The Adventures of Taconite Boy-Weekend Edition

Taconite boy spent most of his afternoon pouring through his emails. Most of these citizen contacts were emploring his help in upcoming tri events. Typical, run of the mill, tri-superhero kind of requests...

Susie Tri babe writes.."Would you be willing o' superstud to visit our tri and use your super heated laser vision to dry the bike course because of predicted rain."

LT Larry wrote..."Tac wonder, could you come out to our course this weekend. Because of such rough bike course conditions, we need your spidy like carbon spewing wrists to repair frame/forks on the fly."

Tac Boy realized there were just too many requests for next weekend to fulfill all of his duties. He was going to need help. Batman could count on Robin, Tacboy knows he can count on...

Ring Ring Ring

"Tac Boy!"

"Tri-Turbo Kraut! Too many requests this weekend my loyal sidekick, I'm going to double team all these requests"

"But Tac, Havent you heard who escaped lock up?"

"Not a word, who?!"

"None other then....."

Bigun it's all yours

and so it begins....

First week of the twelve week 1/2 iron bridge to Ironman plan has begun. One week down, eleven weeks to Ironman Wisconsin! Tac's feeling good overall with exception of a few common sore spots. Getting up this morning to swim with the sidekick Tri Thunder Kraut and see if we can wake up all the fishy's and snapping turtles. Followed by a nice leisurely four hour ride.

Father's day was awesome. My kids never pose nicely for photo's when Dad has the camera. Tac either gets silly faces or lots of complaining, but not so on Father's day. They actually gave the gift of there glowing smiles...

Like this,



This,



and This,




Yes. Tac is very blessed indeed.

Nutrition Answers

Thank you everyone who gave feedback about Tac's nutrition question. A few observations.

1. According to Bolder, McDonald's should be the main source of fat/protein on long training/races. Which means the two double cheeseburgers at my midway point on the IMMOO course! Sweet!


2. Commodore has a grand theory regarding a Valentines day/Hallmark card conspiracy, so the fact that protein laced fuels are a Hammer/Accelarade conspiracy theory is quite consistent. Hey Comm, watch out for those black helicopters!



3. Speaking of secret theories, Tri-Dummy has a 'top secret' pooping method...who knew?

4. Trimama's smorgasbord approach makes Tac sick just thinking about it.



What can be concluded is that protein and fat is apparently not necessary on endurance training. This article details the results of new research as of 2006. Although it should be noted, Comm you'll love this, the whole study was funded by Gatorade. Shoot, maybe he's right. The plan is to continue with Carbo-Pro and try different bars during the run, just to keep things interesting for the taste buds.


Trimama and Tac went to a silent auction last night. The event was the Leukemia and Lymphoma societies awards night for power fund raisers. Our friend Tri-Stud has been nominated for Man of the Year for his philanthropic achievements. Mama and Tac ended up winning the auction for a bunch of Chipotle scwag....How can you go wrong there? We hung with Iron Girl Nyhus and her mom. The night ended at Iron Jenny's, who also held a fund raiser at her home.



The rest of this weekend holds for Taconite boy a lot of Saturday afternoon cleaning and making the tribe into a personal wait staff.

"Hyphen girl! the coffee mug needs filling."

"Chopper! Where's my paper"

Ohh.. Tac takes sick pleasure on Fathers day...hehehe

Tac out

Nutrition Question?

I have worked hard the last 5 months to figure out a good nutrition plan for my race. For carb needs I find this product awesome. It was recommended to me by the folks at GearWest as the product they use the most. I use salt tablets for electrolyte needs and substitute Hammer Gel when I want some variety.

Yet I have a questions for my bloggy friends. I need to figure out something to add on workouts that extend beyond 3-4 hours that gives me the proper fat/protein that I need for endurance work outs. I'd rather not switch to Perpetuem or that type of drink, but some sort of energy bar to supplement my Carbo-Pro.

Open to any suggestions!

Tac out (and lookin for protein)

Did I mention I like biking

Thanks guys over at skinnyski.com who took this photo of me on the course Saturday.

Tac out

Liberty Triathlon

"Is dinner on yet?"

Tac Boy inquires of the Trimama when he got home Friday evening.

"No, I just got home myself"

"Ohhh, Honey Tac needs to eat NOW." (Yes, Trimama does hear Tac speak to her in third person)

"Why?"

"Strategic unloading dear, Tac's not a real happy hero when he's gotta lighten the load on the course"

Anyone else out there have strategic poop syndrome? The disorder which causes TB to stress from early morning the day before the race about how to time the bowl movements.


Liberty Triathlon-Long Course

Tac woke up early with Mama, loaded the bikes up and headed out west of the metro to Lake Independance for his second, and hopefully more enjoyable, 1/2 Ironman. Liberty is a wonderfully small race, although many of the participants are serious age groupers. The morning was beautiful with bright sunny skies and calm waters. We met up with Tri Thunder Kraut and headed to transition. Here's the overall summary of my race...

Swim- 34 minutes in relatively calm waters. Jumped right in the thick of the group just to practice for the IMMOO swim. That time was good for Tac, a very encouraging swim.

Bike- 2:59 on a very windy and hilly course (no where near Wildflower though). Average speed of 18.7, TAC VERY HAPPY WITH THIS.

Run- 2:19, 10:39 min/mile. O.K. Not as excited about that time, mostly due to a lack of good run training because of the IT Band. NO IT BAND PROBLEMS! Less blood spurting out of the knee caps is always encouraging.

Overall finish time of 6:01. That's a PR over Wildflower by ONE HOUR.

Trimama finished her olympic in good form. We saw each other several times on the bike and once on the run. TTK also finished with a huge smile on his face. Congrats friend on your first 1/2 IRONMAN!

One week off and then begins the 12 week bridge to Ironman plan...Let's get it on!

Tac out

So I can't cook...No Freakin Kidding

So the tribe household has been quite active lately with the end of school this week, 1/2 Ironman preparations for me and Trimama catching up on a year and a half of book keeping that fell a wee behind with all this tri stuff we've been up too.

So when life is this crazy, it's important that certain spouses request favors that are in their known areas of expertise. For example Taconite Boy would not ask Trimama to retrieve a 312 fine finish tip with sealant gasket, because she would have no idea what to look for.

So when she asks the resident superhero to get the hamburger out of the freezer and defrost it and she finds the roast in the frying pan instead of ground beef, she had to know. Now the fact Tac did'nt even notice the written piece of paper frozen to the roast which said "Roast" is kinda pathetic, but hey living the dangerous life will cause one to miss some of the finer details.

Take a care when Tac's in the kitchen.

Tac out