Category Archives: Triathlon

Shopping – ORR Cycling

We here at the OGRE HQ ( otherwise known as the Swamp ), have a strong bias towards shopping local, shopping small, and shopping made in USA. It is hard to do all of the above these days, but with care, you can usually hit 1 or 2 out of the 3. In addition, we like to add a 4th category, and that is shop with quality people.

Shop Small: Yes — Shop Local: Sorta — Shop Made in USA: No

Today we are profiling a relatively new wheel vendor that fits the ‘Small’ category nicely. They are sorta local, though they do not currently have any retail options, they are based more or less locally in South Carolina. Made in USA, not so much. With the lack of carbon fiber foundries in the US though, it is hard to find on-shore manufacturing for carbon fiber, so while we would normally whine about the off shore fabrication, we understand the market realities here, so while not a full pass, they get a partial pass.

We didn’t start off searching for a smaller wheel vendor. Like many people, our first pass at carbon wheels was with a large brand that is well known. Those wheels are very good, but at those prices, you do not want to ride them every day. At the expo for IM Chattanooga 70.3 2015, we met Jason Williamson (and his lovely wife and new baby) of ORR Cycling. At the expo, we had a chance to chat for a while, and that is where Jason did a great job of articulating what he and his brother wanted to accomplish.

In short, the mission is to build and sell a quality carbon fiber wheel set that is race ready, at a price that can be used as an every day wheel.

I was not ready to pull the trigger to give them a shot at the time, but after the race and some challenges with my big name wheels, Jason’s pitch kept percolating in the brain. The more I thought about it, the more interested I became. It took about a month, but eventually I gave him a call, and purchased a set of his wheels to give them a try. That said, at the time, Jason did all the right things from a customer service perspective. With the death of customer service in most industries, that was a truly refreshing start.

The wheels arrived promptly, and in true bike nerd fashion, within an hour of arriving home that evening, cassette, tubes and tires were mounted, and the wheels found their way onto the bike.

On a side note, these are not the first deep profile/aero wheels to find their way onto this bike, but they are the first that did not require an hour of adjusting the rear brakes to make them work without an almost zero tolerance configuration. Unlike almost every major competitor, the width of the wheel at the brake track is almost identical to the 23mm width that is the standard for many ‘stock’ wheels, while most of the aero wheels are as wide as 26mm at the brake track. Not unexpected, but there was a tiny bit of adjustment required to get the shifting back to where I prefer.

A month later, the wheels have seen about 800 miles of wear and tear, in a wide mix of conditions, including a race on broad range of road surfaces (brand new asphalt, really crappy old asphalt, concrete, tar snake encrusted asphalt, and my personal favorite, WTF is this / who put this speed bump in the middle of my race way) these wheels have answered the call. Solid performance with a minimum of flex even when being pushed hard up an 11% grade. In reality, the ONLY negative on the wheel so far has been the one tube change on the side of the road, and this is not really a wheel problem per se. The tires are a VERY tight fit, and while most of time, I can change a tube quickly (under 6 minutes), it took closer to 10 minutes for me to make the change simply because I had to work harder to get the tire bead over the rim. This is not a bad thing really, but it is worth noting.

So here we are, a month later, and my verdict on ORR Cycling is simply this. Excellent customer service. Great people. Good product at a great price point. How good? well, the plan is to pick up another set with a shallower profile to use on the road bike as it’s every day wheels. Yes, folks, I like them that much. I have already recommended them to a couple of buyers, and will continue to do so.

Dammit David, this is all your fault!

One year ago, this is the race that started this crazy thing we call triathlon. It really is all the fault of the big guy above. David knew I cycled, and knew I had started running. He convinced me that a triathlon would be fun. So it was that in early June of 2014, I signed up for this race. He was going to race it with me until a crash and an injury sidelined him for the race.

So it was that I got to race it without his support. As a matter of fact, I had a couple of people I knew racing, but none that I knew well. There was more than a little bit of terror going on. Want proof? This pre-race photo tells it all. There may be a smile on the face, but it is forced. Look at the body language. The shoulder set, the nervous tilt of the head and hips.

It all boils down to “Shit what have I gotten into”.

The smile is a lie, see that body language? there is some terror in that body

However, the post race photo tells the other side of the story. See the relaxed set of the whole body? This my friends is where addiction sets in. This is why we do this. That feeling that comes with finishing the race.

Finished the First Triathlon. See that smile? Addictions start this way.

And here we go again. Same race a year later, and I am beyond excited. So much has changed in a year. Last year, I was worried about swimming 500 meters, then hopping on the bike for 16 miles and still having the gas to run a 5k. This year, I am going into the race having already done an Olympic and half Ironman distance race, and a few weeks into the build for a full distance Ironman. Looking at the Training Plan, and realizing that this is not even a full ‘training day’ in terms of distances is a novelty. Don’t be confused though, I have no chance at a podium finish, but I am not going out there to finish. Sunday is all about how fast can I do this. It is a personal challenge and dammit, I am excited to hit it as hard and fast as I can.

How fast is that? I have an internal time goal, and it is lofty for me. Swim? 9 minutes, bike? 41 minutes, run? 25 minutes, 2 minutes in transitions, for a goal time of 77 minutes. This is a massive stretch, and may not be doable at my fitness level. It is going to hurt, and I am going to love every minute of it.

And it is still, all David’s damned fault!

PT Solutions Allatoona Sprint Triathlon

OGRE Dru suffering from a cramp in the run at IM Choo 70.3

Just one look at the above, and you can understand why nutrition matters. This is what happens when you do not fuel your body on the bike and hit the run without enough fuel to keep the body from cramping up. Once you get to this point, you can’t recover while still racing. This is why we work on nutrition plans during training days too.

The story behind this, and the tale of woe that I hope you can learn from my mistake. You see, I had trained my nutrition plan. Thought I had it wired. Infinit Go Far in one bottle. Nuun in the other. Gu Gel at 45 minutes on the bike, Bonk Breaker bar at 90 minutes on the bike, Gu Gel at 135 minutes on the bike, another Bonk Breaker before run transition, then Gu Roctane Gels on the run, with water and gatorade provided on course. All of this augmented with electrolyte capsules at a rate of 1 per hour.

In training, this went great. Race day however did not play well. You see, it rained on the bike course. Lesson to take away, Bonk Breakers are messy and difficult to consume in the rain, so I didn’t consume them as planned. I think you see where this is going already don’t you? Yeah, me too. I didn’t eat the solid nutrition, and the gels just aren’t enough to keep this engine going, so when I hit mile 6 of the run, and the quad started cramping to the point of locking up the knee, I knew that my 2 hour run was now an impossible goal. I could finish, but the last half of the run was going to be a long cycle of run slow, cramp, walk it out, repeat to the finish line. It took almost twice as long to cover the last 7 miles as it took to cover the first 6. Crossing the finish line, I had already had a while to stew on what I did wrong.

The hammer that drove it home? After a good meal, and a couple hours of walking around the city as a tourist post race, the cramping was gone, and there was no soreness or weakness in the area. Lesson learned. Eat, and more importantly, prepare for the conditions. What I would do differently is to portion my Bonk Breakers into bite sized portions that are easier to consume in inclement conditions. I won’t repeat that mistake again. Instead, I am sure I will find entirely new mistakes to make.

First Long Ride of the Season

With the chaos that is the life of a parent, sometimes finding the time to get a couple of good long rides in to start the season is incredibly challenging. Last weekend I managed to a 40 mile ride at a slow pace, followed up with a short brick. It was a challenge. It ended up taking a vacation and being a travelling circus to get a solid 90 miles in. IT was a good 90 though. Strangely, this was the longest ride I had done on an aero bike. I have ridden centuries in the past, but always on my road bike. Needless to say there where some lessons learned.

Lessons Learned

Aero is a huge advantage in stiff headwinds
Aero bikes, even with standard wheels get pushed around a lot in crosswinds
Racing Mopeds, while fun, is not a good idea at mile 40, 44, 51, or 63 of a 90
Sand. Is. Evil.

That said, it was a wonderful ride. 5 hours in the sunshine, parallel to the beach, really is a great way to break back into the long days. Admittedly, the 3 miles run off that bike wasn’t all that fun. But that is why we do this right? to get better, and make these easier?

Gearing Up

In all of the insanity that is training for an endurance event like long course triathlon, the challenges that surround selecting equipment are sometimes lost. The list of equipment that you need it long, and unfortunately much of it boils down to personal choice and comfort. There really isn’t much that is ‘one size fits all’. Just a partial list:

Swim suit(s)
Swim Cap
Swim Goggles
Wetsuit
Transition Bag – Schlepping the stuff around
Run Shoes
Run Socks
Hydration Belt/Bottles
Run Shorts
Run Tights
Run Shirts
Run Cold Weather Shell
Bike
Bike Shorts/Tri Shorts
Bike Top
Bike Cold Weather Shell
Bike Shoes
Bike Socks
Bike Helmet
Bike Gloves
Bike Cold Weather Extras
Bike Rack for transport
Indoor Trainer
Sunglasses

For most of these, you will need multiples. Remember, training is 6 days a week. If you also work a full time job, that means rest days are laundry days, so you need enough gear to get through a week of training. You’ll probably also want a race day kit that doesn’t have thousands of training miles in it.

It is a lot to tackle. Most of the time, athletes coming into this sport already have a base in at least one of the disciplines, but there is still more to add.

Though I have been a cyclist for years, I am having to slowly rotate and replace some of my old cycling favorites with some items that are more tri appropriate, but much of my gear works well for continuing the bicycle base training. I have also been running for a couple of years, but even then, I simply don’t have enough gear to get through all of the training sessions without doing laundry more than once a week. And swimming? not even close.

It goes without saying that building up the gear base is tough, and when you look at that list, a huge percentage of it is gear that boils down to personal preference, and experience. There are things on that list have to tried, and tested and iterated to find that ‘perfect’ fit.

Some of it, I have already done, some I have yet to do. Well, over the coming months, I will be sharing some of my adventures in selecting gear, and some of my misadventures.

My first one will be about a touchy subject, shoes. Specifically my adventures over the last 3 years finding a shoe that really worked for me. The problems that come with doing things for all the wrong reasons, and how NOT to change shoe styles. Should be riveting.

The Lie: “I just want to finish”

Find me an endurance athlete that hasn’t answered this at least once. I will wait, because I don’t think you can find one. It is an easy answer to give people that really do not understand what and why we do these things to ourselves. When it becomes a lie though is when we start giving this answer to people that do in fact understand these things, particularly when it is not our first rodeo.

I know that I am guilty, and as I talk to other athletes I understand that most of us do it. We tell this little white lie because internally we are fighting a battle with ourselves. There are three translations of this little white lie.

It is my first event, and I simply do not know what to expect

This is probably the most legitimate usage, particularly early in the training cycle, but even then, I think most athletes have a number that they are internally targeting.

I do not want to admit how slow I am

This one I see a lot with people that are ultra competitive and are unwilling to share a target time that makes them look slow/bad/out of shape.

I’ve set an unrealistic number in my head and if I tell you and miss it…

And the is the killer. I think many of us are guilty of this one, I know that I am. We set high goals, and telling someone else these goals makes them more real, and raises the stakes.

Emotionally, each of these translations have ramifications, but I am going on record that 3 is my reasoning. This season I will be doing my first events at the 70.3 and 140.6 distances, and yes, I have set unrealistic internal goals. When I say I just want to finish, I am leaving out the last bit.

For the 70.3, I may tell you that is all about finishing, but that last bit that I say in my head is usually “In a number between 5:30 and 6:30. 40 minutes for the swim, 3 hours for the bike, and 2.5 hours for the run would the ‘realistic’, but in my head, I’m thinking 30 minutes in the water, 2.75 on the bike and a 2 hour run, which would be a 5:15’ish finish. and that’s why I may answer you ‘just finish’ because I don’t really want you to know that internally I’ll be disappointed with a number that starts in a 7 or greater..

Ironman Chattanooga 2015 Here We Come

Well, it is official. Scott and I are now signed up for Ironman Chattanooga in 2015. After a long 8 hour shift volunteering at Run Special Needs for the 2014 event, the OGRE’s stood in line bright and early Monday morning to take advantage of the pre-registration and signed up.

This will be the first Ironman distance race for both of us. Luckily we have a year to prepare, and will be doing several races between now and then as prep. We will be training with the good folks at Endurance House Atlanta, and expect to race under their colors next year.

As you see here, the motley crew of people racing with Endurance House should make for a very fun year of training. Along the way however, we have some things to do. Oddly, this was the event that really compelled us to start this website. The journey to get there is the real story behind every race. This is the story of the journey, to be told along the way, in all of it’s painful glory.

I hope you enjoy the next year. I can honestly say that I am excited, but also terrified. At the end of the day though, volunteering this year helps me understand what we have gotten into.

Not too long ago, I say a quote that really sums it all up though:

If your dreams do not scare your, then you are not dreaming big enough

With that in mind, we are dreaming big. When we run though Run Special Needs next year, we hope to see the kind of support the race earned this year.

Embrace the Commute for Training

As an aspiring ( and late in life ) triathlete, finding the time to get in the miles and hours required to build fitness and base endurance is probably the single largest challenge. Time, for many of us is our most valuable commodity. Between the demands of employment, family, sleep, and our social commitments, squeezing out potentially hours a day for working out is tough. Many of us look to combine our fitness goals into other aspects, be it social, or family obligations, while some of us are lucky enough to be able to get our fitness as part of our employment, the rest of us, have to find that time elsewhere.

Consider a pretty typical white collar professional parent schedule:

7:00-7:45AM – Feed kids/launch them to school.
7:45-9:00AM – Transit to place of employment.
9:00AM-12:00PM – Work
12:00-12:30AM – Lunch like time (in many cases eaten at a desk)
12:30-5:00PM – Work
5:00-6:15PM – Transit Home
6:15-8:00PM – Family Time (dinner,homework,domestic chores)
8:00-10:00PM – “Down Time”

Carving out ‘workout time’ that isn’t in that late evening time, using dreadmills and indoor trainers is brutal. This is where the commute as a training window comes into play. A commute of say 10-20 miles is going to take 20-60 minutes in a car in most areas, while that same commute by bicycle is going to be between 20-90 minutes depending upon the rider. Add some clean up and a change of clothes at the other end, and you are typically still well within the transit time window. Now instead of needing to find another time during the day for a workout, the workout is part of the day.

Will this work for everyone? absolutely not, but if you can make it work for you, it can be a huge benefit, not only in time saved and fitness, but it also improves on the job performance (though I will be the first to admit that there are days when the temptation to keep riding past the office is almost overwhelming!).

For me personally, I have had to adapt a couple of things in my schedule. My working hours are early, I typically target getting to the office around 6:30AM, so I am commuting in the dark, so that means riding with lights. I enjoy the morning ride as a low pace 12 mile spin, with an average of about 15 mph. I then work until 2:30 or 3:00PM and then hustle home on a different return route that is close to 16 miles over some nasty rollers. This is a far more spirited work out, that usually pushes over 18 mph. Once I am home, and I get the kids off to their various events, I use the down time between drop off and pick up times to either work on the laptop, hit the trail for a run, or hit one of the pool options for a few laps. Then it is home for dinner, homework, baths and bedtimes. Sure, the days are full, but I actually feel better for it, and I am not stressing about finding time in the day to squeeze in a bike workout too.

Race Report – Callaway Gardens Fitness Series Triathlon & 5k

August 30, 2014 two of the OGRE’s joined up with Lee and Steve Karp of Endurance House Atlanta to take a short trip down to Pine Mountain, GA to participate in the Callaway Gardens Fitness Series Triathlon and 5k event at Callaway Gardens. This is an event that claims to be the oldest ongoing triathlon in the continental U.S. having run every year since 1980. That may be the case, but the information to be found online, is a bit shall we say, lacking. Regardless, the venue offers up some pretty scenery, and the event held a lot of potential. As an added bonus, this was Scott’s first triathlon event.

The event itself was billed as a 1km swim, 30km bike and 8km run, though the course and profile was not available until checkin on sunday, and even that map was a little tricky to make heads or tails of. It doesn’t help that many of the roads inside of Callaway Gardens are not properly mapped in any of the current mapping tools online, so going into the course quite blind meant preparing for an unknown.

Course Swim Bike Run

As you will see if you look at the maps, none of the distances measured to quite the lengths expected. Not a crisis, but the event proved to be a little shorter than expected.

Swim

The swim portion of the course was cut down pretty dramatically due to a wakeboarding competition to be held in the same lake later in the day. The net result was a swim course that swam much closer to 600 meters than one 1000. Adding to the confusion here was a mixture of buoys in the water courtesy of the same wakeboarding event. All in all, the swim itself should have been a nice loop, but the confusion with the buoys combined with a lack of swim support ( 4 support ski boats, no paddle boards or wave runners for close support of swimmers ) made for a couple of scary moments as one swimmer did have a bit of panic set in early in the swim and the support simply was out of place. Competitors saved the day there, not the support staff.

Bike

This was the part of the course that probably raised the most eyebrows. The race director noted early and often that the course was quite techincial with several 90* or worse turns (14 of them in total). In addition, there was a good bit of riding up (and down) grades between 3-7%. with a total ascent of about 650 feet, none of it on straight roads, and all of it in the shade of trees, or on the edge of lakes. Certainly pretty, but a little frustrating if you are trying to maximize your speed on the bike course. Advertised at 30km, the measured distance came in at a little over 26km, and while it was fairly technical, it remained a course that could be ridden at an average speed over 20mph. In addition, the course was well marked and had support staff at every turn directing traffic. Unfortunately, in sections that meant also directing cars, as the roads were open during this time. There were moments where the ride was flowing in the same lane as cars, in a strange twist on the norm, it was the bikes speeding around cars that created most of the challenge here.

On a final note about the bike course, this was not a USAT event, and though it was never stated, there were no drafting guidelines mentioned, and it was being done. It felt more like a WTC style event than a USAT event. This would have been good information pre race to have had.

Run

Coming off the bike, the run course went out on a short, fast section of course that is better suited to trail runners than road runners, with some sections of the path that have roots causing ripples in the pavement. That first 2.75 mile, 4km section of the run is fast, and blessedly shaded, it was quick, and featured 2 water/gatorade stations along the out and back route. At the 2.8 mile mark, though, the course turns left into a long slog of a climb, around the back side of the lake the swim was in. Honestly, I do not think the run route was a bad course by any means, but as I was having some issues at that point, I can honestly say that I had hit the ‘just slog through and finish’ wall, so my judgement of the back side of this course is probably harsher than it deserves. About all I can say is that on a good day, it should have been a fast course. On this particular day, it was not a fast course at all.

Race Notes

Overall, this event is one that held a lot of promise, but largely failed to deliver on the promise due to poor communication and weak swim support/safety measures. While the course is a gorgeous track, the issues place it pretty firmly on the Do Not Repeat list. At the end of the race, we all seemed to have the same feeling too. Just poor communication, and I suspect the race director was simply trying to do his best to cope with things that got pushed and changed by forces beyond his control. These things however do not excuse the issues. Which, is a little sad. The timing, location and venue for the event are all really good. It would be a great venue for a great event, with just a little more structure and communications.

The weather was perfect, if perhaps a little humid once the sun really came out near the finish of the run. The awards were presented promptly, and they did a very nice job of getting everyone their awards quickly complete with photos, as well as keeping the results posted early and often for the runners as they crossed the lines.

Race Day Equipment

Dru’s Race Day Kit

Endurance House logo’d Shorts and Singlet kit by Garneau

These are basically the Tri Elite Course kits with custom print and color setup. Superb kit, and we got to represent for some really good people, which is always a good time.

2014 Cannondale CAAD10/4

This has been my road bike this season and it will likely remain my primary bike for the foreseeable future, it is going to have to be joined by a dedicated tri bike this winter. For this race it served exceptionally well, and is for the most part a bone stock 2014 CAAD10/4. The exceptions are that the pedals are Speedplay Zero’s, and the seat has been swapped to a Fizik Airione. In addition, it has been heavily adjusted to fit me, and my slightly aggressive riding position.

New Balance 890v3

Due to the moisture I expected on the course, and some lingering issues in my left heel where I bruised the heel on a rock in the yard during the week, I made a last minute switch to running in my 890’s. I did get a couple of training runs in in them so the shoes themselves would have been fine. Unfortunately, I failed to think through the entire process, and honestly I paid for it. For this distance race, I do not wear socks, and this race did not afford a good place to clean the feet in transition. So it was that I jumped on the bike with wet feet, and pushed a pace where I wasn’t going to dry out. That meant that when I hit the run transition, I went into the 890’s a little wet, with a little grit and sand still lingering on the legs and feet. As I started running, the combination of sand, grit, water and swet led to an achilles blister on the right heel. The unconscious favoring of the blister led to a hip cramp, which ultimately disrupted my run. While this remains a fantastic shoe for single discipline runs for me, I just find the versatility of the trail minimus to be the better answer for my tri needs.

TomTom MultiSports GPS Watch

Still the goto device for me, the TomTom showed well. Per it’s usual weakness, there remains no open water swim mode, but for both the bike and run, the GPS picked up exceptionally quick in transitions, and we got good maps and results for those legs of the event.

Wahoo Fitness Bluetooth HRM

For this race, it was still the original bluetooth heart rate monitor. The TIKR is very much on the list of items to acquire and test out, but budgets being what they are, we are still working with the older model. That said, this remains the most reliable of the heart rate monitor units that we have used to date.

You Might Be a Triathlete If

You failed high school chemistry but you could teach a course on lactic acid
While at the gym, you change clothes as fast as possible because it feels like a transition
You wear your heart rate monitor during sex.
You bring bottled water to a party so that you’re properly hydrated for the next morning’s long run
Everyone else at the party also brought their own bottled water because you don’t have a social life outside of triathlon.
Everyone showed up by 7pm and left by 10pm
When you wear your bathing suit under your work clothes to make a fast transition from work to swim on your lunch hour
Your girlfriends are insanely jealous of your tan legs. Until they realize that the tan stops at your bike shorts.
One of the criteria of a vacation is that the hotel has a spin bike, pool and there’s running trails nearby
Baggage for any out of town trip includes running gear and goggles
90 degrees is too hot to mow the lawn but not to go on a century ride
You consider Clif Bars one of the four food groups
You wake up at 5 am but don’t get to work until 9.
You think there are only two seasons during the year, triathlon & marathon.
The inside of your car looks like a going out of business sale at Sports Authority.
You consider work, recovery time between training sessions.
You have a water bottle when you drive your car.
You spend your 2 week annual vacation at a training camp.
You know exactly how much protein each energy bar has.
Your legs are smoother than your girlfriend’s.
You use race shirts to clean your bike.
You know you’re a triathlete when you take more showers at the gym than at home.
6:30 am is sleeping in.
You have everything needed in your car to swim, bike or run within 5 minutes notice.
The one “suit” you own has Xterra written on the chest.
You catch yourself about to blow a snot rocket while walking around the office.
You know you’re a triathlete when you take ice baths!
You can plow through a whopping plate of pancakes and sausage and go back for seconds with a clear conscience.
You don’t mind your spinach in liquid form.
Your cologne of choice is chlorine.
You consider ‘bonking’ a bad thing.
You know you’re a triathlete when your house and office is littered with half full water bottles
Your bike costs more than your car.
You shout “on your left” when passing people in the aisles at the grocery store.
You use the words “only” and “10k” in the same sentence.
IM no longer refers to ‘instant message’.
You use the words “easy” and “long run” in the same sentence.
You not only eat gels, but you know the best flavors for every brand.
Your bath towel is never dry.
Your wife no longer thinks it’s strange that you keep a heart rate monitor at your bedside.
You take (at least) two showers a day.
You think the ultimate form of wallpaper is all your racing bibs.
You have a vanity license plate with the word “Kona” in it.
After you meet someone and they tell you they race, you go home and check online to see what age group they’re in and what their times are.
You plan vacations around where your next race will be.
You feel like you took the day off because all you did was swim 3000 yards.
You show up to work on Mondays with faded race numbers written all over your arms and legs.
About half the shirts you own have at least a dozen logos on the back of them.
There is a group of people in your life about whom you are more likely to know how fast they can swim 100 meters than their occupations.
There’s a separate load of laundry every week that is just your workout clothes.
You don’t giggle anymore when someone uses the word ‘Fartlek’.
Your bike is in your living room (possibly mounted on your trainer).
A car follows too closely behind you and you accuse them of drafting.
Your friends cried during The Notebook; you cried during the television coverage of the Ironman World Championship.
Your husband/wife is looking forward to the day when you will slow down and just run marathons.
You see no problem with talking about treatments for chafing or saddle rash at the dinner table.
You know you’re a triathlete when nobody believes you when you say “I’ll never do an Ironman”.
You have peed outdoors more times in the last year than you did in your first year of college.
You call a 5 mile run an easy day.
You shave way too many body parts.
You spend more money on training clothes then work clothes.
You clean your bike more often than your car.
Your car smells like a locker room.
You have far more pairs of shoes in your closet than your non-tri wife does in hers.
You go for a 5K cooldown run after a 5K race just so that you can call it a training session.
You have to explain to your co-workers what “splits,” “bricks,” and ‘LSDs” are.
You know you’re a triathlete when people see your ’140.6′ sticker on your vehicle and ask what radio station that is.
You’ve forgotten how to drink out of cups.
When asked how old you are you answer your age group (40-44).
When people praise you for being able to run 15 miles you feel insulted.
You purchase your new car to match the color of your bike.
You know you’re a triathlete when your car purchase depends on whether your bike will fit in the back.
You consider sprint triathlons as group training sessions.
You reach for a snack, and its a Clif Bar.
You would rather surf race pictures than watch TV

We Are O.G.R.E.

Old Guys/Gals Random Enterprises