficult. He had no idea. Before reaching the base TacBoy pulled over to grab a gel, cuss and take a drink of water to calm down. That helped alot, not the cussing, but the water, the gel and some good self talk. It's funny when your in that much pain how you need to stop everything in order to reassert control over your thinking.

The final 6 miles into Madison was spent dealing with excruciating pain in my feet, but I had mentally turned the corner and determined to just get to T2 and sit down. When Tac could see the helix he had imagined the whole year the joy of that...ironically there was little. Just get me off this bike right now. When the Tac mobile rolled into T2 a very kind volunteer took the bike shoes and helmet. People were cheering for Tac until he started walking, I was limping so bad that I could literally hear the small crowd quiet under concern/sympathy.

Tac found his chair in T2 and sat with a 'thank God'. Sitting there Tac patiently took off all his bike junk, carefully grabbed new socks, put his shoes on and clothes and headed gingerly out..until he saw the ART massage people.

"Hey, could you work on my feet?"

"Sure sit down"

Within 5 minutes both feet were massaged, Vaseline applied and shoes re-laced. Tac moved out of T2 and he could already sense the pain was starting to subside.

This burning feet sensation Tac's only felt maybe once or twice in the last three seasons of bike riding. Couldn't tell you why it occurs, but it made the last hour of the bike the darkest moment of my day. Ironically it quickly faded as I stood and started to run.


THE RUN

The sun may have been setting in Madison, but every mile Tac ran he felt brighter and more awake. O.K. the ridiculous amount of latte power gels helped too. By the time mile one passed, Tac had to slow himself down because his heart rate was climbing to his a little bit to fast pace.

Wow. How 10 minutes can change an entire day at Ironman. Quit? What the bleep was Tac thinking, he was running and he was determined to smile at everyone he came across. Smile, laughing, joking with fellow runners, this was the type of run I was hoping for! Tac wouldnt allow himself to think about the finish line until mile 19. At that point he could begin to realize his impending finish. Until then he just plugged away, walked the big hills and through the water stops.

Reaching mile 7 was fun as he began to hear the screams for Taconite Boy and soon was being shadowed by 4 caped wonders known as the Tribe. With a kiss from Trimama, he headed back to the finish line to start his second loop.

Coming into the capital was exactly as expected. Don't listen to the finish line announcements, turn the corner and get it done. The second lap felt like the first. No kidding, it was awesome. The only problem was the last 4 miles. Tac's stomach went south around 21, 22 and he had to take it easy from there on out. Mostly walking the final 3 miles.

Coming out onto State Street Tac could see the capital. He was 1/2 mile from finishing an adventure that started a full year ago with sign up. Training began in February to Wildflower 1/2 in May, Liberty 1/2 in June. 12 weeks of training to this day and Taconite Boy was about to finish. The last mile Tac's stomach was still bugging him, but he didn't care, he just took in the beautiful site of that capitol building as he walked around it to the finish. Of course no superhero could go down the finish chute without running, one fist in pre-flight extension and one planted on the hip. Joined by his super daughter Sopinator, Tac glowed as he heard Trimama screaming for him.

Hoping for a 13:30 finish...came in at 13:59:20. No matter..Taconite Boy becomes an Ironman. That's all that counted.

After finishing photo's and lots of talking with family, Tac decided to hang out and watch the rest of the peeps finish. Did Tac mention that Papa John's and coke is REALLY good after an Ironman...no? It is. Frank Farrar finished at 16:56, Tac Boy found Greyhound and we headed home....


To get up 3 hours later for iron schwag...

Yep...Tac followed his Iron day by becoming a complete schwag whore. Although not nearly as promiscuous as Hound dog. We need Pics Greyhound it's so pornographic you have to share!

And of course this...


Tac out...and apparently doing the TWIN CITIES MARATHON IN SIX DAY (details to follow, maybe)

Monday, September 24, 2007

Final Immoo Swim-

The two lap swim was supposed to be easier on the second loop, but tac found it to be very crowded as well. Again not the 'Oh, I think death is on the doorstep' kind of bumpy, but just really annoying. Tac did appreciate the music as he rounded the corner for the second swim spin, Panama-Van Halen, it was perfect.

One thing Tac forgot to mention about this race was the weather.

Perfect.

Tac had seen the weather the two previous years as a volunteer. Ugh. It was the two most hideous days for an Ironman that one could imagine. 94 and high humidity in 2005 and darn right freezing and rain in 06. Tac figured to bet the odds. 4 bad years in a row needed a break, and 2007 had to be that year.

Sunny, dry with a high of 78. Pretty dang good if you ask this tri-caped wonder.


Swimming into the finish line area Tac literally yelled underwater, probably scared the swimmer right next to me, but Tac was stoked. Finishing this swim put him on the Ironman map, the swim was completed.

Runing into the peeling area Tac was only thinking one thought,

"where is my Mama?"

Approaching the peel area there stood Peeling captin and WIBA host Robby B. He told me about his amazing swim (54 minutes Tac thinks?) several years ago. When he came out of the water the crowd was fairly quite, so he cupped his ear and whooped up the spectators. I stole his signature and did the same. 1:21 not exactly Robby B, but tac's a really good ear cupper. Typical Madison response, huge cheers and a big high five from RB.

Walking past the peelers Tac could not find Mama, looking, peelers motioning me over, looking,...finally

"Brian!!!"

There she was, near the back on the right. Pretty much the exact opposite of where she told TB to look prior to the race. Love you dear.

Big hugs, stripped suit (Yeaah that's it baby) and a kiss to the forehead and TB was running up the helix. RUNNING UP THE HELIX. Tac had mentally rehearsed this very moment over and over throughout the training year, that is an awesome feeling.

Getting into transistion was interesting, Tac spotted coach Chris from Gear West and he was surprised to see me. No, really was quite shocked to see TB up the helix this early. Feelings of pride and humiliation at the same time, very interesting :}

T1 was quick. Changed with great help from the volunteers and headed out to the bike, but first got sun-screen slathered by the bloggy home girls 21st Century, Iron girl Nyhus and of course Iron Jen. Found the bike, mounted and began one of the most difficult bike rides Tac's ever had....

Tac out...

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Little more

Wow. One week since Tac last posted. That busy. The leaves are changing here, the fall winds are blowing and so many new things are happening in Trimama/Tac land as well. Much of that for future posts. Better later then never, here is another part of the Wisconsin Ironman race report.

The previous days the one thing Tac was fretting was that da-- swim. 2400 people and so many ankles, legs, heads and elbows that could knock tac a good blow caused much fretting prior to the race. The feeling that your in a aqua based street brawl never really occured. Don't get IronTac wrong, LOTS OF BUMPING, nudging and one good hit to the goggles but otherwise fairly uneventful. One annoying aspect was getting boxed in. Early on in the week Tac determined to be in the back of the pack and just move up from there.

Big Mistake.

Tac was weaving through so many swimmers for the entire 2 loops. Many times being boxed in on all three sides. Several times this required Tac to stop swimming just to get outside the box in order to pass. T-Boy's time was around 1:21 and that's exactly where he should have been in the pack, somewhere between halfway and 3/4 the way back.

Live and learn.

The other interesting part of the swim was blonde surf board girl,

2nd loop

to the right

(Some of you guys know exactly what Tac is talkin about)

Black full sleeve wetsuit.

Oh boy...Let's just say it was a good motivator going into the second loop :)


As I exited the water.....oh look Tac has jst been kidnapped again by evil Dr. Anti Post who's forcing me to to all those silly activites that keep me away from finishing a SINGLE POST.....

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Ironman Wisconsin-The swim

Your supposed to have very little sleep the night before an Ironman, but Tac managed to get in about 5 1/2 hours so when that alarm went off at 4:00 am he was feeling as ready as any iron virgin could. The previous 3 days had been filled with meeting up with new bloggers, eating and basically waiting for the inevitable. One thing Tac will never repeat for his next Ironman is arriving too early. There's no doubt that getting into registration the hour it opens, with virtually no line is nice, but standing in line is a good trade off to sitting around and fretting about a race of this enormity. Hounddog and resident superhero arrived on Wednesday night, next time the earliest Tac is coming in is the day of the carbo-load dinner. That way he can occupy his time until departure with comic book like heroics and other stuff until the last moment.
It's funny, Tac has never really enjoyed those feelings leading up to a race. They are the most irritating emotions he experiences in triathlon. Ironman is that much more exaggerated. Instead of being nervous the night before it's literally the WEEK before. My point is that when that alarm went off on Sunday morning, it was business time....Thank God!

Taconite Boy and Greyhound sitting for the last time on Iron Day. We arrived down at Verona Terrace around 5 am and waited for Trimama and Iron Steve to show. After saying our goodbye's Tac went back to his T1 bag because he forgot SOCKS for the bike ride. OOps. Before you knew it, it was 6:30 and we all were instructed to get on the helix and head down for the swim. Walking down, Tac looks to his left and there is Tri Shannon! We talked a little strategy said good luck and headed towards the water. Of course Tac forgot his wetsuit was still around his waist until he was about 100 feet from the water. The quick zipping of a fellow iron-athlete and a hefty pat on the back fixed all of that.

Entering the water. Surreal. No other word can descirbe this experience. I moved to the middle back of the swim pack (a mistake I would soon learn). Treading water I started to look around. The water temperature was perfect, the sun was rising to our left(east) like a burnt orange orb coming over the lake, in front of tac was 2400 swimmers treading water and getting ready to go. Tac looked to his right on Monona Terrace and easily could see 5000+ people watching from the shore line all the way to the top of the terrace. Suddenly Tac's heart was racing and the feeling of being a rock star started overwhelming him. Mike Riley was 'strongly' encouraging the remaining athletes to get in the water...

ACDC begins to boom over the lake...

Mike Riley "30 seconds....Are you ready to be called Ironmen today?"

2400 swimmers "Yeaaaahhhhhh!!!"

Heart racing.....Smile as big as Christmas morning

Booooom!

Ironman Wisconsin 2007 had begun and Tac was swimming...

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Head not quite above water line yet...

OMG (oh my g-willickers) Tac's not even close to catching up on Paradise related issues along with general household stuff, so race report is still pending. Here's a few pictures Iron Tac loves.



If you look close Trimama is giving Tac a kiss after stripping him...oh yeaah, it's business time!



Sopinator running along side Tac, second loop near Mt. Horeb



Iron Taconite Boy (which is sorta redundant, were going to need to figure that one out) and the awesome Tribe!

Monday, September 10, 2007

How long is this run?

Two college age kids inquired of Tac around mile 18 on the run.


"26.2"

"This is a Marathon?"

"Yep, which followed a 112 mile bike and a 2.4 mile swim...This is Ironman"

priceless looks and stunned silence

...and Tac is one.



Tac out...and one heck of a race report to follow

Saturday, September 08, 2007

The Calm

The inescapable calm is here. Tac's excitment has a strange way of quickly becoming very tempered. He feels the urge for the cannon to go off, but am quietly waiting by rehearsing the race plan over and over again. Can hear the voices of all his good friends and family assuring him of his successful day, but he refuses to completely believe their assurances (which he DEEPLY appreciates) until he conquers the three disciplines. He wants to have fun tomorrow, but numbness is the main emotion right now.

This race tests the unknown. The unknown of severe emotional highs and lows. Tac's ready to test and he strongly desires to pass.

The names of all the families affected by suicide are with me for the entire day. I'll look to them from time to time and pray. Lord I pray that you will calm my fears and my doubts and help me focus that energy into prayer for those who have lost so much.

Psalm 140 Verse 6

I say to the Lord, “You are my God; give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my requests.”

Tac out...and calm

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Ironman is everywhere...

Tac is surrounded. Surrounded my Madison Iron fever. M-dots as far as the eye can see, the nervous chatter of athletes rehearsing their game plans and schwag temptations that if pursued would put your superhero in the Trimama penalty box.

Greyhound and Tac have settled nicely here in Madison. While sitting at breakfast this morning Tri-Shannon walked up to us. She's here alone so Greyhound and Tac got a new nervous pre-race chatter buddy. Yea.

We all headed down to registration this morning and picked up our bags and schwags. Tac was even greeted at the end of the registration table by our local Tri Club Captain, Coach Chris! We spent the afternoon retrieving bikes from tri-transport and drive touring the course with Simply Stu. Re-visiting the course was a good reminder that this bike course SUCKS DONKEY HOO HA. Wow a very technical and hilly ride is in store for Sunday. Tac's plan is to take it easy on those hills and plan for a longer bike then he would like.

Getting ready for a Gatorade swim in the morning, meeting up with a bunch more bloggers and then more nervous fretting for the rest of the day :)

Special thanks for all of your support regarding my Janus Charity Challenge...The goal has been met! Yea!

Finally this weeks, ehmm, months episode of "The Adventures of Taconite Boy"

Tac found his way down to Madison on Wednesday night. The tac-mobile was on the rack and his trusty other sidekick Greyhound was in the co-pilot seat. Just as we were arriving into the Dane County area, Tac noticed a strange light in the horizon.

"Holy Capitol dome's Taconite Boy, Someone has shut off the lighting on capital hill. What will happen to all those Ironman Finisher photo's!"

"Great point Hound dog, this could only be the work of...."

Bigun/Trimama? have fun


Tac Out

Friday, August 31, 2007

Thankful

First off. Tac needs to address Bigun and Greyhound...Yes Tac is aware of his lack of posting...DID YOU READ THE LAST POST! :) Honestly, blogging has been way down on the list the last several weeks. Yet if your reading this, thanks for checking in and sending your words of encourgment, they really mean alot!

Tener Gusta La Espana-The Janus Charity Fund Raiser

What an awesome evening. We had the idea of a fundraiser, the creativity of our friends took over and we ended up with a lovely evening on Lake Minnetonka with Spanish wine flights, tapas and good friends.



Hypen Girl and Swinging Girl were part of our official servers.



Appreciation is in order. Thanks to all the organizers for putting this together starting with the always raging hot Trimama. Thank you Robbie, Sara, Abbey and Pam for all your cooking and decorating! Thank you to all our guests who contributed to my charity SAVE (Suicide Awareness and Voices of Education).

Through the contributions of our guests we raised over $1000.00 dollars towards my goal! One of the special parts of the evening was when the parents of Jon whom Tac dedicated this race to, won the jewlery door prize. You have to love God's providence!

Tac is thankful.

Thankful for the gift of health that allows me to take on the IMMoo event. What an honor to participate in such an epic event.

Thankful for the gift of a beautiful woman (inside and out) who supports me in my goals both spirtually, vocationally and Iron related.

Thankful for friends who love others enough to give generously so others can experience healing in the midst of great sorrow.

Thankful for the opportunity to carry the names of these families 140.6 miles, remembering there loss and praying for them along the journey towards the capitol finish line. Tac has many names he's carrying on a post card September 9th, if you have seen the effects of Suicide in your life, or the lives of others PLEASE email those names so that I can race in honor of them. I'll be praying for you and your effected family members or friends.

Thankful for the bloggers who have encouraged me to dream big and have a big heart! Thanks guys, you know who you are!

Janus Charity Challenge-SAVE

Tac's goal is to reach $3500.00. He's at $2300.00 currently, anything you can do to help would be great! Just click on the link to the right to go to my Janus Chartiy page.


Up next...my final thoughts before heading to Wisconsin

OMG Greyhound is sleeping at our house on Tuesday night. So much Iron intensity under one roof, look out neighbors!

Tac out

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Tacs Hormonal

What's happening to Tac? He's been so emotional the last several days, it's shocked even him. Feelings are ranging from pre IMWI complete breakdown/freakout to total pragmatic acceptance to slight despair that all the training will end and some hard realities are soon to begin. Training for Ironman is tough. As Trimama loves to say, "If anyone could do it, everyone would be one". True and training for Ironman Wisconsin is not easy either, I've ridden the course. Adding to that the weight of my fairly slow business, along with the extremely uncomfortable new job opportunities that have arisen make the tac boy a wee tired and slightly hormonal.

Much has been happening on the job front as Tac's friend has helped him get a look from some executives over at Target. You know, that tiny little bulls eye logo company based here in Minnesota. JBones has been extremely kind in helping craft Tac's first ever resume. The opportunity is great, so the committment to get this done is even greater. Yet trying to place Paradise Painting and all that was put into this business in a corporate speak resume has been both frightening, because Tac's unsure if he can really make it in the white collar world, and hard because it requires much thought and pondering.

Though very thankful for this new direction in life, the timing is kinda tough. Mostly being that Tac works out more then he potty's right now. Tac does get encouragement though, the other day Sopinator just randomly blurted out, "Extra Credit!". Mama was wondering what she meant and inquired.

"Dad gets extra credit because he doing Ironman and making money for us"

Thanks Soap.

The good news is that the taper is not far away and finshing the resume will no be far behind.

More later about my Janus Fund Raiser/Spanish Wine Experience...ooo sounds kinda sexy. By the way if you would like to know who I'm sponsering this year at IMmoo just click on my link on the side bar under Janus Charity Challenge!


Tac out

Thursday, August 09, 2007

What gets you going.

Music is a key part of Taconite Boy's workouts. Thankfully the White Stripes have a new album, but Tac is feeling the need for some new good rockin music. The resident superhero does tilt towards the alternative rock stuff, but at this point in the Iron training is open to any suggestions to just keep him going.

Here is one song that just gets tac movin...



Switchfoot-Stars

Tac out...and lookin for good music

Friday, August 03, 2007

Business Time

To quote 'flight of the conchords'...It's Business time! Training going well, still feeling the effects of not have a good bubble butt, but hey it's too late now because its business time.

Greyhound and Tac have been slightly fretting the swim, it has something to do with 2.4 miles with 2400 of your best friends fear thingy.

Hound dog, here's some pics to get ready with from 2005....





I even have a picture of 'Mr. I never post' Chivalry Chris getting on the bike....



One thing Tac notices about these pictures is the amount, or lack of space between swimmers. It's actually not too bad...I hope...

Tac's good friend JBones loves the 'Flight of the Conchords'. Tac's not saying this is the current state of relations with Mama, but their are some unfortunate similarities....



Tac out

Thursday, July 26, 2007

House cleaning.....

IMMoo training is in full swing and posting is not, so I have a few items to attend to...

Congratulations goes out to T-Storm and Bob for their stellar finishes at IMUSA. Way to go guys. The whole tribe and I screamed when you crossed the finish line! Especially proud of T-Storm who had suffered this year with lots of injuries and illness and still finished Iron Strong!

Way to go Tri-Dummy for being an honrable grandson and great example to your family for honoring your grandmothers last wish.

Way to go Iron Jenny for defending and debating your faith, then being humble enough to apologize and reconcile with your opponent.

Shout out to Kahuna for his authentic piece in the LA times, albeit very short on honorable examples of people of faith, it was an honest view into his soul. Mustard seed...apparently that's all thats needed. Mark 9:24-25

Way to go

Shout out to Trimama....For just being so Smoking Hot.

Such a cute bootay dear..Speaking of backsides, Tac needs a bubble butt.

Tac does, he needs a big old bubble butt. Training has been kicking my bootay for the last several weeks and the hither regions are starting to get quite sore. No IT Band issues (which is awesome) but Tac's hips and gluts are quite sore. I feel that God left me more a gluteus mininimus in my genetic pool as opposed to maximus. This thought occured to me when I was looking at photo's of Lifetime Fitness Tri last year. What I noticed the most about the pro's was that the women and men (although Tac seemed to be stuck and the females) had really big round booties. I think that is a key physical feature to being a good triathlete. Nothing scientific here, just hunch, or hump...oh boy.

Either way Tac is going to maximize his derierre in the off season to help reduce the stress he puts on his hip flexors and IT bands. I'm going to get me a big old bubble butt!

Tac out...and 45 days from Iron.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

More Pics from Colorado...


Tri-Dummy, Sascha and Trimama talking over carbo dinner before Triple By-Pass



Kahuna and Mama bringing Tac his refreshments



Chopper leading the troops up the mountain


Climbing at Copper Mountain



Hangin with (L to R) Soapinator, Superpounce, Hypen-Girl and Swinging Girl


The Tribe minus Hypen (Mama knows the Iron Swag makes Tac all bothered)

Colorado was good. Very good. Quite mornings at Starbucks with Mama, afternoon climbs up the sides of mountains and lots of time just hangin around with the kids. Not to mention Blogger reunion 2007 part 2. Seeing so many bloggers at WIBA, then flying out west to meet up with so many more was quite the rockin time. One night out we were all discussing the uncofortable conversations we have had with friends who find meeting up with people "we met on the internet" a very odd past time. We concluded...who freakin cares, we all love these new friendships!

Up next...Bubble Butt Discussion time.