End of "The Season".....Beginning of "20X"

The conversation was short and it went something like this:

Cale: Cody, time to take a bath.

Cody: No.

Cale: Cody, who makes the rules?

Cody: Me.

Cale: Cody, Mommy talked to you about this in the car today. Remember what she said? Alright, so who makes the rules?

Cody: Me. Cody. (said with an inference that I might not understand who "me" was.)

Gotta love the stubbornness of this little guy. Took all I had not to fall down laughing. I did good though, kept my stern Dad voice and insisted that it was bath time and that he needed to listen before things got ugly. Cody would eventually cave and take his bath and all was good in our world again. It takes Codes several runs before he gets things. It's part of his diagnosis. He has problems understanding complex novel situations. Which basically means any time your having a conversation with him and it's a new subject and there is more than one party, he gets confused easily. So it takes us several runs through to get the our point across. It all comes back to what the Neuro-Psychologist said about Codes having to work twenty times harder to get through what we would consider a normal day. With that said the theme for our road to the Ironman is set, it's 20X (20 times). It stands for putting in twenty times the effort, twenty times the donations, twenty times the smiles, twenty times the determination, twenty times the work and twenty times the fun. 20X!!!

On the racing front, Triathlon Season is now over, until February of next year when some of the races start up again. I ran my last sprint race on the 18th of October. Finished 3rd in my age group and second place in my age group in the sprint triathlon point series. It was a great way to end my season. The end of the triathlon season marks the beginning of the running season here in Florida. I ran my first half-marathon this weekend. Won my age group with a 1 hour 44 minute and 58 seconds for 13.1 miles. That's a fairly big mile stone for me as it marks the first time I have won my age group in any form of competition, since I got started in the mess two years ago.

Think I'll hold off on the announcement of my "secret weapon" for next year until the next blog. I'm also going to only up date the blog every two weeks next year, instead of every week as I originally planned. It's hard to come up with enough to fill the page in just a weeks time, plus I want to make it somewhat interesting. Every two weeks should allow me to gather some good stuff on Codes and my training.

The picture was taken by my wife, Knikie Simmons. It's me holding all my medals for the events I have completed from November 2008 thru November 2009. You can't see all of them in the picture, but there are quite a few.

Last race of the season........

Well this Sunday I will round out my 2009 competitive season for triathlon and running. I have to say that I have really enjoyed this year. As a family we participated in 10 running events and 17 triathlons between November of 2008 and November of 2009. That's 9.6 miles of swimming, 288 miles of biking and 114.7 miles of running in races only. I say as a family, because Knike, Quinn and Cody were at almost everyone of them. They didn't come out to some of the running races because it was just too cold to stand there while Dad ran and then got back in the car, plus if all Dad is doing is running, well then we are watching cartoons. Can't say that I blame them for that. I really want to tell them THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT THIS YEAR!!! My family absolutely rocks when it comes to supporting me. No one has a support group as good as mine and if you want to challenge that you'll have to deal with Codes (watch out, he bites).
I got to do some really cool races this year, including the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon and Ironman Florida 70.3 (half-ironman).
The Escape from Alcatraz race was one of those events in life that really only happen once. Can't tell you how great it feels to have your family cheering you on during a really special event.
Here is the brief overview from the website:
"Triathletes from around the globe will descend on San Francisco for one chance to attempt the impossible – ESCAPE from Alcatraz. The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon attracts World Champions, Olympic Medalists and the best amateur triathletes from 50 states and over 40 countries. They will put their endurance to the ultimate test as they take on San Francisco’s icy waters, steep hills, and rugged terrain. Consistently ranked #1 in the US by Inside Triathlon Magazine, this event draws thousands each summer to find out who has what it takes to ESCAPE! The 2009 Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon features a 1.5-mile swim through frigid waters from Alcatraz Island to the shores of the St. Francis Yacht Club, a grueling 18-mile bike ride, and a demanding 8-mile run through the trails of the Golden Gate Recreational Area. Set against the natural beauty of San Francisco, this thrilling triathlon is a virtual postcard of the City by the Bay."
As you can read it was really cool, you can find more details on that race here: http://www.escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com/
My other big race this year was my half-ironman. I trained really hard for this one and it was all working out well till around mile 12 of the 13.1 mile run, when my body decided it had had enough of the heat and I cramped up all over the place. I limped in to finish, stretching about every 10 steps or so for the last 1.1 miles. Learned a big lesson: No matter how much you prepare for a race, your body can always decide your done, sometimes well before your mind does. It's ok though, we are going back for more next year and I'll have a secret weapon in my corner. You can check out the details on this one here: http://www.floridahalfironman.com/
As some of you know I had my last "big" race of the year last weekend. I ran the Health First Olympic Distance triathlon in Melbourne, FL. I did really well coming out of the water and off the bike, from what I can tell I was in second or third place when I started running. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my leg turnover up to speed and I suffered dearly on the run. This has been a familiar thing for me in the last half of the year. I believe I have a handle on why and we will work on this extensively next year. I ended up finishing 6th in my age group, taking 2 hours 52 min and 35 seconds to finish the race. I was happy with my effort, but disappointed in my results. No worries, I still have one more race to finish up the year.
Sunday, we head down for a short sprint triathlon. It's the last race of an 8 race point series. I'm currently second in points and have a decent shot at winning the points in my age group, but I will have to have my best race ever on the course to do so. So one more race for this year!!!!
After that I'm headed to Panama City to Volunteer for Ironman Florida!!!!! 
I'll be giving details on that in my next blog (and I might tell you guys about my secret weapon for next year)!!! Then we start the blogs for the year!!! Let the count down begin!!
Picture was taken by my wife Knikie Simmons. It's Quinn, Cody and I before the start of the Health First race on October 11th, 2009.
For those interested here is the breakdown and results of all my races this year: Cale's Results for 2009 season