Sep13-19

S: 22,200 yds
B: 6h 14min
R: 5h 14min

Total: 17h 19min

Well the highlight of the week was undoubtedly the new PR for 4min power. I'm sure this was due to some unknown abnormality, but I'll take it!

And now... ITS RACE WEEK. After a few weeks of training, I'm excited to get back at it in Augusta this weekend for the 70.3.

Finally, for the Atlanta playas, you have not one but two opportunities to listen to listen to me ramble, if you are so inclined. Thursday evening I'll be at Fleet Feet Decatur at 6:30 and then Friday evening, also at 6:30, I'll be at Big Peach Running Co. in Buckhead. Timex has provided some free gear for both events so make sure and come on out!

Huntsville pro triathlete spreads the word about sport he loves

This is an article by The Huntsville Times' Chris Welch from a couple months back....

Andrew Hodges of Huntsville is a pro triathleteHUNTSVILLE, AL. - Andrew Hodges was in Orlando about a month ago for his job as a material science contractor at NASA when a stranger came up to him at a local park.

Hodges, who is also a professional tri-athlete, was wearing the gear of his sponsor, Team Timex, and pulling his bike out of the car.

"This guy introduced himself and he was on the UCF (University of Central Florida) triathlon team," Hodges said. "He recognized me. He introduced himself and said he reads my blog ('The World of Andrew' at ajhodges.blogspot.com).

"It was funny. That doesn't happen too often, but I always love to see people getting into the sport and excited about it."

Hodges enjoys competing in and talking about triathlons and will be one of the speakers tonight at Fleet Feet's free Tri Expo from 7-9 p.m. at the store, 2722 Carl T. Jones Drive.
Hodges, 26, will chat with triathletes about "Taking it to the Next Level" - and he certainly has. After growing up in Orlando and running cross country and track in high school and at the University of Florida, he moved here two years ago to work for NASA. He became a pro triathlete in 2007 - there are about 300 males and females sanctioned by the group - by meeting certain qualifying standards of the United States Triathlon Association. That allows him to win prize money in races offering over $5,000.

Hodges says he's done reasonably well as a pro, focusing on the 70.3-mile Half Ironman distance events about once a month. That's a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and 13.1 mile run. His best finish is seventh and he usually places anywhere from seventh to 15th in fields that typically have 20-40 male pros and 2,000-2,500 competitors overall.

His best time for the Half Ironman is 3 hours, 53 minutes, 34 seconds that he did in last year's World Championships in Clearwater, Fla. He finished 47th out of 85 male pros, all who had to qualify in previous races to compete.

So, why did he turn pro?

"The reason I did it, mainly, was to compete against the best," Hodges said of turning pro. "Certainly the prize money is nice, but at the same time, I don't win prize money at every event. It depends on who shows up.

"But for me, I just like racing and racing against the best. If you want to be good at anything, you have to test yourself against the best."

His advice for triathletes?

"The biggest thing I'd like to impress on people getting into the sport is that it's really important to stay consistent and not get too discouraged if you don't see big improvements right away," Hodges said. "That can lead to a couple of things - leaving the sport because you don't see any improvements and two, at the other end, you think you need to train more and ramp it up and get hurt.

"It's important to be consistent in training and set smaller goals so you can see bigger improvements."

Update

Yep, there I am.

And just in case if you were wondering how they got this many people to stand this close to one another long enough for a picture... its simple. Cake + ice cream.

Sep6-12

S: 27,000 yds
B: 10h 17min
R: 4h 50min

Total: 22h 13min

Rolling right along, it was another solid week in the books as the POWAH for key workouts during the week was especially attractive. While certainly a good thing, the intense workouts did leave the legs a bit sore for the weekend long ride but with the Gators playing at 11:20 (Central) I had plenty of motivation to get out the door and GTWD.

After leaving just after 7, I think I got a little too excited because after knocking out the hard stuff my legs were pretty toast but I still had about 50min left to ride to get home. Making matters worse, while the temperature wasn't quite "burning-in-hell" hot, it was starting to creep in a positive direction and that, combined with molasses-esque humidity, meant that my two bottles were almost empty. Thankfully, the Elon Church of Christ had a working spigot, allowing me to fill up the bottles and pedal home without falling over.

Saturday evening included two large of the usual at El O:

Where's Waldo?

Yep, I'm in there somewhere! (Hint: Check the '0')

Yesterday, Sept 8th 2010, marked the 50th anniversary of MSFC. Back in the '50s, rocket development in the US was done by the Army and Navy at relatively low funding levels. However when the Russians launched Sputnik, the illusion of a technological gap between the US and the Soviets was created. As a result, NASA was formed on October 1, 1958. A little over a year later, the Army Ballistic Missile Agency was incorporated into NASA and a few months after that, President Eisenhower officially dedicated the "George C. Marshall Space Flight Center."

"Since its beginning in 1960, Marshall has provided the agency with mission-critical design, development and integration of the launch and space systems required for space operations, exploration, and scientific missions. Marshall's legacy in rocket science includes providing the rockets that powered Americans to the moon, developing the space shuttle propulsion system, and managing the development of Skylab, Spacelab, space station nodes, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and many scientific instruments. "

Aug30-Sep5

S: 18,700 yds
B: 8h 4min
R: 5h 44min

Total: 18h 44min

So August has come to an end... where did summer go? Its sad to see the days growing shorter but on the bright side cooler temps and epic clashes on the gridiron are here. The cooler temperatures not only allow for higher quality workouts but also enable much better recovery (aka sleep!).

Saturday morning was the Monte Sano 10k and everyone was pleasantly surprised with the unexpectedly cool temperatures. I ran 34:03 on the hilly, two loop course and felt great, nice and controlled the whole time. A hard ride Sunday and a long, work free Monday made for a solid weekend all around.

PowerBar ProteinPlus Protein Powder Review

A few months ago I arrived home to find an unexpected package sitting at my door. Inside was a bottle of PowerBar's new "ProteinPlus Protein Powder" in Chocolate flavor. PB had decided to send out some samples ahead of their product launch and needless to say, I was pretty excited.

So I guess I should write a review. I have to say, I like the stuff, which is evidenced by the fact that I went through the sample in no time and was begging my PB rep for more before any was available. I was pleased with the mild taste. Some protein powders have a pretty gross, metallic aftertaste but that wasn't a problem here. At the same time, it wasnt too sweet, either. I mainly mixed mine with milk for a protein-packed chocolate milk or in a smoothie. I really like adding it to smoothies because the blender does a much better job of mixing.

Additionally, the nutrition facts are pretty straightforward: protein with a bit of sugar to make it palatable:




Finally, one of my favorite smoothie recipes. This is a classic but still oh-so-delicious.

1 bananna
4-5 frozen, partially thawed strawberries
1/4 cup orange juice or milk
1 scoop Protein Plus Protein Powder
1 Tbs cocoa powder
1/4 cup peanuts or almonds (optional)
14/ cup ice

And now, for the shameless plug. If you want to give it a shot, PB currently has a "Buy 1, Get 1 50% off" deal going on through PowerBar.com. Check here for details.