Photo: post-race, ol' Highway 52, 5:00 p.m., 95 degrees, Winneshiek County, Iowa

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 1,100 yds (ytd 156,325 yds.)
Bike: 146 miles (ytd 3,364 mi.)
Run: 21 miles (ytd 980 mi.)

What's better than a podium finish? Driving home in MAX A/C

Photo: 70-mile ride, 9:00 a.m., 70 degrees, Linn County, Iowa

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 9,000 yds (ytd 155,225 yds.)
Bike: 140 miles (ytd 3,218 mi.)
Run: 41 miles (ytd 959 mi.)

The perfect place for a photo break, food break & bladder break...

Photo: 65-mile ride, 8:00 a.m., 80 degrees, near Stone City, Iowa

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 9,700 yds (ytd 146,225 yds.)
Bike: 125 miles (ytd 3,078 mi.)
Run: 33 miles (ytd 918 mi.)

Into the foggy abyss...

Photo: Post-17-mile run, 10:00 a.m., 85 degrees, 1 billion percent humidity, Marion, Iowa

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 5,200 yds (ytd 136,525 yds.)
Bike: 150 miles (ytd 2,953 mi.)
Run: 36 miles (ytd 885 mi.)

Happy kids use them for summer fun. Gassed, overheated, middle-aged "athletes" use them as a lifesaver.

Photo: 3-hour single-speed ride, 8:00 a.m.; 45 degrees; alt. 10,000 feet; on the way to Leadville, Colorado

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 4,600 yds (ytd 131,325 yds.)
Bike: 131 miles (ytd 2,803 mi.)
Run: 32 miles (ytd 849 mi.)

The fastest way isn't always the bestest way.

Photo: 2.5-hour single-speed ride, 7:00 a.m.; 35 degrees; alt. 12,000 feet; between Eagle and Summit Counties, Colorado

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 5,300 yds (ytd 126,725 yds.)
Bike: 108 miles (ytd 2,672 mi.)
Run: 17 miles (ytd 817 mi.)

pedal, pedal, gasp, pedal, pedal, gasp...

Photo: post-13-mile run; 7:30 a.m.; 70 degrees; Marion, IA

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 4,100 yds (ytd 121,425 yds.)
Bike: 132 miles (ytd 2,564 mi.)
Run: 26 miles (ytd 800 mi.)

The fun of the run?

Photo: post-race; 10:00 a.m.; 50 degrees; White Bear Lake, MN

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 6,375 yds (ytd 117,325 yds.)
Bike: 82 miles (ytd 2,432 mi.)
Run: 21 miles (ytd 774 mi.)

2004... 3rd place AG
2005...2nd place AG
2006... 2 minutes faster than last year...
only good enough for 5th place...Aargh!

Exercise in Frustration, Frustration in Exercise

Photo: pre-race; 5:15 a.m.; 60 degrees; Linn County, Iowa

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 4,050 yds (ytd 110,950 yds.)
Bike: 121 miles (ytd 2,350 mi.)
Run: 22 miles (ytd 753 mi.)

Swim, Bike, Run...three times the fun!

Photo: 40-mile road ride; 6:30 a.m.; 70 degrees; Linn County, Iowa

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 6,100 yds (ytd 106,900 yds.)
Bike: 161 miles (ytd 2,229 mi.)
Run: 30 miles (ytd 731 mi.)

The only thing nice about this windy, rainy, humid ride was the photo at the very, very end.

Photo: 15-mile trail run; 6:30 a.m.; 48 degrees; Squaw Creek Park, Marion, Iowa

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 6,000 yds (ytd 100,800 yds.)
Bike: 154 miles (ytd 2,068 mi.)
Run: 31 miles (ytd 701 mi.)

Me, a name I call myself...Fa, a long, long way to run...

Photo: 31-mile trail run; 8:00 a.m.; 43 degrees; in the rain, muck, hills and more rain (get it?) of the Kettle Moraine Forest, Wisconsin

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 4,000 yds (ytd 94,800 yds.)
Bike: 73 miles (ytd 1,914 mi.)
Run: 39 miles (ytd 670 mi.)

The rain in Moraine stays mainly on the brain.

Photo: 35-mile road ride, 6:30 a.m., 45 degrees, Notcloseenoughtohome, Iowa

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 5,800 yds (ytd 90,800 yds.)
Bike: 172 miles (ytd 1,841 mi.)
Run: 32 miles (ytd 631 mi.)

Foggy Morning Breakdown... first flat of the year.

Photo: 5-mile neighborhood run, 6:00 a.m., 50 degrees, Marion, Iowa

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 6,400 yds (ytd 85,000 yds.)
Bike: 133 miles (ytd 1,669 mi.)
Run: 33 miles (ytd 599 mi.)

Sunrise in Sprawlville...

Photo: Road ride on the tri bike, 4:45 a.m., 48 degrees, Linn County, Iowa

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 6,300 yds (ytd 78,600 yds.)
Bike: 136 miles (ytd 1,536 mi.)
Run: 43 miles (ytd 566 mi.)

In the still of the night... it's apparent that one of my bikes needs a tune-up.

Photo: post-7-mile-run bus ride in the City of Angels (with a savior behind the wheel for good measure)

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 4,300 yds (ytd 72,300 yds.)
Bike: 132 miles (ytd 1,400 mi.)
Run: 44 miles (ytd 523 mi.)

...not what I'd been taught he'd look like.

Photo: 10-mile run, at some point after waking up, 69 degrees, Manhattan Beach, California

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 2,200 yds (ytd 68,000 yds.)
Bike: 68 miles (ytd 1,268 mi.)
Run: 33 miles (ytd 479 mi.)

A beach run a day keeps the doctor at bay.
or
We'll have run, run, run 'til our daddy takes vacation away.

Photo: Beat-the-storm ride/run, 6:00 a.m., 39 degrees, rural Linn County, Iowa

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 6,100 yds (ytd 65,800 yds.)
Bike: 117 miles (ytd 1,200 mi.)
Run: 35 miles (ytd 446 mi.)

“…Trees do generate oxygen; men just breathe it up, stink it up, and generally misuse it. Trees hold the soil in place, men are constantly displacing it. Trees provide shelter and protection to countless species, men threaten the existence of those species. When in sufficient number, trees regulate atmospheric temperatures, men endanger the planet by knocking those regulations askew. You can’t rest in the shade of a human, not even a roly-poly one; and isn’t it refreshing that trees can undergo periodic change without having a nervous breakdown over it? And which has more dignity – the calmer spiritual presence – a tree or a typical Homo sapiens? Best of all, perhaps, what maple or cypress ever tried to sell you something you didn’t want?" – Tom Robbins

Photo: 5-mile run, 6:30 a.m., 29 degrees, Marion, Iowa

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 6,100 yds (ytd 59,700 yds.)
Bike: 99 miles (ytd 1,083 mi.)
Run: 43 miles (ytd 411 mi.)

Cruel prank or home of Joie Chitwood?

Photo: 3-hour run, 6:00 a.m., 26 degrees, north of Marion, Iowa

Weekly activity log:
Swim: 5,500 yds (ytd 53,600 yds.)
Bike: 110 miles (ytd 984 mi.)
Run: 40 miles (ytd 368 mi.)

Good fences make good neighbors -Robert Frost

And bad fences...