July 28, 2006

EPIC DAY #2 - details

OK guys,

For those brave folks who are planning on participating in some of Epic Day #2 with me on Sunday, here are the details/itinerary;

9am - enter Canandaigua Lake to begin swimming 3 miles, this will be 3 out and backs. All the way back to the shore each time and out to the rock barrier. No skimpingthis early in the day...

11am - (or shortly thereafter) depart for two loops around Canandaigua Lake via this route: Kick ass route around Canandaigua, not up Bopple Should be a good ride, be sure to pack enough food to get you thru the bike and if you plan on running afterwards, pack more than you think is necessary to get the most calories on the bike as possible.

5:30pm or 6pm - rack our bikes and lock them on our vehicles (which still would be parked at Kershaw Park) and plod off and shuffle along on a really really easy 90 minute or 120 minute run. The run is not to be sprinted, if you come only for the run and take it out real fast, I won't like you and I will let you run out in front and run away. Those of us who did the swim and the bike will be hurting by that time. Hurting greatly...

***Bring some extra cash and tubes/CO2 for the bike, it will be a 100+ mile ride and you just need to be prepared, so be smart about it. Bring cell phones just in case too and we will exchange #'s before we leave in case anyone gets lost or anything happens. We will stop only a few times to regroup and maybe once to buy drinks/ice cream at that store in Italy Valley again. Additionally, it is supposed to be HOT and humid on Sunday. We are going rain/shine, so come prepared for both (salt caps for the sun, rain gear for the wet...) Again, just be prepared for whatever mommy nature throws our way.

I do not have a course set for the run as it is just going to be a 90-120 minute run and I figure we can just figure out a good direction that day. Bring food/gels/water on the run to stay hydrated and fueled, it will be a long day...I'm wearing a fuel belt for the run like I did last time I ran for epic. (thanks for sponsoring me fuel belt!!!) it's just a good idea.

All in all, it is shaping up to be a STELLAR weekend for EPIC! :) I'm getting stoked about it. It's a HUGE confidence booster for any endurance racing and you can test out nutrition/hydration strategies during training. Come for all, just the swim, or any smattering of the three disciplines. The departure/itinerary times will not change, so if you decide jsut to come for the run, be there by 5:30pm just to be safe... Hope to see you on Sunday for Epic #2!!! Cheers.

Nothing wakes me up like the smell of neoprene in the morning :-)

July 26, 2006

HYSTERICAL VIDEO!!!

http://weshobsonperformance.com/images/video.mpeg

many thanks to Alexis for finding this GEM. I nearly fell out of my chair with laughter when watching this one...enjoy!

More Hammerfest photos!

Hammerfest lurking in the trees/bushes at the Rochester Twighlight Criterium bicycle race in Rochester, NY


Wasn't Hammerfest Six also called Hammerfest sex? Nicely done Darren... what the picture doesn't show is that Darren actually went in and slapped a sticker right on one of the girls who was dancing that evening...they wouldn't let him shoot the photo though.


Alas, Hammerfest finally goes international, I knew it was just a matter of time...you know, it's kind of a big deal... This and the sex picture above, are from Darren and Alexis on their recent trip to France.

July 24, 2006

Hammerfest 007 rundown

Well, I know this one is a little later as Hammerfest 007 was about a week and a half ago but hey, better late than never right?

Hammerfest 007 was the first edition of the Hammerfest Swims to be held outdoors at Kershaw Park in Canandaigua, NY. Several swimmers met at the park at 6pm and had to wade thru the traffic on the main drag to get to be able to swim. Darren and Alexis both graced us with their presence after a brief hiatus overseas in France (more on that later) and Heather Lakatos and Travis Money also joined in on the fun. Mr. John Hunter showed as well, but was a little bit later than anticipated. Seems some lines of communication got crossed...

We entered the water at about 6:30pm and I thanked everyone for showing up and swimming and we were off. The sun was in our eyes on the way out and we seemed to miss all of the masters swimmers who begin at 7pm. We swam the large "L" course and there was a nice water trampoline obstacle at the very end nearing the turnaround which caught some people by suprise. On the way back, I passed by John as he was a little late and just decided to go. He looked at me all bewildered as we both passed by breathing on the same side. I hit the line in 24:03 and Heather was close behind in 28:43 (after dealing with the trampoline and creepy random people at the end just staring at us while standing in the lake in their wetsuits...) There was a "sprint" finish for 3rd place on the podium and according to Travis Money, Darren beat him out by a half second after running over an old man who was coming the opposite direction wearing noseplugs. (I witnessed the WHOLE thing and it was too funny to even try to stop from happening..) Coming in shortly after was Alexis who had a 35:28 and we stood around waiting for John to come back and he popped out of the water saying he did a 19:56 but really had no watch on to time himself, so we just stopped the clock for him at 46:01.

We all toweled off, peeled out of the wetsuits only to be harassed by a large lifeguard who instead of walking over to tell us something, decided it would be easier (?) to drive over in a GOLF CART to tell us we had to use the main entrance instead of sneaking in on the side next time. Odd...

Anyway, we walked over to the awards at Scoops ice cream and began the ceremony. Everyone but poor Mr. $ were able to partake in the dessert (sorry buddy, I didn't know) and he was even shut out of getting WATER from the high school girls who were manning the ice cream stand. Ridiculous.

The awards began by me giving away a bunch of crap that I had amassed over the past few months including a new pair of TYR goggles to either Heather or Alexis (I dont know who went home with them), a ton of Heed and Recoverite to John and an AMAZING maze to Travis and other stuff that I can't really remember. But there was MORE! Darren apparently brushed up on his wrestling skills while overseas and beat up a BUNCH of 8 year olds to get us all some really cool SWAG from Le Tour de France. There were hats, keychains, pens, floppy hats, some really "cool" cycling hats with the short brims, and other alloted goodies that we all were able to get. Thank you guys so much for grabbing some really cool stuff at the Tour.

The only beef I have was with the blow up Hammer that you brought back and gave to me deflated. I thought to myself, "Self, why not blow it up and see what it looks like?" so I do and it is leaking, no big deal, I blow it up again and Darren continues to laugh and laugh. I finally get it blown up and sealed off and I say, "guys look at this!" and Darren and Alexis procced to side splittingly laugh their asses of at me and Darren tells me shortly after I had been making out with the Hammer, trying to blow it up, that they found that one on the ground and just wanted to bring it home to the US to show me (because it was a hammer for hammerfest) and not for me to use... I proceeded to cough and hack and spit out whatever was in my mouth after that and if I get sick, I'm already blaming it on you guys....thanks...

Well yeah, Hammerfest 007 was a great time and despite the grossness from slobbering on the sidewalk hammer, the awards were great too. Thank you to Darren and Alexis for helping out and bringing tons of cool stuff and thank you all for showing up and keeping Hammerfest such a big deal...

The next edition of the Hammerfest Swims is going to be Hammerfest 8, or H8 (hate) for short. (I really couldn't think of a catchier name...) it is scheduled to also be an outdoors swim at Kershaw which will take place on Friday August 11th, 2006 at 6:30pm (to beat the rush) the waters are warm enough that you will not need a wetsuit, so come join even if you don't own one...there will be plenty of awards and the usual shenanigans during and afterwards. I am going to try to open this up to a MUCH larger group by posting it on the RATS website and telling people of all ages about it, so if you know ANYONE who would like to join, let me know and direct them to this site. Hope the week is treating you all well and the training is going great. Take care everyone and I will see you on Friday August 11th at 6:30pm. Be there, and still have a chance to get on the leaderboard (as you can see only 6 spots were taken at Hammerfest 007.) Still lots of chances to get your name up there, so show up, swim fast, get on the board and enjoy some post workout dessert! See you viernes hombre.

July 11, 2006

Hammerfest 007 hype

Hey everyone,

Just thought you all would get a laugh out of the above mentioned photo. Mr. Phil VanPeursem sent it to me a long time ago and I thought it would be appropriate given the proximity to Hammerfest 007 on FRIDAY evening!

That's right, Friday at 6pm, swimmers will organize outside the big blue building at Kershaw Park for the seventh edition of the Hammerfest Swims. These swims are CRUCIAL to your sucess as a triathlete and you don't want this to happen to you... after all these swims were just originated so everyone could get faster together and improve their swim splits. The open water at Kershaw Park is a PERFECT place for you to test your open water skills. After all, I hear girls like guys with skills...and I'm pretty good with a bowstaff. Anyway, the course is VERY well marked and it is a straight (well pretty straight) one mile shot with a half mile down and a half mile back.

So, if you are fast enough and place in the top ten swimmers you can get the honor of being on the Top Ten list to the right! Wahoo! And based on the participation lately, if you just show up, you can probably get a spot on the list. You will be the envy of all your friends as your name will be listed on the site up until the NEXT Hammerfest swim, or until someone beats your time and knocks you off your throne of greatness.

Additionally to lure and entice you all in to some swim and participate in the COOLEST and fantastical race in Western New York, the winner will get their ice cream purchased for them by me at Scoops Ice Cream across the street at the awards ceremony. Speaking of awards, we have a CRAPLOAD of cool stuff to give away. This month we have a pair of TYR goggles, CD's, DVD's, and product from Hammer Nutrition and Aquaphor. Come on out, swim your heart out, enjoy the company of friends, get your workout in early and sit around having ice cream while I give away a bag of door prizes.

This Hammerfest swim is the first open water swim and based on the weather forecast this weekend, it looks to be perfect. The water is really warm enough even if you don't have a wetsuit, so come on down and get your lycra covered ass in the lake to swim a mile for the best OPEN water swim race in the Greater Rochester Area!!!

So in closing, come on down at 6pm on Friday evening, bring a watch to time yourself and participate in the seventh edition of the Hammerfest swims. Tell your friends, family, co-workers, that good looking guy/girl at the dry cleaners, anyone who you think would want to come down and swim a mile for fun. Just tell them to post a comment to this site to let me know if you are a "yay" or a "nay" attendance-wise. If you don't know how to post a comment, click this, and it will lead you to a page instructing you how. (By the way, feel free to poke around and check all the links on this page and the sidebar, I've tried to make them as amusing as possible)

So, post a comment to let me know you will be there or not, and show up to swim your best and grab a spot on the leader board and enjoy some Scoops Ice cream and a chance to grab tons of door prizes. And remember, try not to fart in your wetsuit, bad things happen... (see photo above) See you there 6pm on Friday noche hombre!

~Your Favorite Hammerfest Race Director,
Travis Earley

July 6, 2006

Hammerfest 007 who-plah

Just who is this sexy man? Read on...

Well, the triathlon season is WELL underway in upstate New York and for those who don't know, there is some SERIOUS racing going on. Times are blazingly fast and the competition is fierce! If you have no idea what I am talking about, get to a race and see for yourself.

Hey, I hear there is a SUPERB race on Friday evening ("...no one has races in the evening, this must be an AWESOME race!"...) in Canandaigua Lake. In fact, show up at 6pm and be ready to throw down your metaphorical gauntlet and zip up your wetsuit and plunge into Canandaigua Lake for the 7th edition of the Hammerfest swims... (let's take a moment of silence for our friend Lance Armstrong's retirement from le Tour this year...after having won his magic seven tours)

The word on the street is this one is going to be the BEST HAMMERFEST YET. That's no bull either. I got a voicemail from Gary Fallesen a while back (sports writer for the Democrat and Chronicle pictured above) saying that he wanted to do an article on the Hammerfest Swims!!! I guess he heard how much of a "big deal" they are and wanted to investigate what they were all about (right Mr. Howland??) I never returned his call, but I wish I would have... but maybe, maybe if there is an insane amount of people there on Friday July 14th at 6pm (like it is gearing up to be) he will call again for another article and we will get a second chance to show him what kind of "big deal" the Hammerfest swims are.

So, if you want to be part of the "big deal" of the Hammerfest swims, show up and race (for FREE!!!) on a measured mile open water swim in Kershaw Park after work on July 14th, 2006 at 6pm. Bring your wetsuit and be ready to paddle your booties off for Hammerfest 007.

Awards will immediately follow after everyone changes into street clothes across the street from Kershaw Park at the ice cream place. (so bring some cash for some post work out dessert) As something different, instead of the winner getting a case of his or her favorite adult beverage, the winner this month will receive their ice cream free of charge, to be purchased for them by the losers. So if you have, as they say, "juevos grandes" don't bring any cash at all and pray that you are faster than everyone so your ice cream is free :) But if you get beat, looks like you may go hungry...

The awards will feature DOOR PRIZES!!! (not prizes for walking thru door Sys...) That's right, since there was a lack of participation at the last Hammerfest, we waived the door prizes and this month we have almost DOUBLE the normal amount of booty!!! As an added bonus, if you place in the top ten, you get your name on the TOP TEN HAMMERFEST LEADERBOARD for Kershaw Park! So, get ready to rumble as the competition is fierce for that honor.

So, don't be a square, get to Kershaw Park in Canandaigua, NY on Friday evening July 14th 2006 at 6pm for the 7th edition of the Hammerfest Swims. It is FREE, it is a one mile open water swim course that is metered and measured. If you place in the top ten, you get special recognition on the leader board to the right and the winner gets free ice cream for the night across the street at the awards. If you want to get better and not end up like John Hunter, Alan Hatch, or Travis Money come to Kershaw Park to get faster and fitter. See you in neoprene at 6pm that night, special agents, for Hammerfest 007.

Post a comment to this post if you can make it, and pass it on to friends or anyone else who would want to join. Just click this to see how to post a comment to the site and let me know that you are coming so we can wait for you if needed. Be there or be rhombus (as Greg likes to say).... See you at 6pm on 7/14/06