tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248595522024-03-12T23:13:07.414-05:00Bang MikkelsenThis is the family Bang Mikkelsen Blog.
It is devoted to parenting, family issues and occasional discussions of culture, politics and economics.Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.comBlogger151125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-64769317390415662322010-01-27T14:21:00.002-05:002010-01-27T14:24:36.646-05:00Google Street View in ÆrøskøbingThe Google Google Street View camera car has been to our home town of Ærøskøbing. Below is our house on Vesterbro 4.<br /><br /><iframe width="562" height="314" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=vesterbro+4,+aeroeskoebing&sll=55.630588,12.651143&sspn=8.927927,28.54248&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Vesterbro+4,+5970,+%C3%86r%C3%B8sk%C3%B8bing,+Denmark&layer=c&cbll=54.887367,10.408649&panoid=HI1vWxctI6VBIuw58As_gQ&cbp=13,331.03,,0,0.54&ll=54.887413,10.408671&spn=0,359.987941&z=16&output=svembed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=vesterbro+4,+aeroeskoebing&sll=55.630588,12.651143&sspn=8.927927,28.54248&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Vesterbro+4,+5970,+%C3%86r%C3%B8sk%C3%B8bing,+Denmark&layer=c&cbll=54.887367,10.408649&panoid=HI1vWxctI6VBIuw58As_gQ&cbp=13,331.03,,0,0.54&ll=54.887413,10.408671&spn=0,359.987941&z=16" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-16300160738771260312009-12-18T15:48:00.001-05:002009-12-18T15:48:31.566-05:00Alvin<script type="text/javascript" src="http://widgets.clearspring.com/o/4ae65971eeae1160/4b2bea9ec2165983/4ae65971eeae1160/90cdf0c7/widget.js"></script>Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-85967996628725722802009-12-06T13:36:00.002-05:002009-12-06T13:40:09.987-05:00Account of Danish SwimAlex has a <a href="http://www.compasscayman.com/observer/observer.aspx?id=8169">piece in the Cayman Observer</a> this weekend: his account of the inter-island seaswim we did this past summer. Read and enjoy.<br /><br />Swimming in Denmark<br />Jellyfish, hypothermia and chaffing<br />By: Alex Harling<br /><blockquote><br />“Do you want to swim ten kilometers in frigid, jellyfish-infested Danish Waters five weeks from now?” Most people would have answered, “No, but feel free to proceed without me, you lunatic.” I got the answer to this basic question wrong.<br /><br />Usually, such questions are just the chest-beating test-charges of wannabe alpha males. But this particular gauntlet had been laid at my feet by none other than The Insane Dane, Jasper Mikkelsen. He is no Friday night big-talker and doesn’t shy away from the kind of challenge that makes the brains of most normal people boil in fits from making mental excuse lists. Together with 1,800 other criminally fit and equally insane uber-athletes, he has recently enjoyed taunting death for ten hours and completed the Hawaii Ironman – the epitome of physical fitness, endurance and insanity.<br /><br />The Super-Dane and his family had a visit planned in July, to their home island of Aeroskobing, Denmark. Well-rounded individuals dream of a promotion, a better car, or getting out of work ten minutes early on Fridays. Jasper was dreaming of swimming the ten kilometers between five Danish islands, with the added pleasure of running three kilometers on the rocky beaches of those five islands. I guess he thought that might sound like fun to me. He was right.<br /><br />Jasper’s challenge happened to coincide with an emerging passion of mine to take on ludicrous challenges without troubling my brain to assess my capabilities.<br /><br />I had swum competitively at school in England and had even been good enough to receive a soul-crushing defeat in the 50m and 100m breaststroke events at the National Championships at Blackpool in 1988. That was 1988. A great deal of beer and kebab-filled time had passed since those inglorious defeats. I had only been reintroduced to swimming in the safe, calm and warm Caribbean waters three and a half years ago. By then I was an overweight, washed-up old Mako Shark, who even the Stingrays laughed at.<br /><br />But these days, I swim regularly and am probably fitter than I was at 21 and can now get up three flights of stairs before the wheezing sets in. My evening routine is treated as a mini-triathlon, comprising 1.2 miles of pleasant turtle-spotting, a weary 50-foot walk to the bar followed by endurance beer-drinking. It was obvious that even this strict regime would leave me ill-prepared. I made the tough decision to commit to swimming a little bit further now and then...if I felt up to it.<br /><br />The suit<br />A black rubber suit is seldom attractive on a grown man; certainly not when it’s two sizes too small. After picking up my hastily ordered full body swimming wetsuit (necessary to prevent instant freezing of the blood and death in 55 degree Danish waters) I panicked when it appeared to be have been made to fit a pre-school pigmy leprechaun. There wasn’t time to have another one shipped. This suit stopped halfway up my arms and didn’t care less whether my shins got frostbite. A hasty phone call to Danish Yoda confirmed that yes, being ill-fitting was the wetsuit’s deliberate evil bonus feature, designed to ensure that I couldn’t have felt any more self-conscious had I turned up to a church fête in full rubber fetish garb.<br /><br />My sense of unease wasn’t helped by my first and only Cayman test swim. My extra-buoyant feet stuck out of the water and kicked at fresh air, I rocked uncontrollably from side to side and overheated to the point that I felt like a boil in the bag swimmer. Everyone else I swam with that day beat me. The suit was supposed to make me faster. Not a good omen.<br /><br />I arrived in Denmark via two flights, a train, bus and finally a boat to Aeroskobing from the large island of Funnen. The final boat ride into the Danish sunset caused a year’s worth of stress to run out through my toes. I fell asleep as soon as we arrived at the Mikkelsen’s house.<br /><br />The island and town were beautiful. Pastel-shaded, timber-framed houses lined the streets. Foxgloves and other wild flowers grew along the sides of the cobbled streets.<br /><br />Test swim<br />Later that first day we cycled to the calm, shallow bay that would be the site of our first Danish test swim. We suited up, this time with full protection –a rash vest underneath, dive booties, ridiculous Spanish Inquisitor-style neoprene hats, rubber swim caps stretched over our skulls and goggles.<br /><br />Jasper had given me a ten point list of tips to ease my entrance into the freezing water. One tip suggested I put my face in first whilst still standing, to prepare the rest of my body for the shock. Another advised me to breathe slowly and deeply and try to relax. However, as the icy water crept relentlessly up my thighs, I flopped forward into the water and found that each lung-full of air was becoming faster and more shallow. I had become a wild-eyed floundering, semi-frozen, thermally castrated guinea pig and there was only one way to overcome this problem...to swim faster and warm up.<br /><br />Jasper had almost successfully convinced me that the Moon Jellyfish, common in these Danish waters, was benign. I was somewhat less convinced by his assurances that the other Danish jellyfish – the Lion’s Mane Jelly, despite possessing the stinging capability to paralyse a small child, was rare and tended to inhabit deeper waters. We probably wouldn’t see many Lion’s Mane jellies, I was told. One of those statements wasn’t a lie, although I didn’t see any drooling comatose children to prove it. There were literally legions of the “rare” Lion’s Mane Jellies, however, most of them small enough to creep under my jellyfish radar until the last second. As I accelerated to “defrost setting” I became swirly-eyed by the various forms of jellyfish whizzing past, inches from my face. I had to swerve and weave and nearly pulled my neck muscles, stopping dead, to prevent imminent death by facial paralysis. I decided on a new tactic – to swim directly behind the Danish Jellyfish Death-Dealer. I’d let him batter them out of the way. Instead of having a jellyfish-free trail blazed for me however, this caused the unpleasant effect of swimming behind a human propeller, who was churning up jellyfish and chucking them violently towards my face in a bubbling explosion. This did nothing to ease my cold-induced near cardiac arrest through reduction of lung capacity.<br /><br />Maybe the fun would begin on day two?<br />Exiting the water miraculously un-stung, glad to be back on jellyfishless dry land, I was horrified to see Super Dane’s kids laughing, wearing Moon Jellyfish on their heads and throwing them at one another on the beach. That evening we ate outside, overlooking the yachts in the tranquil lagoon and watched a three hour sunset paint the sky red and orange, as the sun dripped into the ocean. I was able to relax...somewhat, although knew that more, longer test swims lay ahead.<br /><br />Concerned that we would be able to cope with total body numbness and jellyfish-induced panic attacks, fate came up with a new ploy - chaffing. The chaffing in question was on our necks and looked and felt more like burns. This became my new biggest fear and was preventing me from swimming for more than about fifteen minutes. After a somewhat self-conscious afternoon trawling chemists with Jasper and explaining we needed something to prevent chaffing, we tried large plasters and beeswax. The plasters floated off in seconds, but fortunately the beeswax solved the problem - almost.<br /><br />We were as ready as people can be to submit themselves to a pointless, non-competitive, gruelling test of fitness and perseverance. All we had to do was wait for sea and weather conditions to be right for our swim.<br /><br />After a couple of days of high winds, a swim-perfect day arrived suddenly and without fanfare.<br /><br />On the long boat ride to our drop-off point we suited up again, this time knowing it was for real. I dived headfirst into a cold-induced psychedelic headache. Then the churning began.<br /><br />It was like all other challenges we set for ourselves or are forced to face. It was a battle of mind and the other part of the mind that wants to go back to bed. And, like all challenges, the toughest part was just willing myself to keep going and going and going.<br /><br />I started off in good spirits, despite the poor turnout of perky pompom-waving cheerleaders.<br /><br />As we reached the halfway point between the first and second islands, my mental brass band was packing up and heading off down the pub. Even my imaginary family supporters were shaking their heads and tapping their watches. Before I reached that second island Jasper was relentlessly churning away into the distance and I was left alone. I started to worry that I wouldn’t make it.<br /><br />With only my faithful lunatic imagination to keep me company. I started to pray that a swarm of ten foot-long jellyfish would swiftly put me out of my arm-aching, shoulder-cramping, chaffed-raw misery. Instead the little stingers just sailed past, hypnotising me. It was like being on the bridge of the Millennium Falcon making a slow-motion, four-and-a-half-hour jump to hyper-speed except that I was cruising through was a cold, wet stinging asteroid field, as the jelly-specks zoomed towards me, filling my field of vision.<br /><br />Hitting the wall<br />All endurance athletes and idiots like me who have just enough endurance to work five days a week, swim every now and then and drink beer, fear “hitting the wall”. Whether your eyes start drifting off in another staff meeting; you run out of steam at mile five of your after-work jog; or simply can’t finish that fifth beer after three visits to the curry buffet, it’s a common feeling. You just want to stop whatever it is you are doing that is causing the paralysis-like tiredness. After crossing two islands halfway into the challenge I had become a runaway train, having jumped the tracks and crashed through The Walls of a million suburbs. I had hit many walls, each one a bit thicker than the last one. By now I felt like I was injuring myself just lifting my arms out of the water. Air became less attractive as each turn of my head strained my left shoulder and made the area of chaffing on my neck feel like I was being nibbled insensitively by piranhas.<br /><br />I wanted to kiss the ground of the last island before we reached Aeroskobing. And then lie down on the last island and have a five hour rest and recovery sleep. That was until Jasper, who had been waiting patiently on the shore for me to plod and flounder over, told me this was the island of the killer bull. This bull would, Jasper re-counted with glee, rush into the shallow water for a good 50 metres and keep chasing its victim .My desire to rest evaporated. Anyway, I could see the finishing line by now.<br /><br />The last crossing<br />The last crossing seemed mercifully short. I put on a show of my best and fastest swimming for the crowds at the finishing line, who by now were surely throwing their hats in the air and readying the champagne bottles, as they caught their first glimpse of the two intrepid heroes speeding towards them like sleek salmon – except without the leaping out of the water. About 50 feet from the finishing line I spotted the largest Lions Mane jellyfish I had seen all week, lurking just below the surface. I swam on.<br /><br />Finishing line<br />As we climbed the seaweed-covered steps at Aeroskobing harbour the Tour de France style podium girls draped over the heroes and put garlands around their necks and champagne spray and brightly coloured streamers filled the air. The only problem was that that was happening somewhere else. In our reality we were met by only one person – the photographer and reporter from the local newspaper. She took one photograph on her tiny instamatic camera and gabbled some Danish to Jasper during which I think I heard the word “Englisher” and words that sounded a lot like “pathetically slow”. Anyway, after the 30 second mini-interview she ambled off, obviously under-impressed and bored.<br /><br />I was left standing there with only with the calm confidence that comes from having met a stupid challenge head-on, in awe-inspiringly under-prepared fashion and having survived. An obstacle surmounted will grant you a certain calm confidence. Nothing seems out of reach. I hope that reading this helps you overcome your discouragement and exasperation caused by the head-shaking negative people when you accept a ludicrous challenge or set yourself a seemingly insurmountable or pointlessly stupid goal. They will still laugh, but at least you can point the finger at like-minded, overly-adventurous idiots like me in the desperate hope that I will be laughed at more than you.</blockquote>Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-38640013790356745712009-06-01T17:25:00.003-05:002009-06-01T17:35:54.435-05:00swimming PBs statusTobias turns 7 soon and will move up an age category. His PBs as a 6 year-old are:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhveAsoflwvXNIoNKR_FuC7XBoq_fqBHyN9KdIMt3wI7QyMvwRNqJHl6ZmaRJwl6vxP174bbBF4iK5Ppmtt-fe9tNi0FTHccYMROTr2j-1e-GI5eHD6NEa0AXd1Elnnfuf3cmMg/s1600-h/Nyt+billede+%283%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 273px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhveAsoflwvXNIoNKR_FuC7XBoq_fqBHyN9KdIMt3wI7QyMvwRNqJHl6ZmaRJwl6vxP174bbBF4iK5Ppmtt-fe9tNi0FTHccYMROTr2j-1e-GI5eHD6NEa0AXd1Elnnfuf3cmMg/s400/Nyt+billede+%283%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342491474210842386" border="0" /></a>Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-69269095901453151642009-05-24T19:06:00.004-05:002009-05-24T19:26:00.051-05:00CookiesTobias and Christoffer participated in a cookie decorating contest for Mother’s Day, see article below which also features my colleague's daughter Alexa. Lovely smile from Alexa, Christoffer looks less impressed.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdW8QxPwNnzbDNvhSqwJG_giHk29068EgrarU4Fni9BnCy5zRLVsyYnIsl4PLZSDBQJqD3H0wPMBxF-AuKh1aoa0IcoS2UfS6y8mybJ7DjzCm6sBoCUC_nl_l-mcwzdIGNL_sV/s1600-h/9.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 355px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdW8QxPwNnzbDNvhSqwJG_giHk29068EgrarU4Fni9BnCy5zRLVsyYnIsl4PLZSDBQJqD3H0wPMBxF-AuKh1aoa0IcoS2UfS6y8mybJ7DjzCm6sBoCUC_nl_l-mcwzdIGNL_sV/s400/9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339548175848913618" border="0" /></a>Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-23579406600185566322009-05-06T07:46:00.003-05:002009-05-06T10:58:54.889-05:00Art CompetitionMonday we attended a reception at Pizza Hut for the winners of the 2nd annual RE/MAX art competition (also sponsored by Cayman Free Press and Audiophile). The competition had four topics, one for each age group. For the 5 - 7 year olds "Pirates Week", 8 - 10 year olds "Going Green", 11 - 13 year olds "The Sister Islands" and the 14 - 16 year olds "the General Election".<br /><br />Tobias took first place in his age group and was the lucky winner of a 16GB Ipod Nano. His winning contribution is shown below.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0z47bQiVjOjlSS81S-Ol4n5q7ZB47i96Fvh3NQJyGqj8VGG1n1PdbumeVFKY0Tr8crh24LWVAKPa4laoDaLSspY0lg-v-mVctqOfi6klemwODy7_draSeoA-byq1XiRPMygbk/s1600-h/Tobias+Mikkelsen.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0z47bQiVjOjlSS81S-Ol4n5q7ZB47i96Fvh3NQJyGqj8VGG1n1PdbumeVFKY0Tr8crh24LWVAKPa4laoDaLSspY0lg-v-mVctqOfi6klemwODy7_draSeoA-byq1XiRPMygbk/s400/Tobias+Mikkelsen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332739997804597394" border="0" /></a><br />Click <a href="http://www.caycompass.com/photogallery/remax-art-competition/">here</a> to view other winning entries.Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-39091668815141745182009-04-19T20:28:00.002-05:002009-04-19T20:32:05.243-05:00Drawing contest at Books & BooksClick on the image below to read the article in the Cayman Net News Lifestyle edition:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2y6w_Qhh_Q6_EFEaQhvjVazQGX-wJ3dVlIxsNlJw-1XpmKMTDDIR4rJsm9qO4TANrQ7MVgjOXs5g0oUww1Jtcb7d4DO3YBk12octnDdSbTr5eg12AI6ixRnOICEiNrmnTiqR/s1600-h/11.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 352px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2y6w_Qhh_Q6_EFEaQhvjVazQGX-wJ3dVlIxsNlJw-1XpmKMTDDIR4rJsm9qO4TANrQ7MVgjOXs5g0oUww1Jtcb7d4DO3YBk12octnDdSbTr5eg12AI6ixRnOICEiNrmnTiqR/s400/11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326580025728090738" border="0" /></a>Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-22174098593091071032009-03-23T10:39:00.002-05:002009-03-23T10:46:03.468-05:00Tobias in the CompassTobias is in the Compass today, some exerts from the article:<br /><p></p><blockquote><p>The Consolidated Water Swim Meet and Carifta Trials last weekend threw up some great performances.</p><p>The swimmers had a tough task, as this meet was their last chance to qualify for Carifta.</p>With the team being announced after the Sunday session, there would be no second chances. Anyone still needing to qualify for the team would have to do it at this meet.<p></p> <p>....</p> <p>Lara Butler set a new pool record in the 200m freestyle for girls 13–14, while Tobias Mikkelsen, only six, set a new pool record for the 400m freestyle for boys 8 and under.</p> <p>Boothe’s 100m butterfly performance was also a new Stingray swim club record, along with Butler’s performance in the 200m freestyle and Mikkelsen’s 400m freestyle performance.</p><p>....</p><p>Ali Jackson and Tobias Mikkelsen claimed the high points award for girls and boys 6 and under respectively. In the 7–8 age group the awards went to Stephanie Boothe and Jona Narborough, with Alice Narborough and Cole Morgan claiming the high point awards in the 9–10 age group.<br /></p></blockquote><br />Read the full article <a href="http://www.caycompass.com/cgi-bin/CFPnews.cgi?ID=10381068">here</a>.Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-5583697168140206362009-03-18T21:10:00.007-05:002009-03-18T21:57:02.890-05:00Carifta Trials<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-iTmzOshvTu2Ze8yEkwlewtQoMU6J7ydpSlwXafuuf9ObWmGWpmWdAD4xWEQUXtl8QTvnMVZVMPFmNpuHkqDpxlyS9OuSlFq2gdfeZOV9O1o-YZA1vmUGrObYq-cbkw70yMW4/s1600-h/IMG_3644.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-iTmzOshvTu2Ze8yEkwlewtQoMU6J7ydpSlwXafuuf9ObWmGWpmWdAD4xWEQUXtl8QTvnMVZVMPFmNpuHkqDpxlyS9OuSlFq2gdfeZOV9O1o-YZA1vmUGrObYq-cbkw70yMW4/s400/IMG_3644.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314723940603511922" border="0" /></a>The CARIFTA Swim Trials 2009 concluded Sunday at the 25m Lions Pool. Tobias participated in the four day event. As he is only six years old he is not eligible to qualify for CARIFTA, but took part anyway. His events were: 25m butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle in the 6 & under category, 50m breaststroke and freestyle and 100m IM in the 8 & under category and finally 400m freestyle in 10 & under. Incredibly he won gold in all eight events and managed seven PBs (full results available <a href="http://www.teamunify.com/iscisssc/__doc__/CWfullresults.htm">here</a>).<br /><br />His current PBs are as follows:<br /><br />25m Butterfly 28.03<br />25m Backstroke 29.35<br />25m Breaststroke 32.64<br />25m Freestyle 22.81<br />50m Butterfly 1:06.96<br />50m Breaststroke 1:04.66<br />50m Freestyle 46.68<br />100m IM 2:03.35<br />400m Freestyle 7:33.58<br /><br />I was a bit nervous before the 400m freestyle event, but there was no need, he easily ploughed through the 16 lengths and finished strong with a 52 second last 50m.<br />Tobias and I have been practicing in the sea lately and I am looking forward to doing this years first 800m sea swim with him 4 April.<br /><br />A few pics from the event below. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF93pNUmBW1V6XPtJ0oEPvCahu5pw-j_C3FTQDIp0BdSKokFSVDMzfQ-pgYdJfR-L-xberkG5GjlgbazJvDshZsLh4HGqkVkssBpWiXD-8TWixGib25ByItsEOVgbduJq27lXQ/s1600-h/IMG_3750.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF93pNUmBW1V6XPtJ0oEPvCahu5pw-j_C3FTQDIp0BdSKokFSVDMzfQ-pgYdJfR-L-xberkG5GjlgbazJvDshZsLh4HGqkVkssBpWiXD-8TWixGib25ByItsEOVgbduJq27lXQ/s400/IMG_3750.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314725730629208978" border="0" /></a>Granddad explaining timing to Christoffer.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_MzkPpHLVlc74jinVfrEhH2qlX7i1La7nVsfDp9dJNu1bcBN0bCvCO-pswVezd1ZrdOKHNFGIN6YO3MfFwyf9uMMcnA93nQhvbcHzmIUqn9w8qyA-hrcPck8GzlMPD00l-uGU/s1600-h/IMG_3751.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_MzkPpHLVlc74jinVfrEhH2qlX7i1La7nVsfDp9dJNu1bcBN0bCvCO-pswVezd1ZrdOKHNFGIN6YO3MfFwyf9uMMcnA93nQhvbcHzmIUqn9w8qyA-hrcPck8GzlMPD00l-uGU/s400/IMG_3751.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314726034391058610" border="0" /></a>The Three Amigos<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKbN-x4QTJNTHG20KFJKEovjR-p_BHOZqLEQsodaeGP6FrL-KmSkNOhW-2x4bZjZC9Oq93PyQqpuD18C8bq2jJbugxSGltMZ02cvoedPqU8Qw8olN0iijrpm9EAh3cuR5dBPjb/s1600-h/IMG_3706.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKbN-x4QTJNTHG20KFJKEovjR-p_BHOZqLEQsodaeGP6FrL-KmSkNOhW-2x4bZjZC9Oq93PyQqpuD18C8bq2jJbugxSGltMZ02cvoedPqU8Qw8olN0iijrpm9EAh3cuR5dBPjb/s400/IMG_3706.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314726167216012354" border="0" /></a>Good as gold.Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-14356408700021869552009-02-06T15:56:00.004-05:002009-02-06T16:06:47.026-05:00Tracking Grand Dad<a href="http://flightaware.com/live/">Flightaware</a> lets you track both private and commercial air traffic in US air space. Majken's dad is on his way here. Currently his is off the US east coast making his way to the Bahamas (see below) for a quick pit stop before he makes his way to Cayman, well, that is, if he is on the plane. I have no reason to believe he isn't, but wouldn't it be nice to know? Maybe a feature for the future.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfViUnhRO9XQ8JcAtBAsFTiYtsxd9bnuo4fHbTW2fnyNT7noRUpnPyMH0jtK-TPw9yXD_VC8RbBCUvvmG2Qs8WjYi9pmhltMofv84LcmzZZgsQU70r8PG0q7C14Yy9pRrPMChp/s1600-h/New+Picture.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 309px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfViUnhRO9XQ8JcAtBAsFTiYtsxd9bnuo4fHbTW2fnyNT7noRUpnPyMH0jtK-TPw9yXD_VC8RbBCUvvmG2Qs8WjYi9pmhltMofv84LcmzZZgsQU70r8PG0q7C14Yy9pRrPMChp/s400/New+Picture.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299792787987758034" border="0" /></a>Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-28987521241947385142009-01-29T21:17:00.002-05:002009-01-29T21:25:28.802-05:00TurtleMajken took this great picture of a turtle the other day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik2mh1XhEA8L0Ln8UOAlu32RwHILx4wMx7Wun2h_XcnYihWTrrYnfCYfV3nW1LivlvCMykU2XnMNscwKUc3R7pv9Ya8DgJdG1hykSB5WOdMJEa7w9TQGQMsaVArP6vjeFCiKRt/s1600-h/P1260214.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik2mh1XhEA8L0Ln8UOAlu32RwHILx4wMx7Wun2h_XcnYihWTrrYnfCYfV3nW1LivlvCMykU2XnMNscwKUc3R7pv9Ya8DgJdG1hykSB5WOdMJEa7w9TQGQMsaVArP6vjeFCiKRt/s400/P1260214.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296906506112167682" border="0" /></a>Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-77549485087035903432009-01-28T21:26:00.001-05:002009-01-29T21:33:19.129-05:00Tobias' timesFor future reference. Tobias' PR's @ 6 yrs.<br /><ul><li>25m Butterfly 32:22</li><li>25m Backstroke 31:52</li><li>25m Breaststroke 32:64</li><li>25m Freestyle 23:79</li><li>50m Breaststroke 1:04:66</li><li>50m Freestyle 49:60</li><li>100m IM 2:05:30</li></ul>Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-72567992335439586182009-01-07T09:19:00.004-05:002009-01-07T09:29:35.452-05:00The birth of the internetThe birth of the internet told using <a href="http://www.picol.org/">PICOL</a> icons. Excellent.<br /><object width="400" height="225"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2696386&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2696386&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object>Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-59606491866061118982008-12-27T08:23:00.011-05:002008-12-27T10:42:49.373-05:00Havana CubaVi tog til Havana Cuba den 20. december med hjemrejse den 24. december. I de 4 dage vi var der, så vi mange spændende ting.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ZBnKLTRGCuwwK1jCs8JKcNF0E3tBhXx_7_XP_zOHGL3uBS-WS3pJzU07MrNSvKmk-B4XLUynL2m7D0BFz2SmGhuAHW2zmSEDR9ZtB81WNzCcDUShIHtqU9Vkady-AChyphenhyphenEhYF/s1600-h/IMG_0935.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284465416777611170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ZBnKLTRGCuwwK1jCs8JKcNF0E3tBhXx_7_XP_zOHGL3uBS-WS3pJzU07MrNSvKmk-B4XLUynL2m7D0BFz2SmGhuAHW2zmSEDR9ZtB81WNzCcDUShIHtqU9Vkady-AChyphenhyphenEhYF/s400/IMG_0935.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Mange af Havanas bygninger er meget smukke, men stort set det hele trænger til istandsættelse. Den gamle del af Havana, er man ved at renovere. Man kan forestille sig hvilken leben der har været i velmagtsdagene. Det har været et Mekka. Bygningerne som er så rigt dekoreret og alle de store veteranbiler, som stadigvæk er på vejene afspejler den storhed byen engang havde.<br /><br />Landet er fattigt, hvilket betyder at mange af de gamle biler efterhånden ligner blik biler, fordi de har været lappet så mange gange og oliefilter "er en by i Usbekistan", for de forurener mere end de værste TukTuks i Thailand.<br /><br />Jasper var der for 16 år siden og dengang var turister et sjældent syn. Nu er der forholdsvis meget turisme, hvilket forhåbentligt vil give noget valuta til et meget trængende land.<br /><br />På trods af at folk er fattige, så er der få der tigger og de få der kom og spurgte efter tøj osv. (i det skjulte) var rene "normalt" klædte mennesker. Folk så generelt heller ikke ud som om de sultede. Der var nogle enkelte som kiggede efter mad i skraldespande osv., men det var sjældent. <br /><br />Udvalget af mad er stærkt begrænset. Den første aften spiste vi i hotellets restaurant. Vi bestilte bl.a. kylling/løgsuppe og en anden opbagt kyllingesuppe. Det var så afskyeligt, at jeg kun spiste en skefuld. Jasper spiste hele portionen, fordi han følte sig forpligtigede. Det resulterede i kvalme hver gang vi efterfølgende kunne lugte kylling. Jeg tror, at den var lavet på kyllingefedt eller lignende, jeg får gåsehud ved tanken.<br /><br />Vi havde taget mysli og weetbix med til morgenmaden, så vi var sikre på et godt morgenmåltid, men det kunne vi godt droppe, da mælk heller ikke er en dagligdagsvare.<br />Børnene især levede stort set at pizza de dage vi var der. Vi fandt en kiosk hvor de solgte små snackpizzaer, som vi alle kunne lide. Derudover fandt vi en bager, hvor man kunne købe flutes og fortræffelige kager.<br /><br />Vi var inde og se det nationale kunstmuseum med flot og meget interessant cubansk kunst. Vi så også lidt kunstkeramik, som jeg var meget betaget af. Det meste var ekspressionistisk lige efter min smag. Der var også en lille engel, som var det sødeste jeg længe har set.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT3jTNn45XmUdNbchlcIJaZKdkL5NuPqpSIk7ryn5dt7zN6dvak8eNJtvmH1qFaso6yO9SgI85D8dfvtrn3LvvHw8u2fbPFcB-sp6b7b9IfrqAu8WQ3c0qeMB4Qcy_-wa-427b/s1600-h/IMG_0753.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284463039429906658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT3jTNn45XmUdNbchlcIJaZKdkL5NuPqpSIk7ryn5dt7zN6dvak8eNJtvmH1qFaso6yO9SgI85D8dfvtrn3LvvHw8u2fbPFcB-sp6b7b9IfrqAu8WQ3c0qeMB4Qcy_-wa-427b/s400/IMG_0753.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Havana er meget forurenet pga. udstødningsgasser, på trods af, at der ikke er så mange biler. Det er helt normalt at se biler køre med en stor sort giftsky efter sig. På vej til lufthavnen kørte vi i en gammel Lada med nedrullet vinduer. Jeg har aldrig været i luft der var så forurenet, selv Bangkok blegner i en sammenligning. Børnene og jeg trak vejret igennem vores tøj, den halve time køreturen tog. Det værste var når vi kørte bagved de gamle Amerikaner bil fra 40’erne eller ældre lastbiler og især når vi holdt bagved dem i et lyskryds og de satte i gang ved grønt, hvor de spyttede en kæmpe sort røgsky bagud, som havnede inde i vores lille lavt kørende Lada. Derudover forurenede vores egen bil så meget, at ikke kun andres udstødning gennemtrængte luften inde i bilen, men også vores egen udstødning. Jeg forstiller mig, at den køretur er lig med at kæderyge i en halv time. Cubanske taxachauffører, kan ikke have en høj levealder.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284461382143334194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_oTEWrHJ-_hAFaPPZes3KAiq8sbLf7nc6KFcWp7ZxwrnvF0YZbN3T8hgSwaRkyCEW_mf90ZdZKZwbWBgZHMmr__Y4VReM4PzYFhbtfLKy-QM0g62kmYRO2dW6X37zvhRpavza/s400/PC240139.JPG" border="0" /><br />Det skal dog siges, at da vi ankom til Cuba, kørte vi med en nyere og større taxi, hvor der var airconditioner og ingen åbne vinduer, og derfor ikke var generet af osen. Vi betalte det samme både til og fra lufthavnen, så det gælder om at vælge de nyere taxaer på Cuba.<br /><br />Vi boede på et trestjernet hotel. Værelset var fint og havde nogle gode senge. De var gode til at rede seng (se billedet nedenfor, hvor man kan se sengetæppet redt som et hjerte), men selve rengøringen var helt håbløs. Gulvet var fyldt med sorte hår og jeg er ikke særlig vild med andres hår, så jeg tørrede gulvet over. Den efterfølgende dag efter at stuepigen havde været der, var der lige så mange hår igen. Jeg tror at hun tørrede gulvet over med en klud fyldt med hår.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbQI2CfflR3m7d5dDdk_f5KF7g70p2Tt2xEn_1j5XrBLdb2S9DrziCuzZO6r5qSOJ0TTREQECy8T1yB6W9vbxnFuMJJShM29wkHB7Af32aHhsboy0WiIOaux-Tlx3lWTz4GdN/s1600-h/PC210069.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284464678929432658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbQI2CfflR3m7d5dDdk_f5KF7g70p2Tt2xEn_1j5XrBLdb2S9DrziCuzZO6r5qSOJ0TTREQECy8T1yB6W9vbxnFuMJJShM29wkHB7Af32aHhsboy0WiIOaux-Tlx3lWTz4GdN/s400/PC210069.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Det er ikke billigt at være på Cuba, på trods af at det er et fattigt land. Vi betalte ca. 500kr for et dobbeltværelse på et middelklassehotel og fik lov til at have begge drenge ved os, selvom man normalt max. må overnatte to voksne og et barn i et dobbeltværelse. Mad er heller ikke billig, hvis man vil have et ordentligt måltid.<br /><br />Generelt virker Cubanerne venlige, men ikke påtrængende. Desværre taler jeg ikke spansk og når man ikke kan komme i dialog med befolkningen, mister man helt sikkert nogle af de oplevelser, som er med til at gøre en rejse ekstra spændende og god. På trods af sprogbarrieren, var det 4 spændende dage og jeg vil meget gerne tilbage igen….. Næste gang med en anelse spansk i bagagen.Majkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269968049189507363noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-89577247162499327302008-12-13T10:37:00.006-05:002008-12-13T17:42:40.569-05:00Where we liveBelow is a picture taken by my dad during the approach to Owen Roberts International Airport. In the middle of the picture is the block of houses (set in a horse shoe) where we live. Click on it to take a closer look.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjsvNxATeNKGYrR8GErkwbO95twWV765cb2klFVSszFFSePxzp4cl7j9DzgfZK-tXzxc4lUsvdpQ6_FdPhQsHt0ZiropFhOUMiiuQzb1KChViBkq4Hht7wSK_zan8xzJwI-xyB/s1600-h/IMG_0556.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 229px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjsvNxATeNKGYrR8GErkwbO95twWV765cb2klFVSszFFSePxzp4cl7j9DzgfZK-tXzxc4lUsvdpQ6_FdPhQsHt0ZiropFhOUMiiuQzb1KChViBkq4Hht7wSK_zan8xzJwI-xyB/s400/IMG_0556.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279300208558982162" border="0" /></a>Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-44053556887326967252008-12-12T07:52:00.002-05:002008-12-12T09:18:00.344-05:0024 hours of flightsThis video shows world air traffic over a period of 24 hours. The video is 72 seconds long so every 3 seconds represents 1 hour and every second represents 20 minutes. It looks like the video starts a 00:00 GMT.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oR00_uLfGVE&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oR00_uLfGVE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br />Upon my first view of the video I focused mostly on the movement between Europe and North America which made me think of a swarm of bees feeding on nectar and pollen on one continent and then returning to their home on another. Interestingly you will notice that remapping the global surface to a rectangular image results in planes seemingly moving faster as they approach the Poles.Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-79742825055548450112008-12-11T20:32:00.001-05:002008-12-11T20:36:41.197-05:00Owl in the house<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKRAe7k6VhVN42x-mI_VWEHqVYmFTqJe5jxkLh6cUQ58D_2BgPwbrVzvBb07OZxxAtCTTSw2hPk3eqPoEvTXrG903t_hH6TrKxJIkRJdgUHUaHJWq17H0_0zuJ_YxuTFHkW5d9/s1600-h/PC100010.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKRAe7k6VhVN42x-mI_VWEHqVYmFTqJe5jxkLh6cUQ58D_2BgPwbrVzvBb07OZxxAtCTTSw2hPk3eqPoEvTXrG903t_hH6TrKxJIkRJdgUHUaHJWq17H0_0zuJ_YxuTFHkW5d9/s400/PC100010.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278711352932897170" border="0" /></a>Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-33981920219526245392008-12-08T07:20:00.000-05:002008-12-08T14:49:10.323-05:00New blogBelow is a "word cloud", a visual representation of this blog after visiting <a href="http://www.wordle.net/create">Wordle</a>.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyd1Zzcp_BPX08Q-CBFCYMe8mV3gD51WcLLqM8X3cFCl0zwRVosXISm62ghVcd8xUKp5oCMi1zwEBPzNxH5pDLpGjusat6Cs9UrS5CvqhHcamf0c9vCB1vzuosrg6qULi_Jlx1/s1600-h/New+Picture+%2822%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyd1Zzcp_BPX08Q-CBFCYMe8mV3gD51WcLLqM8X3cFCl0zwRVosXISm62ghVcd8xUKp5oCMi1zwEBPzNxH5pDLpGjusat6Cs9UrS5CvqhHcamf0c9vCB1vzuosrg6qULi_Jlx1/s400/New+Picture+%2822%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277508371186066786" border="0" /></a>As can be seen, this blog has become very sports specific of late and focused more heavily on my personal achievements than on the family and the kids. As a consequence I have created a new blog "<a href="http://www.trinomics.blogspot.com/">trinomics</a>" as a forum for my thoughts, plans and results in the world of triathlon and related events. I will still blog about triathlon here but to a lesser degree.Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-69951600388000704922008-12-01T14:15:00.002-05:002008-12-05T13:19:22.767-05:00Building strange contraptions<a href="http://fantasticcontraption.com/">Fantastic Contraption</a> is a challenging and very addictive little physics based game for adults and children alike. You basically have to build wheel-based vehicles to achieve certain goals. Give it a go, it is great fun!Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-14071403233811791932008-11-25T15:40:00.005-05:002008-11-26T09:07:20.805-05:00The need for speedAnother 10 days till the Cayman marathon and this year will be over from a sporting perspective and what a year it has been.<br /><br />Nearing my late thirties one would think that the window of my peak performance potential as an endurance athlete would begin to close. But I just can’t see it happen at the moment. This year I completed my first Ironman distance triathlon event. Simply completing the event was major highlight and accomplishment for me, but I was also able to pull off a finishing time of 10h17m43s, which exceeded my expectations. Last weekend I set a PB in the Olympic distance triathlon, clocking-in in a time of 2h11m23s beating my previous best from 2 years ago of 2h17m38s. And I think I can go faster in both events.<br /><br />Past-prime athletes frequently report that their top-end speed is the first thing to go. During the Pirate’s week 10k a few weeks ago I ran a 39m34s. I decided to pace that race very carefully and aim for sub 40. I can honestly say it was not until about 3 km to go that I felt any real pressure and even during the last 3km I was not killing myself. It is difficult to explain how much of a high that is, to run at a speed that is close to the fastest I have ever run over the distance (my PB is 37m58s about 12 years ago). Next year I believe I can quite possibly beat my 10 km PB and that at an age of 37.<br /><br />Looking to world class endurance athletes there are actually many over the age of 35 that are more competitive than ever these days. Haile Gebrselassie set a marathon world record in Berlin this year at 35. The winner of this year’s Olympic Women’s Marathon was 38.<br /><br />I’m not expecting to slow down in 2009 – no way. 2008 was an incredible year, but 2009 will be even better!<br /><br />Below is a good picture taken of Majken and I taken while setting up in transition at the Turtle tri last weekend.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjATs1rZ0MBP6KEUixYFEbtm80IqVudqDI5s_dERw2Nqr4eIXv6aX8l9xcZFqA6pwYWVCddyVIDU4XA0fA6HLZUkUykvlopP0EKcE1fUG_WViMTWbz2eXa0US4Hiy7dlghFeb2_/s1600-h/n602960060_4884408_1059.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjATs1rZ0MBP6KEUixYFEbtm80IqVudqDI5s_dERw2Nqr4eIXv6aX8l9xcZFqA6pwYWVCddyVIDU4XA0fA6HLZUkUykvlopP0EKcE1fUG_WViMTWbz2eXa0US4Hiy7dlghFeb2_/s400/n602960060_4884408_1059.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272699005296126194" border="0" /></a>Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-69858885718615633922008-11-19T15:32:00.002-05:002008-11-26T09:06:37.045-05:00Mike Lockwood Memorial Swim MeetTobias participated in the Mike Lockwood Memorial Swim Meet in the weekend. He swam four events: 25m Butterfly, 25m Backstroke, 25m Breaststroke and 25 Freestyle. He did very well earning himself 3 gold and 1 silver and best overall swimmer in his age group Boys 6 and under. A video of him swimming freestyle can be viewed below.<br /><br />His time was 24.22 seconds. The thing that impresses me most about Tobias is his technique and stability in the water. He is fast, but notice how smooth a stroke he has, with his body not moving around and his head position fixed.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XPsVhEP7uNc&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XPsVhEP7uNc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-62722209277166304482008-11-12T03:44:00.000-05:002008-11-12T19:59:48.820-05:00IM article in the CompassA nice article on my recent Ironman was in the <a href="http://www.caycompass.com/cgi-bin/CFPnews.cgi?ID=1035184">Cayman Compass today</a>:<br /><p></p><blockquote><p>As a relatively recent convert to triathlon, local athlete Jasper Mikkelsen recently underwent what for many is a rite of passage – his first Ironman–distance triathlon.</p> <p>Yet his results belie the fact that this was his first stab at the distance, as Mikkelsen ripped up the course to finish eighth overall in the Great Floridian Triathlon, held in Clermont on 25 October.</p> <p>Although he might have made it look easy, Mikkelsen is quick to point out that it was a long hard slog.</p> <p>“People must understand that it’s a long day,” says Mikkelsen, whose time of 10 hours 17 minutes and 43 seconds meant that he spent a lot less time out on the course than those who were merely aiming to finish the event under the 17 hour event time limit.</p> <p>The win was taken by Vladimir Figari from Peru who blazed through the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run in 9:19:25.</p> <p>Mikkelsen’s good showing in the Florida half–Ironman earlier this year had given him some hope for the distance.</p> <p>Months of training had gone into the event, including training with some of the best proponents of each of the sports that make up the triathlon.</p> <p>Yet all the preparation on earth cannot prepare for the challenges that race day may come up with.</p> <p>Even though Mikkelsen positioned himself close to the front of the field for the swim start, he still managed to get kicked in the face, which dislodged his swimming goggles.</p> <p>Fortunately he managed to grab his goggles and get them back in place and was able to continue his swim without further incident. The swim included a quick run around a marker on the beach before a second swim lap, but Mikkelsen took the run in his stride, having done a number of such training sessions in Cayman.</p> <p>Once he exited the water for the last time, Mikkelsen took it easy through the transition, preferring to put on cycling shorts and a cycling shirt rather than cycle in his trisuit.</p> <p>Although this cost him some time in transition, the additional comfort certainly paid dividends on the bike.</p> <p>The bike leg did not start off quite as smoothly as Mikkelsen would have liked, with a sudden sharp climb catching him off guard just as he left the transition area. Caught in too heavy a gear, Mikkelsen had no choice but to jump off the bike and run to the top of the little hill before remounting and getting his bike off to a proper start.</p> <p>The bike ride was much hillier than the 36–year–old Dane had expected, and since hills are not something one can train for in Cayman he was somewhat concerned. However, all the training paid off as he settled into a comfortable pace.</p> <p>“Although it was tough to eat, I religiously ate my Powerbars and gels by the clock, making sure I had around 300 calories per hour. I felt fairly well energized all the way through,” says Mikkelsen.</p> <p>“On the bike I was pretty much alone most of the time. I was all by myself the last 80km.</p> <p>“The mind can wander – you’ve got to keep the pace. It was beautiful countryside though and although I was cycling hard I did actually take a look around.”</p> <p>The bike leg represented Mikkelsen’s strongest discipline but far from attacking it with all his might he aimed to keep something in reserve for the final leg of the triathlon, an energy–zapping full marathon run of 26.2 miles.</p> <p>Although it was not as hot and humid as Mikkelsen had become used to training in Cayman, he took a cup of ice at each aid station and poured it down his trisuit in order to stay cooler, which helped him through the marathon.</p> <p>“I thought the run went really well in retrospect. At the time it was really tough, but in retrospect it went a lot better than I had anticipated. I was thinking around four hours, and ended up 3:43, which is really great,” says the economist.</p> <p>However, never content with good enough, he believes that he has a 3:30 Ironman marathon in him, which he hopes to unleash during his next Ironman race.</p> <p>Even though the pain of his first race has not quite subsided yet, Mikkelsen has already entered for his next Ironman race, Ironman Louisville, which is set for 30 August 2009.</p> <p>It is an official Ironman race, with slots available for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. This remains Mikkelsen’s long–term goal and one for which he is more than ready to sacrifice another year to the sport.</p> <p>So is Mikkelsen planning to take some time off from training?</p> <p>“Of course I will be taking time off. Just not yet,” he laughs.</p> <p>With the Turtle Tri and the Cayman Marathon on the horizon there is still much to accomplish before Mikkelsen can get his well–deserved rest.</p></blockquote><p></p>The article was written by Eugene Bonthuys, an accomplished triathlete in his own right with two IM's under his belt and lots of very interesting IM experience to share.Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-48378033327332400232008-11-07T22:50:00.002-05:002008-11-08T15:16:51.637-05:00Close callDuring the night the eye of Hurricane Paloma passed just east of Grand Cayman Island. Paloma had been forecast to pass straight over us, but luckily a strong trough of low pressure over the U.S. East Coast pulled Paloma to the northeast at the last minute. While this was an advantage to us, it was to the detriment of the sister islands: Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib4iUl9Wo5a1iQe0XqQDp3nAfeocZNb93KFyRK-5IjIHH6whLwbt-mwY84ccorCTVVWVSYQCcg3iLY9UvGBJ31ZijP2VtRl_YcFegq3ka1LTsxvfCw0vjbUrO55K6tomoB-7zD/s1600-h/Nyt+billede+%282%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 185px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib4iUl9Wo5a1iQe0XqQDp3nAfeocZNb93KFyRK-5IjIHH6whLwbt-mwY84ccorCTVVWVSYQCcg3iLY9UvGBJ31ZijP2VtRl_YcFegq3ka1LTsxvfCw0vjbUrO55K6tomoB-7zD/s400/Nyt+billede+%282%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266377933351041906" border="0" /></a>We went for drive round the island this morning. There is some flooding, but no major wind or wave damage.<br /><br />UPDATE: Just read some of the local news. There are reports of widespread destruction across the Sister Islands. Whole houses have been destroyed, roofs torn from buildings and roads blocked, but there are no reports of death or serious injury.Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-86936984153946434062008-11-02T20:15:00.008-05:002008-11-17T09:07:17.981-05:00Race report: Great Floridian XVIII 2008 (IM-distance triathlon)<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Swim</span><br /><br />The 3.8 km swim is two laps in Lake Minneola. Race morning a strong wind is blowing and the conditions are fairly choppy.<br /><br />I place myself up front. The announcer starts to count down the race. At the gun I look at my watch and register the time 7:34 – 4 minutes late. Visibility is zero. I push fairly hard the first 2 minutes and then try to settle into a good pace, however, about 5 minutes into the swim a person from out of nowhere kicks me in the face. I hadn't seen that coming and I am doubly surprised when my goggles are kicked off too. Scrambling in the water I somehow manage to grab the goggles. That was close, had I lost the goggles it would have been a long and uncomfortable swim. I settle into my own rhythm again and give it an extra push. Very soon my heart rate is too high and the psychological claustrophobia of being locked in and committed to an entire day of non-stop exercise starts to play in my mind. To calm myself I take the "foot off the speeder" and try to swim easy and efficiently.<br /><br />I feel like we have been swimming for about a kilometer and sure enough about 400 m ahead of us is the turnaround that will take us back to shore. Reaching the shore I look at my watch. 31-32 minutes for the first <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwsVTHQVt3h2BUKQZZxFDb_P0Y7kQnZC3toCXmmiHpH_AUFhCxTswgpXJOD5a7hwEkXcxRzQdFqaPF7wWM6glPc2u2M16GLMM7l70KIw89kJFoA3LPZ3C6STkHWiYkKOodXtq6/s1600-h/New+Picture+%2819%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 289px; height: 191px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwsVTHQVt3h2BUKQZZxFDb_P0Y7kQnZC3toCXmmiHpH_AUFhCxTswgpXJOD5a7hwEkXcxRzQdFqaPF7wWM6glPc2u2M16GLMM7l70KIw89kJFoA3LPZ3C6STkHWiYkKOodXtq6/s320/New+Picture+%2819%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264462727472507842" border="0" /></a>lap, not bad, just have to keep this up and I will finish in around an hour and 5 minutes which is good enough for me. I take it really easy during the beach turnaround keeping my heart rate under control. In Cayman I have trained the swim to run transitions on Seven Mile Beach with Johan Heath, Alex Harling, David Walker and others, so I am very familiar with the odd feeling of having to swim after a little run.<br /><br />The second lap is pretty uneventful. I swim by myself all the way and basically cruise to the finish, hitting the beach, feeling good. Okay, now on to transition. There is still a long day ahead.<br /><br />Race Status 1h05m23s<br />Overall 23/241<br />Age Group 7/48<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">T1</span><br /><br />Coming out of the water there are people on hand to help us out of our wetsuits. I take off my watch to make sure it doesn't snag on my wetsuit and strip my upper body. I'm told to lie down and a twosome grabs my suit and strips it off me. I stand up and begin running towards the change tent while rolling up my wetsuit. A volunteer hands me my bike bag and points in the direction of the changing tent entrance. In the bike bag is another plastic bag – the wetsuit bag - for the wetsuit, goggles and cap. I fill the wetsuit bag and begin to fit on my bike shorts (for extra comfort), bike shirt, cycle helmet, glasses and Garmin, and with wetsuit bag in hand it's out to the bike racks. I drop the wetsuit bag outside the tent and start running towards my bike. Grabbing the bike I run out of transition passing the timing mat.<br /><br />Transition time 4m36s<br />Age Group 10/48<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Bike</span><br /><br />The 180 km course consists of one loop along rural country roads. No major elevation changes, but the first 60 km has numerous rolling hills and a steep but short climb up Sugarloaf Mountain. The last 30 km is also fairly hilly. Support/aid stations are located approximately 20 km apart.<br /><br />I mount the bike and start pedaling. At this stage my feet are not in my shoes. After having built a little speed, I slip my feet into the shoes. Unfortunately I have not being paying attention to obstacles in front of me and suddenly find myself on a small but very steep hill. I panic and grab my gear shift, but shift up instead of down making it impossible to pedal up the hill. By this time I am half way up the hill and nearly at a standstill. The only option is to jump off the bike. Luckily I doesn't take me long to pull the bike up the last bit and I’m on my way. My Garmin has found all the satellites by now, so I start the timer - I guess about 4 minutes late out of transition. The first part of the course is on paths and roads and to my surprise extremely hilly. I certainly wasn't expecting this out of transition. In retrospect I should have done my homework and realized what was in store.<br /><br />I am riding the course completely "blind", I have no idea what is in store. Small orange stenciled arrows on the road are provided as guides and larger arrow signs at key turns. There are a lot of turns, smaller hills and pathways on this first 5 km and in some parts the road surface is fairly rough. I fight the hills and wind and pass about 6 riders on the first 10 km.<br /><br />By now my body has fully adjusted to the bike ride ahead and I settle into a nice pace. Half an hour into the ride I grab a power bar. My plan is to eat one of these every hour together with a gel. That will give me a little more than 300 calories per hour which is what is recommended for a person of my weight. I also have a bottle of Gatorade (around 200 calories) on my bike to top up with once in a while. At the first aid station I grab some water and fill up my front water bottle. This will be a ritual at nearly every aid station I pass for the rest of the ride.<br /><br />With about 40 km into the ride we make a sharp left and then another straight after that. There in front of me is mighty Sugar Loaf Mountain, the highest point in Florida. Well there is no way back, will just have give it my best shot. It is a short, but steep climb. I put my bike in the third lowest gear, stand up in the saddle and start pedaling hard. It is tough, but actually feels nice to be out of the saddle pushing hard on the pedals. It seems to be getting steeper and steeper on the last bit before it finally starts to level out around the summit. There it’s done, my heart rate has risen at least 30 bpm.<br /><br />The next 20 km consist of hills and rollers, some of which I am able to power over with hardly any loss of speed. I am generally careful not to push too hard on the descents. The wind gusts at times grip my bike (or my high profile wheels) making it very uncomfortable to ride any faster than 60 km/h.<br /><br />Around 65 km into the ride, we reach the flats. At this stage I still have other riders around me. I settle into a nice grinding pace. I slow a little as I am trying to eat my power bar. A cyclist passes me. He doesn't get too far ahead. He seems to be going at a reasonable pace, so I decide to follow him staying around 20 m behind to avoid a drafting penalty. It is very comfortable just to let him lead. I stay behind him for the next 25 km. He starts to slow and I pull away. I pass another rider shortly thereafter wondering whether the 100 km mark is some sort of barrier for these riders. I certainly haven't increased the pace, but simply kept it going.<br /><br />The next 50 km I am all by myself. I sometimes wonder whether I am going the right direction or have taken a wrong turn. With about 30 km left, we start sharing the course with those doing the half Ironman (IM). I start passing a lot of slower riders, clearly part of the half IM crowd. The ride will soon be over. For the past 40 km or so I have felt the need to stretch my back and lift myself out the saddle which is far from comfortable right now. I am really looking forward to getting off the bike. Up in front of me I spot a rider who seems to be travelling about the same speed as me. It must be a full IM rider. When we reach the lake, he is only 20 meters in front of me, but this time I am not worried about overtaking, rather I spin the pedals, stretch and focus on the run ahead. We reach the dismount area at the same time.<br /><br />Below is a graphical presentation of my ride. On the y-axis is my speed measured in km/h and on the x-axis is the distance. From the graph you can clearly see the parts of the course that are hilly, i.e. where there is high variability in the speed. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYaoMpsjx58P75rPMPuajW4XOVj3_AaqAj3VAg239VNBp9AqM7m7ZnXyx5iLS8Ha8txT6fw7IEgu_sECPPpq486fbYp79Io2QO3Myibi1ZtJoQj9IuGMxxY8MRHfKXzygSUdFg/s1600-h/Nyt+billede.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYaoMpsjx58P75rPMPuajW4XOVj3_AaqAj3VAg239VNBp9AqM7m7ZnXyx5iLS8Ha8txT6fw7IEgu_sECPPpq486fbYp79Io2QO3Myibi1ZtJoQj9IuGMxxY8MRHfKXzygSUdFg/s400/Nyt+billede.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264043027373436978" border="0" /></a>Bike Split: 5h20m04s<br />Overall: 7/241<br />Age Group 1/48<br /><br />Race status: 2nd in age group, 8th overall.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">T2</span><br /><br />I hand off my bike to a volunteer and receive my T2 run bag. I rush into the change tent. I make a reasonably quick change, taking of bike jersey and helmet and putting on socks, running shoes and a cap. I also put some sports jelly beans in the back pockets of my tri suit. I ask a volunteer for sunscreen, but there is none left. I am already a bit sunburned on my arms and legs and it is not going get any better. Not much I can do about it now, so I head out of the tent and pass on my stuff to a volunteer. Then it occurs to me that I haven't taken off my bike shorts. I quickly take them off and put them in the bag the volunteer is holding, now on to the run. But no, I haven't put on my race belt either. I grab the bag from the volunteer and start rummaging through it to find the belt with number. There got it. I put it on and off I go. That was unexpected. I hope I am not confused from dehydration of something. Looking at the watch as I run out of transition I can see I need around a 3h30m marathon to put me in contention for a sub 10 hour time. I entertain the thought of trying a 3.30, but decide I will just run by feel to begin with and not look at my Garmin.<br /><br />Transition time: 4m09s<br />Age group: 5/48<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Run</span><br /><br />The 42.2 km course is criterion style with three laps around Lake Minneola. Each lap also has a 1 km flat out and back section on the South Lake Trail. Support/aid stations are located approximately 2 km apart. Each support station is equipped with water, thirst quencher, ice, sponges, cola (defizzed), fruit and assorted foods.<br /><br />I feel pretty good. There is a slight tightness in the stomach, but not something to be worried about. I have tried much worse. The first few kilometers roll by, most of the people I pass are doing the half IM. I have no idea of my race position. My pace has decreased a little and my stomach is also tighter now. I don't like where this is heading. I have to rid myself of this stomach problem. About 7 km into the run I grab a banana from the aid station. This will be a first for me eating a banana on the run, but I am hoping it will calm my stomach. I walk for about 30 m while I have the banana and a healthy cup of water. About 3 km later I feel better. I look at my Garmin, I've run the first 10 km in around 51 minutes, wow, that is faster than I was expecting. More kilometers roll by and I've completed the first of three loops. Only one person has passed me and I'm clearly running better than most runners out there.<br /><br />At the start of the second lap I start running with a guy doing the IM. He was ahead of me out of transition. It's nice to run with someone else. We don't exchange many words, but just get on with the running business. There are many more IM athletes on the course now, a lot are barely running. I hit the half marathon in around 1h50m. I have been slowing a bit lately and I seem to be slowing even further. The last kilometers have been tough and it is certainly not getting any easier. Looking at my watch I reckon my km splits have been between 5:30 - 5:20 for some time now. For the rest of the second lap, I more or less manage to keep the same running pace, but start to walk the aid stations to ensure hydration and energy. I also try and eat some of the sports beans I have brought with me, but just can't seem to stomach them. Each aid station adds about 20 seconds extra to my time but I'd rather be able to run later than blow up.<br /><br />At the start of the last lap I lose my running buddy. My left thigh is tight. I am not worried about t<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvr7XEDUeVRvZ6bTDlgh-5tARl7b2Qm2zASYQDCrgjKnXDyS6OV5pr7z91rZJNGML9n6LNJxbc6v3Em-kFZ30G1jiCUh5X0iigDsi5uqwlVSi0bGoW_PGY84gRYLxlHGsnx4a/s1600-h/Nyt+billede.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvr7XEDUeVRvZ6bTDlgh-5tARl7b2Qm2zASYQDCrgjKnXDyS6OV5pr7z91rZJNGML9n6LNJxbc6v3Em-kFZ30G1jiCUh5X0iigDsi5uqwlVSi0bGoW_PGY84gRYLxlHGsnx4a/s320/Nyt+billede.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264460979339986146" border="0" /></a>he thigh at this stage unless I gets worse. My strategy of asking (or should I say shouting) for a cup of ice at every aid station and pouring it down your trisuit to let it seep down to my crutch seems to have worked wonders. I have had no problems with heat so far although it is a fairly hot and fairly humid day. An IM runner passes me going around a 4:45 min/km pace I guess. I try to stick with him for a while, but it is tough going and I decide to stay true to my pacing strategy instead and loose sight of him after a while. I look at my Garmin and realize I only have about 10 km to go. I'm nearly there and feel good. I might as well try and increase the pace now. Even if I blow-up I'm still looking at a sub 11 hour finish which would be awesome. I look at my watch with about 5km to go. I'm running a sub 5 minute per km pace now. I'll break 10h30m! Closing in on the transition area I increase the pace even further. I hit the final steep hill just before the downhill to the finish. I push fairly hard up the hill and 20 m from the top I start sprinting. I'm nearly there now. I feel like I'm flying. A sharp left and I can see the finish line. I raise my arms as I cross the line.<br /><br />Run Split: 3h43m28s<br />Overall: 10/241<br />Age group: 4/48<br /><br />Final Race Time: 10h17m43s<br />Overall: 8/241<br />Age group: 2/48<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Post race analysis</span><br /><br />I have come a long way since I started to entertain an IM last year and the prospect of qualifying for Hawaii. It has taken a lot of training to get to the point where I am now, and I’m ecstatic that I have just managed to complete an IM.<br /><br />For a first time go at the IM distance I don’t think I could have had a much better race. I was well prepared and used my experience gained during the Florida half earlier in the year to guide my training. Of special importance was the run training with Scott Brittain and Russel Coleman. I am certain that the sessions with them have helped to push my run endurance to new levels.<br /><br />Key take-aways<br /><ul><li> Keep goggle straps underneath swim cap.</li><li>Have a pacing strategy, I felt I was holding back all day, finishing strong ensured a good time.</li><li>Although it is tough to eat, have Power bars and gels by the clock. </li><li>Only take a couple of bags of sports beans on the run.</li><li>Grab a cup of ice at every aid station and pour down the trisuit.</li><li>Try eating a banana to solve stomach issues.</li></ul><br />For the next IM event, which hopefully will be a Hawaii qualifier, I will try to depart from my conservative racing strategy. I am not sure it is worth pushing much harder on the bike. But I certainly want to take some more risk on the run and try a sub 3:30 marathon.<br /><br />However, the year is not over yet, there is still the <a href="http://www.turtletricayman.com/">Turtle Tri</a> in about three weeks and the <a href="http://www.caymanislandsmarathon.com/">Cayman marathon</a> two weeks later. I am looking forward to giving the Turtle Tri a good go. I expect I will be chasing the fast swimmers on the bike and running like crazy to keep some of them behind me on the run. For the Cayman marathon, I am not so sure I want to try and push the pace. I have been entertaining a 3 hour finish, but the IM has drained me of a lot of energy. Nonetheless I will certainly go for a 3:15 finish which is my Boston qualifying time in my age group.Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24859552.post-46485423709199780232008-11-01T18:26:00.001-05:002008-11-03T09:27:25.354-05:00Beach Combing<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAMXyGlYqU690wIxUZYXH3PtcQoWVX4jOmS7XNtXrEXwI4LQNbreRj8cCBWJAYaOtdXJyjUzOkWYtMeGU5T5e_-c_hgyjiY6ICY55pUyAPGOprK34Hh8eLYAkD7FPBPEdaaui/s1600-h/IMG_9607.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAMXyGlYqU690wIxUZYXH3PtcQoWVX4jOmS7XNtXrEXwI4LQNbreRj8cCBWJAYaOtdXJyjUzOkWYtMeGU5T5e_-c_hgyjiY6ICY55pUyAPGOprK34Hh8eLYAkD7FPBPEdaaui/s400/IMG_9607.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264437715324075362" border="0" /></a>Jasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16175320424266647020noreply@blogger.com0