Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Endourance Couples

I wrote in my last blog that Taconite Boy and Trimama were one of the few racing couples that I knew. Then I got to thinking about it, and there are quite a few here in Blogopia, in no particular order:


Nytro and Iron Benny.


Barb and Everyman


TriDogMom and Iron Shane


Geek Girl and Sweet Baboo


Stronger and TriJack (ha! just had to get that in there....like it's any big secret, gees...)


Aimee and Tri-Dummy (Aimee being quite possible the latest addition with her inaugural race this past weekend)


Boomer and Hubby (yea, even Hubby ran a race not too long ago)


J-Wim and Mike


There are probably more out there in our world that I'm forgetting, and I'm sorry for missing you. I just thought it interesting that with all the time and energy and finances it takes to be an endurance athlete, it almost seems natural that a spouse or significant other takes up racing to some degree as well.


No, this isn't a prelude to a big announcement of Mrs. Bigun's first race - we're just happy that she's able to get on a bike every now and then and ride with GEL. We must not forget the importance of our loving Sherpas - without Di by my side at races and through all this training, I'm not sure I'd be able to do it! Plus, trimming down so she'd find me sexy when I do my "sexy dance" was my initial motivation to work out. Hopefully Sweetness now has an image of the Bigun doing his "sexy dance" burned into his brain...

I'm feeling pretty lazy and tired right now, so no customary links or graphs or pics. SORRY! Well, ok, one link, coming up. Di did some search and found my rendition of "Business Time" translated in German on this dude's blog...he acknowledges me, so that's cool. It's just funny seeing it all in another language...and I'm a language guy. What's a language guy, you ask? I like to try and pick up other languages when the need arises. When I was in Houston, and had a bunch of Spanish speakers working for me, I tried to learn esSpanish. When I was stationed in Germany in the late '80's, I tried to learn to speak German. They (the Germans) called me "Metzger" - the Butcher - because I so badly spoke it. I took Russian in college - now there's a language with a short fuse in the memory bank! Use it or lose it.

Well that was a tangent! On the training front....this heat has me smoked all-the-time! I cut 6 lawns today from 9am - 3pm, and then tried an interval ride of 50 miles. I went out WAAAAAY to fast on my first interval (about 23.5mph for 6.5 miles) and thoroughly ruined the prospect of a 2.5 hr ride. The next interval let me average about 22mph for the 6.5 miles, and on the third lap, all I could muster were 100 turns standing as hard as I could for 4 of the 6 miles. So I got an ok Fartlek in at the end there. HR, of course, gave me NO READING the entire way. But, averaged 19.1 for 37 miles. When I got home at around 7:30pm, it was still 90 degrees out, plus humidity.

With no rain in the forecast for this week, I should be able to do my yards as planned, and only suck up the week, leaving me free to smoke myself with a long run and bike on the weekend. Yea!!!!!

19 comments:

Tea said...

Here here to the SHERPA's! I don't know how they put up with us.

S. Baboo said...

I think the triathlon couple consists of either a pair of racers or a racer and a dedicated sherpa/fan or a racer and a dedicated photographer/fan…point being they are both into the lifestyle together in the way that suits them best and it is a wonderful thing.

Oh yeah, the dancing image…I immediately thought of the Elaine (from Seinfeld) dance but with a large man in a thong.

Bwah ha ha ha…I’ve infected the blogosphere with a more explicit image of the Bigun wriggling in a thong.

bigmike600 said...

Hey. Di is every bit important and she should be included in Team Bigun. Nice MPH on that ride. I'd love to know how you do it.
Dude that Seinfeld episode is one of the funniest ever...Its like a dry heave set to music.

Unknown said...

I believ it was a FULL BODY dry heave set to music, big mike. You stand corrected.
I vote you tpae the sexy dance, load it to youtube, and post it to your blog.
As for the language thing, I totally get it. My mom was a French teacher and she also minored in Russian and Latin, so needless to say there was a lot of foofy language stuff in my house growing up.
My mom and dad also learned Spanish together in order to assimilate better when they winter in Costa Rica. The story they tell is of going to the grocery store the first winter they were there and ordering groceries in Spanglish until the locals started rolling thier eyes - thats how they knew they were done shopping.

Iron Eric said...

Quite a few couples. My wife doesn't do triathlons though...several people have asked...and its still a no. Thanks ok, more racing for me!!

Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom" said...

I am very lucky that Shane & I are both so into this stuff! I couldn't imagine it any other way.

When I was injured for several years it was so hard for me to be the "sherpa".... You really are lucky for having Di... I think that is very hard to come by.

The (IRON) Clyde said...

You forgot "The Big Cheese" and his left hand.

momo said...

i have an iron sherpa, too. two racers (especially type a ones) in our household would be TOO TOO much! ;-)

Andra Sue said...

My hubby and I train together too. Well, actually we start off together...then he goes a bazillion times faster than me...and then I don't see him again until we're back to the car when we're finished. Except for swimming--I can almost kick his ass at swimming. And if I can pick up his draft, I can stay with him on the bike. Siiiiigh. Men. :P

Kate said...

Whoa, I could almost write the exact same post as Andra Sue! Mr KT is also a triathlete and he is so darn fast!

Fe-lady said...

Hubby USED to race until he had to have a full hip replacement six years ago (avascular neucrosis- jumping fully loaded from helicopters ain't so good for one's joints!) He was a top triathlete in the area just before I met him...jumps on teams at times as their swimmer...so in my book he COUNTS! But alas, he doesn't blog-writes memoirs instead!)

Green Eyed Lady (aka GEL) said...

I just told Di last night that I don't have a competitive bone in my body until it comes to Scrabble. As long as I continue to kick your butt when we play, I'm so, so happy! ;)

Oly said...

Gots too give the sherpas love.

Cindy Jo said...

Well my hubby USED to run marathons. I think he gave it up b/c I started getting faster than him!

Supalinds said...

I think it would be unpossible (also the same as impossible), to train without a dedicated training buddy or sherpa. To the training couples of the world, they make everything possible.

Pat said...

arn't all couples endurance couples?

bigmike600 said...

Good one Pat. Funny how everyone here shows a lot respect for their other half. Wish the whole world was like that.

Anonymous said...

You can add gel and m-gel to the list. It takes an ultra endurance sthlete to put up with m-gel.

Iron Pol said...

So, uh, yeah. The Bigun sexy dance... Not an image I needed in my head. I ate not too long ago.

And did you hear that they'll be holding a Tri One-O-One race right here in my next of the woods, next year? (Holding out cookies to entice Bigun) (To the race, not to do the sexy dance)