Nathan Veldhoen

Things didn’t go quiet according to plan, but the whole event was pretty amazing.  I think i’ll try and get back out to the desert for next year.  Simple, flat, and wide course with  some cool temperatures.   I felt pretty good but didn’t have the speed to get me even close to my goal.  Ran a 3:23, thinking maybe too much travel in the last few weeks could have slowed me down, but all in all it was an enjoyable run.

The race started with some flying Elvis’ coming out of the sky with tigers and showgirls to set you off.  The largest marathon I have been apart of with a lot of water stations, time clocks, and markers along the route.  I ran without music so I could take in all the bands and wasn’t super impressed with the amount of music,  with the 6:15 start it would make it pretty hard to round them up.

I think this is near the end...

Had a weekend that didn’t have me booked up so I decided to kick myself into gear.  I needed to get a long run in (for Vegas) and also wanted to get a solid start on riding the old bike.  I picked a hell of a Saturday to do it, with hail and some good down pour sessions.  Some people might have heard me dropping f-bombs in the early afternoon after riding into a few hail storms.  All in all was a nice long day of training and felt pretty good.

I have been getting pretty board of the usual training routes and sessions, so I thought I would get a little more creative.  I headed to the pool  out in Walnut Grove for an 8:30 start , did a 40 minute swim.  Drove out to 232nd and the number 1 hwy and left my truck there.  Suited up for a 31km run back to my house.  Once I got to my house I hucked some food and water in me and headed out on a 32 k bike ride.  The whole thing took almost 5 hours but was a nice little saturday.  Oh and the sun came out right when I hoped off my bike.  Awesome….

On the way home just after jumping into the truck. Never found the gold.

The Finish to the day. Sun rolling in.

Clouds moving out

As of yesterday I officially finished sign up for Ironman in Penticton.   (already paid in August but now have all my info)  I almost forgot to do it, September went by so quick, just remember during a long training run on the weekend…oops.

I did also manage to find myself a bike, indoor trainer and pedals,to get myself started.  I also picked up, the apparently super important, bike shorts,  can’t wait to find out how sore my ass will get. Getting pretty  pumped to get a few good rides before the ugly weather comes.

Did the old craigslist hunt and grabbed, everything for 800 bucks.  (bike, shoes,pedals and trainer)   I wasn’t too pumped about getting a super expensive bike without even riding before, so hopefully this one will get me started.  We will see if I will need to get a new bike by spring.

Kona Haole-- had a compter with it too.

Fairly new trainer for indoor riding.

Da Shoes