Ever Swim with the Devil in the Pale Moonlight?

You're looking at the shownotes from today's podcast. I wrote them on Tyvek paper and they spent two hours being wadded up and sweated on in the leg of my bike shorts. Tyvek is pretty durable stuff! (It must be, to survive that kinda abuse. Barf.)

I talk at length about the dilemma facing Ironman. Check out the article about it here.

The big news is that we're going to see a free concert tomorrow in Austin. It's Cheryll Crow and Lance Armstrong will be speaking. If you're in the area, check out the details here. We'll be touring the different triathlon shops in the area to see what's new and also hitting Barton Springs for an open-water training swim.

Ok, the even bigger news is that we've got some guardian angels looking out for us at Apple. Two of the guys who work on iTunes are triathletes. They love Zentri and want to put our logo on the front page of the iTunes Podcast page. This is HUGE for Zentri because we will get a big jump in listeners, at least for the short term. Thanks, tri-guys! To prep for the onslaught, I'm having to post all new shows on a server that allows unlimited bandwidth. This is costing me at least an extra $5 a month. Anybody want to be the sponsor for that $5?

Buried somewhere in that audio, I make some comments about swimming at night under the moonlight and how to perform "front quadrant swimming". It supposedly makes you swim farther more easily, so don't miss out.

Everybody be careful out there on the bike. Lot's of drunks are careening around because it's football season. Listen to the podcast and take your time doing whatever it is that you do. Quality over quantity, yos.

-Brett, father of the birthday boy.

Ever catch a race finish on video?

This video is a real gem. I had finished the race and was waiting about 100 yards from the finish line, camera in hand, wanting to catch Emily crossing the line in her longest race to date. I saw her coming when she was about 200 yards from the finish line, so I turned and ran as fast as I could to the timing mats, turned back around, and she was literally on top of me. I couldn't believe how fast she was running and you can hear me say so. I didn't realize until I watched the video that I was totally wandering around the finish area and should have stayed outside the fences, but nobody said anything to me about it. This was Emily's target race for the year and she did a great job, especially after having a baby just 9 months prior. That reminds me, she actually did a triathlon when she was pregnant and didn't know it yet. Mom power!

I've been in contact with some important guys at Apple and we will be handed a cool windfall pretty soon. They are triathletes and love the show, and that includes all that you, the listeners, do to help out. This show isn't about me, it's about the lifestyle. That includes all of us! Emails, comments, audio clips, it all comes together to make for a great show that everybody enjoys. Thanks again and keep on tri'n!

BTW, I recommended to them several shows that anybody that cycles would like: Bike Talk, Bikescape, and Cycling Insider. Check them out yourself if you have time. Cycling Insider is a real riot. Matt Da-mon!!!

Darkfoot and the Legend of Rita

Hey, tri-studs. I'm posting this as Hurricane Rita is moving in like that ugly guy with bad breath in the apartment above you back in college. The wind is really picking up, but no rain yet. We should have power for quite some time, so no worries for now. I've got the mp3 player chock full of podcasts and a handful of batteries, so I should have lots of entertainment in any case. Maybe I should go out and record myself trying to ride a bike into the wind?

This podcast (get it here) has me running barefoot in the dark at about 6 AM on Thursday morning. I discuss the koolest of the kool: Fixed-gear bikes. Here is the list of the best websites about this awesome trend - http://www.oldskooltrack.com/, http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/, http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed/. Also, if you like danger on two wheels, don't miss out on this video.

Lastly, here's the link to the newest gadget from Garmin - A GPS-based dedicated bike computer. Maybe you shouldn't buy it, but you can at least know about it first. It's a completely different way to measure distance on your bike.

Marble Falls Videos

Hey, guys. I'm still slacking off after my Half IM, so I thought now would be a good time to put out a few videos that I promised earlier in the year. This one is of the Marble Falls race site. iTunes now has video capability, and I suppose that's cool. I'm not too crazy about videos because they are HUGE and don't last anywhere near as long as audio. Plus, you can't work out and watch them at the same time. But they're a hot item right now, so here you go. Luckily, I have the equipment to make videos for podcasts pretty easily. There's a couple more coming at you soon! Today's can be found at http://triathlon.blankner.com/radio/ZAT_09-20-05.mov.

On a different note, I've been called on duty for emergency response for Hurricane Rita. Our fair city is not only hosting a few thousand Katrina refugees, but we also are the designated evacuation destination for residents of Galveston and other areas. Galveston has been warned to evacuate due to Rita, so we've got double the pressure around here. I wouldn't say that there's over-reacting pressure to react to the potential disaster, more of a blindly obvious fact that we should take advantage of the few days warning we have and get moving NOW. Nobody needed to suggest it, believe me. Let's all keep our fingers crossed. Good luck, everybody!

Tall Texan Half Ironman Triathlon

This podcast is all about the innards of a half Ironman distance triathlon. Listen to the podcast here to find out how I missed winning the swim by 0.8 seconds, blistered my hands on a CO2 cartridge, and met my goal of running the whole 13.1 miles. Do you know how to whiz in your shorts while riding a bike? How to "drop" a drafting swimmer? How to make sure you always have enough electrolytes? Tune in to get the scoop, yos.

Check out the race results and map here. Check out the race location on the Zentri Googlemap here. Music is "Get Busy" by the Beastie Boys.